But once seated, Henri found himself in the same difficulty as had

confronted Octavius fifteen centuries earlier, and which confronted

Louis Philippe three centuries later—that is to say, having been raised

to sovereign power by a party which was not in the majority, he soon

found himself obliged to separate from this party and to abjure his

religious beliefs, as others have abjured or will yet abjure their

political beliefs; consequently, just as Octavius had his Antony, and

Louis Philippe was to have his Lafayette, Henri IV was to have his

Biron. When monarchs are in this position they can no longer have a will

of their own or personal likes and dislikes; they submit to the force of

circumstances, and feel compelled to rely on the masses; no sooner are

they freed from the ban under which they laboured than they are obliged

to bring others under it.

However, before having recourse to extreme measures, Henri IV with

soldierly frankness gathered round him all those who had been his

comrades of old in war and in religion; he spread out before them a map

of France, and showed them that hardly a tenth of the immense number of

its inhabitants were Protestants, and that even that tenth was shut up

in the mountains; some in Dauphine, which had been won for them by their

three principal leaders, Baron des Adrets, Captain Montbrun, and

Lesdiguieres; others in the Cevennes, which had become Protestant

through their great preachers, Maurice Secenat and Guillaume Moget; and

the rest in the mountains of Navarre, whence he himself had come. He

recalled to them further that whenever they ventured out of their

mountains they had been beaten in every battle, at Jarnac, at

Moncontour, and at Dreux. He concluded by explaining how impossible it

was for him, such being the case, to entrust the guidance of the State

to their party; but he offered them instead three things, viz., his

purse to supply their present needs, the Edict of Nantes to assure their

future safety, and fortresses to defend themselves should this edict one

day be revoked, for with profound insight the grandfather divined the

grandson: Henri IV feared Louis XIV.

The Protestants took what they were offered, but of course like all who

accept benefits they went away filled with discontent because they had

not been given more.

Although the Protestants ever afterwards looked on Henri IV as a

renegade, his reign nevertheless was their golden age, and while it

lasted Nimes was quiet; for, strange to say, the Protestants took no

revenge for St. Bartholomew, contenting themselves with debarring the

Catholics from the open exercise of their religion, but leaving them

free to use all its rites and ceremonies in private. They even permitted

the procession of the Host through the streets in case of illness,

provided it took place at night. Of course death would not always wait

for darkness, and the Host was sometimes carried to the dying during the

day, not without danger to the priest, who, however, never let himself

be deterred thereby from the performance of his duty; indeed, it is of

the essence of religious devotion to be inflexible; and few soldiers,

however brave, have equalled the martyrs in courage.

During this time, taking advantage of the truce to hostilities and the

impartial protection meted out to all without distinction by the

Constable Damville, the Carmelites and Capuchins, the Jesuits and monks

of all orders and colours, began by degrees to return to Nimes; without

any display, it is true, rather in a surreptitious manner, preferring

darkness to daylight; but however this may be, in the course of three or

four years they had all regained foothold in the town; only now they

were in the position in which the Protestants had been formerly, they

were without churches, as their enemies were in possession of all the

places of worship. It also happened that a Jesuit high in authority,

named Pere Coston, preached with such success that the Protestants, not

wishing to be beaten, but desirous of giving word for word, summoned to

their aid the Rev. Jeremie Ferrier, of Alais, who at the moment was

regarded as the most eloquent preacher they had. Needless to say, Alais

was situated in the mountains, that inexhaustible source of Huguenot

eloquence. At once the controversial spirit was aroused; it did not as

yet amount to war, but still less could it be called peace: people were

no longer assassinated, but they were anathematised; the body was safe,

but the soul was consigned to damnation: the days as they passed were

used by both sides to keep their hand in, in readiness for the moment

when the massacres should again begin.

CHAPTER II

The death of Henri IV led to new conflicts, in which although at first

success was on the side of the Protestants it by degrees went over to

the Catholics; for with the accession of Louis XIII Richelieu had taken

possession of the throne: beside the king sat the cardinal; under the

purple mantle gleamed the red robe. It was at this crisis that Henri de

Rohan rose to eminence in the South. He was one of the most illustrious

representatives of that great race which, allied as it was to the royal

houses of Scotland, France, Savoy, and Lorraine; had taken as their

device, "Be king I cannot, prince I will not, Rohan I am."

Henri de Rohan was at this time about forty years of age, in the prime

of life. In his youth, in order to perfect his education, he had visited

England, Scotland, and Italy. In England Elizabeth had called him her

knight; in Scotland James VI had asked him to stand godfather to his

son, afterwards Charles I; in Italy he had been so deep in the

confidence of the leaders of men, and so thoroughly initiated into the

politics of the principal cities, that it was commonly said that, after

Machiavel, he was the greatest authority in these matters. He had

returned to France in the lifetime of Henry IV, and had married the

daughter of Sully, and after Henri’s death had commanded the Swiss and

the Grison regiments—at the siege of Juliers. This was the man whom the

king was so imprudent as to offend by refusing him the reversion of the

office of governor of Poitou, which was then held by Sully, his

father-in-law. In order to revenge himself for the neglect he met with

at court, as he states in his Memoires with military ingenuousness, he

espoused the cause of Conde with all his heart, being also drawn in this

direction by his liking for Conde’s brother and his consequent desire to

help those of Conde’s religion.

From this day on street disturbances and angry disputes assumed another

aspect: they took in a larger area and were not so readily appeased. It

was no longer an isolated band of insurgents which roused a city, but

rather a conflagration which spread over the whole South, and a general

uprising which was almost a civil war.

This state of things lasted for seven or eight years, and during this

time Rohan, abandoned by Chatillon and La Force, who received as the

reward of their defection the field marshal’s baton, pressed by Conde,

his old friend, and by Montmorency, his consistent rival, performed

prodigies of courage and miracles of strategy. At last, without

soldiers, without ammunition, without money, he still appeared to

Richelieu to be so redoubtable that all the conditions of surrender he

demanded were granted. The maintenance of the Edict of Nantes was

guaranteed, all the places of worship were to be restored to the

Reformers, and a general amnesty granted to himself and his partisans.

Furthermore, he obtained what was an unheard-of thing until then, an

indemnity of 300,000 livres for his expenses during the rebellion; of

which sum he allotted 240,000 livres to his co-religionists—that is to

say, more than three-quarters of the entire amount—and kept, for the

purpose of restoring his various chateaux and setting his domestic

establishment, which had been destroyed during the war, again on foot,

only 60,000 livres. This treaty was signed on July 27th, 1629.

The Duc de Richelieu, to whom no sacrifice was too great in order to

attain his ends, had at last reached the goal, but the peace cost him

nearly 40,000,000 livres; on the other hand, Saintonge, Poitou, and

Languedoc had submitted, and the chiefs of the houses of La Tremouille,

Conde, Bouillon, Rohan, and Soubise had came to terms with him;

organised armed opposition had disappeared, and the lofty manner of

viewing matters natural to the cardinal duke prevented him from noticing

private enmity. He therefore left Nimes free to manage her local affairs

as she pleased, and very soon the old order, or rather disorder, reigned

once more within her walls. At last Richelieu died, and Louis XIII soon

followed him, and the long minority of his successor, with its

embarrassments, left to Catholics and Protestants in the South more

complete liberty than ever to carry on the great duel which down to our

own days has never ceased.

But from this period, each flux and reflux bears more and more the

peculiar character of the party which for the moment is triumphant; when

the Protestants get the upper hand, their vengeance is marked by

brutality and rage; when the Catholics are victorious, the retaliation

is full of hypocrisy and greed. The Protestants pull down churches and

monasteries, expel the monks, burn the crucifixes, take the body of some

criminal from the gallows, nail it on a cross, pierce its side, put a

crown of thorns round its temples and set it up in the market-place—an

effigy of Jesus on Calvary. The Catholics levy contributions, take back

what they had been deprived of, exact indemnities, and although ruined

by each reverse, are richer than ever after each victory. The

Protestants act in the light of day, melting down the church bells to

make cannon to the sound of the drum, violate agreements, warm

themselves with wood taken from the houses of the cathedral clergy,

affix their theses to the cathedral doors, beat the priests who carry

the Holy Sacrament to the dying, and, to crown all other insults, turn

churches into slaughter-houses and sewers.

The Catholics, on the contrary, march at night, and, slipping in at the

gates which have been left ajar for them, make their bishop president of

the Council, put Jesuits at the head of the college, buy converts with

money from the treasury, and as they always have influence at court,

begin by excluding the Calvinists from favour, hoping soon to deprive

them of justice.

At last, on the 31st of December, 1657, a final struggle took place, in

which the Protestants were overcome, and were only saved from

destruction because from the other side of the Channel, Cromwell exerted

himself in their favour, writing with his own hand at the end of a

despatch relative to the affairs of Austria, "I Learn that there have

been popular disturbances in a town of Languedoc called Nimes, and I beg

that order may be restored with as much mildness as possible, and

without shedding of blood." As, fortunately for the Protestants, Mazarin

had need of Cromwell at that moment, torture was forbidden, and nothing

allowed but annoyances of all kinds. These henceforward were not only

innumerable, but went on without a pause: the Catholics, faithful to

their system of constant encroachment, kept up an incessant persecution,

in which they were soon encouraged by the numerous ordinances issued by

Louis XIV. The grandson of Henri IV could not so far forget all ordinary

respect as to destroy at once the Edict of Nantes, but he tore off

clause after clause.

In 1630—that is, a year after the peace with Rohan had been signed in

the preceding reign—Chalons-sur-Saone had resolved that no Protestant

should be allowed to take any part in the manufactures of the town.

In 1643, six months after the accession of Louis XIV, the laundresses of

Paris made a rule that the wives and daughters of Protestants were

unworthy to be admitted to the freedom of their respectable guild.

In 1654, just one year after he had attained his majority, Louis XIV

consented to the imposition of a tax on the town of Nimes of 4000 francs

towards the support of the Catholic and the Protestant hospitals; and

instead of allowing each party to contribute to the support of its own

hospital, the money was raised in one sum, so that, of the money paid by

the Protestants, who were twice as numerous as the Catholics, two-sixths

went to their enemies. On August 9th of the same year a decree of the

Council ordered that all the artisan consuls should be Catholics; on the

16th September another decree forbade Protestants to send deputations to

the king; lastly, on the 20th of December, a further decree declared

that all hospitals should be administered by Catholic consuls alone.

In 1662 Protestants were commanded to bury their dead either at dawn or

after dusk, and a special clause of the decree fixed the number of

persons who might attend a funeral at ten only.

In 1663 the Council of State issued decrees prohibiting the practice of

their religion by the Reformers in one hundred and forty-two communes in

the dioceses of Nimes, Uzes, and Mendes; and ordering the demolition of

their meetinghouses.

In 1664 this regulation was extended to the meeting-houses of Alencon

and Montauban, as Well as their small place of worship in Nimes. On the

17th July of the same year the Parliament of Rouen forbade the

master-mercers to engage any more Protestant workmen or apprentices when

the number already employed had reached the proportion of one

Protestant, to fifteen Catholics; on the 24th of the same month the

Council of State declared all certificates of mastership held by a

Protestant invalid from whatever source derived; and in October reduced

to two the number of Protestants who might be employed at the mint.

In 1665 the regulation imposed on the mercers was extended to the

goldsmiths.

In 1666 a royal declaration, revising the decrees of Parliament, was

published, and Article 31 provided that the offices of clerk to the

consulates, or secretary to a guild of watchmakers, or porter in a

municipal building, could only be held by Catholics; while in Article 33

it was ordained that when a procession carrying the Host passed a place

of worship belonging to the so-called Reformers, the worshippers should

stop their psalm-singing till the procession had gone by; and lastly, in

Article 34 it was enacted that the houses and other buildings belonging

to those who were of the Reformed religion might, at the pleasure of the

town authorities, be draped with cloth or otherwise decorated on any

religious Catholic festival.

In 1669 the Chambers appointed by the Edict of Nantes in the Parliaments

of Rouen and Paris were suppressed, as well as the articled clerkships

connected therewith, and the clerkships in the Record Office; and in

August of the same year, when the emigration of Protestants was just

beginning, an edict was issued, of which the following is a clause:

"Whereas many of our subjects have gone to foreign countries, where they

continue to follow their various trades and occupations, even working as

shipwrights, or taking service as sailors, till at length they feel at

home and determine never to return to France, marrying abroad and

acquiring property of every description: We hereby forbid any member of

the so-called Reformed Church to leave this kingdom without our

permission, and we command those who have already left France to return

forthwith within her boundaries."

