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Title: The Huguenots in France
Author: Smiles, Samuel, 1812-1904
Language: English
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THE HUGUENOTS IN FRANCE
By Dr. SAMUEL SMILES
Author of "Self Help"
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LIMITED
BROADWAY HOUSE, LUDGATE HILL
MDCCCCIII
LONDON AND COUNTY PRINTING WORKS,
BAZAAR BUILDINGS, LONDON, W.C.
CONTENTS.
THE HUGUENOTS IN FRANCE AFTER THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES........................... 1
II. EFFECTS OF THE REVOCATION--CHURCH IN THE DESERT............ 12
III. CLAUDE BROUSSON, THE HUGUENOT ADVOCATE..................... 30
IV. CLAUDE BROUSSON, PASTOR AND MARTYR......................... 50
V. OUTBREAK IN LANGUEDOC...................................... 75
VI. INSURRECTION OF THE CAMISARDS.............................. 99
VII. EXPLOITS OF CAVALIER...................................... 130
VIII. END OF THE CAMISARD INSURRECTION.......................... 166
IX. GALLEY-SLAVES FOR THE FAITH............................... 190
X. ANTOINE COURT............................................. 205
XI. REORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH IN THE DESERT................ 218
XII. THE CHURCH IN THE DESERT--PAUL RABAUT..................... 235
XIII. END OF THE PERSECUTIONS--THE FRENCH REVOLUTION............ 253
MEMOIRS OF DISTINGUISHED HUGUENOT REFUGEES.
I. STORY OF SAMUEL DE PÉCHELS................................ 285
II. CAPTAIN RAPIN, AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF ENGLAND"......... 316
III. CAPTAIN RIOU, R.N......................................... 368
A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY OF THE VAUDOIS.
I. INTRODUCTORY--EARLY PERSECUTIONS OF THE VAUDOIS........... 383
II. THE VALLEY OF THE ROMANCHE--BRIANÇON...................... 401
III. VAL LOUISE--HISTORY OF FELIX NEFF......................... 420
IV. THE VAUDOIS MOUNTAIN-REFUGE OF DORMILHOUSE................ 437
V. GUILLESTRE AND THE VALLEY OF QUEYRAS...................... 455
VI. THE VALLEY OF THE PELICE -- LA TOUR -- ANGROGNA -- THE
PRA DE TOUR............................................... 472
VII. THE GLORIOUS RETURN: AN EPISODE IN THE HISTORY OF THE
ITALIAN VAUDOIS........................................... 493
MAPS.
PAGE
THE COUNTRY OF THE CEVENNES...................................... 98
"THE COUNTRY OF FELIX NEFF" (Dauphiny).......................... 382
THE VALLEY OF LUSERNE........................................... 472
PREFACE.
In preparing this edition for the press, I have ventured to add three
short memoirs of distinguished Huguenot Refugees and their
descendants.
Though the greatest number of Huguenots banished from France at the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes were merchants and manufacturers,
who transferred their skill and arts to England, which was not then a
manufacturing country; a large number of nobles and gentry emigrated
to this and other countries, leaving their possessions to be
confiscated by the French king.
The greater number of the nobles entered the armies of the countries
in which they took refuge. In Holland, they joined the army of the
Prince of Orange, afterwards William III., King of England. After
driving the armies of Louis XIV. out of Ireland, they met the French
at Ramilies, Blenheim, and Malplacquet, and other battles in the Low
Countries. A Huguenot engineer directed the operations at the siege of
Namur, which ended in its capture. Another conducted the siege of
Lille, which was also taken.
But perhaps the greatest number of Huguenot nobles entered the
Prussian service. Their descendants revisited France on more than one
occasion. They overran the northern and eastern parts of France in
1814 and 1815; and last of all they vanquished the descendants of
their former persecutors at Sedan in 1870. Sedan was, prior to the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the renowned seat of Protestant
learning; while now it is known as the scene of the greatest military
catastrophe which has occurred in modern history.
The Prime Minister of France, M. Jules Simon, not long ago recorded
the fateful effects of Louis XIV.'s religious intolerance. In
discussing the perpetual ecclesiastical questions which still disturb
France, he recalled the fact that not less than eighty of the German
staff in the late war were representatives of Protestant families,
driven from France by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
The first of the appended memoirs is that of Samuel de Péchels, a
noble of Languedoc, who, after enduring great privations, reached
England through Jamaica, and served as a lieutenant in Ireland under
William III. Many of his descendants have been distinguished soldiers
in the service of England. The second is Captain Rapin, who served
faithfully in Ireland, and was called away to be tutor to the young
Duke of Portland. He afterwards spent his time at Wesel on the Rhine,
where he wrote his "History of England." The third is Captain Riou,
"the gallant and the good," who was killed at the battle of
Copenhagen. These memoirs might be multiplied to any extent; but those
given are enough to show the good work which the Huguenots and their
descendants have done in the service of England.
INTRODUCTION.
Six years since, I published a book entitled _The Huguenots: their
Settlements, Churches, and Industries, in England and Ireland_. Its
object was to give an account of the causes which led to the large
migrations of foreign Protestants from Flanders and France into
England, and to describe their effects upon English industry as well
as English history.
It was necessary to give a brief _résumé_ of the history of the
Reformation in France down to the dispersion of the Huguenots, and the
suppression of the Protestant religion by Louis XIV. under the terms
of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Under that Act, the profession of Protestantism was proclaimed to be
illegal, and subject to the severest penalties. Hence, many of the
French Protestants who refused to be "converted," and had the means of
emigrating, were under the necessity of leaving France and
endeavouring to find personal freedom and religious liberty elsewhere.
The refugees found protection in various countries. The principal
portion of the emigrants from Languedoc and the south-eastern
provinces of France crossed the frontier into Switzerland, and settled
there, or afterwards proceeded into the states of Prussia, Holland,
and Denmark, as well as into England and Ireland. The chief number of
emigrants from the northern and western seaboard provinces of France,
emigrated directly into England, Ireland, America, and the Cape of
Good Hope. In my previous work, I endeavoured to give as accurate a
description as was possible of the emigrants who settled in England
and Ireland, to which, the American editor of the work (the Hon. G. P.
Disosway) has added an account of those who settled in the United
States of America.
But besides the Huguenots who contrived to escape from Franco during
the dragonnades which preceded and the persecutions which followed the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, there was still a very large number
of Huguenots remaining in France who had not the means wherewith to
fly from their country. These were the poorer people, the peasants,
the small farmers, the small manufacturers, many of whom were spoiled
of their goods for the very purpose of preventing them from
emigrating. They were consequently under the necessity of remaining in
their native country, whether they changed their religion by force or
not. It is to give an account of these people, as a supplement to my
former book, that the present work is written.
It is impossible to fix precisely the number of the Huguenots who
left France to avoid the cruelties of Louis XIV., as well as of those
who perforce remained to endure them. It shakes one's faith in history
to observe the contradictory statements published with regard to
French political or religious facts, even of recent date. A general
impression has long prevailed that there was a Massacre of St.
Bartholemew in Paris in the year 1572; but even that has recently been
denied, or softened down into a mere political squabble. It is not,
however, possible to deny the fact that there was a Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes in 1685, though it has been vindicated as a noble act
of legislation, worthy even of the reputation and character of Louis
the Great.
No two writers agree as to the number of French citizens who were
driven from their country by the Revocation. A learned Roman Catholic,
Mr. Charles Butler, states that only 50,000 persons "retired" from
France; whereas M. Capefigue, equally opposed to the Reformation, who
consulted the population tables of the period (although the intendants
made their returns as small as possible in order to avoid the reproach
of negligence), calculates the emigration at 230,000 souls, namely,
1,580 ministers, 2,300 elders, 15,000 gentlemen, the remainder
consisting almost entirely of traders and artisans.
These returns, quoted by M. Capefigue, were made only a few years
after the Revocation, although the emigration continued without
intermission for many years later. M. Charles Coquerel says that
whatever horror may be felt for the Massacre of St. Bartholomew of
1572, the persecutions which preceded and followed the Act of
Revocation in 1685, "kept France under a perpetual St. Bartholomew for
about sixty years." During that time it is believed that more than
1,000,000 Frenchmen either left the kingdom, or were killed,
imprisoned, or sent to the galleys in their efforts to escape.
The Intendant of Saintonge, a King's officer, not likely to exaggerate
the number of emigrants, reported in 1698, long before the emigration
had ceased, that his province had lost 100,000 Reformers. Languedoc
suffered far more; whilst Boulainvilliers reports that besides the
emigrants who succeeded in making their escape, the province lost not
fewer than 100,000 persons by premature death, the sword,
strangulation, and the wheel.
The number of French emigrants who resorted to England may be inferred
from the fact that at the beginning of last century there were not
fewer than _thirty-five_ French Protestant churches in London alone,
at a time when the population of the metropolis was not one-fourth of
what it is now; while there were other large French settlements at
Canterbury, Norwich, Southampton, Bristol, Exeter, &c., as well as at
Dublin, Lisburn, Portarlington, and other towns in Ireland.
Then, with respect to the much larger number of Protestants who
remained in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, there
is the same difference of opinion. A deputation of Huguenot pastors
and elders, who waited upon the Duc de Noailles in 1682 informed him
that there were then 1,800,000 Protestant _families_ in France. Thirty
years after that date, Louis XIV. proclaimed that there were no
Protestants whatever in France; that Protestantism had been entirely
suppressed, and that any one found professing that faith must be
considered as a "relapsed heretic," and sentenced to imprisonment, the
galleys, or the other punishments to which Protestants were then
subject.
After an interval of about seventy-five years, during which
Protestantism (though suppressed by the law) contrived to lead a sort
of underground life--the Protestants meeting by night, and sometimes
by day, in caves, valleys, moors, woods, old quarries, hollow beds of
rivers, or, as they themselves called it, "in the Desert"--they at
length contrived to lift their heads into the light of day, and then
Rabaut St. Etienne stood up in the Constituent Assembly at Paris, in
1787, and claimed the rights of his Protestant fellow-countrymen--the
rights of "2,000,000 useful citizens." Louis XVI. granted them an
Edict of Tolerance, about a hundred years after Louis XIV. had revoked
the Edict of Nantes; but the measure proved too late for the King, and
too late for France, which had already been sacrificed to the
intolerance of Louis XIV. and his Jesuit advisers.
After all the sufferings of France--after the cruelties to which her
people have been subjected by the tyranny of her monarchs and the
intolerance of her priests,--it is doubtful whether she has yet learnt
wisdom from her experience and trials. France was brought to ruin a
century ago by the Jesuits who held the entire education of the
country in their hands. They have again recovered their ground, and
the Congreganistes are now what the Jesuits were before. The
Sans-Culottes of 1793 were the pupils of the priests; so were the
Communists of 1871.[1] M. Edgar Quinet has recently said to his
countrymen: "The Jesuitical and clerical spirit which has sneaked in
among you and all your affairs has ruined you. It has corrupted the
spring of life; it has delivered you over to the enemy.... Is this to
last for ever? For heaven's sake spare us at least the sight of a
Jesuits' Republic as the coronation of our century."
[Footnote 1: M. Simiot's speech before the National Assembly,
16th March, 1873.]
In the midst of these prophecies of ruin, we have M. Veuillot frankly
avowing his Ultramontane policy in the _Univers_. He is quite willing
to go back to the old burnings, hangings, and quarterings, to prevent
any freedom of opinion about religious matters. "For my part," he
says, "I frankly avow my regret not only that John Huss was not burnt
sooner, but that Luther was not burnt too. And I regret further that
there has not been some prince sufficiently pious and politic to have
made a crusade against the Protestants."
M. Veuillot is perhaps entitled to some respect for boldly speaking
out what he means and thinks. There are many amongst ourselves who
mean the same thing, without having the courage to say so--who hate
the Reformation quite as much as M. Veuillot does, and would like to
see the principles of free examination and individual liberty torn up
root and branch.
With respect to the proposed crusade against Protestantism, it will be
seen from the following work what the "pious and politic" Louis XIV.
attempted, and how very inefficient his measures eventually proved in
putting down Protestantism, or in extending Catholicism. Louis XIV.
found it easier to make martyrs than apostates; and discovered that
hanging, banishment, the galleys, and the sword were not amongst the
most successful of "converters."
The history of the Huguenots during the time of their submergence as
an "underground church" is scarcely treated in the general histories
of France. Courtly writers blot them out of history as Louis XIV.
desired to blot them out of France. Most histories of France published
in England contain little notice of them. Those who desire to pursue
the subject further, will obtain abundant information, more
particularly from the following works:--
ELIE BÉNOÎT: _Histoire de l'Édit de Nantes._ CHARLES COQUEREL:
_Histoire des Églises du Désert._ NAPOLEON PEYRAT: _Histoire des
Pasteurs du Désert._ ANTOINE COURT: _Histoire des Troubles de
Cevennes._ EDMUND HUGHES: _Histoire de la Restauration du
Protestantisme en France au xviii. Siècle._ A. BONNEMÈRE: _Histoire
des Camisardes._ ADOLPHE MICHEL: _Louvois et Les Protestantes._
ATHANASE COQUEREL FILS; _Les Forçats pour La Foi, &c., &c._
It remains to be added that part of this work--viz., the "Wars of the
Camisards," and the "Journey in the Country of the Vaudois"--originally
appeared in _Good Words_.
S.S.
LONDON, _October_, 1873.
THE HUGUENOTS IN FRANCE.
CHAPTER I.
REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES.
The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes was signed by Louis XIV. of
France, on the 18th of October, 1685, and published four days
afterwards.
Although the Revocation was the personal act of the King, it was
nevertheless a popular measure, approved by the Catholic Church of
France, and by the great body of the French people.
The King had solemnly sworn, at the beginning of his reign, to
maintain, the tolerating Edict of Henry IV.--the Huguenots being
amongst the most industrious, enterprising, and loyal of his subjects.
But the advocacy of the King's then Catholic mistress, Madame de
Maintenon, and of his Jesuit Confessor, Père la Chaise, overcame his
scruples, and the deed of Revocation of the Edict was at length signed
and published.
The aged Chancellor, Le Tellier, was so overjoyed at the measure, that
on affixing the great seal of France to the deed, he exclaimed, in the
words of Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen the salvation."
Three months later, the great Bossuet, the eagle of Meaux, preached
the funeral sermon of Le Tellier; in the course of which he testified
to the immense joy of the Church at the Revocation of the Edict. "Let
us," said he, "expand our hearts in praises of the piety of Louis. Let
our acclamations ascend to heaven, and let us say to this new
Constantine, this new Theodosius, this new Marcian, this new
Charlemagne, what the thirty-six fathers formerly said in the Council
of Chalcedon: 'You have affirmed the faith, you have exterminated the
heretics; it is a work worthy of your reign, whose proper character it
is. Thanks to you, heresy is no more. God alone can have worked this
marvel. King of heaven, preserve the King of earth: it is the prayer
of the Church, it is the prayer of the Bishops.'"[2]
[Footnote 2: Bossuet, "Oraison Funèbre du Chancelier
Letellier."]
Madame de Maintenon also received the praises of the Church. "All good
people," said the Abbé de Choisy, "the Pope, the bishops, and all the
clergy, rejoice at the victory of Madame de Maintenon." Madame enjoyed
the surname of Director of the Affairs of the Clergy; and it was said
by the ladies of St. Cyr (an institution founded by her), that "the
cardinals and the bishops knew no other way of approaching the King
save through her."