In 1670 the king excluded physicians of the Reformed faith from the

office of dean of the college of Rouen, and allowed only two Protestant

doctors within its precincts. In 1671 a decree was published commanding

the arms of France to be removed from all the places of worship

belonging to the pretended Reformers. In 1680 a proclamation from the

king closed the profession of midwife to women of the Reformed faith. In

1681 those who renounced the Protestant religion were exempted for two

years from all contributions towards the support of soldiers sent to

their town, and were for the same period relieved from the duty of

giving them board and lodging. In the same year the college of Sedan was

closed—the only college remaining in the entire kingdom at which

Calvinist children could receive instruction. In 1682 the king commanded

Protestant notaries; procurators, ushers, and serjeants to lay down

their offices, declaring them unfit for such professions; and in

September of the same year three months only were allowed them for the

sale of the reversion of the said offices. In 1684 the Council of State

extended the preceding regulations to those Protestants holding the

title of honorary secretary to the king, and in August of the same year

Protestants were declared incapable of serving on a jury of experts.

In 1685 the provost of merchants in Paris ordered all Protestant

privileged merchants in that city to sell their privileges within a

month. And in October of the same year the long series of persecutions,

of which we have omitted many, reached its culminating point—the:

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Henri IV, who foresaw this result,

had hoped that it would have occurred in another manner, so that his

co-religionists would have been able to retain their fortresses; but

what was actually done was that the strong places were first taken away,

and then came the Revocation; after which the Calvinists found

themselves completely at the mercy of their mortal enemies.

From 1669, when Louis first threatened to aim a fatal blow at the civil

rights of the Huguenots, by abolishing the equal partition of the

Chambers between the two parties, several deputations had been sent to

him praying him to stop the course of his persecutions; and in order not

to give him any fresh excuse for attacking their party, these

deputations addressed him in the most submissive manner, as the

following fragment from an address will prove:

"In the name of God, sire," said the Protestants to the king, "listen to

the last breath of our dying liberty, have pity on our sufferings, have

pity on the great number of your poor subjects who daily water their

bread with their tears: they are all filled with burning zeal and

inviolable loyalty to you; their love for your august person is only

equalled by their respect; history bears witness that they contributed

in no small degree to place your great and magnanimous ancestor on his

rightful throne, and since your miraculous birth they have never done

anything worthy of blame; they might indeed use much stronger terms, but

your Majesty has spared their modesty by addressing to them on many

occasions words of praise which they would never have ventured to apply

to themselves; these your subjects place their sole trust in your

sceptre for refuge and protection on earth, and their interest as well

as their duty and conscience impels them to remain attached to the

service of your Majesty with unalterable devotion."

But, as we have seen, nothing could restrain the triumvirate which held

the power just then, and thanks to the suggestions of Pere Lachaise and

Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV determined to gain heaven by means of

wheel and stake.

As we see, for the Protestants, thanks to these numerous decrees,

persecution began at the cradle and followed them to the grave.

As a boy, a Huguenot could—enter no public school; as a youth, no career

was open to him; he could become neither mercer nor concierge, neither

apothecary nor physician, neither lawyer nor consul. As a man, he had no

sacred house, of prayer; no registrar would inscribe his marriage or the

birth of his children; hourly his liberty and his conscience were

ignored. If he ventured to worship God by the singing of psalms, he had

to be silent as the Host was carried past outside. When a Catholic

festival occurred, he was forced not only to swallow his rage but to let

his house be hung with decorations in sign of joy; if he had inherited a

fortune from his fathers, having neither social standing nor civil

rights, it slipped gradually out of his hands, and went to support the

schools and hospitals of his foes. Having reached the end of his life,

his deathbed was made miserable; for dying in the faith of his fathers,

he could not be laid to rest beside them, and like a pariah he would be

carried to his grave at night, no more than ten of those near and dear

to him being allowed to follow his coffin.

Lastly, if at any age whatever he should attempt to quit the cruel soil

on which he had no right to be born, to live, or to die, he would be

declared a rebel, his goods would be confiscated, and the lightest

penalty that he had to expect, if he ever fell into the hands of his

enemies, was to row for the rest of his life in the galleys of the king,

chained between a murderer and a forger.

Such a state of things was intolerable: the cries of one man are lost in

space, but the groans of a whole population are like a storm; and this

time, as always, the tempest gathered in the mountains, and the

rumblings of the thunder began to be heard.

First there were texts written by invisible hands on city walls, on the

signposts and cross-roads, on the crosses in the cemeteries: these

warnings, like the ’Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin’ of Belshazzar, even

pursued the persecutors into the midst of their feasts and orgies.

Now it was the threat, "Jesus came not to send peace, but a sword." Then

this consolation, "For where two or three are gathered together in My

name, there am I in the midst of them." Or perhaps it was this appeal

for united action which was soon to become a summons to revolt, "That

which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have

fellowship with us."

And before these promises, taken from the New Testament, the persecuted

paused, and then went home inspired by faith in the prophets, who spake,

as St. Paul says in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, "not the

word of men but the word of God."

Very soon these words became incarnate, and what the prophet Joel

foretold came to pass: "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions,...

and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and

fire,... and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name

of the Lord shall be delivered."

In 1696 reports began to circulate that men had had visions; being able

to see what was going on in the most distant parts, and that the heavens

themselves opened to their eyes. While in this ecstatic state they were

insensible to pain when pricked with either pin or blade; and when, on

recovering consciousness, they were questioned they could remember

nothing.

The first of these was a woman from Vivarais, whose origin was unknown.

She went about from town to town, shedding tears of blood. M. de

Baville, intendant of Languedoc, had her arrested and brought to

Montpellier. There she was condemned to death and burnt at the stake,

her tears of blood being dried by fire.

After her came a second fanatic, for so these popular prophets were

called. He was born at Mazillon, his name was Laquoite, and he was

twenty years of age. The gift of prophecy had come to him in a strange

manner. This is the story told about him:—"One day, returning from

Languedoc, where he had been engaged in the cultivation of silkworms, on

reaching the bottom of the hill of St. Jean he found a man lying on the

ground trembling in every limb. Moved by pity, he stopped and asked what

ailed him. The man replied, ’Throw yourself on your knees, my son, and

trouble not yourself about me, but learn how to attain salvation and

save your brethren. This can only be done by the communion of the Holy

Ghost, who is in me, and whom by the grace of God I can bestow on you.

Approach and receive this gift in a kiss.’ At these words the unknown

kissed the young man on the mouth, pressed his hand and disappeared,

leaving the other trembling in his turn; for the spirit of God was in

him, and being inspired he spread the word abroad."

A third fanatic, a prophetess, raved about the parishes of St. Andeol de

Clerguemont and St. Frazal de Vantalon, but she addressed herself

principally to recent converts, to whom she preached concerning the

Eucharist that in swallowing the consecrated wafer they had swallowed a

poison as venomous as the head of the basilisk, that they had bent the

knee to Baal, and that no penitence on their part could be great enough

to save them. These doctrines inspired such profound terror that the

Rev. Father Louvreloeil himself tells us that Satan by his efforts

succeeded in nearly emptying the churches, and that at the following

Easter celebrations there were only half as many communicants as the

preceding year.

Such a state of licence, which threatened to spread farther and farther,

awoke the religious solicitude of Messire Francois Langlade de Duchayla,

Prior of Laval, Inspector of Missions of Gevaudan, and Arch-priest of

the Cevennes. He therefore resolved to leave his residence at Mende and

to visit the parishes in which heresy had taken the strongest hold, in

order to oppose it by every mean’s which God and the king had put in his

power.

The Abbe Duchayla was a younger son of the noble house of Langlade, and

by the circumstances of his birth, in spite of his soldierly instincts,

had been obliged to leave epaulet and sword to his elder brother, and

himself assume cassock and stole. On leaving the seminary, he espoused

the cause of the Church militant with all the ardour of his temperament.

Perils to encounter; foes to fight, a religion to force on others, were

necessities to this fiery character, and as everything at the moment was

quiet in France, he had embarked for India with the fervent resolution

of a martyr.

On reaching his destination, the young missionary had found himself

surrounded by circumstances which were wonderfully in harmony with his

celestial longings: some of his predecessors had been carried so far by

religious zeal that the King of Siam had put several to death by torture

and had forbidden any more missionaries to enter his dominions; but

this, as we can easily imagine, only excited still more the abbe’s

missionary fervour; evading the watchfulness of the military, and

regardless of the terrible penalties imposed by the king, he crossed the

frontier, and began to preach the Catholic religion to the heathen, many

of whom were converted.

One day he was surprised by a party of soldiers in a little village in

which he had been living for three months, and in which nearly all the

inhabitants had abjured their false faith, and was brought before the

governor of Bankan, where instead of denying his faith, he nobly

defended Christianity and magnified the name of God. He was handed over

to the executioners to be subjected to torture, and suffered at their

hands with resignation everything that a human body can endure while yet

retaining life, till at length his patience exhausted their rage; and

seeing him become unconscious, they thought he was dead, and with

mutilated hands, his breast furrowed with wounds, his limbs half worn

through by heavy fetters, he was suspended by the wrists to a branch of

a tree and abandoned. A pariah passing by cut him down and succoured

him, and reports of his martyrdom having spread, the French ambassador

demanded justice with no uncertain voice, so that the King of Siam,

rejoicing that the executioners had stopped short in time, hastened to

send back to M. de Chaumont, the representative of Louis XIV, a

mutilated though still living man, instead of the corpse which had been

demanded.

At the time when Louis XIV was meditating the Revocation of the Edict of

Nantes he felt that the services of such a man would be invaluable to

him, so about 1632, Abbe Duchayla was recalled from India, and a year

later was sent to Mende, with the titles of Arch-priest of the Cevennes

and Inspector of Missions.

Soon the abbe, who had been so much persecuted, became a persecutor,

showing himself as insensible to the sufferings of others as he had been

inflexible under his own. His apprenticeship to torture stood him in

such good stead that he became an inventor, and not only did he enrich

the torture chamber by importing from India several scientifically

constructed machines, hitherto unknown in Europe, but he also designed

many others. People told with terror of reeds cut in the form of

whistles which the abbe pitilessly forced under the nails of malignants;

of iron pincers for tearing out their beards, eyelashes, and eyebrows;

of wicks steeped in oil and wound round the fingers of a victim’s hands,

and then set on fire so as to form a pair of five-flamed candelabra; of

a case turning on a pivot in which a man who refused to be converted was

sometimes shut up, the case being then made to revolve rapidly till the

victim lost consciousness; and lastly of fetters used when taking

prisoners from one town to another, and brought to such perfection, that

when they were on the prisoner could neither stand nor sit.

Even the most fervent panegyrists of Abbe Duchayla spoke of him with

bated breath, and, when he himself looked into his own heart and

recalled how often he had applied to the body the power to bind and

loose which God had only given him over the soul, he was seized with

strange tremors, and falling on his knees with folded hands and bowed

head he remained for hours wrapt in thought, so motionless that were it

not for the drops of sweat which stood on his brow he might have been

taken for a marble statue of prayer over a tomb.

Moreover, this priest by virtue of the powers with which he was

invested, and feeling that he had the authority of M. de Baville,

intendant of Languedoc, and M. de Broglie, commander of the troops,

behind him, had done other terrible things.

He had separated children from father and mother, and had shut them up

in religious houses, where they had been subjected to such severe

chastisement, by way of making them do penance for the heresy of their

parents, that many of them died under it.

He had forced his way into the chamber of the dying, not to bring

consolation but menaces; and bending over the bed, as if to keep back

the Angel of Death, he had repeated the words of the terrible decree

which provided that in case of the death of a Huguenot without

conversion, his memory should be persecuted, and his body, denied

Christian burial, should be drawn on hurdles out of the city, and cast

on a dungheap.

Lastly, when with pious love children tried to shield their parents in

the death-agony from his threats, or dead from his justice, by carrying

them, dead or dying, to some refuge in which they might hope to draw

their last breath in peace or to obtain Christian burial, he declared

that anyone who should open his door hospitably to such disobedience was

a traitor to religion, although among the heathen such pity would have

been deemed worthy of an altar.

Such was the man raised up to punish, who went on his way, preceded by

terror, accompanied by torture, and followed by death, through a country

already exhausted by long and bloody oppression, and where at every step

he trod on half repressed religious hate, which like a volcano was ever

ready to burst out afresh, but always prepared for martyrdom. Nothing

held him back, and years ago he had had his grave hollowed out in the

church of St. Germain, choosing that church for his last long sleep

because it had been built by Pope Urban IV when he was bishop of Mende.

Abbe Duchayla extended his visitation over six months, during which

every day was marked by tortures and executions: several prophets were

burnt at the stake; Francoise de Brez, she who had preached that the

Host contained a more venomous poison than a basilisk’s head, was

hanged; and Laquoite, who had been confined in the citadel of

Montpellier, was on the point of being broken on the wheel, when on the

eve of his execution his cell was found empty. No one could ever

discover how he escaped, and consequently his reputation rose higher

than ever, it being currently believed that, led by the Holy Spirit as

St. Peter by the angel, he had passed through the guards invisible to

all, leaving his fetters behind.

This incomprehensible escape redoubled the severity of the Arch-priest,

till at last the prophets, feeling that their only chance of safety lay

in getting rid of him, began to preach against him as Antichrist, and

advocate his death. The abbe was warned of this, but nothing could abate

his zeal. In France as in India, martyrdom was his longed-for goal, and

with head erect and unfaltering step he "pressed toward the mark."

At last, on the evening of the 24th of July, two hundred conspirators

met in a wood on the top of a hill which overlooked the bridge of

Montvert, near which was the Arch-priest’s residence. Their leader was a

man named Laporte, a native of Alais, who had become a master-blacksmith

in the pass of Deze. He was accompanied by an inspired man, a former

wool-carder, born at Magistavols, Esprit Seguier by name. This man was,

after Laquoite, the most highly regarded of the twenty or thirty

prophets who were at that moment going up and down the Cevennes in every

direction. The whole party was armed with scythes, halberts, and swords;

a few had even pistols and guns.

On the stroke of ten, the hour fixed for their departure, they all knelt

down and with uncovered heads began praying as fervently as if they were

about to perform some act most pleasing to God, and their prayers ended,

they marched down the hill to the town, singing psalms, and shouting

between the verses to the townspeople to keep within their homes, and

not to look out of door or window on pain of death.

The abbe was in his oratory when he heard the mingled singing and

shouting, and at the same moment a servant entered in great alarm,

despite the strict regulation of the Arch-priest that he was never to be

interrupted at his prayers. This man announced that a body of fanatics

was coming down the hill, but the abbe felt convinced that it was only

an unorganised crowd which was going to try and carry off six prisoners,

at that moment in the ’ceps.’ [ A terrible kind of stocks—a beam split

in two, no notches being made for the legs: the victim’s legs were

placed between the two pieces of wood, which were then, by means of a

vice at each end, brought gradually together. Translators Note.]

These prisoners were three young men and three girls in men’s clothes,

who had been seized just as they were about to emigrate. As the abbe was

always protected by a guard of soldiers, he sent for the officer in

command and ordered him to march against, the fanatics and disperse

them. But the officer was spared the trouble of obeying, for the

fanatics were already at hand. On reaching the gate of the courtyard he

heard them outside, and perceived that they were making ready to burst

it in. Judging of their numbers by the sound of their voices, he

considered that far from attacking them, he would have enough to do in

preparing for defence, consequently he bolted and barred the gate on the

inside, and hastily erected a barricade under an arch leading to the

apartments of the abbe. Just as these preparations were complete, Esprit

Seguier caught sight of a heavy beam of wood lying in a ditch; this was

raised by a dozen men and used as a battering-ram to force in the gate,

which soon showed a breach. Thus encouraged, the workers, cheered by the

chants of their comrades, soon got the gate off the hinges, and thus the

outside court was taken. The crowd then loudly demanded the release of

the prisoners, using dire threats.

The commanding officer sent to ask the abbe what he was to do; the abbe

replied that he was to fire on the conspirators. This imprudent order

was carried out; one of the fanatics was killed on the spot, and two

wounded men mingled their groans with the songs and threats of their

comrades.

The barricade was next attacked, some using axes, others darting their

swords and halberts through the crevices and killing those behind; as

for those who had firearms, they climbed on the shoulders of the others,

and having fired at those below, saved themselves by tumbling down

again. At the head of the besiegers were Laporte and Esprit Seguier, one

of whom had a father to avenge and the other a son, both of whom had

been done to death by the abbe. They were not the only ones of the party

who were fired by the desire of vengeance; twelve or fifteen others were

in the same position.

The abbe in his room listened to the noise of the struggle, and finding

matters growing serious, he gathered his household round him, and making

them kneel down, he told them to make their confession, that he might,

by giving them absolution, prepare them for appearing before God. The

sacred words had just been pronounced when the rioters drew near, having

carried the barricade, and driven the soldiers to take refuge in a hall

on the ground floor just under the Arch-priest’s room.

But suddenly, the assault was stayed, some of the men going to surround

the house, others setting out on a search for the prisoners. These were

easily found, for judging by what they could hear that their brethren

had come to their rescue, they shouted as loudly as they could.

The unfortunate creatures had already passed a whole week with their

legs caught and pressed by the cleft beams which formed these

inexpressibly painful stocks. When the unfortunate victims were

released, the fanatics screamed with rage at the sight of their swollen

bodies and half-broken bones. None of the unhappy people were able to

stand. The attack on the soldiers was renewed, and these being driven

out of the lower hall, filled the staircase leading to the abbe’s

apartments, and offered such determined resistance that their assailants

were twice forced to fall back. Laporte, seeing two of his men killed

and five or six wounded, called out loudly, "Children of God, lay down

your arms: this way of going to work is too slow; let us burn the abbey

and all in it. To work! to work!" The advice was good, and they all

hastened to follow it: benches, chairs, and furniture of all sorts were

heaped up in the hall, a palliasse thrown on the top, and the pile

fired. In a moment the whole building was ablaze, and the Arch-priest,

yielding to the entreaties of his servants, fastened his sheets to the

window-bars, and by their help dropped into the garden. The drop was so

great that he broke one of his thigh bones, but dragging himself along

on his hands and one knee, he, with one of his servants, reached a

recess in the wall, while another servant was endeavouring to escape

through the flames, thus falling into the hands of the fanatics, who

carried him before their captain. Then cries of "The prophet! the

prophet!" were heard on all sides. Esprit Seguier, feeling that

something fresh had taken place, came forward, still holding in his hand

the blazing torch with which he had set fire to the pile.

"Brother," asked Laporte, pointing to the prisoner, "is this man to

die?"

Esprit Seguier fell on his knees and covered his face with his mantle,

like Samuel, and sought the Lord in prayer, asking to know His will.

In a short time he rose and said, "This man is not to die; for inasmuch

as he has showed mercy to our brethren we must show mercy to him."

Whether this fact had been miraculously revealed to Seguier, or whether

he had gained his information from other sources, the newly released

prisoners confirmed its truth, calling out that the man had indeed

treated them with humanity. Just then a roar as of a wild beast was

heard: one of the fanatics, whose brother had been put to death by the

abbe, had just caught sight of him, the whole neighbourhood being lit up

by the fire; he was kneeling in an angle of the wall, to which he had

dragged himself.

"Down with the son of Belial!" shouted the crowd, rushing towards the

priest, who remained kneeling and motionless like a marble statue. His

valet took advantage of the confusion to escape, and got off easily; for

the sight of him on whom the general hate was concentrated made the

Huguenots forget everything else:

Esprit Seguier was the first to reach the priest, and spreading his

hands over him, he commanded the others to hold back. "God desireth not

the death of a sinner,’" said he, "’but rather that he turn from his

wickedness and live.’"

"No, no!" shouted a score of voices, refusing obedience for the first

time, perhaps, to an order from the prophet; "let him die without mercy,

as he struck without pity. Death to the son of Belial, death!"

"Silence!" exclaimed the prophet in a terrible voice, "and listen to the

word of God from my mouth. If this man will join us and take upon him

the duties of a pastor, let us grant him his life, that he may

henceforward devote it to the spread of the true faith."

"Rather a thousand deaths than apostasy!" answered the priest.

"Die, then!" cried Laporte, stabbing him; "take that for having burnt my

father in Nimes."

And he passed on the dagger to Esprit Seguier.

Duchayla made neither sound nor gesture: it would have seemed as if the

dagger had been turned by the priest’s gown as by a coat of mail were it

not that a thin stream of blood appeared. Raising his eyes to heaven, he

repeated the words of the penitential psalm: "Out of the depths have I

cried unto Thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice!"

Then Esprit Seguier raised his arm and struck in his turn, saying, "Take

that for my son, whom you broke on the wheel at Montpellier."

And he passed on the dagger.

But this blow also was not mortal, only another stream of blood

appeared, and the abbe said in a failing voice, "Deliver me, O my

Saviour, out of my well-merited sufferings, and I will acknowledge their

justice; far I have been a man of blood."

The next who seized the dagger came near and gave his blow, saying,

"Take that for my brother, whom you let die in the ’ceps.’"

This time the dagger pierced the heart, and the abbe had only time to

ejaculate, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy!"

before he fell back dead.

But his death did not satisfy the vengeance of those who had not been

able to strike him living; one by one they drew near and stabbed, each

invoking the shade of some dear murdered one and pronouncing the same

words of malediction.

In all, the body of the abbe received fifty-two dagger thrusts, of which

twenty-four would have been mortal.

Thus perished, at the age of fifty-five, Messire Francois de Langlade

Duchayla, prior of Laval, inspector of missions in Gevaudan, and

Arch-priest of the Cevennes and Mende.

Their vengeance thus accomplished, the murderers felt that there was no

more safety for them in either city or plain, and fled to the mountains;

but in passing near the residence of M. de Laveze, a Catholic nobleman

of the parish of Molezon, one of the fugitives recollected that he had

heard that a great number of firearms was kept in the house. This seemed

a lucky chance, for firearms were what the Huguenots needed most of all.

They therefore sent two envoys to M. de Laveze to ask him to give them

at, least a share of his weapons; but he, as a good Catholic, replied

that it was quite true that he had indeed a store of arms, but that they

were destined to the triumph and not to the desecration of religion, and

that he would only give them up with his life. With these words, he

dismissed the envoys, barring his doors behind them.

But while this parley was going on the conspirators had approached the

chateau, and thus received the valiant answer to their demands sooner

than M. de Laveze had counted on. Resolving not to leave him time to

take defensive measures, they dashed at the house, and by standing on

each other’s shoulders reached the room in which M. de Laveze and his

entire family had taken refuge. In an instant the door was forced, and

the fanatics, still reeking with the life-blood of Abbe Duchayla, began

again their work of death. No one was spared; neither the master of the

house, nor his brother, nor his uncle, nor his sister, who knelt to the

assassins in vain; even his old mother, who was eighty years of age,

having from her bed first witnessed the murder of all her family, was at

last stabbed to the heart, though the butchers might have reflected that

it was hardly worth while thus to anticipate the arrival of Death, who

according to the laws of nature must have been already at hand.

The massacre finished, the fanatics spread over the castle, supplying

themselves with arms and under-linen, being badly in need of the latter;

for when they left their homes they had expected soon to return, and had

taken nothing with them. They also carried off the copper kitchen

utensils, intending to turn them into bullets. Finally, they seized on a

sum of 5000 francs, the marriage-portion of M. de Laveze’s sister, who

was just about to be married, and thus laid the foundation of a war

fund.

The news of these two bloody events soon reached not only Nimes but all

the countryside, and roused the authorities to action. M. le Comte de

Broglie crossed the Upper Cevennes, and marched down to the bridge of

Montvert, followed by several companies of fusiliers. From another

direction M. le Comte de Peyre brought thirty-two cavalry and three

hundred and fifty infantry, having enlisted them at Marvejols, La

Canourgue, Chiac, and Serverette. M. de St. Paul, Abbe Duchayla’s

brother, and the Marquis Duchayla, his nephew, brought eighty horsemen

from the family estates. The Count of Morangiez rode in from St. Auban

and Malzieu with two companies of cavalry, and the town of Mende by

order of its bishop despatched its nobles at the head of three companies

of fifty men each.

But the mountains had swallowed up the fanatics, and nothing was ever

known of their fate, except that from time to time a peasant would

relate that in crossing the Cevennes he had heard at dawn or dusk, on

mountain peak or from valley depths, the sound going up to heaven of

songs of praise. It was the fanatic assassins worshipping God.

Or occasionally at night, on the tops of the lofty mountains, fires

shone forth which appeared to signal one to another, but on looking the

next night in the same direction all was dark.

So M. de Broglie, concluding that nothing could be done against enemies

who were invisible, disbanded the troops which had come to his aid, and

went back to Montpellier, leaving a company of fusiliers at Collet,

another at Ayres, one at the bridge of Montvert, one at Barre, and one

at Pompidon, and appointing Captain Poul as their chief.