It is generally believed that her price for obtaining the King's
consent to the Act of Revocation, was the withdrawal by the clergy of
their opposition to her marriage with the King; and that the two were
privately united by the Archbishop of Paris at Versailles, a few days
after, in the presence of Père la Chaise and two more witnesses. But
Louis XIV. never publicly recognised De Maintenon as his wife--never
rescued her from the ignominious position in which she originally
stood related to him.
People at court all spoke with immense praises of the King's
intentions with respect to destroying the Huguenots. "Killing them
off" was a matter of badinage with the courtiers. Madame de Maintenon
wrote to the Duc de Noailles, "The soldiers are killing numbers of the
fanatics--they hope soon to free Languedoc of them."
That picquante letter-writer, Madame de Sévigné, often referred to the
Huguenots. She seems to have classed them with criminals or wild
beasts. When residing in Low Brittany during a revolt against the
Gabelle, a friend wrote to her, "How dull you must be!" "No," replied
Madame de Sévigné, "we are not so dull--hanging is quite a refreshment
to me! They have just taken twenty-four or thirty of these men, and
are going to throw them off."
A few days after the Edict had been revoked, she wrote to her cousin
Bussy, at Paris: "You have doubtless seen the Edict by which the King
revokes that of Nantes. There is nothing so fine as that which it
contains, and never has any King done, or ever will do, a more
memorable act." Bussy replied to her: "I immensely admire the conduct
of the King in destroying the Huguenots. The wars which have been
waged against them, and the St. Bartholomew, have given some
reputation to the sect. His Majesty has gradually undermined it; and
the edict he has just published, maintained by the dragoons and by
Bourdaloue,[3] will soon give them the _coup de grâce_."
[Footnote 3: Bourdaloue had just been sent from the Jesuit
Church of St. Louis at Paris, to Montpellier, to aid the
dragoons in converting the Protestants, and bringing them
back to the Church.]
In a future letter to Count Bussy, Madame de Sévigné informed him of
"a dreadfully fatiguing journey which her son-in-law M. de Grignan had
made in the mountains of Dauphiny, to pursue and punish the miserable
Huguenots, who issued from their holes, and vanished like ghosts to
avoid extermination."
De Baville, however, the Lieutenant of Languedoc, kept her in good
heart. In one of his letters, he said, "I have this morning condemned
seventy-six of these wretches (Huguenots), and sent them to the
galleys." All this was very pleasant to Madame de Sévigné.
Madame de Scuderi, also, more moderately rejoiced in the Act of
Revocation. "The King," she wrote to Bussy, "has worked great marvels
against the Huguenots; and the authority which he has employed to
unite them to the Church will be most salutary to themselves and to
their children, who will be educated in the purity of the faith; all
this will bring upon him the benedictions of Heaven."
Even the French Academy, though originally founded by a Huguenot,
publicly approved the deed of Revocation. In a discourse uttered
before it, the Abbé Tallemand exclaimed, when speaking of the Huguenot
temple at Charenton, which had just been destroyed by the mob, "Happy
ruins, the finest trophy France ever beheld!" La Fontaine described
heresy as now "reduced to the last gasp." Thomas Corneille also
eulogized the zeal of the King in "throttling the Reformation."
Barbier D'Aucourt heedlessly, but truly, compared the emigration of
the Protestants "to the departure of the Israelites from Egypt." The
Academy afterwards proposed, as the subject of a poem, the Revocation
of the Edict of Nantes, and Fontenelle had the fortune, good or bad,
of winning the prize.
The philosophic La Bruyère contributed a maxim in praise of the
Revocation. Quinault wrote a poem on the subject; and Madame
Deshoulières felt inspired to sing "The Destruction of Heresy." The
Abbé de Rancé spoke of the whole affair as a prodigy: "The Temple of
Charenton destroyed, and no exercise of Protestantism, within the
kingdom; it is a kind of miracle, such as we had never hoped to have
seen in our day."
The Revocation was popular with the lower class, who went about
sacking and pulling down the Protestant churches. They also tracked
the Huguenots and their pastors, where they found them evading or
breaking the Edict of Revocation; thus earning the praises of the
Church and the fines offered by the King for their apprehension. The
provosts and sheriffs of Paris represented the popular feeling, by
erecting a brazen statue of the King who had rooted out heresy; and
they struck and distributed medals in honour of the great event.
The Revocation was also popular with the dragoons. In order to
"convert" the Protestants, the dragoons were unduly billeted upon
them. As both officers and soldiers were then very badly paid, they
were thereby enabled to live at free quarters. They treated everything
in the houses they occupied as if it were their own, and an assignment
of billets was little loss than the consignment of the premises to the
military, to use for their own purposes, during the time they occupied
them.[4]
[Footnote 4: Sir John Reresby's Travels and Memoirs.]
The Revocation was also approved by those who wished to buy land
cheap. As the Huguenots were prevented holding their estates unless
they conformed to the Catholic religion, and as many estates were
accordingly confiscated and sold, land speculators, as well as grand
seigneurs who wished to increase their estates, were constantly on the
look-out for good bargains. Even before the Revocation, when the
Huguenots were selling their land in order to leave the country,
Madame de Maintenon wrote to her nephew, for whom she had obtained
from the King a grant of 800,000 francs, "I beg of you carefully to
use the money you are about to receive. Estates in Poitou may be got
for nothing; the desolation of the Huguenots will drive them to sell
more. You may easily acquire extensive possessions in Poitou."
The Revocation was especially gratifying to the French Catholic
Church. The Pope, of course, approved of it. _Te Deums_ were sung at
Rome in thanksgiving for the forced conversion of the Huguenots. Pope
Innocent XI. sent a brief to Louis XIV., in which he promised him the
unanimous praises of the Church, "Amongst all the proofs," said he,
"which your Majesty has given of natural piety, not the least
brilliant is the zeal, truly worthy of the most Christian King, which
has induced you to revoke all the ordinances issued in favour of the
heretics of your kingdom."[5]
[Footnote 5: Pope Innocent XI.'s Letter of November 13th,
1685.]
The Jesuits were especially elated by the Revocation. It had been
brought about by the intrigues of their party, acting on the King's
mind through Madame de Maintenon and Père la Chaise. It enabled them
to fill their schools and nunneries with the children of Protestants,
who were compelled by law to pay for their education by Jesuit
priests. To furnish the required accommodation, nearly the whole of
the Protestant temples that had not been pulled down were made over
to the Jesuits, to be converted into monastic schools and nunneries.
Even Bossuet, the "last father of the Church," shared in the spoils of
the Huguenots. A few days after the Edict had been revoked, Bossuet
applied for the materials of the temples of Nauteuil and Morcerf,
situated in his diocese; and his Majesty ordered that they should be
granted to him.[6]
[Footnote 6: "Louvois et les Protestants," par Adolphe
Michel, p. 286.]
Now that Protestantism had been put down, and the officers of Louis
announced from all parts of the kingdom that the Huguenots were
becoming converted by thousands, there was nothing but a clear course
before the Jesuits in France. For their religion was now the favoured
religion of the State.
It is true there were the Jansenists--declared to be heretical by the
Popes, and distinguished for their opposition to the doctrines and
moral teaching of the Jesuits--who were suffering from a persecution
which then drove some of the members of Port Royal into exile, and
eventually destroyed them. But even the Jansenists approved the
persecution of the Protestants. The great Arnault, their most
illustrious interpreter, though in exile in the Low Countries,
declared that though the means which Louis XIV. had employed had been
"rather violent, they had in nowise been unjust."
But Protestantism being declared destroyed, and Jansenism being in
disgrace, there was virtually no legal religion in France but
one--that of the Roman Catholic Church. Atheism, it is true, was
tolerated, but then Atheism was not a religion. The Atheists did not,
like the Protestants, set up rival churches, or appoint rival
ministers, and seek to draw people to their assemblies. The Atheists,
though they tacitly approved the religion of the King, had no
opposition to offer to it--only neglect, and perhaps concealed
contempt.
Hence it followed that the Court and the clergy had far more
toleration for Atheism than for either Protestantism or Jansenism. It
is authentically related that Louis XIV. on one occasion objected to
the appointment of a representative on a foreign mission on account of
the person being supposed to be a Jansenist; but on its being
discovered that the nominee was only an Atheist, the objection was at
once withdrawn.[7]
[Footnote 7: _Quarterly Review._]
At the time of the Revocation, when the King and the Catholic Church
were resolved to tolerate no religion other than itself, the Church
had never seemed so powerful in France. It had a strong hold upon the
minds of the people. It was powerful in its leaders and its great
preachers; in fact, France has never, either before or since,
exhibited such an array of preaching genius as Bossuet, Bourdaloue,
Fléchier, and Massillon.
Yet the uncontrolled and enormously increased power conferred upon the
French Church at that time, most probably proved its greatest
calamity. Less than a hundred years after the Revocation, the Church
had lost its influence over the people, and was despised. The Deists
and Atheists, sprung from the Church's bosom, were in the ascendant;
and Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, and Mirabeau, were regarded as
greater men than either Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Fléchier, or Massillon.
Not one of the clergy we have named, powerful orators though they
were, ever ventured to call in question the cruelties with which the
King sought to compel the Protestants to embrace the dogmas of their
Church. There were no doubt many Catholics who deplored the force
practised on the Huguenots; but they were greatly in the minority,
and had no power to make their opposition felt. Some of them
considered it an impious sacrilege to compel the Protestants to take
the Catholic sacrament--to force them to accept the host, which
Catholics believed to be the veritable body of Christ, but which the
Huguenots could only accept as bread, over which some function had
been performed by the priests, in whose miraculous power of conversion
they did not believe.
Fénélon took this view of the forcible course employed by the Jesuits;
but he was in disgrace as a Jansenist, and what he wrote on the
subject remained for a long time unknown, and was only first published
in 1825. The Duc de Saint-Simon, also a Jansenist, took the same view,
which he embodied in his "Memoirs;" but these were kept secret by his
family, and were not published for nearly a century after his death.
Thus the Catholic Church remained triumphant. The Revocation was
apparently approved by all, excepting the Huguenots. The King was
flattered by the perpetual conversions reported to be going on
throughout the country--five thousand persons in one place, ten
thousand in another, who had abjured and taken the communion--at once,
and sometimes "instantly."
"The King," says Saint-Simon, "congratulated himself on his power and
his piety. He believed himself to have renewed the days of the
preaching of the Apostles, and attributed to himself all the honour.
The Bishops wrote panegyrics of him; the Jesuits made the pulpits
resound with his praises.... He swallowed their poison in deep
draughts."[8]
[Footnote 8: "Memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon," translated
by Bayle St. John, vol. III. p 250.]
Louis XIV. lived for thirty years after the Edict of Nantes had been
revoked. He had therefore the fullest opportunity of observing the
results of the policy he had pursued. He died in the hands of the
Jesuits, his body covered with relics of the true cross. Madame de
Maintenon, the "famous and fatal witch," as Saint-Simon called her,
abandoned him at last; and the King died, lamented by no one.
He had banished, or destroyed, during-his reign, about a million of
his subjects, and those who remained did not respect him. Many
regarded him as a self-conceited tyrant, who sought to save his own
soul by inflicting penance on the backs of others. He loaded his
kingdom with debt, and overwhelmed his people with taxes. He destroyed
the industry of France, which had been mainly supported by the
Huguenots. Towards the end of his life he became generally hated; and
while his heart was conveyed to the Grand Jesuits, his body, which was
buried at St. Denis, was hurried to the grave accompanied by the
execrations of the people.
Yet the Church remained faithful to him to the last. The great
Massillon preached his funeral sermon; though the message was draped
in the livery of the Court. "How far," said he, "did Louis XIV. carry
his zeal for the Church, that virtue of sovereigns who have received
power and the sword only that they may be props of the altar and
defenders of its doctrine! Specious reasons of State! In vain did you
oppose to Louis the timid views of human wisdom, the body of the
monarchy enfeebled by the flight of so many citizens, the course of
trade slackened, either by the deprivation of their industry, or by
the furtive removal of their wealth! Dangers fortify his zeal. The
work of God fears not man. He believes even that he strengthens his
throne by overthrowing that of error. The profane temples are
destroyed, the pulpits of seduction are cast down. The prophets of
falsehood are torn from their flocks. At the first blow dealt to it by
Louis, heresy falls, disappears, and is reduced either to hide itself
in the obscurity whence it issued, or to cross the seas, and to bear
with it into foreign lands its false gods, its bitterness, and its
rage."[9]
[Footnote 9: Funeral Oration on Louis XIV.]
Whatever may have been the temper which the Huguenots displayed when
they were driven from France by persecution, they certainly carried
with them something far more valuable than rage. They carried with
them their virtue, piety, industry, and valour, which proved the
source of wealth, spirit, freedom, and character, in all those
countries--Holland, Prussia, England, and America--in which these
noble exiles took refuge.
We shall next see whether the Huguenots had any occasion for
entertaining the "rage" which the great Massillon attributed to them.
CHAPTER II.
EFFECTS OF THE REVOCATION.
The Revocation struck with civil death the entire Protestant
population of France. All the liberty of conscience which they had
enjoyed under the Edict of Nantes, was swept away by the act of the
King. They were deprived of every right and privilege; their social
life was destroyed; their callings were proscribed; their property was
liable to be confiscated at any moment; and they were subjected to
mean, detestable, and outrageous cruelties.
From the day of the Revocation, the relation of Louis XIV. to his
Huguenot subjects was that of the Tyrant and his Victims. The only
resource which remained to the latter was that of flying from their
native country; and an immense number of persons took the opportunity
of escaping from France.
The Edict of Revocation proclaimed that the Huguenot subjects of
France must thenceforward be of "the King's religion;" and the order
was promulgated throughout the kingdom. The Prime Minister, Louvois,
wrote to the provincial governors, "His Majesty desires that the
severest rigour shall be shown to those who will not conform to His
Religion, and those who seek the foolish glory of wishing to be the
last, must be pushed to the utmost extremity."
The Huguenots were forbidden, under the penalty of death, to worship
publicly after their own religious forms. They were also forbidden,
under the penalty of being sent to the galleys for life, to worship
privately in their own homes. If they were overheard singing their
favourite psalms, they were liable to fine, imprisonment, or the
galleys. They were compelled to hang out flags from their houses on
the days of Catholic processions; but they were forbidden, under a
heavy penalty, to look out of their windows when the Corpus Domini was
borne along the streets.
The Huguenots were rigidly forbidden to instruct their children in
their own faith. They were commanded to send them to the priest to be
baptized and brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, under the penalty
of five hundred livres fine in each case. The boys were educated in
Jesuit schools, the girls in nunneries, the parents being compelled to
pay the required expenses; and where the parents were too poor to pay,
the children were at once transferred to the general hospitals. A
decree of the King, published in December, 1685, ordered that every
child of _five years_ and upwards was to be taken possession of by the
authorities, and removed from its Protestant parents. This decree
often proved a sentence of death, not only to the child, but to its
parents.
The whole of the Protestant temples throughout France were subject to
demolition. The expelled pastors were compelled to evacuate the
country within fifteen days. If, in the meantime, they were found
performing their functions, they were liable to be sent to the galleys
for life. If they undertook to marry Protestants, the marriages were
declared illegal, and the children bastards. If, after the expiry of
the fifteen days, they were found lingering in France, the pastors
were then liable to the penalty of death.
Protestants could neither be born, nor live, nor die, without state
and priestly interference. Protestant _sages-femmes_ were not
permitted to exercise their functions; Protestant doctors were
prohibited from practising; Protestant surgeons and apothecaries were
suppressed; Protestant advocates, notaries, and lawyers were
interdicted; Protestants could not teach, and all their schools,
public and private, were put down. Protestants were no longer employed
by the Government in affairs of finance, as collectors of taxes, or
even as labourers on the public roads, or in any other office. Even
Protestant grocers were forbidden to exercise their calling.
There must be no Protestant librarians, booksellers, or printers.
There was, indeed, a general raid upon Protestant literature all over
France. All Bibles, Testaments, and books of religious instruction,
were collected and publicly burnt. There were bonfires in almost every
town. At Metz, it occupied a whole day to burn the Protestant books
which had been seized, handed over to the clergy, and condemned to be
destroyed.
Protestants were even forbidden to hire out horses, and Protestant
grooms were forbidden to give riding lessons. Protestant domestics
were forbidden to hire themselves as servants, and Protestant
mistresses were forbidden to hire them under heavy penalties. If they
engaged Protestant servants, they were liable to be sent to the
galleys for life. They were even prevented employing "new converts."
Artisans were forbidden to work without certificates that their
religion was Catholic. Protestant apprenticeships were suppressed.
Protestant washerwomen were excluded from their washing-places on the
river. In fact, there was scarcely a degradation that could be
invented, or an insult that could be perpetrated, that was not
practised upon those poor Huguenots who refused to be of "the King's
religion."
Even when Protestants were about to take refuge in death, their
troubles were not over. The priests had the power of forcing their way
into the dying man's house, where they presented themselves at his
bedside, and offered him conversion and the viaticum. If the dying man
refused these, he was liable to be seized after death, dragged from
the house, pulled along the streets naked, and buried in a ditch, or
thrown upon a dunghill.[10]
[Footnote 10: Such was, in fact, the end of a man so
distinguished as M. Paul Chenevix, Councillor of the Court of
Metz, who died in 1686, the year after the Revocation.
Although of the age of eighty, and so illustrious for his
learning, his dead body was dragged along the streets on a
hurdle and thrown upon a dunghill. See "Huguenot Refugees and
their Descendants," under the name _Chenevix_. The present
Archbishop of Dublin is descended from his brother Philip
Chenevix, who settled in England shortly after the
Revocation.]
For several years before the Revocation, while the persecutions of the
Huguenots had been increasing, many had realised their means, and fled
abroad into Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and England. But after the
Revocation, emigration from France was strictly forbidden, under
penalty of confiscation of the whole goods and property of the
emigrant. Any person found attempting to leave the country, was liable
to the seizure of all that belonged to him, and to perpetual
imprisonment at the galleys; one half the amount realised by the sale
of the property being paid to the informers, who thus became the most
active agents of the Government. The Act also ordered that all landed
proprietors who had left France before the Revocation, should return
within four months, under penalty of confiscation of all their
property.
Amongst those of the King's subjects who were the most ready to obey
his orders were some of the old Huguenot noble families, such as the
members of the houses of Bouillon, Coligny, Rohan, Tremouille, Sully,
and La Force. These great vassals, whom a turbulent feudalism had
probably in the first instance induced to embrace Protestantism, were
now found ready to change their profession of religion in servile
obedience to the monarch.
The lesser nobility were more faithful and consistent. Many of them
abandoned their estates and fled across the frontier, rather than live
a daily lie to God by forswearing the religion of their conscience.
Others of this class, on whom religion sat more lightly, as the only
means of saving their property from confiscation, pretended to be
converted to Roman Catholicism; though, we shall find, that these "new
converts," as they were called, were treated with as much suspicion on
the one side as they were regarded with contempt on the other.
There were also the Huguenot manufacturers, merchants, and employers of
labour, of whom a large number closed their workshops and factories,
sold off their goods, converted everything into cash, at whatever
sacrifice, and fled across the frontier into Switzerland--either
settling there, or passing through it on their way to Germany, Holland,
or England.
It was necessary to stop this emigration, which was rapidly
diminishing the population, and steadily impoverishing the country. It
was indeed a terrible thing for Frenchmen, to tear themselves away
from their country--Frenchmen, who have always clung so close to
their soil that they have rarely been able to form colonies of
emigration elsewhere--it was breaking so many living fibres to leave
France, to quit the homes of their fathers, their firesides, their
kin, and their race. Yet, in a multitude of cases, they were compelled
to tear themselves by the roots out of the France they so loved.
Yet it was so very easy for them to remain. The King merely required
them to be "converted." He held that loyalty required them to be of
"his religion." On the 19th of October, 1685, the day after he had
signed the Act of Revocation, La Reynée, lieutenant of the police of
Paris, issued a notice to the Huguenot tradespeople and
working-classes, requiring them to be converted instantly. Many of
them were terrified, and conformed accordingly. Next day, another
notice was issued to the Huguenot bourgeois, requiring them to
assemble on the following day for the purpose of publicly making a
declaration of their conversion.
The result of those measures was to make hypocrites rather than
believers, and they took effect upon the weakest and least-principled
persons. The strongest, most independent, and high-minded of the
Huguenots, who would _not_ be hypocrites, resolved passively to resist
them, and if they could not be allowed to exercise freedom of
conscience in their own country, they determined to seek it elsewhere.
Hence the large increase in the emigration from all parts of France
immediately after the Act of Revocation had been proclaimed.[11] All
the roads leading to the frontier or the sea-coast streamed with
fugitives. They went in various forms and guises--sometimes in bodies
of armed men, at other times in solitary parties, travelling at night
and sleeping in the woods by day. They went as beggars, travelling
merchants, sellers of beads and chaplets, gipsies, soldiers,
shepherds, women with their faces dyed and sometimes dressed in men's
clothes, and in all manner of disguises.
[Footnote 11: It is believed that 400,000 emigrants left
France through religious persecution during the twenty years
previous to the Revocation, and that 600,000 escaped during
the twenty years after that event. M. Charles Coquerel
estimates the number of Protestants in France at that time to
have been two millions of _men_ ("Églises du Désert," i. 497)
The number of Protestant pastors was about one thousand--of
whom six hundred went into exile, one hundred were executed
or sent to the galleys, and the rest are supposed to have
accepted pensions as "new converts."]
To prevent this extensive emigration, more violent measures were
adopted. Every road out of France was posted with guards. The towns,
highways, bridges, and ferries, were all watched; and heavy rewards
were promised to those who would stop and bring back the fugitives.
Many were taken, loaded with irons, and dispatched by the most public
roads through France--as a sight to be seen by other Protestants--to
the galleys at Marseilles, Brest, and other ports. As they went along
they were subject to every sort of indignity in the towns and villages
through which they passed. They were hooted, stoned, spit upon, and
loaded with insult.
Many others went by sea, in French as well as in foreign ships. Though
the sailors of France were prohibited the exercise of the reformed
religion, under the penalty of fines, corporal punishment, and seizure
of the vessels where the worship was allowed, yet many of the
emigrants contrived to get away by the help of French ship captains,
masters of sloops, fishing-boats, and coast pilots--who most probably
sympathized with the views of those who wished to fly their country
rather than become hypocrites and forswear their religion. A large
number of emigrants, who went hurriedly off to sea in little boats,
must have been drowned, as they were never afterwards heard of.
There were also many English ships that appeared off the coast to take
the flying Huguenots away by night. They also escaped in foreign ships
taking in their cargoes in the western harbours. They got cooped up in
casks or wine barraques, with holes for breathing places; others
contrived to get surreptitiously into the hold, and stowed themselves
away among the goods. When it became known to the Government that many
Protestants were escaping in this way, provision was made to meet the
case; and a Royal Order was issued that, before any ship was allowed
to set sail for a foreign port, the hold should be fumigated with
deadly gas, so that any hidden Huguenot who could not otherwise be
detected, might thus be suffocated![12]
[Footnote 12: We refer to "The Huguenots: their Settlements,
Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland," where a
great many incidents are given relative to the escape of
refugees by land and sea, which need not here be repeated.]
In the meantime, however, numerous efforts were being made to convert
the Huguenots. The King, his ministers, the dragoons, the bishops, and
clergy used all due diligence. "Everybody is now missionary," said the
fascinating Madame de Sévigné; "each has his mission--above all the
magistrates and governors of provinces, _helped by the dragoons_. It
is the grandest and finest thing that has ever been imagined and
executed."[13]
[Footnote 13: Letter to the President de Moulceau, November
24th, 1685.]
The conversions effected by the dragoons were much more sudden than
those effected by the priests. Sometimes a hundred or more persons
were converted by a single troop within an hour. In this way Murillac
converted thousands of persons in a week. The regiment of Ashfeld
converted the whole province of Poitou in a month.
De Noailles was very successful in his conversions. He converted
Nismes in twenty-four hours; the day after he converted Montpellier;
and he promised in a few weeks to deliver all Lower Languedoc from the
leprosy of heresy. In one of his dispatches soon after the Revocation,
he boasted that he had converted 350 nobility and gentry, 54
ministers, and 25,000 individuals of various classes.
The quickness of the conversions effected by the dragoons is easily to
be accounted for. The principal cause was the free quartering of
soldiers in the houses of the Protestants. The soldiers knew what was
the object for which they were thus quartered. They lived freely in
all ways. They drank, swore, shouted, beat the heretics, insulted
their women, and subjected them to every imaginable outrage and
insult.
One of their methods of making converts was borrowed from the
persecutions of the Vaudois. It consisted in forcing the feet of the
intended converts into boots full of boiling grease, or they would
hang them up by the feet, sometimes forgetting to cut them down until
they were dead. They would also force them to drink water perpetually,
or make them sit under a slow dripping upon their heads until they
died of madness. Sometimes they placed burning coals in their hands,
or used an instrument of torture resembling that known in Scotland as
the thumbscrews.[14] Many of their attempts at conversion were
accompanied by details too hideous to be recorded.
[Footnote 14: Thumbscrews were used in the reign of James II.
Louis and James borrowed from each other the means of
converting heretics; but whether the origin of the thumbscrew
be French or Scotch is not known.]
Of those who would not be converted, the prisons were kept full. They
were kept there without the usual allowance of straw, and almost
without food. In winter they had no fire, and at night no lamp. Though
ill, they had no doctors. Besides the gaoler, their only visitors were
priests and monks, entreating them to make abjuration. Of course many
died in prison--feeble women, and aged and infirm men. In the society
of obscene criminals, with whom many were imprisoned, they prayed for
speedy deliverance by death, and death often came to their help.
More agreeable, but still more insulting, methods of conversion were
also attempted. Louis tried to bribe the pastors by offering them an
increase of annual pay beyond their former stipends. If there were a
Protestant judge or advocate, Louvois at once endeavoured to bribe him
over. For instance, there was a heretical syndic of Strasbourg, to
whom Louvois wrote, "Will you be converted? I will give you 6,000
livres of pension.--Will you not? I will dismiss you."
Of course many of the efforts made to convert the Huguenots proved
successful. The orders of the Prime Minister, the free quarters
afforded to the dragoons, the preachings and threatenings of the
clergy, all contributed to terrify the Protestants. The fear of being
sent to the galleys for life--the threat of losing the whole of one's
goods and property--the alarm of seeing one's household broken up, the
children seized by the priests and sent to the nearest monkery or
nunnery for maintenance and education--all these considerations
doubtless had their effect in increasing the number of conversions.
Persecution is not easy to bear. To have all the powers and
authorities employed against one's life, interests, and faith, is
what few can persistently oppose. And torture, whether it be slow or
sudden, is what many persons, by reason of their physical capacity,
have not the power to resist. Even the slow torment of dragoons
quartered in the houses of the heretics--their noise and shoutings,
their drinking and roistering, the insults and outrages they were
allowed to practise--was sufficient to compel many at once to declare
themselves to be converted.
Indeed, pain is, of all things, one of the most terrible of
converters. One of the prisoners condemned to the galleys, when he saw
the tortures which the victims about him had to endure by night and by
day, said that sufferings such as these were "enough to make one
conform to Buddhism or Mahommedanism as well as to Popery"; and
doubtless it was force and suffering which converted the Huguenots,
far more than love of the King or love of the Pope.
By all these means--forcible, threatening, insulting, and
bribing--employed for the conversion of the Huguenots, the Catholics
boasted that in the space of three months they had received an
accession of five hundred thousand new converts to the Church of Rome.
But the "new converts" did not gain much by their change. They were
forced to attend mass, but remained suspected. Even the dragoons who
converted them, called them dastards and deniers of their faith. They
tried, if they could, to avoid confession, but confess they must.
There was the fine, confiscation of goods, and imprisonment at the
priest's back.
Places were set apart for them in the churches, where they were penned
up like lepers. A person was stationed at the door with a roll of
their names, to which they were obliged to answer. During the service,
the most prominent among them were made to carry the lights, the holy
water, the incense, and such things, which to Huguenots were an
abomination. They were also required to partake of the Host, which
Protestants regarded as an awful mockery of the glorious Godhead.
The Duc de Saint-Simon, in his memoirs, after referring to the unmanly
cruelties practised by Louis XIV. on the Huguenots, "without the
slightest pretext or necessity," characterizes this forced
participation in the Eucharist as sacrilegious and blasphemous folly,
notwithstanding that nearly all the bishops lent themselves to the
practice. "From simulated abjuration," he says, "they [the Huguenots]
are dragged to endorse what they do not believe in, and to receive the
divine body of the Saint of saints whilst remaining persuaded that
they are only eating bread which they ought to abhor. Such is the
general abomination born of flattery and cruelty. From torture to
abjuration, and from that to the communion, there were only
twenty-four hours' distance; and the executioners were the conductors
of the converts, and their witnesses. Those who in the end appeared to
have become reconciled, when more at leisure did not fail, by their
flight or their behaviour, to contradict their pretended
conversion."[15]
[Footnote 15: "Memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon," Bayle St.
John's Translation, iii. 259.]
Indeed, many of the new converts, finding life in France to be all but
intolerable, determined to follow the example of the Huguenots who had
already fled, and took the first opportunity of disposing of their
goods and leaving the country. One of the first things they did on
reaching a foreign soil, was to attend a congregation of their
brethren, and make "reconnaisances," or acknowledgment of their
repentance for having attended mass and pretended to be converted to
the Roman Catholic Church.[16] At one of the sittings of the
Threadneedle Street Huguenot Church in London, held in May, 1687--two
years after the Revocation--not fewer than 497 members were again
received into the Church which, by force, they had pretended to
abandon.
[Footnote 16: See "The Huguenots: their Settlements, &c., in
England and Ireland," chap. xvi.]
Not many pastors abjured. A few who yielded in the first instance
through terror and stupor, almost invariably returned to their ancient
faith. They were offered considerable pensions if they would conform
and become Catholics. The King promised to augment their income by
one-third, and if they became advocates or doctors in law, to dispense
with their three years' study, and with the right of diploma.
At length, most of the pastors had left the country. About seven
hundred had gone into Switzerland, Holland, Prussia, England, and
elsewhere. A few remained going about to meetings of the peasantry, at
the daily risk of death; for every pastor taken was hung. A reward of
5,500 livres was promised to whoever should take a pastor, or cause
him to be taken. The punishment of death was also pronounced against
all persons who should be discovered attending such meetings.
Nevertheless, meetings of the Protestants continued to be held, with
pastors or without. They were, for the most part, held at night,
amidst the ruins of their pulled-down temples. But this exposed them
to great danger, for spies were on the alert to inform upon them and
have them apprehended.