This choice of such a man as chief showed that M. de Broglie was a good

judge of human nature, and was also perfectly acquainted with the

situation, for Captain Poul was the very man to take a leading part in

the coming struggle. "He was," says Pere Louvreloeil, priest of the

Christian doctrine and cure of Saint-Germain de Calberte, "an officer of

merit and reputation, born in Ville-Dubert, near Carcassonne, who had

when young served in Hungary and Germany, and distinguished himself in

Piedmont in several excursions against the Barbets, [ A name applied

first to the Alpine smugglers who lived in the valleys, later to the

insurgent peasants in the Cevennes.—Translator’s Note.] notably in one

of the later ones, when, entering the tent of their chief, Barbanaga, he

cut off his head. His tall and agile figure, his warlike air, his love

of hard work, his hoarse voice, his fiery and austere character, his

carelessness in regard to dress, his mature age, his tried courage, his

taciturn habit, the length and weight of his sword, all combined to

render him formidable. Therefore no one could have been chosen more

suitable for putting down the rebels, for forcing their entrenchments,

and for putting them to flight."

Hardly had he taken up a position in the market town of Labarre, which

was to be his headquarters, than he was informed that a gathering of

fanatics had been seen on the little plain of Fondmorte, which formed a

pass between two valleys. He ordered out his Spanish steed, which he was

accustomed to ride in the Turkish manner—that is, with very short

stirrups, so that he could throw himself forward to the horse’s ears, or

backward to the tail, according as he wished to give or avoid a mortal

blow. Taking with him eighteen men of his own company and twenty-five

from the town, he at once set off for the place indicated, not

considering any larger number necessary to put to rout a band of

peasants, however numerous.

The information turned out to be correct: a hundred Reformers led by

Esprit Seguier had encamped in the plain of Fondmorte, and about eleven

o’clock in the morning one of their sentinels in the defile gave the

alarm by firing off his gun and running back to the camp, shouting, "To

arms!" But Captain Poul, with his usual impetuosity, did not give the

insurgents time to form, but threw himself upon them to the beat of the

drum, not in the least deterred by their first volley. As he had

expected, the band consisted of undisciplined peasants, who once

scattered were unable to rally. They were therefore completely routed.

Poul killed several with his own hand, among whom were two whose heads

he cut off as cleverly as the most experienced executioner could have

done, thanks to the marvellous temper of his Damascus blade. At this

sight all who had till then stood their ground took to flight, Poul at

their heels, slashing with his sword unceasingly, till they disappeared

among the mountains. He then returned to the field of battle, picked up

the two heads, and fastening them to his saddlebow, rejoined his

soldiers with his bloody trophies,—that is to say, he joined the largest

group of soldiers he could find; for the fight had turned into a number

of single combats, every soldier fighting for himself. Here he found

three prisoners who were about to be shot; but Poul ordered that they

should not be touched: not that he thought for an instant of sparing

their lives, but that he wished to reserve them for a public execution.

These three men were Nouvel, a parishioner of Vialon, Moise Bonnet of

Pierre-Male, and Esprit Seguier the prophet.

Captain Poul returned to Barre carrying with him his two heads and his

three prisoners, and immediately reported to M. Just de Baville,

intendant of Languedoc, the important capture he had made. The prisoners

were quickly tried. Pierre Nouvel was condemned to be burnt alive at the

bridge of Montvert, Molise Bonnet to be broken on the wheel at Deveze,

and Esprit Seguier to be hanged at Andre-de-Lancise. Thus those who were

amateurs in executions had a sufficient choice.

However, Moise Bonnet saved himself by becoming Catholic, but Pierre

Nouvel and Esprit Seguier died as martyrs, making profession of the new

faith and praising God.

Two days after the sentence on Esprit Seguier had been carried out, the

body disappeared from the gallows. A nephew of Laporte named Roland had

audaciously carried it off, leaving behind a writing nailed to the

gibbet. This was a challenge from Laporte to Poul, and was dated from

the "Camp of the Eternal God, in the desert of Cevennes," Laporte

signing himself "Colonel of the children of God who seek liberty of

conscience." Poul was about to accept the challenge when he learned that

the insurrection was spreading on every side. A young man of Vieljeu,

twenty-six years of age, named Solomon Couderc, had succeeded Esprit

Seguier in the office of prophet, and two young lieutenants had joined

Laporte. One of these was his nephew Roland, a man of about thirty,

pock-marked, fair, thin, cold, and reserved; he was not tall, but very

strong, and of inflexible courage. The other, Henri Castanet of

Massevaques, was a keeper from the mountain of Laygoal, whose skill as a

marksman was so well known that it was said he never missed a shot. Each

of these lieutenants had fifty men under him.

Prophets and prophetesses too increased apace, so that hardly a day

passed without reports being heard of fresh ones who were rousing whole

villages by their ravings.

In the meantime a great meeting of the Protestants of Languedoc had been

held in the fields of Vauvert, at which it had been resolved to join

forces with the rebels of the Cevennes, and to send a messenger thither

to make this resolution known.

Laporte had just returned from La Vaunage, where he had been making

recruits, when this good news arrived; he at once sent his nephew Roland

to the new allies with power to pledge his word in return for theirs,

and to describe to them, in order to attract them, the country which he

had chosen as the theatre of the coming war, and which, thanks to its

hamlets, its woods, its defiles, its valleys, its precipices, and its

caves, was capable of affording cover to as many bands of insurgents as

might be employed, would be a good rallying-ground after repulse, and

contained suitable positions for ambuscades. Roland was so successful in

his mission that these new "soldiers of the Lord," as they called

themselves, on learning that he had once been a dragoon, offered him the

post of leader, which he accepted, and returned to his uncle at the head

of an army.

Being thus reinforced, the Reformers divided themselves into three

bands, in order to spread abroad their beliefs through the entire

district. One went towards Soustele and the neighbourhood of Alais,

another towards St. Privat and the bridge of Montvert, while the third

followed the mountain slope down to St. Roman le Pompidou, and Barre.

The first was commanded by Castanet, the second by Roland, and the third

by Laporte.

Each party ravaged the country as it passed, returning deathblow for

deathblow and conflagration for conflagration, so that hearing one after

another of these outrages Captain Poul demanded reinforcements from M.

de Broglie and M. de Baville, which were promptly despatched.

As soon as Captain Poul found himself at the head of a sufficient number

of troops, he determined to attack the rebels. He had received

intelligence that the band led by Laporte was just about to pass through

the valley of Croix, below Barre, near Temelague. In consequence of this

information, he lay in ambush at a favourable spot on the route. As soon

as the Reformers who were without suspicion, were well within the narrow

pass in which Poul awaited them, he issued forth at the head of his

soldiers, and charged the rebels with such courage and impetuosity that

they, taken by surprise, made no attempt at resistance, but, thoroughly

demoralised, spread over the mountain-side, putting a greater and

greater distance at, every instant between themselves and the enemy,

despite the efforts of Laporte to make them stand their ground. At last,

seeing himself deserted, Laporte began to think of his own safety. But

it was already too late, for he was surrounded by dragoons, and the only

way of retreat open to him lay over a large rock. This he successfully

scaled, but before trying to get down the other side he raised his hands

in supplication to Heaven; at that instant a volley was fired, two

bullets struck him, and he fell head foremost down the precipice.

When the dragoons reached the foot of the rock, they found him dead. As

they knew he was the chief of the rebels, his body was searched: sixty

Louis was found in his pockets, and a sacred chalice which he was in the

habit of using as an ordinary drinking-cup. Poul cut off his head and

the heads of twelve other Reformers found dead on the field of battle,

and enclosing them in a wicker basket, sent them to M. Just de Baville.

The Reformers soon recovered from this defeat and death, joined all

their forces into one body, and placed Roland at their head in the place

of Laporte. Roland chose a young man called Couderc de Mazel-Rozade, who

had assumed the name of Lafleur, as his lieutenant, and the rebel forces

were not only quickly reorganised, but made complete by the addition of

a hundred men raised by the new lieutenant, and soon gave a sign that

they were again on the war-path by burning down the churches of

Bousquet, Cassagnas, and Prunet.

Then first it was that the consuls of Mende began to realise that it was

no longer an insurrection they had on hand but a war, and Mende being

the capital of Gevaudan and liable to be attacked at any moment, they

set themselves to bring into repair their counterscarps, ravelins,

bastions, gates, portcullises, moats, walls, turrets, ramparts,

parapets, watchtowers, and the gear of their cannon, and having laid in

a stock of firearms, powder and ball, they formed eight companies each

fifty strong, composed of townsmen, and a further band of one hundred

and fifty peasants drawn from the neighbouring country. Lastly, the

States of the province sent an envoy to the king, praying him graciously

to take measures to check the plague of heresy which was spreading from

day to day. The king at once sent M. Julien in answer to the petition.

Thus it was no longer simple governors of towns nor even chiefs of

provinces who were engaged in the struggle; royalty itself had come to

the rescue.

M. de Julien, born a Protestant, was a, member of the nobility of

Orange, and in his youth had served against France and borne arms

in England and Ireland when William of Orange succeeded James II as

King of England, Julien was one of his pages, and received as a

reward for his fidelity in the famous campaign of 1688 the command

of a regiment which was sent to the aid of the Duke of Savoy, who

had begged both England and Holland to help him. He bore himself so

gallantly that it was in great part due to him that the French were

forced to raise the siege of Cony.

Whether it was that he expected too much from this success, or that the

Duke of Savoy did not recognise his services at their worth, he withdrew

to Geneva, where Louis XIV hearing of his discontent, caused overtures

to be made to him with a view to drawing him into the French service. He

was offered the same rank in the French army as he had held in the

English, with a pension of 3000 livres.

M. de Julien accepted, and feeling that his religious belief would be

in the way of his advancement, when he changed his master he

changed his Church. He was given the command of the valley of

Barcelonnette, whence he made many excursions against the Barbets;

then he was transferred to the command of the Avennes, of the

principality of Orange, in order to guard the passes, so that the

French Protestants could not pass over the frontier for the purpose

of worshipping with their Dutch Protestant brethren; and after

having tried this for a year, he went to Versailles to report

himself to the king. While he was there, it chanced that the envoy

from Gevaudan arrived, and the king being satisfied with de

Julien’s conduct since he had entered his service, made him

major-general, chevalier of the military order of St. Louis; and

commander-in-chief in the Vivarais and the Cevennes.

M. de Julien from the first felt that the situation was very grave,

and saw that his predecessors had felt such great contempt for the

heretics that they had not realised the danger of the revolt. He

immediately proceeded to inspect in person the different points

where M. de Broglie had placed detachments of the Tournon and

Marsily regiments. It is true that he arrived by the light of

thirty burning village churches.

M. de Broglie, M. de Baville, M. de Julien, and Captain Poul met

together to consult as to the best means of putting an end to these

disorders. It was agreed that the royal troops should be divided

into two bodies, one under the command of M. de Julien to advance

on Alais, where it was reported large meetings of the rebels were

taking place, and the other under M. de Brogue, to march about in

the neighbourhood of Nimes.

Consequently, the two chiefs separated. M. le Comte de Broglie at the

head of sixty-two dragoons and some companies of foot, and having under

him Captain Poul and M. de Dourville, set out from Cavayrac on the 12th

of January at 2 a. m., and having searched without finding anything the

vineyards of Nimes and La Garrigue de Milhau, took the road to the

bridge of Lunel. There he was informed that those he was in search of

had been seen at the chateau of Caudiac the day before; he therefore at

once set out for the forest which lies around it, not doubting to find

the fanatics entrenched there; but, contrary to his expectations, it was

vacant. He then pushed on to Vauvert, from Vauvert to Beauvoisin, from

Beauvoisin to Generac, where he learned that a troop of rebels had

passed the night there, and in the morning had left for Aubore. Resolved

to give them no rest, M. de Broglie set out at once for this village.

When half-way there, a member of his staff thought he could distinguish

a crowd of men near a house about half a league distant; M. de Broglie

instantly ordered Sieur de Gibertin, Captain Poul’s lieutenant, who was

riding close by, at the head of his company, to take eight dragoons and

make a reconnaissance, in order to ascertain who these men were, while

the rest of the troops would make a halt.

This little band, led by its officer, crossed a clearing in the wood,

and advanced towards the farmhouse, which was called the Mas de Gafarel,

and which now seemed deserted. But when they were within half a gun-shot

of the wall the charge was sounded behind it, and a band of rebels

rushed towards them, while from a neighbouring house a second troop

emerged, and looking round, he perceived a third lying on their faces in

a small wood. These latter suddenly stood up and approached him, singing

psalms. As it was impossible for M. de Gibertin to hold his ground

against so large a force, he ordered two shots to be fired as a warning

to de Brogue to advance to meet him, and fell back on his comrades.

Indeed, the rebels had only pursued him till they had reached a

favourable position, on which they took their stand.

M. de Brogue having surveyed the whole position with the aid of a

telescope, held a council of war, and it was decided that an attack

should be made forthwith. They therefore advanced on the rebels in

line: Captain Poul on the right, M. de Dourville on the left, and

Count Broglie in the centre.