At length they selected more sheltered places in remote quarters,
where they met for prayer and praise, often resorting thither from
great distances. They were, however, often surprised, cut to pieces by
the dragoons, who hung part of the prisoners on the neighbouring
trees, and took the others to prison, from whence they were sent to
the galleys, or hung on the nearest public gibbet.
Fulcran Rey was one of the most celebrated of the early victims. He
was a native of Nismes, twenty-four years old. He had just completed
his theological studies; but there were neither synods to receive him
to pastoral ordination, nor temples for him to preach in. The only
reward he could earn by proceeding on his mission was death, yet he
determined to preach. The first assemblies he joined were in the
neighbourhood of Nismes, where his addresses were interrupted by
assaults of the dragoons. The dangers to his co-religionaries were too
great in the neighbourhood of this populous town; and he next went to
Castres and the Vaunage; after which he accepted an invitation to
proceed into the less populous districts of the Cevennes.
He felt the presentiment of death upon him in accepting the
invitation; but he went, leaving behind him a letter to his father,
saying that he was willing, if necessary, to give his life for the
cause of truth. "Oh! what happiness it would give me," he said, "if I
might be found amongst the number of those whom the Lord has reserved
to announce his praise and to die for his cause!"
His apostolate was short but glorious. He went from village to village
in the Cevennes, collected the old worshippers together, prayed and
preached to them, encouraging all to suffer in the name of Christ. He
remained at this work for about six weeks, when a spy who accompanied
him--one whom he had regarded as sincere a Huguenot as himself--informed
against him for the royal reward, and delivered him over to the
dragoons.
Rey was at first thrown into prison at Anduze, when, after a brief
examination by the local judge, he was entrusted to thirty soldiers,
to be conveyed to Alais. There he was subjected to further
examination, avowing that he had preached wherever he had found
faithful people ready to hear him. At Nismes, he was told that he had
broken the law, in preaching contrary to the King's will. "I obey the
law of the King of kings," he replied; "it is right that I should obey
God rather than man. Do with me what you will; I am ready to die."
The priests, the judges, and other persons of influence endeavoured to
induce him to change his opinions. Promises of great favours were
offered him if he would abjure; and when the intendant Baville
informed him of the frightful death before him if he refused, he
replied, "My life is not of value to me, provided I gain Christ." He
remained firm. He was ordered to be put to the torture. He was still
unshaken. Then he was delivered over to the executioner. "I am
treated," he said, "more mildly than my Saviour."
On his way to the place of execution, two monks walked by his side to
induce him to relent, and to help him to die. "Let me alone," he said,
"you annoy me with your consolations." On coming in sight of the
gallows at Beaucaire, he cried, "Courage, courage! the end of my
journey is at hand. I see before me the ladder which leads to
heaven."
The monks wished to mount the ladder with him. "Return," said he, "I
have no need of your help. I have assistance enough from God to take
the last step of my journey." When he reached the upper platform, he
was about, before dying, to make public his confession of faith. But
the authorities had arranged beforehand that this should be prevented.
When he opened his mouth, a roll of military drums muffled his voice.
His radiant look and gestures spoke for him. A few minutes more, and
he was dead; and when the paleness of death spread over his face, it
still bore the reflex of joy and peace in which he had expired. "There
is a veritable martyr," said many even of the Catholics who were
witnesses of his death.
It was thought that the public hanging of a pastor would put a stop to
all further ministrations among the Huguenots. But the sight of the
bodies of their brethren hung on the nearest trees, and the heads of
their pastors rolling on the scaffold, did not deter them from
continuing to hold religious meetings in solitary places, more
especially in Languedoc, Viverais, and the provinces in the south-east
of France.
Between the year 1686, when Fulcran Rey was hanged at Beaucaire, and
the year 1698, when Claude Brousson was hanged at Montpellier, not
fewer than seventeen pastors were publicly executed; namely, three at
Nismes, two at St. Hippolyte and Marsillargues in the Cevennes, and
twelve on the Peyrou at Montpellier--the public place on which
Protestant Christians in the South of France were then principally
executed.
There has been some discussion lately as to the massacre of the
Huguenots about a century before this period. It has been held that
the St. Bartholomew Massacre was only a political squabble, begun by
the Huguenots, in which they got the worst of it. The number of
persons killed on the occasion has been reduced to a very small
number. It has been doubted whether the Pope had anything to do with
the medal struck at Rome, bearing the motto _Ugonottorum Strages_
("Massacre of the Huguenots"), with the Pope's head on one side, and
an angel on the other pursuing and slaying a band of flying heretics.
Whatever may be said of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, there can be
no mistake about the persecutions which preceded and followed the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They were continued for more than
half a century, and had the effect of driving from France about a
million of the best, most vigorous, and industrious of Frenchmen. In
the single province of Languedoc, not less than a hundred thousand
persons (according to Boulainvilliers) were destroyed by premature
death, one-tenth of whom perished by fire, strangulation, or the
wheel.
It could not be said that Louis XIV. and the priests were destroying
France and tearing its flesh, and that Frenchmen did not know it. The
proclamations, edicts and laws published against the Huguenots were
known to all Frenchmen. Bénoît[17] gives a list of three hundred and
thirty-three issued by Louis XIV. during the ten years subsequent to
the Revocation, and they were continued, as we shall find, during the
succeeding reign.
[Footnote 17: "Histoire de l'Édit de Nantes," par Elie
Bénoît.]
"We have," says M. Charles Coquerel, "a horror of St. Bartholomew!
Will foreigners believe it, that France observed a code of laws framed
in the same infernal spirit, which maintained _a perpetual St.
Bartholomew's day in this country for about sixty years_! If they
cannot call us the most barbarous of people, their judgment will be
well founded in pronouncing us the most inconsistent."[18]
[Footnote 18: "Histoire des Églises du Désert," par Charles
Coquerel, i. 498.]
M. De Félice, however, will not believe that the Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes was popular in France. He takes a much more patriotic
view of the French people. He cannot believe them to have been
wilfully guilty of the barbarities which the French Government
committed upon the Huguenots. It was the King, the priests, and the
courtiers only! But he forgets that these upper barbarians were
supported by the soldiers and the people everywhere. He adds, however,
that if the Revocation _were_ popular, "it would be the most
overwhelming accusation against the Church of Rome, that it had thus
educated and fashioned France."[19] There is, however, no doubt
whatever that the Jesuits, during the long period that they had the
exclusive education of the country in their hands, _did_ thus fashion
France; for, in 1793, the people educated by them treated King,
Jesuits, priests, and aristocracy, in precisely the same manner that
they had treated the Huguenots about a century before.
[Footnote 19: De Felice's "History of the Protestants of
France," book iii. sect. 17.]
CHAPTER III.
CLAUDE BROUSSON, THE HUGUENOT ADVOCATE.
To give an account in detail of the varieties of cruelty inflicted on
the Huguenots, and of the agonies to which they were subjected for
many years before and after the passing of the Act of Revocation,
would occupy too much space, besides being tedious through the mere
repetition of like horrors. But in order to condense such an account,
we think it will be more interesting if we endeavour to give a brief
history of the state of France at that time, in connection with the
biography of one of the most celebrated Huguenots of his period, both
in his life, his piety, his trials, and his endurance--that of Claude
Brousson, the advocate, the pastor, and the martyr of Languedoc.
Claude Brousson was born at Nismes in 1647. He was designed by his
parents for the profession of the law, and prosecuted his studies at
the college of his native town, where he graduated as Doctor of Laws.
He commenced his professional career about the time when Louis XIV.
began to issue his oppressive edicts against the Huguenots. Protestant
advocates were not yet forbidden to practise, but they already
laboured under many disabilities. He continued, however, for some time
to exercise his profession, with much ability, at Castres,
Castelnaudry, and Toulouse. He was frequently employed in defending
Protestant pastors, and in contesting the measures for suppressing
their congregations and levelling their churches under existing
edicts, some time before the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes had
been finally resolved upon.
Thus, in 1682, he was engaged in disputing the process instituted
against the ministers and elders of the church at Nismes, with the
view of obtaining an order for the demolition of the remaining
Protestant temple of that city.[20] The pretext for suppressing this
church was, that a servant girl from the country, being a Catholic,
had attended worship and received the sacrament from the hands of M.
Peyrol, one of the ministers.
[Footnote 20: John Locke passed through Nismes about this
time. "The Protestants at Nismes," he said, "have now but one
temple, the other being pulled down by the King's order about
four years since. The Protestants had built themselves an
hospital for the sick, but that is taken from them; a chamber
in it is left for the sick, but never used, because the
priests trouble them when there. Notwithstanding these
discouragements [this was in 1676, _before_ the Revocation],
I do not find many go over; one of them told me, when I asked
them the question, that the Papists did nothing but by force
or by money."--KING'S _Life of Locke_, i. 100.]
Brousson defended the case, observing, at the conclusion of his
speech, that the number of Protestants was very great at Nismes; that
the ministers could not be personally acquainted with all the people,
and especially with occasional visitors and strangers; that the
ministers were quite unacquainted with the girl, or that she professed
the Roman Catholic religion: "facts which rendered it probable that
she was sent to the temple for the purpose of furnishing an occasion
for the prosecution." Sentence was for the present suspended.
Another process was instituted during the same year for the
suppression of the Protestant church at Uzes, and another for the
demolition of the large Protestant temple at Montpellier. The pretext
for destroying the latter was of a singular character.
A Protestant pastor, M. Paulet, had been bribed into embracing the
Roman Catholic religion, in reward for which he was appointed
counsellor to the Presidial Court of Montpellier. But his wife and one
of his daughters refused to apostatize with him. The daughter, though
only between ten and eleven years old, was sent to a convent at
Teirargues, where, after enduring considerable persecution, she
persisted in her steadfastness, and was released after a twelvemonth's
confinement. Five years later she was again seized and sent to another
convent; but, continuing immovable against the entreaties and threats
of the abbess and confessor, she was again set at liberty.
An apostate priest, however, who had many years before renounced the
Protestant faith, and become director and confessor of the nuns at
Teirargues, forged two documents; the one to show that while at the
convent, Mdlle. Paulet had consented to embrace the Catholic religion,
and the other containing her formal abjuration. It was alleged that
her abjuration had been signified to Isaac Dubourdieu, of Montpellier,
one of the most distinguished pastors of the French Church; but that,
nevertheless, he had admitted her to the sacrament. This, if true, was
contrary to law; upon which the Catholic clergy laid information
against the pastor and the young lady before the Parliament of
Toulouse, when they obtained sentence of imprisonment against the
former, and the penance of _amende honorable_ against the latter.
The demolition of temples was the usual consequence of convictions
like these. The Duc de Noailles, lieutenant-general of the province,
entered the city on the 16th of October, 1682, accompanied by a strong
military force; and at a sitting of the Assembly of the States which
shortly followed, the question of demolishing the Protestant temple at
Montpellier was brought under consideration. Four of the Protestant
pastors and several of the elders had before waited upon De Noailles
to claim a respite until they should have submitted their cause to the
King in Council.
The request having been refused, one of the deputation protested
against the illegality of the proceedings, and had the temerity to ask
his excellency whether he was aware that there were eighteen hundred
thousand Protestant families in France? Upon which the Duke, turning
to the officer of his guard, said, "Whilst we wait to see what will
become of these eighteen hundred thousand Protestant families, will
you please conduct these gentlemen to the citadel?"[21]
[Footnote 21: When released from prison, Gaultier escaped to
Berlin and became minister of a large Protestant congregation
there. Isaac Dubourdieu escaped to England, and was appointed
one of the ministers of the Savoy Church in London.]
The great temple of Montpellier was destroyed immediately on receipt
of the King's royal mandate. It required the destruction of the place
within twenty-four hours; "but you will give me pleasure," added the
King, in a letter to De Noailles, "if you accomplish it in two."
It was, perhaps, scarcely necessary, after the temple had been
destroyed, to make any effort to justify these high-handed
proceedings. But Mdlle. Paulet, on whose pretended conversion to
Catholicism the proceedings had been instituted, was now requested to
admit the authenticity of the documents. She was still imprisoned in
Toulouse; and although entreated and threatened by turns to admit
their truth, she steadfastly denied their genuineness, and asking for
a pen, she wrote under each of them, "I affirm that the above
signature was not written by my hand.--Isabeau de Paulet."
Of course the documents were forged; but they had answered their
purpose. The Protestant temple of Montpellier lay in ruins, and
Isabeau de Paulet was recommitted to prison. On hearing of this
incident, Brousson remarked, "This is what is called instituting a
process against persons _after_ they have been condemned"--a sort of
"Jedwood justice."
The repetition of these cases of persecution--the demolition of their
churches, and the suppression of their worship--led the Protestants of
the Cevennes, Viverais, and Dauphiny to combine for the purpose of
endeavouring to stem the torrent of injustice. With this object, a
meeting of twenty-eight deputies took place in the house of Brousson,
at Toulouse, in the month of May, 1683. As the Assembly of the States
were about to take steps to demolish the Protestant temple at
Montauban and other towns in the south, and as Brousson was the
well-known advocate of the persecuted, the deputies were able to meet
at his house to conduct their deliberations, without exciting the
jealousy of the priests and the vigilance of the police.
What the meeting of Protestant deputies recommended to their brethren
was embodied in a measure, which was afterwards known as "The
Project." The chief objects of the project were to exhort the
Protestant people to sincere conversion, and the exhibition of the
good life which such conversion implies; constant prayer to the Holy
Spirit to enable them to remain steadfast in their profession and in
the reading and meditation of the Scriptures; encouragements to them
to hold together as congregations for the purpose of united worship;
"submitting themselves unto the common instructions and to the yoke of
Christ, in all places wheresoever He shall have established the true
discipline, although the edicts of earthly magistrates be contrary
thereto."
At the same time, Brousson drew up a petition to the Sovereign, humbly
requesting him to grant permission to the Huguenots to worship God in
peace after their consciences, copies of which were sent to Louvois
and the other ministers of State. On this and other petitions,
Brousson observes, "Surely all the world and posterity will be
surprised, that so many respectful petitions, so many complaints of
injuries, and so many solid reasons urged for their removal, produced
no good result whatever in favour of the Protestants."
The members of the churches which had been interdicted, and whose
temples had been demolished, were accordingly invited to assemble in
private, in the neighbouring fields or woods--not in public places,
nor around the ruins of their ancient temples--for the purpose of
worshipping God, exciting each other to piety by prayer and singing,
receiving instruction, and celebrating the Lord's Supper.
Various meetings were accordingly held, in the following month of
July, in the Cevennes and Viverais. At St. Hypolite, where the temple
of the Protestants had been destroyed, about four thousand persons met
in a field near the town, when the minister preached to them from the
text--"Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God
the things which are God's." The meeting was conducted with the utmost
solemnity; and a Catholic priest who was present, on giving
information to the Bishop of Nismes of the transaction, admitted that
the preacher had advanced nothing but what the bishop himself might
have spoken.
The dragoons were at once sent to St. Hypolite to put an end to these
meetings, and to "convert" the Protestants. The town was almost wholly
Protestant. The troops were quartered in numbers in every house; and
the people soon became "new converts."
The losses sustained by the inhabitants of the Cevennes from this
forced quartering of the troops upon them--and Anduze, Sauvé, St.
Germain, Vigan, and Ganges were as full of them as St. Hypolite--may
be inferred from the items charged upon the inhabitants of St.
Hypolite alone[22]:--
To the regiment of Montpezat, for a billet for
sixty-five days 50,000 livres.