As they got near they could see that the rebels had chosen their ground

with an amount of strategical sagacity they had never till then

displayed. This skill in making their dispositions was evidently due to

their having found a new leader whom no one knew, not even Captain Poul,

although they could see him at the head of his men, carbine in hand.

However, these scientific preparations did not stop M. de Brogue: he

gave the order to charge, and adding example to precept, urged his horse

to a gallop. The rebels in the first rank knelt on one knee, so that the

rank behind could take aim, and the distance between the two bodies of

troops disappeared rapidly, thanks to the impetuosity of the dragoons;

but suddenly, when within thirty paces of the enemy, the royals found

themselves on the edge of a deep ravine which separated them from the

enemy like a moat. Some were able to check their horses in time, but

others, despite desperate efforts, pressed upon by those behind, were

pushed into the ravine, and rolled helplessly to the bottom. At the same

moment the order to fire was given in a sonorous voice, there was a

rattle of musketry, and several dragoons near M. de Broglie fell.

"Forward!" cried Captain Poul, "forward!" and putting his horse at a

part of the ravine where the sides were less steep, he was soon

struggling up the opposite side, followed by a few dragoons.

"Death to the son of Belial!" cried the same voice which had given the

order to fire. At that moment a single shot rang out, Captain Poul threw

up his hands, letting his sabre go, and fell from his horse, which

instead of running away, touched his master with its smoking nostrils,

then lifting its head, neighed long and low. The dragoons retreated.

"So perish all the persecutors of Israel!" cried the leader, brandishing

his carbine. He then dashed down into the ravine, picked up Captain

Poul’s sabre and jumped upon his horse. The animal, faithful to its old

master, showed some signs of resistance, but soon felt by the pressure

of its rider’s knees that it had to do with one whom it could not

readily unseat. Nevertheless, it reared and bounded, but the horseman

kept his seat, and as if recognising that it had met its match, the

noble animal tossed its head, neighed once more, and gave in. While this

was going on, a party of Camisards [Name given to the insurgent

Calvinists after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.—Translator’s

Note.] and one of the dragoons had got down into the ravine, which had

in consequence been turned into a battlefield; while those who remained

above on either side took advantage of their position to fire down at

their enemies. M. de Dourville, in command of the dragoons, fought among

the others like a simple soldier, and received a serious wound in the

head; his men beginning to lose ground, M. de Brogue tried to rally

them, but without avail, and while he was thus occupied his own troop

ran away; so seeing there was no prospect of winning the battle, he and

a few valiant men who had remained near him dashed forward to extricate

M. Dourville, who, taking advantage of the opening thus made, retreated,

his wound bleeding profusely. On the other hand, the Camisards

perceiving at some distance bodies of infantry coming up to reinforce

the royals, instead of pursuing their foes, contented themselves with

keeping up a thick and well-directed musketry-fire from the position in

which they had won such a quick and easy victory.

As soon as the royal forces were out of reach of their weapons, the

rebel chief knelt down and chanted the song the Israelites sang when,

having crossed the Red Sea in safety, they saw the army of Pharaoh

swallowed up in the waters, so that although no longer within reach of

bullets the defeated troops were still pursued by songs of victory.

Their thanksgivings ended, the Calvinists withdrew into the forest, led

by their new chief, who had at his first assay shown the great extent of

his knowledge, coolness, and courage.

This new chief, whose superiors were soon to become his lieutenants, was

the famous Jean Cavalier.

Jean Cavalier was then a young man of twenty-three, of less than medium

height, but of great strength. His face was oval, with regular features,

his eyes sparkling and beautiful; he had long chestnut hair falling on

his shoulders, and an expression of remarkable sweetness. He was born in

1680 at Ribaute, a village in the diocese of Alais, where his father had

rented a small farm, which he gave up when his son was about fifteen,

coming to live at the farm of St. Andeol, near Mende.

Young Cavalier, who was only a peasant and the son of a peasant, began

life as a shepherd at the Sieur de Lacombe’s, a citizen of Vezenobre,

but as the lonely life dissatisfied a young man who was eager for

pleasure, Jean gave it up, and apprenticed himself to a baker of Anduze.

There he developed a great love for everything connected with the

military; he spent all his free time watching the soldiers at their

drill, and soon became intimate with some of them, amongst others with a

fencing-master who gave him lessons, and a dragoon who taught him to

ride.

On a certain Sunday, as he was taking a walk with his sweetheart on his

arm, the young girl was insulted by a dragoon of the Marquis de Florae’s

regiment. Jean boxed the dragoon’s ears, who drew his sword. Cavalier

seized a sword from one of the bystanders, but the combatants were

prevented from fighting by Jean’s friends. Hearing of the quarrel, an

officer hurried up: it was the Marquis de Florae himself, captain of the

regiment which bore his name; but when he arrived on the scene he found,

not the arrogant peasant who had dared to attack a soldier of the king,

but only the young girl, who had fainted, the townspeople having

persuaded her lover to decamp.

The young girl was so beautiful that she was commonly called la belle

Isabeau, and the Marquis de Florac, instead of pursuing Jean Cavalier,

occupied himself in reviving Isabeau.

As it was, however, a serious affair, and as the entire regiment had

sworn Cavalier’s death, his friends advised him to leave the country for

a time. La belle Isabeau, trembling for the safety of her lover, joined

her entreaties to those of his friends, and Jean Cavalier yielded. The

young girl promised him inviolable fidelity, and he, relying on this

promise, went to Geneva.

There he made the acquaintance of a Protestant gentleman called Du

Serre, who having glass-works at the Mas Arritas, quite near the farm of

St. Andeol, had undertaken several times, at the request of Jean’s

father, Jerome, to convey money to Jean; for Du Serre went very often to

Geneva, professedly on business affairs, but really in the interests of

the Reformed faith. Between the outlaw and the apostle union was

natural. Du Serre found in Cavalier a young man of robust nature, active

imagination, and irreproachable courage; he confided to him his hopes of

converting all Languedoc and Vivarais. Cavalier felt himself drawn back

there by many ties, especially by patriotism and love. He crossed the

frontier once more, disguised as a servant, in the suite of a Protestant

gentleman; he arrived one night at Anduze, and immediately directed his

steps to the house of Isabeau.

He was just about to knock, although it was one o’clock in the morning,

when the door was opened from within, and a handsome young man came out,

who took tender leave of a woman on the threshold. The handsome young

man was the Marquis de Florac; the woman was Isabeau. The promised wife

of the peasant had become the mistress of the noble.

Our hero was not the man to suffer such an outrage quietly. He walked

straight up to the marquis and stood right in his way. The marquis tried

to push him aside with his elbow, but Jean Cavalier, letting fall the

cloak in which he was wrapped, drew his sword. The marquis was brave,

and did not stop to inquire if he who attacked him was his equal or not.

Sword answered sword, the blades crossed, and at the end of a few

instants the marquis fell, Jean’s sword piercing his chest.

Cavalier felt sure that he was dead, for he lay at his feet motionless.

He knew he had no time to lose, for he had no mercy to hope for. He

replaced his bloody sword in the scabbard, and made for the open

country; from the open country he hurried into the mountains, and at

break of day he was in safety.

The fugitive remained the whole day in an isolated farmhouse whose

inmates offered him hospitality. As he very soon felt that he was in the

house of a co-religionist, he confided to his host the circumstances in

which he found himself, and asked where he could meet with an organised

band in which he could enrol himself in order to fight for the

propagation of the Reformed religion. The farmer mentioned Generac as

being a place in which he would probably find a hundred or so of the

brethren gathered together. Cavalier set out the same evening for this

village, and arrived in the middle of the Camisards at the very moment

when they had just caught sight of M. de Broglie and his troops in the

distance. The Calvinists happening to have no leader, Cavalier with

governing faculty which some men possess by nature, placed himself at

their head and took those measures for the reception of the royal forces

of which we have seen the result, so that after the victory to which his

head and arm had contributed so much he was confirmed in the title which

he had arrogated to himself, by acclamation.

Such was the famous Jean Cavalier when the Royalists first learned of

his existence, through the repulse of their bravest troops and the death

of their most intrepid captain.

The news of this victory soon spread through the Cevennes, and fresh

conflagrations lit up the mountains in sign of joy. The beacons were

formed of the chateau de la Bastide, the residence of the Marquis de

Chambonnas, the church of Samson, and the village of Grouppieres, where

of eighty houses only seven were left standing.

Thereupon M. de Julien wrote to the king, explaining the serious turn

things had taken, and telling him that it was no longer a few fanatics

wandering through the mountains and flying at the sight of a dragoon

whom they had to put down, but organised companies well led and

officered, which if united would form an army twelve to fifteen hundred

strong. The king replied by sending M. le Comte de Montrevel to Nimes.

He was the son of the Marechal de Montrevel, chevalier of the Order of

the Holy Spirit, major-general, lieutenant of the king in Bresse and

Charolais, and captain of a hundred men-at-arms.

In their struggle against shepherds, keepers, and peasants, M. de

Brogue, M. de Julien, and M. de Baville were thus joined together with

the head of the house of Beaune, which had already at this epoch

produced two cardinals, three archbishops, two bishops, a viceroy of

Naples, several marshals of France, and many governors of Savoy,

Dauphine, and Bresse.

He was followed by twenty pieces of ordnance, five thousand bullets,

four thousand muskets, and fifty thousand pounds of powder, all of which

was carried down the river Rhone, while six hundred of the skilful

mountain marksmen called ’miquelets’ from Roussillon came down into

Languedoc.

M. de Montrevel was the bearer of terrible orders. Louis XIV was

determined, no matter what it cost, to root out heresy, and set

about this work as if his eternal salvation depended on it. As soon

as M. de Baville had read these orders, he published the following

proclamation:

"The king having been informed that certain people without religion

bearing arms have been guilty of violence, burning down churches and

killing priests, His Majesty hereby commands all his subjects to hunt

these people down, and that those who are taken with arms in their hands

or found amongst their bands, be punished with death without any trial

whatever, that their houses be razed to the ground and their goods

confiscated, and that all buildings in which assemblies of these people

have been held, be demolished. The king further forbids fathers,

mothers, brothers, sisters, and other relations of the fanatics, or of

other rebels, to give them refuge, food, stores, ammunition, or other

assistance of any kind, under any pretext whatever, either directly or

indirectly, on pain of being reputed accessory to the rebellion, and he

commands the Sieur de Baville and whatever officers he may choose to

prosecute such and pronounce sentence of death on them. Furthermore, His

Majesty commands that all the inhabitants of Languedoc who may be absent

at the date of the issue of this proclamation, return home within a

week, unless their absence be caused by legitimate business, in which

case they shall declare the same to the commandant, the Sieur de

Montrevel, or to the intendant, the Sieur de Baville, and also to the

mayors and consuls of the places where they may be, receiving from the

latter certificates that there is a sufficient reason for their delay,

which certificates they shall forward to the above-mentioned commandant

or intendant. And His Majesty furthermore commands the said commandant

and intendant to admit no foreigner or inhabitant of any other province

into Languedoc for commercial purposes or for any other reason

whatsoever, unless provided with certificates from the commandants or

intendants of the provinces whence they come, or from the judges of the

royal courts in the places whence they come, or from the nearest place

containing such courts. Foreigners must be provided with passports from

the ambassadors or ministers of the king accredited to the countries to

which they belong, or from the commandants or intendants of the

provinces, or from the judges of the royal courts of the places in which

they may be at the date of this proclamation. Furthermore, it is His

Majesty’s will that those who are found in the, aforesaid province of

Languedoc without such certificates be regarded as fanatics and rebels,

and that they be prosecuted as such, and punished with death, and that

they be brought for this purpose before the aforesaid Sieur de Baville

or the officers whom he may choose.

"(Signed) "(Countersigned) "LOUIS PHILIPPEAU

"Given at Versailles the 25th day, of the month of February 1703."

M. de Montrevel obeyed this proclamation to the letter. For instance,

one day—the 1st of April 1703—as he was seated at dinner it was

reported to him that about one hundred and fifty Reformers were

assembled in a mill at Carmes, outside Nimes, singing psalms.

Although he was told at the same time that the gathering was

composed entirely of old people and children, he was none the less

furious, and rising from the table, gave orders that the call to

horse should be sounded. Putting himself at the head of his

dragoons, he advanced on the mill, and before the Huguenots knew

that they were about to be attacked they were surrounded on every

side. It was no combat which ensued, for the Huguenots were

incapable of resistance, it was simply a massacre; a certain number

of the dragoons entered the mill sword in hand, stabbing all whom

they could reach, whilst the rest of the force stationed outside

before the windows received those who jumped out on the points of

their swords. But soon this butchery tired the butchers, and to get

over the business more quickly, the marshal, who was anxious to

return to his dinner, gave orders that the mill should be set on

fire. This being done, the dragoons, the marshal still at their

head, no longer exerted themselves so violently, but were satisfied

with pushing back into the flames the few unfortunates who,

scorched and burnt, rushed out, begging only for a less cruel

death.

Only one victim escaped. A beautiful young girl of sixteen was saved by

the marshal’s valet: both were taken and condemned to death; the young

girl was hanged, and the valet was on the point of being executed when

some Sisters of Mercy from the town threw themselves at the marshal’s

feet end begged for his life: after long supplication, he granted their

prayer, but he banished the valet not only from his service, but from

Nimes.

The very same evening at supper word was brought to the marshal that

another gathering had been discovered in a garden near the still smoking

mill. The indefatigable marshal again rose from table, and taking with

him his faithful dragoons, surrounded the garden, and caught and shot on

the spot all those who were assembled in it. The next day it turned out

that he had made a mistake: those whom he had shot were Catholics who

had gathered together to rejoice over the execution of the Calvinists.

It is true that they had assured the marshal that they were Catholics,

but he had refused to listen to them. Let us, however, hasten to assure

the reader that this mistake caused no further annoyance to the marshal,

except that he received a paternal remonstrance from the Bishop of

Nimes, begging him in future not to confound the sheep with the wolves.

In requital of these bloody deeds, Cavalier took the chateau of Serras,

occupied the town of Sauve, formed a company of horse, and advancing to

Nimes, took forcible possession of sufficient ammunition for his

purposes. Lastly, he did something which in the eyes of the courtiers

seemed the most incredible thing of all, he actually wrote a long letter

to Louis XIV himself. This letter was dated from the "Desert, Cevennes,"

and signed "Cavalier, commander of the troops sent by God"; its purpose

was to prove by numerous passages from Holy Writ that Cavalier and his

comrades had been led to revolt solely from a sense of duty, feeling

that liberty of conscience was their right; and it dilated on the

subject of the persecutions under which Protestants had suffered, and

asserted that it was the infamous measures put in force against them

which had driven them to take up arms, which they were ready to lay down

if His Majesty would grant them that liberty in matters of religion

which they sought and if he would liberate all who were in prison for

their faith. If this were accorded, he assured the king His Majesty

would have no more faithful subjects than themselves, and would

henceforth be ready to shed their last drop of blood in his service, and

wound up by saying that if their just demands were refused they would

obey God rather than the king, and would defend their religion to their

last breath.

Roland, who, whether in mockery or pride, began now to call himself

"Comte Roland," did not lag behind his young brother either as warrior

or correspondent. He had entered the town of Ganges, where a wonderful

reception awaited him; but not feeling sure that he would be equally

well received at St. Germain and St. Andre, he had written the following

letters:—

"Gentlemen and officers of the king’s forces, and citizens of St.

Germain, make ready to receive seven hundred troops who have vowed to

set Babylon on fire; the seminary and the houses of MM. de Fabregue, de

Sarrasin, de Moles, de La Rouviere, de Musse, and de Solier, will be

burnt to the ground. God, by His Holy Spirit, has inspired my brother

Cavalier and me with the purpose of entering your town in a few days;

however strongly you fortify yourselves, the children of God will bear

away the victory. If ye doubt this, come in your numbers, ye soldiers of

St. Etienne, Barre, and Florac, to the field of Domergue; we shall be

there to meet you. Come, ye hypocrites, if your hearts fail not. "COMTE

ROLAND."

The second letter was no less violent. It was as follows:—

"We, Comte Roland, general of the Protestant troops of France assembled

in the Cevennes in Languedoc, enjoin on the inhabitants of the town of

St. Andre of Valborgne to give proper notice to all priests and

missionaries within it, that we forbid them to say mass or to preach in

the afore-mentioned town, and that if they will avoid being burnt alive

with their adherents in their churches and houses, they are to withdraw

to some other place within three days. "COMTE ROLAND."

Unfortunately for the cause of the king, though the rebels met with some

resistance in the villages of the plain, such as St. Germain and St.

Andre, it was otherwise with those situated in the mountains; in those,

when beaten, the Protestants found cover, when victorious rest; so that

M. de Montrevel becoming aware that while these villages existed heresy

would never be extirpated, issued the following ordinance:—

"We, governor for His most Christian Majesty in the provinces of

Languedoc and Vivarais, do hereby make known that it has pleased the

king to command us to reduce all the places and parishes hereinafter

named to such a condition that they can afford no assistance to the

rebel troops; no inhabitants will therefore be allowed to remain in

them. His Majesty, however, desiring to provide for the subsistence of

the afore-mentioned inhabitants, orders them to conform to the following

regulations. He enjoins on the afore-mentioned inhabitants of the

hereinafter-mentioned parishes to repair instantly to the places

hereinafter appointed, with their furniture, cattle, and in general all

their movable effects, declaring that in case of disobedience their

effects will be confiscated and taken away by the troops employed to

demolish their houses. And it is hereby forbidden to any other commune

to receive such rebels, under pain of having their houses also razed to

the ground and their goods confiscated, and furthermore being regarded

and treated as rebels to the commands of His Majesty."

To this proclamation were appended the following instructions:—

"I. The officers who may be appointed to perform the above task shall

first of all make themselves acquainted with the position of the

parishes and villages which are to be destroyed and depopulated, in

order to an effective disposition of the troops, who are to guard the

militia engaged in the work of destruction.

"II. The attention of the officers is called to the following:—When two

or more villages or hamlets are so near together that they may be

protected at the same time by the same troops, then in order to save

time the work is to be carried on simultaneously in such villages or

hamlets.

"III. When inhabitants are found still remaining in any of the

proscribed places, they are to be brought together, and a list made of

them, as well as an inventory taken of their stock and corn.

"IV. Those inhabitants who are of the most consequence among them shall

be selected to guide the others to the places assigned.

"V. With regard to the live stock, the persons who may be found in

charge of it shall drive it to the appointed place, save and except

mules and asses, which shall be employed in the transport of corn to

whatever places it may be needed in. Nevertheless, asses may be given to

the very old, and to women with child who may be unable to walk.

"VI. A regular distribution of the militia is to be made, so that each

house to be destroyed may have a sufficient number, for the task; the

foundations of such houses may be undermined or any other method

employed which may be most convenient; and if the house can be destroyed

by no other means, it is to be set on fire.

"VII. No damage is to be done to the houses of former Catholics until

further notice, and to ensure the carrying out of this order a guard is

to be placed in them, and an inventory of their contents taken and sent

to Marechal de Montrevel.

"VIII. The order forbidding the inhabitants to return to their houses is

to be read to the inhabitants of each village; but if any do return they

shall not be harmed, but simply driven away with threats; for the king

does not desire that blood be shed; and the said order shall be affixed

to a wall or tree in each village.

"IX. Where no inhabitants are found, the said order shall simply be

affixed as above-mentioned in each place.

"(Signed) "MARECHAL DE MONTREVEL"

Under these instructions the list of the villages to be destroyed was

given. It was as follows:

18 in the parish of Frugeres,

5 " " Fressinet−de−Lozere,

4 " " Grizac,

15 " " Castagnols,

11 " " Vialas,

6 " " Saint−Julien,

8 " " Saint−Maurice de Vantalon,

14 " " Frezal de Vantalon,

7 " " Saint−Hilaire de Laret,

6 " " Saint−Andeol de Clergues,

28 " " Saint−Privat de Vallongues,

10 " " Saint−Andre de Lancise,

19 " " Saint−Germain de Calberte,

26 " " Saint−Etienne de Valfrancesque,

9 " " parishes of Prunet and Montvaillant,

16 " " parish of Florac.

—−

202

A second list was promised, and was shortly afterwards published: it

included the parishes of Frugeres, Pompidon, Saint-Martin, Lansuscle,

Saint-Laurent, Treves, Vebron, Ronnes, Barre, Montluzon, Bousquet, La

Barthes, Balme, Saint-Julien d’Aspaon Cassagnas, Sainte-Croix de

Valfrancesque, Cabriac, Moissac, Saint-Roman, Saint Martin de Robaux, La

Melouse, le Collet de Deze, Saint-Michel de Deze, and the villages of

Salieges, Rampon, Ruas, Chavrieres, Tourgueselle, Ginestous, Fressinet,

Fourques, Malbos, Jousanel, Campis, Campredon, Lous-Aubrez, La Croix de

Fer, Le Cap de Coste, Marquayres, Le Cazairal, and Le Poujal.

In all, 466 market towns, hamlets, and villages, with 19,500

inhabitants, were included.

All these preparations made Marechal de Montrevel set out for Aix,

September 26th, 1703, in order that the work might be carried out under

his personal supervision. He was accompanied by MM. de Vergetot and de

Marsilly, colonels of infantry, two battalions of the Royal-Comtois, two

of the Soissonnais infantry, the Languedoc regiment of dragoons, and two

hundred dragoons from the Fimarcon regiment. M. de Julien, on his side,

set out for the Pont-de-Montvert at the same time with two battalions

from Hainault, accompanied by the Marquis of Canillac, colonel of

infantry, who brought two battalions of his own regiment, which was

stationed in Rouergue, with him, and Comte de Payre, who brought

fifty-five companies of militia from Gevaudan, and followed by a number

of mules loaded with crowbars, axes, and other iron instruments

necessary for pulling down houses.

The approach of all these troops following close on the terrible

proclamations we have given above, produced exactly the contrary effect

to that intended. The inhabitants of the proscribed districts were

convinced that the order to gather together in certain places was given

that they might be conveniently massacred together, so that all those

capable of bearing arms went deeper into the mountains, and joined the

forces of Cavalier and Roland, thus reinforcing them to the number of

fifteen hundred men. Also hardly had M. de Julien set his hand to the

work than he received information from M. de Montrevel, who had heard

the news through a letter from Flechier, that while the royal troops

were busy in the mountains the Camisards had come down into the plain,

swarmed over La Camargue, and had been seen in the neighbourhood of

Saint-Gilles. At the same time word was sent him that two ships had been

seen in the offing, from Cette, and that it was more than probable that

they contained troops, that England and Holland were sending to help the

Camisards.

M. de Montrevel; leaving the further conduct of the expedition to MM.

de Julien and de Canillac, hastened to Cette with eight hundred men

and ten guns. The ships were still in sight, and were really, as

had been surmised, two vessels which had been detached from the

combined fleets of England and Holland by Admiral Schowel, and were

the bearers of money, arms, and ammunition to the Huguenots. They

continued to cruise about and signal, but as the rebels were forced

by the presence of M. de Montrevel to keep away from the coast, and

could therefore make no answer, they put off at length into the

open, and rejoined the fleet. As M. de Montrevel feared that their

retreat might be a feint, he ordered all the fishermen’s huts from

Aigues-Morte to Saint-Gilles to be destroyed, lest they should

afford shelter to the Camisards. At the same time he carried off

the inhabitants of the district of Guillan and shut them up in the

chateau of Sommerez, after having demolished their villages.

Lastly, he ordered all those who lived in homesteads, farms, or

hamlets, to quit them and go to some large town, taking with them

all the provisions they were possessed of; and he forbade any

workman who went outside the town to work to take more than one

day’s provisions with him.

These measures had the desired effect, but they were terrible in their

results; they deprived the Camisards of shelter indeed, but they ruined

the province. M. de Baville, despite his well-known severity tried

remonstrances, but they were taken in bad part by M. de Montrevel, who

told the intendant to mind his own business, which was confined to civil

matters, and to leave military matters in his, M. de Montrevel’s, hands;

whereupon the commandant joined M. de Julien, who was carrying on the

work of destruction with indefatigable vigour.

In spite of all the enthusiasm with which M. de Julien went to work to

accomplish his mission, and being a new convert, it was, of course, very

great. Material hindrances hampered him at every step. Almost all the

doomed houses were built on vaulted foundations, and were therefore

difficult to lay low; the distance of one house from another, too, their

almost inaccessible position, either on the peak of a high mountain or

in the bottom of a rocky valley, or buried in the depths of the forest

which hid them like a veil, made the difficulty still greater; whole

days were often lost by the workmen and militia in searching for the

dwellings they came to destroy.