To the three companies of Red Dragoons,
for ninety-five days 30,000 "
To three companies of Villeneuve's Dragoons,
for thirty days 6,000 "
To three companies of the Blue Dragoons of
Languedoc, for three months and nine days 37,000 "
To a company of Cravates (troopers) for
fourteen days 1,400 "
To the transport of three hundred and nine
companies of cavalry and infantry 10,000 "
To provisions for the troops 60,000 "
To damage sustained by the destruction done
by the soldiers, of furniture, and losses
by the seizure of property, &c. 50,000 "
----------
Total 244,400
[Footnote 22: Claude Brousson, "Apologie du Projet des
Réformés."]
Meetings of the persecuted were also held, under the terms of "The
Project," in Viverais and Dauphiny. These meetings having been
repeated for several weeks, the priests of the respective districts
called upon their bishops for help to put down this heretical display.
The Bishop of Valence (Daniel de Cosmac) accordingly informed them
that he had taken the necessary steps, and that he had been apprised
that twenty thousand soldiers were now on their march to the South to
put down the Protestant movement.
On their arrival, the troops were scattered over the country, to watch
and suppress any meetings that might be held. The first took place on
the 8th of August, at Chateaudouble, a manufacturing village in Drome.
The assembly was surprised by a troop of dragoons; but most of the
congregation contrived to escape. Those who were taken were hung upon
the nearest trees.
Another meeting was held about a fortnight later at Bezaudun, which
was attended by many persons from Bourdeaux, a village about half a
league distant. While the meeting was at prayer, intelligence was
brought that the dragoons had entered Bourdeaux, and that it was a
scene of general pillage. The Bourdeaux villagers at once set out for
the protection of their families. The troopers met them, and suddenly
fell upon them. A few of the villagers were armed, but the principal
part defended themselves with stones. Of course they were overpowered;
many were killed by the sword, and those taken prisoners were
immediately hanged.
A few, who took to flight, sheltered themselves in a barn, where the
soldiers found them, set fire to the place, and murdered them as they
endeavoured to escape from the flames. One young man was taken
prisoner, David Chamier,[23] son of an advocate, and related to some
of the most eminent Protestants in France. He was taken to the
neighbouring town of Montelimar, and, after a summary trial, he was
condemned to be broken to death upon the wheel. The sentence was
executed before his father's door; but the young man bore his
frightful tortures with astonishing courage.
[Footnote 23: The grandfather of this Chamier drew up for
Henry IV. the celebrated Edict of Nantes. The greater number
of the Chamiers left France. Several were ministers in London
and Maryland, U.S. Captain Chamier is descended from the
family.]
The contumacious attitude of the Protestants after so many reports had
reached Louis XIV. of their entire "conversion," induced him to take
more active measures for their suppression. He appointed Marshal
Saint-Ruth commander of the district--a man who was a stranger to
mercy, who breathed only carnage, and who, because of his ferocity,
was known as "The Scourge of the Heretics."
Daniel de Cosmac, Bishop of Valence, had now the help of Saint-Ruth
and his twenty thousand troops. The instructions Saint-Ruth received
from Louvois were these: "Amnesty has no longer any place for the
Viverais, who continue in rebellion after having been informed of the
King's gracious designs. In one word, you are to cause such a
desolation in that country that its example may restrain all other
Huguenots, and may teach them how dangerous it is to rebel against the
King."
This was a work quite congenial to Saint-Ruth[24]--rushing about the
country, scourging, slaughtering, laying waste, and suppressing the
assemblies--his soldiers rushing upon their victims with cries of
"Death or the Mass!"
[Footnote 24: Saint-Ruth was afterwards, in 1691, sent to
Ireland to take the command of the army fighting for James
II. against William III. There, Saint-Ruth had soldiers, many
of them Huguenots banished from France, to contend with; and
he was accordingly somewhat less successful than in Viverais,
where his opponents were mostly peasants and workmen, armed
(where armed at all) with stones picked from the roads.
Saint-Ruth and his garrison were driven from Athlone, where a
Huguenot soldier was the first to mount the breach. The army
of William III., though eight thousand fewer in number,
followed Saint-Ruth and his Irish army to the field of
Aughrim. His host was there drawn up in an almost impregnable
position--along the heights of Kilcommeden, with the Castle
of Aughrim on his left wing, a deep bog on his right, and
another bog of about two miles extending along the front, and
apparently completely protecting the Irish encampment.
Nevertheless, the English and Huguenot army under Ginckle,
bravely attacked it, forced the pass to the camp, and routed
the army of Saint-Ruth, who himself was killed by a
cannon-ball. The principal share of this victory was
attributed to the gallant conduct of the three regiments of
Huguenot horse, under the command of the Marquess de Ruvigny
(himself a banished Huguenot nobleman) who, in consequence of
his services, was raised to the Irish peerage, under the
title of Earl of Galway.]
Tracking the Protestants in this way was like "a hunt in a great
enclosure." When the soldiers found a meeting of the people going on,
they shot them down at once, though unarmed. If they were unable to
fly, they met death upon their knees. Antoine Court recounts meetings
in which as many as between three and four hundred persons, old men,
women, and children, were shot dead on the spot.
De Cosmac, the bishop, was very active in the midst of these
massacres. When he went out to convert the people, he first began by
sending out Saint-Ruth with the dragoons. Afterwards he himself
followed to give instructions for their "conversion," partly through
favours, partly by money. "My efforts," he himself admitted, "were not
always without success; yet I must avow that the fear of the dragoons,
and of their being quartered in the houses of the heretics,
contributed much more to their conversion than anything that I did."
The same course was followed throughout the Cevennes. It would be a
simple record of cruelty to describe in detail the military
proceedings there: the dispersion of meetings; the hanging of persons
found attending them; the breaking upon the wheel of the pastors
captured, amidst horrible tortures; the destruction of dwellings and
of the household goods which they contained. But let us take the
single instance of Homel, formerly pastor of the church at Soyon.
Homel was taken prisoner, and found guilty of preaching to his flock
after his temple had been destroyed. For this offence he was sentenced
to be broken to death upon the wheel. To receive this punishment he
was conducted to Tournon, in Viverais, where the Jesuits had a
college. He first received forty blows of the iron bar, after which he
was left to languish with his bones broken, for forty hours, until he
died. During his torments, he said: "I count myself happy that I can
die in my Master's service. What! did my glorious Redeemer descend
from heaven and suffer an ignominious death for my salvation, and
shall I, to prolong a miserable life, deny my blessed Saviour and
abandon his people?" While his bones were being broken on the wheel,
he said to his wife: "Farewell, once more, my beloved spouse! Though
you witness my bones broken to shivers, yet is my soul filled with
inexpressible joy." After life was finally extinct, his heart was
taken to Chalençon to be publicly exhibited, and his body was exposed
in like manner at Beauchatel.
De Noailles, the governor, when referring in one of his dispatches to
the heroism displayed by the tortured prisoners, said: "These wretches
go to the wheel with the firm assurance of dying martyrs, and ask no
other favour than that of dying quickly. They request pardon of the
soldiers, but there is not one of them that will ask pardon of the
King."
To return to Claude Brousson. After his eloquent defence of the
Huguenots of Montauban--the result of which, of course, was that the
church was ordered to be demolished--and the institution of processes
for the demolition of fourteen more Protestant temples, Brousson at
last became aware that the fury of the Catholics and the King was not
to be satisfied until they had utterly crushed the religion which he
served.
Brousson was repeatedly offered the office of counsellor of
Parliament, equivalent to the office of judge, if he would prove an
apostate; but the conscience of Brousson was not one that could be
bought. He also found that his office of defender of the doomed
Huguenots could not be maintained without personal danger, whilst (as
events proved) his defence was of no avail to them; and he resolved,
with much regret, to give up his profession for a time, and retire for
safety and rest to his native town of Nismes.
He resided there, however, only about four months. Saint-Ruth and De
Noailles were now overawing Upper Languedoc with their troops. The
Protestants of Nismes had taken no part in "The Project;" their
remaining temple was still open. But they got up a respectful petition
to the King, imploring his consideration of their case. Roman
Catholics and Protestants, they said, had so many interests in common,
that the ruin of the one must have the effect of ruining the
other,--the flourishing manufactures of the province, which were
mostly followed by the Protestants, being now rapidly proceeding to
ruin. They, therefore, implored his Majesty to grant them permission
to prosecute their employments unmolested on account of their
religious profession; and lastly, they conjured the King, by his
piety, by his paternal clemency, and by every law of equity, to grant
them freedom of religious worship.
It was of no use. The hearts of the King, his clergy, and his
ministers, were all hardened against them. A copy of the above
petition was presented by two ministers of Nismes and several
influential gentlemen of Lower Languedoc to the Duke de Noailles, the
governor of the province. He treated the deputation with contempt, and
their petition with scorn. Writing to Louvois, the King's prime
minister, De Noailles said: "Astonished at the effrontery of these
wretched persons, I did not hesitate to send them all prisoners to the
Citadel of St. Esprit (in the Cevennes), telling them that if there
had been _petites maisons_[25] enough in Languedoc I should not have
sent them there."
[Footnote 25: The prisons of Languedoc were already crowded
with Protestants, and hundreds had been sent to the galleys
at Marseilles.]
Nismes was now placed under the same ban as Vivarais, and denounced as
"insurrectionary." To quell the pretended revolt, as well as to
capture certain persons who were supposed to have been accessory to
the framing of the petition, a detachment of four hundred dragoons was
ordered into the place. One of those to be apprehended was Claude
Brousson. Hundreds of persons knew of his abode in the city, but
notwithstanding the public proclamation (which he himself heard from
the window of the house where he was staying), and the reward offered
for his apprehension, no one attempted to betray him.
After remaining in the city for three days, he adopted a disguised
dress, passed out of the Crown Gate, and in the course of a few days
found a safe retreat in Switzerland.
Peyrol and Icard, two of the Protestant ministers whom the dragoons
were ordered to apprehend, also escaped into Switzerland, Peyrol
settling at Lausanne, and Icard becoming the minister of a Huguenot
church in Holland. But although the ministers had escaped, all the
property they had left behind them was confiscated to the Crown.
Hideous effigies of them were prepared and hung on gibbets in the
market-place of Nismes by the public executioner, the magistrates and
dragoons attending the sham proceeding with the usual ceremony.
At Lausanne, where Claude Brousson settled for a time, he first
attempted to occupy himself as a lawyer; but this he shortly gave up
to devote himself to the help of the persecuted Huguenots. Like Jurieu
and others in Holland, who flooded Europe with accounts of the hideous
cruelties of Louis XIV. and his myrmidons the clergy and dragoons, he
composed and published a work, addressed to the Roman Catholic party
as well as to the Protestants of all countries, entitled, "The State
of the Reformed Church of France." He afterwards composed a series of
letters specially addressed to the Roman Catholic clergy of France.
But expostulation was of no use. With each succeeding year the
persecution became more bitter, until at length, in 1685, the Edict
was revoked. In September of that year Brousson learnt that the
Protestant church of his native city had been suppressed, and their
temple given over to a society of female converters; that the wives
and daughters of the Protestants who refused to abjure their faith had
been seized and imprisoned in nunneries and religious seminaries; and
that three hundred of their husbands and fathers were chained together
and sent off in one day for confinement in the galleys at Marseilles.
The number of Huguenots resorting to Switzerland being so great,[26]
and they often came so destitute, that a committee was formed at
Lausanne to assist the emigrants, and facilitate their settlement in
the canton, or enable them to proceed elsewhere. Brousson was from the
first an energetic member of this committee. Part of their work was to
visit the Protestant states of the north, and find out places to which
the emigrants might be forwarded, as well as to collect subscriptions
for their conveyance.
[Footnote 26: Within about three weeks no fewer than
seventeen thousand five hundred French emigrants passed into
Lausanne. Two hundred Protestant ministers fled to
Switzerland, the greater number of whom settled in Lausanne,
until they could journey elsewhere.]
In November 1685, a month after the Revocation, Brousson and La Porte
set out for Berlin with this object. La Porte was one of the ministers
of the Cevennes, who had fled before a sentence of death pronounced
against him for having been concerned in "The Project." At Berlin they
were received very cordially by the Elector of Brandenburg, who had
already given great assistance to the Huguenot emigrants, and
expressed himself as willing to do all that he could for their
protection. Brousson and La Porte here met the Rev. David Ancillon,
who had been for thirty-three years pastor at Metz,[27] and was now
pastor of the Elector at Berlin; Gaultier, banished from Montpellier;
and Abbadie, banished from Saumur--all ministers of the Huguenot
Church there; with a large number of banished ministers and emigrant
Protestants from all the provinces of France.
[Footnote 27: Ancillon was an eminently learned man. His
library was one of the choicest that had ever been collected,
and on his expulsion from Metz it was pillaged by the
Jesuits. Metz, now part of German Lorraine, was probably not
so ferociously dragooned as other places. Yet the inhabitants
were under the apprehension that the massacre of St.
Bartholomew was about to be repeated upon them on Christmas
Day, 1685, the soldiers of the garrison having been kept
under arms all night. The Protestant churches were all pulled
down, the ministers were expelled, and many of their people
followed them into Germany. There were numerous Protestant
soldiers in the Metz garrison, and the order of the King was
that, like the rest of his subjects, they should become
converted. Many of the officers resigned and entered the
service of William of Orange, and many of the soldiers
deserted. The bribe offered for the conversion of privates
was as follows: Common soldiers and dragoons, two pistoles
per head; troopers, three pistoles per head. The Protestants
of Alsace were differently treated. They constituted a
majority of the population; Alsace and Strasbourg having only
recently been seized by Louis XIV. It was therefore necessary
to be cautious in that quarter; for violence would speedily
have raised a revolution in the province which would have
driven them over to Germany, whose language they spoke.
Louvois could therefore only proceed by bribing; and he was
successful in buying over some of the most popular and
influential men.]
The Elector suggested to Brousson that while at Berlin he should
compose a summary account of the condition of the French Protestants,
such as should excite the interest and evoke the help of the
Protestant rulers and people of the northern States. This was done by
Brousson, and the volume was published, entitled "Letters of the
Protestants of France who have abandoned all for the cause of the
Gospel, to other Protestants; with a particular Letter addressed to
Protestant Kings, Electors, Rulers, and Magistrates." The Elector
circulated this volume, accompanying it with a letter written in his
name, to all the princes of the Continent professing the Augsburg
Confession; and it was thus mainly owing to the Elector's intercession
that the Huguenots obtained the privilege of establishing
congregations in several of the states of Germany, as well as in
Sweden and Denmark.
Brousson remained nearly five months at Berlin, after which he
departed for Holland to note the progress of the emigration in that
country, and there he met a large number of his countrymen. Nearly two
hundred and fifty Huguenot ministers had taken refuge in Holland;
there were many merchants and manufacturers who had set up their
branches of industry in the country; and there were many soldiers who
had entered the service of William of Orange. While in Holland,
Brousson resided principally with his brother, a banished Huguenot,
who had settled at Amsterdam as a merchant.
Having accomplished all that he could for his Huguenot brethren in
exile, Brousson returned to Lausanne, where he continued his former
labours. He bethought him very much of the Protestants still remaining
in France, wandering like sheep without shepherds, deprived of
guidance, books, and worship--the prey of ravenous wolves,--and it
occurred to him whether the Protestant pastors had done right in
leaving their flocks, even though by so doing they had secured the
safety of their own lives. Accordingly, in 1686, he wrote and
published a "Letter to the Pastors of France at present in Protestant
States, concerning the Desolation of their own Churches, and their own
Exile."
In this letter he says:--"If, instead of retiring before your
persecutors, you had remained in the country; if you had taken refuge
in forests and caverns; if you had gone from place to place, risking
your lives to instruct and rally the people, until the first shock of
the enemy was past; and had you even courageously exposed yourselves
to martyrdom--as in fact those have done who have endeavoured to
perform your duties in your absence--perhaps the examples of
constancy, or zeal, or of piety you had discovered, might have
animated your flocks, revived their courage, and arrested the fury of
your enemies." He accordingly exhorted the Protestant ministers who
had left France to return to their flocks at all hazards.
This advice, if acted on, was virtually condemning the pastors to
death. Brousson was not a pastor. Would _he_ like to return to France
at the daily risk of the rack and the gibbet? The Protestant ministers
in exile defended themselves. Bénoît, then residing in Germany,
replied in a "History and Apology for the Retreat of the Pastors."
Another, who did not give his name, treated Brousson's censure as that
of a fanatic, who meddled with matters beyond his vocation. "You who
condemn the pastors for not returning to France at the risk of their
lives," said he, "_why do you not first return to France yourself?_"
Brousson was as brave as his words. He was not a pastor, but he might
return to the deserted flocks, and encourage and comfort them. He
could no longer be happy in his exile at Lausanne. He heard by night
the groans of the prisoners in the Tower of Constance, and the noise
of the chains borne by the galley slaves at Toulon and Marseilles. He
reproached himself as if it were a crime with the repose which he
enjoyed. Life became insupportable to him and he fell ill. His health
was even despaired of; but one day he suddenly rose up and said to his
wife, "I must set out; I will go to console, to relieve, to strengthen
my brethren, groaning under their oppressions."
His wife threw herself at his feet. "Thou wouldst go to certain
death," she said; "think of me and thy little children." She implored
him again and again to remain. He loved his wife and children, but he
thought a higher duty called him away from them. When his friends told
him that he would be taken prisoner and hung, he said, "When God
permits his servants to die for the Gospel, they preach louder from
the grave than they did during life." He remained unshaken. He would
go to the help of the oppressed with the love of a brother, the faith
of an apostle, and the courage of a martyr.
Brousson knew the danger of the office he was about to undertake.
There had, as we have seen, been numerous attempts made to gather the
Protestant people together, and to administer consolation to them by
public prayers and preaching. The persons who conducted these services
were not regular pastors, but only private members of their former
churches. Some of them were very young men, and they were nearly all
uneducated as regards clerical instruction. One of the most successful
was Isaac Vidal, a lame young man, a mechanic of Colognac, near St.
Hypolite, in the Cevennes. His self-imposed ministrations were
attended by large numbers of people. He preached for only six months
and then died--a natural death, for nearly all who followed him were
first tortured and then hung.
We have already referred to Fulcran Rey, who preached for about nine
months, and was then executed. In the same year were executed
Meyrueis, by trade a wool-carder, and Rocher, who had been a reader in
one of the Protestant churches. Emanuel Dalgues, a respectable
inhabitant of Salle, in the Cevennes, also received the crown of
martyrdom. Ever since the Revocation of the Edict, he had proclaimed
the Gospel o'er hill and dale, in woods and caverns, to assemblies of
the people wherever he could collect them. He was executed in 1687.
Three other persons--Gransille, Mercier, and Esclopier--who devoted
themselves to preaching, were transported as slaves to America; and
David Mazel, a boy twelve years of age, who had a wonderful memory,
and preached sermons which he had learned by heart, was transported,
with his father and other frequenters of the assemblies, to the
Carribee Islands.
At length Brousson collected about him a number of Huguenots willing
to return with him into France, in order to collect the Protestant
people together again, to pray with them, and even to preach to them
if the opportunity occurred. Brousson's companions were these: Francis
Vivens, formerly a schoolmaster in the Cevennes; Anthony Bertezene, a
carpenter, brother of a preacher who had recently been condemned to
death; and seven other persons named Papus, La Pierre, Serein,
Dombres, Poutant, Boisson, and M. de Bruc, an aged minister, who had
been formerly pastor of one of the churches in the Cevennes. They
prepared to enter France in four distinct companies, in the month of
July, 1689.
CHAPTER IV.
CLAUDE BROUSSON, PASTOR AND MARTYR.
Brousson left Lausanne on the 22nd of July, accompanied by his dear
friend, the Rev. M. de Bruc. The other members of the party had
preceded them, crossing the frontier at different places. They all
arrived in safety at their destination, which was in the mountain
district of the Cevennes. They resorted to the neighbourhood of the
Aigoual, the centre of a very inaccessible region--wild, cold, but
full of recesses for hiding and worship. It was also a district
surrounded by villages, the inhabitants of which were for the most
part Protestant.
The party soon became diminished in number. The old pastor, De Bruc,
found himself unequal to the fatigue and privations attending the
work. He was ill and unable to travel, and was accordingly advised by
his companions to quit the service and withdraw from the country.
Persecution also destroyed some of them. When it became known that
assemblies for religious observances were again on foot, an increased
force of soldiers was sent into the district, and a high price was set
on the heads of all the preachers that could be apprehended. The
soldiers scoured the country, and, helped by the paid spies, they
shortly succeeded in apprehending Boisson and Dombres, at St. Paul's,
north of Anduze, in the Cevennes. They were both executed at Nismes,
being first subjected to torture on the rack, by which their limbs
were entirely dislocated. They were then conveyed to the place of
execution, praying and singing psalms on the way, and finished their
course with courage and joy.
When Brousson first went into the Cevennes, he did not undertake to
preach to the people. He was too modest to assume the position of a
pastor; he merely undertook, as occasion required, to read the
Scriptures in Protestant families and in small companies, making his
remarks and exhortations thereupon. He also transcribed portions of
his own meditations on the Scriptures, and gave them away for
distribution from hand to hand amongst the people.
When it was found that his instructions were much appreciated, and
that numbers of people assembled to hear him read and exhort, he was
strongly urged to undertake the office of public instructor amongst
them, especially as their ministers were being constantly diminished
by execution.
He had been about five months in the Cevennes, and was detained by a
fall of snow on one of the mountains, where his abode was a sheepcote,
when the proposal that he should become a preacher was first made to
him. Vivens was one of those who most strongly supported the appeal
made to Brousson. He spent many hours in private prayer, seeking the
approval of God for the course he was about to undertake. Vivens also
prayed in the several assemblies that Brousson might be confirmed, and
that God would be pleased to pour upon him his Holy Spirit, and
strengthen him so that he might become a faithful and successful
labourer in this great calling.
Brousson at length consented, believing that duty and conscience alike
called upon him to give the best of his help to the oppressed and
persecuted Protestants of the mountains. "Brethren," he said to them,
when they called upon him to administer to them the Holy Sacrament of
the Eucharist--"Brethren, I look above you, and hear the most High God
calling me through your mouths to this most responsible and sacred
office; and I dare not be disobedient to his heavenly call. By the
grace of God I will comply with your pious desires; dedicate and
devote myself to the work of the ministry, and spend the remainder of
my life in unwearied pains and endeavours for promoting God's glory,
and the consolation of precious souls."
Brousson received his call to the ministry in the Cevennes amidst the
sound of musketry and grapeshot which spread death among the ranks of
his brethren. He was continuously tracked by the spies of the Jesuits,
who sought his apprehension and death; and he was hunted from place to
place by the troops of the King, who followed him in his wanderings
into the most wild and inaccessible places.
The perilous character of his new profession was exhibited only a few
days after his ordination, by the apprehension of Olivier Souverain at
St. Jean de Gardonenque, for preaching the Gospel to the assemblies.
He was at once conducted to Montpellier and executed on the 15th of
January, 1690.
During the same year, Dumas, another preacher in the Cevennes, was
apprehended and fastened by the troopers across a horse in order to be
carried to Montpellier. His bowels were so injured and his body so
crushed by this horrible method of conveyance, that Dumas died before
he was half way to the customary place of martyrdom.
Then followed the execution of David Quoite, a wandering and hunted
pastor in the Cevennes for several years. He was broken on the wheel
at Montpellier, and then hanged. "The punishment," said Louvreleuil,
his tormentor, "which broke his bones, did not break his hardened
heart: he died in his heresy." After Quoite, M. Bonnemère, a native of
the same city, was also tortured and executed in like manner on the
Peyrou.
All these persons were taken, executed, destroyed, or imprisoned,
during the first year that Brousson commenced his perilous ministry in
the Cevennes.
About the same time three women, who had gone about instructing the
families of the destitute Protestants, reading the Scriptures and
praying with them, were apprehended by Baville, the King's intendant,
and punished. Isabeau Redothière, eighteen years of age, and Marie
Lintarde, about a year younger, both the daughters of peasants, were
taken before Baville at Nismes.
"What! are you one of the preachers, forsooth?" said he to Redothière.
"Sir," she replied, "I have exhorted my brethren to be mindful of
their duty towards God, and when occasion offered, I have sought God
in prayer for them; and, if your lordship calls that preaching, I have
been a preacher." "But," said the Intendant, "you know that the King
has forbidden this." "Yes, my lord," she replied, "I know it very
well, but the King of kings, the God of heaven and earth, He hath
commanded it." "You deserve death," replied Baville.
But the Intendant awarded her a severer fate. She was condemned to be
imprisoned for life in the Tower of Constance, a place echoing with
the groans of women, most of whom were in chains, perpetually
imprisoned there for worshipping God according to conscience.
Lintarde was in like manner condemned to imprisonment for life in the
castle of Sommières, and it is believed she died there. Nothing,
however, is known of the time when she died. When a woman was taken
and imprisoned in one of the King's torture-houses, she was given up
by her friends as lost.
A third woman, taken at the same time, was more mercifully dealt with.
Anne Montjoye was found assisting at one of the secret assemblies. She
was solicited in vain to abjure her faith, and being condemned to
death, was publicly executed.
Shortly after his ordination, Brousson descended from the Upper
Cevennes, where the hunt for Protestants was becoming very hot, into
the adjacent valleys and plains. There it was necessary for him to be
exceedingly cautious. The number of dragoons in Languedoc had been
increased so as to enable them regularly to patrol the entire
province, and a price had been set upon Brousson's head, which was
calculated to quicken their search for the flying pastor.
Brousson was usually kept informed by his Huguenot friends of the
direction taken by the dragoons in their patrols, and hasty assemblies
were summoned in their absence. The meetings were held in some secret
place--some cavern or recess in the rocks. Often they were held at
night, when a few lanterns were hung on the adjacent trees to give
light. Sentinels were set in the neighbourhood, and all the adjoining
roads were watched. After the meeting was over the assemblage
dispersed in different directions, and Brousson immediately left for
another district, travelling mostly by night, so as to avoid
detection. In this manner he usually presided at three or four
assemblies each week, besides two on the Sabbath day--one early in the
morning and another at night.
At one of his meetings, held at Boucoiran on the Gardon, about half
way between Nismes and Anduze, a Protestant nobleman--a _nouveau
convertis_, who had abjured his religion to retain his estates--was
present, and stood near the preacher during the service. One of the
Government spies was present, and gave information. The name of the
Protestant nobleman was not known. But the Intendant, to strike terror
into others, seized six of the principal landed proprietors in the
neighbourhood--though some of them had never attended any of the
assemblies since the Revocation--and sent two of them to the galleys,
and the four others to imprisonment for life at Lyons, besides
confiscating the estates of the whole to the Crown.
Brousson now felt that he was bringing his friends into very great
trouble, and, out of consideration for them, he began to think of
again leaving France. The dragoons were practising much cruelty on the
Protestant population, being quartered in their houses, and at liberty
to plunder and extort money to any extent. They were also incessantly
on the look out for the assemblies, being often led by mounted priests
and spies to places where they had been informed that meetings were
about to be held. Their principal object, besides hanging the persons
found attending, was to seize the preachers, more especially Brousson
and Vivens, believing that the country would be more effectually
"converted," provided they could be seized and got out of the way.
Brousson, knowing that he might be seized and taken prisoner at any
moment, had long considered whether he ought to resist the attempts
made to capture him. He had at first carried a sword, but at length
ceased to wear it, being resolved entirely to cast himself on
Providence; and he also instructed all who resorted to his meetings to
come to them unarmed.
In this respect Brousson differed from Vivens, who thought it right to
resist force by force; and in the event of any attempt being made to
capture him, he considered it expedient to be constantly provided with
arms. Yet he had only once occasion to use them, and it was the first
and last time. The reward of ten thousand livres being now offered for
the apprehension of Brousson and Vivens, or five thousand for either,
an active search was made throughout the province. At length the
Government found themselves on the track of Vivens. One of his known
followers, Valderon, having been apprehended and put upon the rack,
was driven by torture to reveal his place of concealment. A party of
soldiers went in pursuit, and found Vivens with three other persons,
concealed in a cave in the neighbourhood of Alais.
Vivens was engaged in prayer when the soldiers came upon him. His hand
was on his gun in a moment. When asked to surrender he replied with a
shot, not knowing the number of his opponents. He followed up with two
other shots, killing a man each time, and then exposing himself, he
was struck by a volley, and fell dead. The three other persons in the
cave being in a position to hold the soldiers at defiance for some
time, were promised their lives if they would surrender. They did so,
and with the utter want of truth, loyalty, and manliness that
characterized the persecutors, the promise was belied, and the three
prisoners were hanged, a few days after, at Alais. Vivens' body was
taken to the same place. The Intendant sat in judgment upon it, and
condemned it to be drawn through the streets upon a hurdle and then
burnt to ashes.
Brousson was becoming exhausted by the fatigues and privations he had
encountered during his two years' wanderings and preachings in the
Cevennes; and he not only desired to give the people a relaxation from
their persecution, but to give himself some absolutely necessary rest.
He accordingly proceeded to Nismes, his birthplace, where many people
knew him; and where, if they betrayed him, they might easily have
earned five thousand livres. But so much faith was kept by the
Protestants amongst one another, that Brousson felt that his life was
quite as safe amongst his townspeople as it had been during the last
two years amongst the mountaineers of the Cevennes.
It soon became known to the priests, and then to the Intendant, that
Brousson was resident in concealment at Nismes; and great efforts were
accordingly made for his apprehension. During the search, a letter of
Brousson's was found in the possession of M. Guion, an aged minister,
who had returned from Switzerland to resume his ministry, according as
he might find it practicable. The result of this discovery was, that
Guion was apprehended, taken before the Intendant, condemned to be
executed, and sent to Montpellier, where he gave up his life at
seventy years old--the drums beating, as usual, that nobody might hear
his last words. The house in which Guion had been taken at Nismes was
ordered to be razed to the ground, in punishment of the owner who had
given him shelter.
After spending about a month at Nismes, Brousson was urged by his
friends to quit the city. He accordingly succeeded in passing through
the gates, and went to resume his former work. His first assembly was
held in a commodious place on the Gardon, between Valence, Brignon,
and St. Maurice, about ten miles distant from Nismes. Although he had
requested that only the Protestants in the immediate neighbourhood
should attend the meeting, so as not to excite the apprehensions of
the authorities, yet a multitude of persons came from Uzes and Nismes,
augmented by accessions from upwards of thirty villages. The service
was commenced about ten o'clock, and was not completed until midnight.
The concourse of persons from all quarters had been so great that the
soldiers could not fail to be informed of it. Accordingly they rode
towards the place of assemblage late at night, but they did not arrive
until the meeting had been dissolved. One troop of soldiers took
ambush in a wood through which the worshippers would return on their
way back to Uzes. The command had been given to "draw blood from the
conventicles." On the approach of the people the soldiers fired, and
killed and wounded several. About forty others wore taken prisoners.