The immense size of the parishes also caused delay: that of

Saint-Germain de Calberte, for instance, was nine leagues in

circumference, and contained a hundred and eleven hamlets, inhabited by

two hundred and seventy-five families, of which only nine were Catholic;

that of Saint-Etienne de Valfrancesque was of still greater extent, and

its population was a third larger, so that obstacles to the work

multiplied in a remarkable manner. For the first few days the soldiers

and workmen found food in and around the villages, but this was soon at

an end, and as they could hardly expect the peasants to keep up the

supply, and the provisions they had brought with them being also

exhausted, they were soon reduced to biscuit and water; and they were

not even able to make it into a warm mess by heating the water, as they

had no vessels; moreover, when their hard day’s work was at an end, they

had but a handful of straw on which to lie. These privations, added to

their hard and laborious life, brought on an endemic fever, which

incapacitated for work many soldiers and labourers, numbers of whom had

to be dismissed. Very soon the unfortunate men, who were almost as much

to be pitied as those whom they were persecuting, waited no longer to be

sent away, but deserted in numbers.

M. de Julien soon saw that all his efforts would end in failure if he

could not gain the king’s consent to a slight change in the

original plan. He therefore wrote to Versailles, and represented to

the king how long the work would take if the means employed were

only iron tools and the human hand, instead of fire, the only true

instrument employed by Heaven in its vengeance. He quoted in

support of his petition the case of Sodom and Gomorrah—those cities

accursed of the Lord. Louis XIV, impressed by the truth of this

comparison, sent him back a messenger post-haste authorising him to

employ the suggested means.

"At once," says Pere Louvreloeil, "the storm burst, and soon of all the

happy homesteads nothing was left: the hamlets, with their barns and

outhouses, the isolated farmhouses, the single huts and cottages, every

species of building in short, disappeared before the swift advancing

flames as wild flowers, weeds, and roots fall before the ploughshare."

This destruction was accompanied by horrible cruelty. For instance,

twenty-five inhabitants of a certain village took refuge in a chateau;

the number consisted of children and very old people, and they were all

that was left of the entire population. Palmerolle, in command of the

miquelets, hearing of this, hastened thither, seized the first eight he

could lay hold of, and shot them on the spot, "to teach them," as he

says in his report, "not to choose a shelter which was not on the list

of those permitted to them."

The Catholics also of St. Florent, Senechas, Rousson, and other

parishes, becoming excited at seeing the flames which enveloped the

houses of their old enemies, joined together, and arming themselves with

everything that could be made to serve as an instrument of death, set

out to hunt the conscripts down; they carried off the flocks of Perolat,

Fontareche, and Pajolas, burned down a dozen houses at the

Collet-de-Deze, and from there went to the village of Brenoux, drunk

with the lust of destruction. There they massacred fifty-two persons,

among them mothers with unborn children; and with these babes, which

they tore from them, impaled on their pikes and halberts, they continued

their march towards the villages of St. Denis and Castagnols.

Very soon these volunteers organised themselves into companies, and

became known under the name of Cadets de la Croix, from a small white

cross which they wore on their coats; so the poor Huguenots had a new

species of enemy to contend with, much more bloodthirsty than the

dragoons and the miquelets; for while these latter simply obeyed orders

from Versailles, Nimes, or Montpellier, the former gratified a personal

hate—a hate which had come down to them from their fathers, and which

they would pass on to their children.

On the other hand, the young Huguenot leader, who every day gained more

influence over his soldiers, tried to make the dragoons and Cadets de la

Croix suffer in return everything they inflicted on the Huguenots,

except the murders. In the night from the 2nd to the 3rd October, about

ten o’clock, he came down into the plain and attacked Sommieres from two

different points, setting fire to the houses. The inhabitants seizing

their arms, made a sortie, but Cavalier charged them at the head of the

Cavalry and forced them to retreat. Thereupon the governor, whose

garrison was too small to leave the shelter of the walls, turned his

guns on them and fired, less in the hope of inflicting injury on them

than in that of being heard by the neighbouring garrisons.

The Camisards recognising this danger, retired, but not before they had

burnt down the hotels of the Cheval-Blanc, the Croix-d’Or, the

Grand-Louis, and the Luxembourg, as well as a great number of other

houses, and the church and the presbytery of Saint-Amand.

Thence the Camisards proceeded to Cayla and Vauvert, into which they

entered, destroying the fortifications. There they provided themselves

abundantly with provisions for man and beast. In Vauvert, which was

almost entirely inhabited by his co-religionists, Cavalier assembled the

inhabitants in the market-place, and made them join with him in prayer

to God, that He would prevent the king from following evil counsel; he

also exhorted his brethren to be ready to sacrifice their goods and

their lives for the re-establishment of their religion, affirming that

the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that the arm of the Lord, which had

always come to their aid, was still stretched out over them.

Cavalier undertook these movements in the hope of interrupting the work

of destruction going on in Upper Cevennes; and partly obtained the

desired result; for M. de Julien received orders to come down into the

open country and disperse the Camisards.

The troops tried to fulfil this task, but, thanks to the knowledge that

the rebels had of the country, it was impossible to come up with them,

so that Fleshier, who was in the thick of the executions,

conflagrations, and massacres, but who still found time to write Latin

verse and gallant letters, said, in speaking of them, "They were never

caught, and did all the damage they wished to do without let or

hindrance. We laid their mountains waste, and they laid waste our plain.

There are no more churches left in our dioceses, and not being able

either to plough or sow our lands, we have no revenues. We dread serious

revolt, and desire to avoid a religious civil war; so all our efforts

are relaxing, we let our arms fall without knowing why, and we are told,

’You must have patience; it is not possible to fight against phantoms.’"

Nevertheless, from time to time, these phantoms became visible. Towards

the end of October, Cavalier came down to Uzes, carried off two

sentinels who were guarding the gates, and hearing the call to arms

within, shouted that he would await the governor of the city, M. de

Vergetot, near Lussan.

And indeed Cavalier, accompanied by his two lieutenants, Ravanel and

Catinat, took his way towards this little town, between Uzes and

Bargeac, which stands upon an eminence surrounded upon all sides by

cliffs, which serve it as ramparts and render it very difficult of

access. Having arrived within three gun-shots of Lussan, Cavalier sent

Ravanel to demand provisions from the inhabitants; but they, proud of

their natural ramparts, and believing their town impregnable, not only

refused to comply with the requisition, but fired several shots on the

envoy, one of which wounded in the arm a Camisard of the name of La

Grandeur, who had accompanied Ravanel. Ravanel withdrew, supporting his

wounded comrade, followed by shots and the hootings of the inhabitants.

When they rejoined Cavalier and made their report, the young commander

issued orders to his soldiers to make ready to take the town the next

morning; for, as night was already falling, he did not venture to start

in the dark. In the meantime the besieged sent post-haste to M. de

Vergetot to warn him of their situation; and resolving to defend

themselves as long as they could, while waiting for a response to their

message they set about barricading their gates, turned their scythes

into weapons, fastened large hooks on long poles, and collected all the

instruments they could find that could be used in attack or defence. As

to the Camisards, they encamped for the night near an old chateau called

Fan, about a gun-shot from Lussan.

At break of day loud shouts from the town told the Camisards that the

expected relief was in sight, and looking out they saw in the distance a

troop of soldiers advancing towards them; it was M. de Vergetat at the

head of his regiment, accompanied by forty Irish officers.

The Protestants prepared themselves, as usual, by reciting psalms and

prayers, notice without taking of the shouts and threats of any of the

townspeople, and having finished their invocations, they marched out to

meet the approaching column. The cavalry, commanded by Catinat, made a

detour, taking a sheltered way to an unguarded bridge over a small river

not far off, so as to outflank the royal forces, which they were to

attack in the rear as soon as Cavalier and Ravanel should have engaged

them in front.

M. de Vergetot, on his side, continued to advance, so that the

Calvinists and the Catholics were soon face to face. The battle

began on both sides by a volley; but Cavalier having seen his

cavalry emerging from a neighbouring wood, and counting upon their

assistance, charged the enemy at the double quick. Catinat judging

by the noise of the firing that his presence was necessary, charged

also at a gallop, falling on the flank of the Catholics.

In this charge, one of M. de Vergetot’s captains was killed by a bullet,

and the other by a sabre-cut, and the grenadiers falling into disorder,

first lost ground and then fled, pursued by Catinat and his horsemen,

who, seizing them by the hair, despatched them with their swords. Having

tried in vain to rally his men, M. de Vergetot, surrounded by a few

Irish, was forced in his turn to fly; he was hotly pursued, and on the

point of being taken, when by good luck he reached the height of Gamene,

with its walls of rock. Jumping off his horse, he entered the narrow

pathway which led to the top, and entrenched himself with about a

hundred men in this natural fort. Cavalier perceiving that further

pursuit would be dangerous, resolved to rest satisfied with his victory;

as he knew by his own experience that neither men nor horses had eaten

for eighteen hours, he gave the signal for retreat, and retired on

Seyne, where he hoped to find provisions.

This defeat mortified the royal forces very deeply, and they resolved to

take their revenge. Having learnt by their spies that on a certain night

in November Cavalier and his band intended to sleep on a mountain called

Nages, they surrounded the mountain during the night, so that at dawn

Cavalier found himself shut in on every side. As he wished to see with

his own eyes if the investment was complete, he ordered his troops to

fall into rank on the top of the mountain, giving the command to Ravanel

and Catinat, and with a pair of pistols in his belt and his carbine on

his shoulder, he glided from bush to bush and rock to rock, determined,

if any weak spot existed, to discover it; but the information he had

received was perfectly correct, every issue was guarded.

Cavalier now set off to rejoin his troops, passing through a ravine, but

he had hardly taken thirty steps when he found himself confronted by a

cornet and two dragoons who were lying in ambush. There was no time to

run away, and indeed such a thought never entered the young commander’s

head; he walked straight up to them. On their side, the dragoons

advanced towards him, and the cornet covering him with his pistol,

called out, "Halt! you are Cavalier; I know you. It is not possible for

you to escape; surrender at discretion." Cavalier’s answer was to blow

out the cornet’s brains with a shot from his carbine, then throwing it

behind him as of no further use, he drew his two pistols from his belt,

walked up to the two dragoons, shot them both dead, and rejoined his

comrades unwounded. These, who had believed him lost, welcomed him with

cheers.

But Cavalier had something else to do than to celebrate his return;

mounting his horse, he put himself at the head of his men, and fell upon

the royal troops with such impetuosity that they gave way at the first

onset. Then a strange incident occurred. About thirty women who had come

to the camp with provisions, carried away by their enthusiasm at the

sight of this success, threw themselves upon the enemy, fighting like

men. One young girl of about seventeen, Lucrese Guigon by name,

distinguished herself amongst the others by her great valour. Not

content with encouraging her brethren by the cry of "The sword of the

Lord and of Gideon!" she tore sabres from the hands of the dead dragoons

to despatch the dying. Catinat, followed by ten of his men, pursued the

flying troops as far as the plain of Calvisson. There they were able to

rally, thanks to the advance of the garrison to meet them.

Eighty dragoons lay dead on the field of battle, while Cavalier had only

lost five men.

As we shall see, Cavalier was not only a brave soldier and a skilful

captain, but also a just judge. A few days after the deed of arms which

we have just related, he learned that a horrible murder had been

committed by four Camisards, who had then retired into the forest of

Bouquet. He sent a detachment of twenty men with orders to arrest the

murderers and bring them before him. The following are the details of

the crime:

The daughter of Baron Meyrargues, who was not long married to a

gentleman named M. de Miraman, had set out on the 29th November for

Ambroix to join her husband, who was waiting for her there. She was

encouraged to do this by her coachman, who had often met with Camisards

in the neighbourhood, and although a Catholic, had never received any

harm from them. She occupied her own carriage, and was accompanied by a

maid, a nurse, a footman, and the coachman who had persuaded her to

undertake the journey. Two-thirds of the way already lay safely behind

them, when between Lussan and Vaudras she was stopped by four, men, who

made her get out of her carriage and accompany them into the

neighbouring forest. The account of what then happened is taken from the

deposition of the maid. We copy it word for word:

"These wretches having forced us," says she, "to walk into the forest

till we were at some distance from the high road, my poor mistress grew

so tired that she begged the man who walked beside her to allow her to

lean on his shoulder. He looking round and seeing that they had reached

a lonely spot, replied, ’We need hardly go any farther,’ and made us sit

dawn on a plot of grass which was to be the scene of our martyrdom. My

poor mistress began to plead with the barbarians in the most touching

manner, and so sweetly that she would have softened the heart of a

demon. She offered them her purse, her gold waistband, and a fine

diamond which she drew from her finger; but nothing could move these

tigers, and one of them said, ’I am going to kill all the Catholics at

once, and shall begin with you.’ ’What will you gain by my death?’

asked my mistress. ’Spare my life.’—’No; shut up!’ replied he. ’You

shall die by my hand. Say your prayers.’ My good mistress threw herself

at once on her knees and prayed aloud that God would show mercy to her

and to her murderers, and while she was thus praying she received a

pistol-shot in her left breast, and fell; a second assassin cut her

across the face with his sword, and a third dropped a large stone on her

head, while the fourth killed the nurse with a shot from his pistol.