The men were sent to the galleys for life, and the women were thrown
into gaol at Carcassone--the Tower of Constance being then too full of
prisoners.
After this event, the Government became more anxious in their desire
to capture Brousson. They published far and wide their renewed offer
of reward for his apprehension. They sent six fresh companies of
soldiers specially to track him, and examine the woods and search the
caves between Uzes and Alais. But Brousson's friends took care to
advise him of the approach of danger, and he sped away to take shelter
in another quarter. The soldiers were, however, close upon his heels;
and one morning, in attempting to enter a village for the purpose of
drying himself--having been exposed to the winter's rain and cold all
night--he suddenly came upon a detachment of soldiers! He avoided them
by taking shelter in a thicket, and while there, he observed another
detachment pass in file, close to where he was concealed. The soldiers
were divided into four parties, and sent out to search in different
directions, one of them proceeding to search every house in the
village into which Brousson had just been about to enter.
The next assembly was held at Sommières, about eight miles west of
Nismes. The soldiers were too late to disperse the meeting, but they
watched some of the people on their return. One of these, an old
woman, who had been observed to leave the place, was shot on entering
her cottage; and the soldier, observing that she was attempting to
rise, raised the butt end of his gun and brained her on the spot.
The hunted pastors of the Cevennes were falling off one by one.
Bernard Saint Paul, a young man, who had for some time exercised the
office of preacher, was executed in 1692. One of the brothers Du Plans
was executed in the same year, having been offered his life if he
would conform to the Catholic religion. In the following year Paul
Colognac was executed, after being broken to death on the wheel at
Masselargais, near to which he had held his last assembly. His arms,
thighs, legs, and feet were severally broken with the iron bar some
hours before the _coup de grace_, or deathblow, was inflicted.
Colognac endured his sufferings with heroic fortitude. He was only
twenty-four. He had commenced to preach at twenty, and laboured at the
work for only four years.
Brousson's health was fast giving way. Every place that he frequented
was closely watched, so that he had often to spend the night under the
hollow of a rock, or under the shelter of a wood, exposed to rain and
snow,--and sometimes he had even to contend with a wolf for the
shelter of a cave. Often he was almost perishing for want of food; and
often he found himself nearly ready to die for want of rest. And yet,
even in the midst of his greatest perils, his constant thought was of
the people committed to him, and for whose eternal happiness he
continued to work.
As he could not visit all who wished to hear him, he wrote out sermons
that might be read to them. His friend Henry Poutant, one of those who
originally accompanied him from Switzerland and had not yet been taken
prisoner by the soldiers, went about holding meetings for prayer, and
reading to the people the sermons prepared for them by Brousson.
For the purpose of writing out his sermons, Brousson carried about
with him a small board, which he called his "Wilderness Table." With
this placed upon his knees, he wrote the sermons, for the most part in
woods and caves. He copied out seventeen of these sermons, which he
sent to Louis XIV., to show him that what "he preached in the deserts
contained nothing but the pure word of God, and that he only exhorted
the people to obey God and to give glory to Him."
The sermons were afterwards published at Amsterdam, in 1695, under
the title of "The Mystic Manna of the Desert." One would have expected
that, under the bitter persecutions which Brousson had suffered during
so many years, they would have been full of denunciation; on the
contrary, they were only full of love. His words were only burning
when he censured his hearers for not remaining faithful to their
Church and to their God.
At length, the fury of Brousson's enemies so increased, and his health
was so much impaired, that he again thought of leaving France. His
lungs were so much injured by constant exposure to cold, and his voice
had become so much impaired, that he could not preach. He also heard
that his family, whom he had left at Lausanne, required his
assistance. His only son was growing up, and needed education. Perhaps
Brousson had too long neglected those of his own household; though he
had every confidence in the prudence and thoughtfulness of his wife.
Accordingly, about the end of 1693, Brousson made arrangements for
leaving the Cevennes. He set out in the beginning of December, and
arrived at Lausanne about a fortnight later, having been engaged on
his extraordinary mission of duty and peril for four years and five
months. He was received like one rescued from the dead. His health was
so injured, that his wife could scarcely recognise her husband in that
wan, wasted, and weatherbeaten creature who stood before her. In fact,
he was a perfect wreck.
He remained about fifteen months in Switzerland, during which he
preached in the Huguenots' church; wrote out many of his pastoral
letters and sermons; and, when his health had become restored, he
again proceeded on his travels into foreign countries. He first went
into Holland. He had scarcely arrived there, when intelligence reached
him from Montpellier of the execution, after barbarous torments, of
his friend Papus,--one of those who had accompanied him into the
Cevennes to preach the Gospel some six years before. There were now
very few of the original company left.
On hearing of the martyrdom of Papus, Brousson, in a pastoral letter
which he addressed to his followers, said: "He must have died some
day; and as he could not have prolonged his life beyond the term
appointed, how could his end have been more happy and more glorious?
His constancy, his sweetness of temper, his patience, his humility,
his faith, his hope, and his piety, affected even his judges and the
false pastors who endeavoured to seduce him, as also the soldiers and
all that witnessed his execution. He could not have preached better
than he did by his martyrdom; and I doubt not that his death, will
produce abundance of fruit."
While in Holland, Brousson took the opportunity of having his sermons
and many of his pastoral letters printed at Amsterdam; after which he
proceeded to make a visit to his banished Huguenot friends in England.
He also wished to ascertain from personal inquiry the advisability of
forwarding an increased number of French emigrants--then resident in
Switzerland--for settlement in this country. In London, he met many of
his friends from the South of France--for there were settled there as
ministers, Graverol of Nismes, Satur of Montauban, four ministers from
Montpellier for whom he had pleaded in the courts at Toulouse--the two
Dubourdieus and the two Berthaus--fathers and sons. There were also La
Coux from Castres, De Joux from Lyons, Roussillon from Montredon,
Mestayer from St. Quentin, all settled in London as ministers of
Huguenot churches.
After staying in England for only about a month, Brousson was suddenly
recalled to Holland to assume the office to which he was appointed
without solicitation, of preacher to the Walloon church at the Hague.
Though his office was easy--for he had several colleagues to assist
him in the duties--and the salary was abundant for his purposes, while
he was living in the society of his wife and family--Brousson
nevertheless very soon began to be ill at ease. He still thought of
the abandoned Huguenots "in the Desert"; without teachers, without
pastors, without spiritual help of any kind. When he had undertaken
the work of the ministry, he had vowed that he would devote his time
and talents to the support and help of the afflicted Church; and now
he was living at ease in a foreign country, far removed from those to
whom he considered his services belonged. These thoughts were
constantly recurring and pressing upon his mind; and at length he
ceased to have any rest or satisfaction in his new position.
Accordingly, after only about four months' connection with the Church
at the Hague, Brousson decided to relinquish the charge, and to devote
himself to the service of the oppressed and afflicted members of his
native Church in France. The Dutch Government, however, having been
informed of his perilous and self-sacrificing intention, agreed to
continue his salary as a pastor of the Walloon Church, and to pay it
to his wife, who henceforth abode at the Hague.
Brousson determined to enter France from the north, and to visit
districts that were entirely new to him. For this purpose he put
himself in charge of a guide. At that time, while the Protestants
were flying from France, as they continued to do for many years, there
were numerous persons who acted as guides for those not only flying
from, but entering the country. Those who guided Protestant pastors on
their concealed visits to France, were men of great zeal and
courage--known to be faithful and self-denying--and thoroughly
acquainted with the country. They knew all the woods, and fords, and
caves, and places of natural shelter along the route. They made the
itinerary of the mountains and precipices, of the byways and deserts,
their study. They also knew of the dwellings of the faithful in the
towns and villages where Huguenots might find relief and shelter for
the night. They studied the disguises to be assumed, and were prepared
with a stock of phrases and answers adapted for every class of
inquiries.
The guide employed by Brousson was one James Bruman--an old Huguenot
merchant, banished at the Revocation, and now employed in escorting
Huguenot preachers back to France, and escorting flying Huguenot men,
women, and children from it.[28] The pastor and his guide started
about the end of August, 1695. They proceeded by way of Liége; and
travelling south, they crossed the forest of Ardennes, and entered
France near Sedan.
[Footnote 28: Many of these extraordinary escapes are given
in the author's "Huguenots: their Settlements, Churches, and
Industries, in England and Ireland."]
Sedan, recently the scene of one of the greatest calamities that has
ever befallen France, was, about two centuries ago, a very prosperous
place. It was the seat of a great amount of Protestant learning and
Protestant industry. One of the four principal Huguenot academies of
France was situated in that town. It was suppressed in 1681, shortly
before the Revocation, and its professors, Bayle, Abbadie, Basnage,
Brazy, and Jurieu, expelled the country. The academy buildings
themselves had been given over to the Jesuits--the sworn enemies of
the Huguenots.
At the same time, Sedan had been the seat of great woollen
manufactures, originally founded by Flemish Protestant families, and
for the manufacture of arms, implements of husbandry, and all kinds of
steel and iron articles.[29] At the Revocation, the Protestants packed
up their tools and property, suddenly escaped across the frontier,
near which they were, and went and established themselves in the Low
Countries, where they might pursue their industries in safety. Sedan
was ruined, and remained so until our own day, when it has begun to
experience a little prosperity from the tourists desirous of seeing
the place where the great French Army surrendered.
[Footnote 29: There were from eighty to ninety establishments
for the manufacture of broadcloth in Sedan, giving employment
to more than two thousand persons. These, together with the
iron and steel manufactures, were entirely ruined at the
Revocation, when the whole of the Protestant mechanics went
into exile, and settled for the most part in Holland and
England.]
When Brousson visited the place, the remaining Protestants resided
chiefly in the suburban villages of Givonne and Daigny. He visited
them in their families, and also held several private meetings, after
which he was induced to preach in a secluded place near Sedan at
night.
This assembly, however, was reported to the authorities, who
immediately proceeded to make search for the heretic preacher. A party
of soldiers, informed by the spies, next morning invested the house in
which Brousson slept. They first apprehended Bruman, the guide, and
thought that in him they had secured the pastor. They next rummaged
the house, in order to find the preacher's books. But Brousson,
hearing them coming in, hid himself behind the door, which, being
small, hardly concealed his person.
After setting a guard all round the house, ransacking every room in
it, and turning everything upside down, they left it; but two of the
children, seeing Brousson's feet under the door, one of them ran after
the officer of the party, and exclaimed to him, pointing back, "Here,
sir, here!" But the officer, not understanding what the child meant,
went away with his soldiers, and Brousson's life was, for the time,
saved.
The same evening, Brousson changed his disguise to that of a
wool-comber, and carrying a parcel on his shoulder, he set out on the
same evening with another guide. He visited many places in which
Protestants were to be found--in Champagne, Picardy, Normandy,
Nevernois, and Burgundy. He also visited several of his friends in the
neighbourhood of Paris.
We have not many details of his perils and experiences during his
journey. But the following passage is extracted from a letter
addressed by him to a friend in Holland: "I assure you that in every
place through which I passed, I witnessed the poor people truly
repenting their fault (_i.e._ of having gone to Mass), weeping day and
night, and imploring the grace and consolations of the Gospel in their
distress. Their persecutors daily oppress them, and burden them with
taxes and imposts; but the more discerning of the Roman Catholics
acknowledge that the cruelties and injustice done towards so many
innocent persons, draw down misery and distress upon the kingdom. And
truly it is to be apprehended that God will abandon its inhabitants to
their wickedness, that he may afterwards pour down his most terrible
judgments upon that ungrateful and vaunting country, which has
rejected his truth and despised the day of visitation."
During the twelve months that Brousson was occupied with his perilous
journey through France, two more of his friends in the Cevennes
suffered martyrdom--La Porte on the 7th of February, 1696, and Henri
Guerin on the 22nd of June following. Both were broken alive on the
wheel before receiving the _coup de grace_.
Towards the close of the year, Brousson arrived at Basle, from whence
he proceeded to visit his friends throughout the cantons of
Switzerland, and then he returned to Holland by way of the Rhine, to
rejoin his family at the Hague.
At that time, the representatives of the Allies were meeting at
Ryswick the representatives of Louis XIV., who was desirous of peace.
Brousson and the French refugee ministers resident in Holland
endeavoured to bring the persecutions of the French Protestants under
the notice of the Conference. But Louis XIV. would not brook this
interference. He proposed going on dealing with the heretics in his
own way. "I do not pretend," he said, "to prescribe to William III.
rules about his subjects, and I expect the same liberty as to my own."
Finding it impossible to obtain redress for his fellow-countrymen
under the treaty of Ryswick, which was shortly after concluded,
Brousson at length prepared to make his third journey into France in
the month of August 1697. He set out greatly to the regret of his
wife, who feared it might be his last journey, as indeed it proved to
be. In a letter which he wrote to console her, from some remote place
where he was snowed up about the middle of the following December, he
said: "I cannot at present enter into the details of the work the
Lord has given me grace to labour in; but it is the source of much
consolation to a large number of his poor people. It will be expedient
that you do not mention where I am, lest I should be traced. It may be
that I cannot for some time write to you; but I walk under the conduct
of my God, and I repeat that I would not for millions of money that
the Lord should refuse me the grace which renders it imperative for me
to labour as I now do in His work."[30]
[Footnote 30: The following was the portraiture of Brousson,
issued to the spies and police: "Brousson is of middle
stature, and rather spare, aged forty to forty-two, nose
large, complexion dark, hair black, hands well formed."]
When the snow had melted sufficiently to enable Brousson to escape
from the district of Dauphiny, near the High Alps, where he had been
concealed, he made his way across the country to the Viverais, where
he laboured for some time. Here he heard of the martyrdom of the third
of the brothers Du Plans, broken on the wheel and executed like the
others on the Peyrou at Montpellier.
During the next nine months, Brousson laboured in the north-eastern
provinces of Languedoc (more particularly in the Cevennes and
Viverais), Orange, and Dauphiny. He excited so much interest amongst
the Protestants, who resorted from a great distance to attend his
assemblies, that the spies (who were usually pretended Protestants)
soon knew of his presence in the neighbourhood, and information was at
once forwarded to the Intendant or his officers.
Persecution was growing very bitter about this time. By orders of the
bishops the Protestants were led by force to Mass before the dragoons
with drawn swords, and the shops of merchants who refused to go to
Mass regularly were ordered to be closed. Their houses were also
filled with soldiers. "The soldiers or militia," said Brousson to a
friend in Holland, "frequently commit horrible ravages, breaking open
the cabinets, removing every article that is saleable, which are often
purchased by the priests at insignificant prices; the rest they burn
and break up, after which the soldiers are removed; and when the
sufferers think themselves restored to peace, fresh billets are
ordered upon them. Many are consequently induced to go to Mass with
weeping and lamentation, but a great number remain inflexible, and
others fly the kingdom."
When it became known that Brousson, in the course of his journeyings,
had arrived, about the end of August, 1698, in the neighbourhood of
Nismes, Baville was greatly mortified; and he at once offered a reward
of six hundred louis d'or for his head. Brousson nevertheless entered
Nismes, and found refuge amongst his friends. He had, however, the
imprudence to post there a petition to the King, signed by his own
hand, which had the effect of at once setting the spies upon his
track. Leaving the city itself, he took refuge in a house not far from
it, whither the spies contrived to trace him, and gave the requisite
information to the Intendant. The house was soon after surrounded by
soldiers, and was itself entered and completely searched.