Whether it was that they had no more loaded firearms, or that they

wished to save their ammunition, they were satisfied with only giving me

several bayonet wounds. I pretended to be dead: they thought it was

really the case, and went away. Some time after, seeing that everything

had become quiet, and hearing no sound, I dragged myself, dying as I

was, to where my dear mistress lay, and called her. As it happened, she

was not quite dead, and she said in a faint voice, ’Stay with me, Suzon,

till I die.’ She added, after a short pause, for she was hardly able to

speak, ’I die for my religion, and I hope that God will have pity on me.

Tell my husband that I confide our little one to his care.’ Having said

this, she turned her thoughts from the world, praying to God in broken

and tender words, and drew her last breath as the night fell."

In obedience to Cavalier’s orders, the four criminals were taken and

brought before him. He was then with his troops near Saint-Maurice de

Casevielle; he called a council of war, and having had the prisoners

tried for their atrocious deed, he summed up the evidence in as clear a

manner as any lawyer could have done, and called upon the judges to

pronounce sentence. All the judges agreed that the prisoners should be

put to death, but just as the sentence was made known one of the

assassins pushed aside the two men who guarded him, and jumping down a

rock, disappeared in the forest before any attempt could be made to stop

him. The three others were shot.

The Catholics also condemned many to be executed, but the trials

conducted by them were far from being as remarkable for honour and

justice as was that which we have just described. We may instance the

trial of a poor boy of fourteen, the son of a miller of Saint-Christol

who had been broken the wheel just a month before. For a moment the

judges hesitated to condemn so young a boy to death, but a witness

presented himself who testified that the little fellow was employed by

the fanatics to strangle Catholic children. Although no one believed the

evidence, yet it was seized-on as a pretext: the unfortunate boy was

condemned to death, and hanged without mercy an hour later.

A great many people from the parishes devastated by M. de Julien had

taken refuge in Aussilargues, in the parish of St. Andre. Driven by

hunger and misery, they went beyond the prescribed limits in search of

means of subsistence. Planque hearing of this, in his burning zeal for

the Catholic faith resolved not to leave such a crime unpunished. He

despatched a detachment of soldiers to arrest the culprits: the task was

easy, for they were all once more inside the barrier and in their beds.

They were seized, brought to St. Andre’s Church and shut in; then,

without trial of any kind,—they were taken, five at a time, and

massacred: some were shot and some cut down with sword or axe; all were

killed without exception—old and young women and children. One of the

latter, who had received three shots was still able to raise his head

and cry, "Where is father? Why doesn’t he come and take me away."

Four men and a young girl who had taken refuge in the town of Lasalle,

one of the places granted to the houseless villagers as an asylum, asked

and received formal permission from the captain of the Soissonais

regiment, by name Laplace, to go home on important private business, on

condition that they returned the same night. They promised, and in the

intention of keeping this promise they all met on their way back at a

small farmhouse. Just as they reached it a terrible storm came on. The

men were for continuing their way in spite of the weather, but the young

girl besought them to wait till daylight, as she did not dare to venture

out in the dark during such a storm, and would die of fright if left

alone at the farm. The men, ashamed to desert their companion, who was

related to one of them, yielded to her entreaties and remained, hoping

that the storm would be a sufficient excuse for the delay. As soon as it

was light, the five resumed their journey. But the news of their crime

had reached the ears of Laplace before they got back. They were

arrested, and all their excuses were of no avail. Laplace ordered the

men to be taken outside the town and shot. The young girl was condemned

to be hanged; and the sentence was to be carried out that very day, but

some nuns who had been sent for to prepare her for death, having vainly

begged Laplace to show mercy, entreated the girl to declare that she

would soon become a mother. She indignantly refused to save her life at

the cost of her good name, so the nuns took the lie on themselves and

made the necessary declaration before the captain, begging him if he had

no pity for the mother to spare the child at least, by granting a

reprieve till it should be born. The captain was not for a moment

deceived, but he sent for a midwife and ordered her to examine the young

girl. At the end of half an hour she declared that the assertion of the

nuns was true.

"Very well," said the captain: "let them both be kept in prison for

three months; if by the end of that time the truth of this assertion is

not self-evident, both shall be hanged." When this decision was made

known to the poor woman, she was overcome by fear, and asked to see the,

captain again, to whom she confessed that, led away by the entreaties of

the nuns, she had told a lie.

Upon this, the woman was sentenced to be publicly whipped, and the young

girl hanged on a gibbet round which were placed the corpses of the four

men of whose death she was the cause.

As may easily be supposed, the "Cadets of the Cross" vied with both

Catholics and Protestants in the work of destruction. One of their bands

devoted itself to destroying everything belonging to the new converts

from Beaucaire to Nimes. They killed a woman and two children at

Campuget, an old man of eighty at a farm near Bouillargues, several

persons at Cicure, a young girl at Caissargues, a gardener at Nimes, and

many other persons, besides carrying off all the flocks, furniture, and

other property they could lay hands on, and burning down the farmhouses

of Clairan, Loubes, Marine, Carlot, Campoget Miraman, La Bergerie, and

Larnac—all near St. Gilies and Manduel. "They stopped travellers on the

highways," says Louvreloeil, "and by way of finding out whether they

were Catholic or not, made them say in Latin the Lord’s Prayer, the Ave

Maria, the Symbol of the Faith, and the General Confession, and those

who were unable to do this were put to the sword. In Dions nine corpses

were found supposed to have been killed by their hands, and when the

body of a shepherd who had been in the service of the Sieur de

Roussiere, a former minister, was found hanging to a tree, no one

doubted who were the murderers. At last they went so far that one of

their bands meeting the Abbe de Saint Gilles on the road, ordered him to

deliver up to them one of his servants, a new convert, in order to put

him to death. It was in vain that the abbe remonstrated with them,

telling them it was a shame to put such an affront on a man of his birth

and rank; they persisted none the less in their determination, till at

last the abbe threw his arms round his servant and presented his own

body to the blows directed at the other."

The author of The Troubles in the Cevennes relates something surpassing

all this which took place at Montelus on the 22nd February "There were a

few Protestants in the place," he says, "but they were far outnumbered

by the Catholics; these being roused by a Capuchin from Bergerac, formed

themselves into a body of ’Cadets of the Cross,’ and hastened to serve

their apprenticeship to the work of assassination at the cost of their

countrymen. They therefore entered the house of one Jean Bernoin, cut

off his ears and further mutilated him, and then bled him to death like

a pig. On coming out of this house they met Jacques Clas, and shot him

in the abdomen, so that his intestines obtruded; pushing them back, he

reached his house in a terrible condition, to the great alarm of his

wife, who was near her confinement, and her children, who hastened to

the help of husband and father. But the murderers appeared on the

threshold, and, unmoved by the cries and tears of the unfortunate wife

and the poor little children, they finished the wounded man, and as the

wife made an effort to prevent them, they murdered her also, treating

her dead body, when they discovered her condition, in a manner too

revolting for description; while a neighbour, called Marie Silliot, who

tried to rescue the children, was shot dead; but in her case they did

not pursue their vengeance any further. They then went into the open

country and meeting Pierre and Jean Bernard, uncle and nephew, one aged

forty-five and the other ten, seized on them both, and putting a pistol

into the hands of the child, forced him to shoot his uncle. In the

meantime the boy’s father had come up, and him they tried to constrain

to shoot his son; but finding that no threats had any effect, they ended

by killing both, one by the sword, the other by the bayonet.

"The reason why they put an end to father and son so quickly was that

they had noticed three young girls of Bagnols going towards a grove of

mulberry trees, where they were raising silk-worms. The men followed

them, and as it was broad daylight and the girls were therefore not

afraid, they soon came up with them. Having first violated them, they

hung them by the feet to a tree, and put them to death in a horrible

manner."

All this took place in the reign of Louis the Great, and for the greater

glory of the Catholic religion.

History has preserved the names of the five wretches who perpetrated

these crimes: they were Pierre Vigneau, Antoine Rey, Jean d’Hugon,

Guillaume, and Gontanille.

CHAPTER III

Such crimes, of which we have only described a few, inspired horror in

the breasts of those who were neither maddened by fanaticism nor

devoured by the desire of vengeance. One of these, a Protestant, Baron

d’Aygaliers, without stopping to consider what means he had at his

command or what measures were the best to take to accomplish his object,

resolved to devote his life to the pacification of the Cevennes. The

first thing to be considered was, that if the Camisards were ever

entirely destroyed by means of Catholic troops directed by de Baville,

de Julien, and de Montrevel, the Protestants, and especially the

Protestant nobles who had never borne arms, would be regarded as

cowards, who had been prevented by fear of death or persecution from

openly taking the part of the Huguenots: He was therefore convinced that

the only course to pursue was to get, his co-religionists to put an end

to the struggle themselves, as the one way of pleasing His Majesty and

of showing him how groundless were the suspicions aroused in the minds

of men by the Catholic clergy.

This plan presented, especially to Baron d’Aygaliers, two apparently

insurmountable difficulties, for it could only be carried out by

inducing the king to relax his rigorous measures and by inducing the

Camisards to submit. Now the baron had no connection with the court, and

was not personally acquainted with a single Huguenot chief.

The first thing necessary to enable the baron to begin his efforts was a

passport for Paris, and he felt sure that as he was a Protestant neither

M. de Baville nor M. de Montrevel would give him one. A lucky accident,

however, relieved his embarrassment and strengthened his resolution, for

he thought he saw in this accident the hand of Providence.

Baron d’Aygaliers found one day at the house of a friend a M. de

Paratte, a colonel in the king’s army, and who afterwards became

major-general, but who at the time we are speaking of was commandant at

Uzes. He was of a very impulsive disposition, and so zealous in matters

relating to the Catholic religion and in the service of the king, that

he never could find himself in the presence of a Protestant without

expressing his indignation at those who had taken up arms against their

prince, and also those who without taking up arms encouraged the rebels

in their designs. M. d’Aygaliers understood that an allusion was meant

to himself, and he resolved to take advantage of it.

So the next day he paid a visit to M. de Paratte, and instead of

demanding satisfaction, as the latter quite expected, for the rudeness

of his remarks on the previous day, he professed himself very much

obliged for what he had said, which had made such a deep impression on

him that he had made up his mind to give proof of his zeal and loyalty

by going to Paris and petitioning the king for a position at court. De

Paratte, charmed with what he had heard, and enchanted with his convert,

embraced d’Aygaliers, and gave him, says the chronicler, his blessing;

and with the blessing a passport, and wished him all the success that a

father could wish for his son. D’Aygaliers had now attained his object,

and furnished with the lucky safe-conduct, he set out for Paris, without

having communicated his intentions to anyone, not even to his mother.

On reaching Paris he put up at a friend’s house, and drew up a statement

of his plan: it was very short and very clear.

"The undersigned has the honour to point out humbly to His Majesty:

"That the severities and the persecutions which have been employed by

some of the village priests have caused many people in the country

districts to take up arms, and that the suspicions which new converts

excited have driven a great many of them to join the insurgents. In

taking this step they were also impelled by the desire to avoid

imprisonment or removal from their homes, which were the remedies chosen

to keep them in the old faith. This being the case, he thinks that the

best means of putting an end to this state of things would be to take

measures exactly the contrary of those which produced it, such as

putting an end to the persecutions and permitting a certain number of

those of the Reformed religion to bear arms, that they might go to the

rebels and tell them that far from approving of their actions the

Protestants as a whole wished to bring them back to the right way by

setting them a good example, or to fight against them in order to show

the king and France, at the risk of their lives, that they disapproved

of the conduct of their co-religionists, and that the priests had been

in the wrong in writing to the court that all those of the Reformed

religion were in favour of revolt."

D’Aygaliers hoped that the court would adopt this plan; for if they did,

one of two things must happen: either the Camisards, by refusing to

accept the terms offered to them, would make themselves odious to their

brethren (for d’Aygaliers intended to take with him on his mission of

persuasion only men of high reputation among the Reformers, who would be

repelled by the Camisards if they refused to submit), or else; by laying

down their arms and submitting, they would restore peace to the South of

France, obtain liberty of worship, set free their brethren from the

prisons and galleys, and come to the help of the king in his war against

the allied powers, by supplying him in a moment with a large body of

disciplined troops ready to take the field against his enemies; for not

only would the Camisards, if they were supplied with officers, be

available for this purpose, but also those troops which were at the

moment employed in hunting down the Camisards would be set free for this

important duty.