Brousson's host had only had time to make him descend into a well,
which had a niche in the bottom in which he could conceal himself. The
soldiers looked down the well a dozen times, but could see nothing.
Brousson was not in the house; he was not in the chimneys; he was not
in the outhouses. He _must_ be in the well! A soldier went down the
well to make a personal examination. He was let down close to the
surface of the water, and felt all about. There was nothing! Feeling
awfully cold, and wishing to be taken out, he called to his friends,
"There is nothing here, pull me up." He was pulled up accordingly, and
Brousson was again saved.
The country about Nismes being beset with spies to track the
Protestants and prevent their meetings, Brousson determined to go
westward and visit the scattered people in Rouerge, Pays de Foix, and
Bigorre, proceeding as far as Bearn, where a remnant of Huguenots
still lingered, notwithstanding the repeated dragooning to which the
district had been subjected. It was at Oberon that he fell into the
hands of a spy, who bore the same name as a Protestant friend to whom
his letter was addressed. Information was given to the authorities,
and Brousson was arrested. He made no resistance, and answered at once
to his name.
When the Judas who had betrayed him went to M. Pénon, the intendant of
the province, to demand the reward set upon Brousson's head, the
Intendant replied with indignation, "Wretch! don't you blush to look
upon the man in whose blood you traffic? Begone! I cannot bear your
presence!"
Brousson was sent to Pau, where he was imprisoned in the castle of
Foix, at one time the centre of the Reformation movement in the South
of France--where Calvin had preached, where Jeanne d'Albret had lived,
and where Henry IV. had been born.
From Pau, Brousson was sent to Montpellier, escorted by dragoons. At
Toulouse the party took passage by the canal of Languedoc, which had
then been shortly open. At Somail, during the night, Brousson saw that
all the soldiers were asleep. He had but to step on shore to regain
his liberty; but he had promised to the Intendant of Bearn, who had
allowed him to go unfettered, that he would not attempt to escape. At
Agade there was a detachment of a hundred soldiers, ready to convey
the prisoner to Baville, Intendant of Languedoc. He was imprisoned in
the citadel of Montpellier, on the 30th October, 1698.
Baville, who knew much of the character of Brousson--his peacefulness,
his piety, his self-sacrifice, and his noble magnanimity--is said to
have observed on one occasion, "I would not for a world have to judge
that man." And yet the time had now arrived when Brousson was to be
judged and condemned by Baville and the Presidial Court. The trial was
a farce, because it had been predetermined that Brousson should die.
He was charged with preaching in France contrary to the King's
prohibition. This he admitted; but when asked to whom he had
administered the Sacrament, he positively refused to disclose, because
he was neither a traitor nor informer to accuse his brethren. He was
also charged with having conspired to introduce a foreign army into
France under the command of Marshal Schomberg. This he declared to be
absolutely false, for he had throughout his career been a man of
peace, and sought to bring back Christ's followers by peaceful means
only.
His defence was of no avail. He was condemned to be racked, then to be
broken on the wheel, and afterwards to be executed. He received the
sentence without a shudder. He was tied on the rack, but when he
refused to accuse his brethren he was released from it. Attempts were
made by several priests and friars to add him to the number of "new
converts," but these were altogether fruitless. All that remained was
to execute him finally on the public place of execution--the Peyrou.
The Peyrou is the pride of modern Montpellier. It is the favourite
promenade of the place, and is one of the finest in Europe. It
consists of a broad platform elevated high above the rest of the town,
and commanding extensive views of the surrounding country. In clear
weather, Mont Ventoux, one of the Alpine summits, may be seen across
the broad valley of the Rhône on the east, and the peak of Mont
Canizou in the Pyrenees on the west. Northward stretches the mountain
range of the Cevennes, the bold Pic de Saint-Loup the advanced
sentinel of the group; while in the south the prospect is bounded by
the blue line of the Mediterranean.
The Peyrou is now pleasantly laid out in terraced walks and shady
groves, with gay parterres of flowers--the upper platform being
surrounded with a handsome stone balustrade. An equestrian statue of
Louis XIV. occupies the centre of the area; and a triumphal arch
stands at the entrance to the promenade, erected to commemorate the
"glories" of the same monarch, more particularly the Revocation by him
of the Edict of Nantes--one of the entablatures of the arch displaying
a hideous figure, intended to represent a Huguenot, lying trampled
under foot of the "Most Christian King."
The Peyrou was thus laid out and ornamented in the reign of his
successor, Louis XV., "the Well-beloved," during which the same policy
for which Louis XIV. was here glorified by an equestrian statue and a
triumphal arch continued to be persevered in--of imprisoning,
banishing, hanging, or sending to the galleys such of the citizens of
France as were not of "the King's religion."
But during the reign of Louis XIV. himself, the Peyrou was anything
but a pleasure-ground. It was the infamous place of the city--the
_place de Grève_--a desert, barren, blasted table-land, where
sometimes half-a-dozen decaying corpses might be seen swinging from
the gibbets on which they had been hung. It was specially reserved,
because of its infamy, for the execution of heretics against Rome; and
here, accordingly, hundreds of Huguenot martyrs--whom power, honour,
and wealth failed to bribe or to convert--were called upon to seal
their faith with their blood.
Brousson was executed at this place on the 4th of November, 1698. It
was towards evening, while the sun was slowly sinking behind the
western mountains, that an immense multitude assembled on the Peyrou
to witness the martyrdom of the devoted pastor. Not fewer than twenty
thousand persons were there, including the principal nobility of the
city and province, besides many inhabitants of the adjoining mountain
district of the Cevennes, some of whom had come from a great distance
to be present. In the centre of the plateau, near where the equestrian
statue of the great King now stands, was a scaffold, strongly
surrounded by troops to keep off the crowd. Two battalions, drawn up
in two lines facing each other, formed an avenue of bayonets between
the citadel, near at hand, and the place of execution.
A commotion stirred the throng; and the object of the breathless
interest excited shortly appeared in the person of a middle-sized,
middle-aged man, spare, grave, and dignified in appearance, dressed in
the ordinary garb of a pastor, who walked slowly towards the
scaffold, engaged in earnest prayer, his eyes and hands lifted towards
heaven. On mounting the platform, he stood forward to say a few last
words to the people, and give to many of his friends, whom he knew to
be in the crowd, his parting benediction. But his voice was instantly
stifled by the roll of twenty drums, which continued to beat a quick
march until the hideous ceremony was over, and the martyr, Claude
Brousson, had ceased to live.[31]
[Footnote 31: The only favour which Brousson's judges showed
him at death was as regarded the manner of carrying his
sentence into execution. He was condemned to be broken alive
on the wheel, and then strangled; whereas by special favour
the sentence was commuted into strangulation first and the
breaking of his bones afterwards. So that while Brousson's
impassive body remained with his persecutors to be broken,
his pure unconquered spirit mounted in triumph towards
heaven.]
Strange are the vicissitudes of human affairs! Not a hundred years
passed after this event, before the great grandson of the monarch, at
whose instance Brousson had laid down his life, appeared upon a
scaffold in the Place Louis XIV. in Paris, and implored permission to
say his few last words to the people. In vain! His voice was drowned
by the drums of Santerre!
CHAPTER V.
OUTBREAK IN LANGUEDOC.
Although the arbitrary measures of the King were felt all over France,
they nowhere excited more dismay and consternation than in the
province of Languedoc. This province had always been inhabited by a
spirited and energetic people, born lovers of liberty. They were among
the earliest to call in question the despotic authority over mind and
conscience claimed by the see of Rome. The country is sown with the
ashes of martyrs. Long before the execution of Brousson, the Peyrou at
Montpellier had been the Calvary of the South of France.
As early as the twelfth century, the Albigenses, who inhabited the
district, excited the wrath of the Popes. Simple, sincere believers in
the Divine providence, they rejected Rome, and took their stand upon
the individual responsibility of man to God. Count de Foix said to the
legate of Innocent III.: "As to my religion, the Pope has nothing to
do with it. Every man's conscience must be free. My father has always
recommended to me this liberty, and I am content to die for it."
A crusade was waged against the Albigenses, which lasted for a period
of about sixty years. Armies were concentrated upon Languedoc, and
after great slaughter the heretics were supposed to be exterminated.
But enough of the people survived to perpetuate the love of liberty in
their descendants, who continued to exercise a degree of independence
in matters of religion and politics almost unknown in other parts of
France. Languedoc was the principal stronghold of the Huguenots in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and when, in 1685, Louis XIV.
revoked the Edict of Nantes, which interdicted freedom of worship
under penalty of confiscation, banishment, and death, it is not
surprising that such a policy should have occasioned widespread
consternation, if not hostility and open resistance.
At the period of the Revocation there were, according to the Intendant
of the province, not fewer than 250,000 Protestants in Languedoc, and
these formed the most skilled, industrious, enterprising, and wealthy
portion of the community. They were the best farmers, vine-dressers,
manufacturers, and traders. The valley of Vaunage, lying to the
westward of Nismes, was one of the richest and most highly cultivated
parts of France. It contained more than sixty temples, its population
being almost exclusively Protestant; and it was known as "The Little
Canaan," abounding as it did in corn, and wine, and oil.
The greater part of the commerce of the South of France was conducted
by the Protestant merchants of Nismes, of whom the Intendant wrote to
the King in 1699, "If they are still bad Catholics, at any rate they
have not ceased to be very good traders."
The Marquis d'Aguesseau bore similar testimony to the intelligent
industry of the Huguenot population. "By an unfortunate fatality,"
said he, "in nearly every kind of art the most skilful workmen, as
well as the richest merchants, belong to the pretended reformed
religion."
The Marquis, who governed Languedoc for many years, was further of
opinion that the intelligence of the Protestants was in a great
measure due to the instructions of their pastors. "It is certain,"
said he, "that one of the things which holds the Huguenots to their
religion is the amount of information which they receive from their
instructors, and which it is not thought necessary to give in ours.
The Huguenots _will_ be instructed, and it is a general complaint
amongst the new converts not to find in our religion the same mental
and moral discipline they find in their own."
Baville, the intendant, made an observation to a similar effect in a
confidential communication which he made to the authorities at Paris
in 1697, in which he boasted that the Protestants had now all been
converted, and that there were 198,483 new converts in Languedoc.
"Generally speaking," he said, "the new converts are much better off,
being more laborious and industrious than the old Catholics of the
province. The new converts must not be regarded as Catholics; they
almost all preserve in their heart their attachment to their former
religion. They may confess and communicate as much as you will,
because they are menaced and forced to do so by the secular power. But
this only leads to sacrilege. To gain them, _their hearts must be
won_. It is there that religion resides, and it can only be solely
established by effecting that conquest."
From the number, as well as the wealth and education, of the
Protestants of Languedoc, it is reasonable to suppose that the
emigration from this quarter of France should have been very
considerable during the persecutions which followed the Revocation. Of
course nearly all the pastors fled, death being their punishment if
they remained in France. Hence many of the most celebrated French
preachers in Holland, Germany, and England were pastors banished from
Languedoc. Claude and Saurin both belonged to the province; and among
the London preachers were the Dubourdieus, the Bertheaus, Graverol,
and Pégorier.
It is also interesting to find how many of the distinguished Huguenots
who settled in England came from Languedoc. The Romillys and Layards
came from Montpellier; the Saurins from Nismes; the Gaussens from
Lunel; and the Bosanquets from Caila;[32] besides the Auriols,
Arnauds, Péchels, De Beauvoirs, Durands, Portals, Boileaus, D'Albiacs,
D'Oliers, Rious, and Vignoles, all of whom belonged to the Huguenot
landed gentry of Languedoc, who fled and sacrificed everything rather
than conform to the religion of Louis XIV.
[Footnote 32: There are still Gaussens at St. Mamert, in the
department of Gard; and some of the Bosanquet family must
have remained on their estates or returned to Protestantism,
as we find a Bosanquet of Caila broken alive at Nismes,
because of his religion, on the 7th September, 1702, after
which his corpse was publicly exposed on the Montpellier high
road.]
When Brousson was executed at Montpellier, it was believed that
Protestantism was finally dead. At all events, it was supposed that
those of the Protestants who remained, without becoming converted,
were at length reduced to utter powerlessness. It was not believed
that the smouldering ashes contained any sparks that might yet be
fanned into flames. The Huguenot landed proprietors, the principal
manufacturers, the best of the artisans, had left for other countries.
Protestantism was now entirely without leaders. The very existence of
Protestantism in any form was denied by the law; and it might perhaps
reasonably have been expected that, being thus crushed out of sight,
it would die.
But there still remained another important and vital element--the
common people--the peasants, the small farmers, the artisans, and
labouring classes--persons of slender means, for the most part too
poor to emigrate, and who remained, as it were, rooted to the soil on
which they had been born. This was especially the case in the
Cevennes, where, in many of the communes, almost the entire
inhabitants were Protestants; in others, they formed a large
proportion of the population; while in all the larger towns and
villages they were very numerous, as well as widely spread over the
whole province.
* * * * *
The mountainous district of the Cevennes is the most rugged, broken,
and elevated region in the South of France. It fills the department of
Lozère, as well as the greater part of Gard and Herault. The principal
mountain-chain, about a hundred leagues in length, runs from
north-east to south-west, and may almost be said to unite the Alps
with the Pyrenees. From the centre of France the surface rises with a
gradual slope, forming an inclined plane, which reaches its greatest
height in the Cevennic chain, several of the summits of which are
about five thousand five hundred feet above the sea level. Its
connection with the Alpine range is, however, broken abruptly by the
deep valley of the Rhône, running nearly due north and south.
The whole of this mountain district maybe regarded as a triangular
plateau rising gradually from the northwest, and tilted up at its
south-eastern angle. It is composed for the most part of granite,
overlapped by strata belonging to the Jurassic-system; and in many
places, especially in Auvergne, the granitic rocks have been burst
through by volcanoes, long since extinct, which rise like enormous
protuberances from the higher parts of the platform. Towards the
southern border of the district, the limestone strata overlapping the
granite assume a remarkable development, exhibiting a series of
flat-topped hills bounded by perpendicular cliffs some six or eight
hundred feet high.
"These plateaux," says Mr. Scrope, in his interesting account of the
geology of Central France, "are called 'causses' in the provincial
dialect, and they have a singularly dreary and desert aspect from the
monotony of their form and their barren and rocky character. The
valleys which separate them are rarely of considerable width. Winding,
narrow, and all but impassable cliff-like glens predominate, giving to
the Cevennes that peculiarly intricate character which enabled its
Protestant inhabitants, in the beginning of the last century, to offer
so stubborn and gallant a resistance to the atrocious persecutions of
Louis XIV."
Such being the character of this mountain district--rocky, elevated,
and sterile--the people inhabiting it, though exceedingly industrious,
are for the most very poor. Sheep-farming is the principal occupation
of the people of the hill country; and in the summer season, when the
lower districts are parched with drought, tens of thousands of sheep
may be seen covering the roads leading to the Upper Cevennes, whither
they are driven for pasture. There is a comparatively small breadth of
arable land in the district. The mountains in many places contain only
soil enough to grow juniper-bushes. There is very little verdure to
relieve the eye--few turf-clad slopes or earth-covered ledges to
repay the tillage of the farmer. Even the mountains of lower elevation
are for the most part stony deserts. Chestnut-trees, it is true, grow
luxuriantly in the sheltered places, and occasionally scanty crops of
rye on the lower mountain-sides. Mulberry-trees also thrive in the
valleys, their leaves being used for the feeding of silkworms, the
rearing of which forms one of the principal industries of the
district.
Even in the immediate neighbourhood of Nismes--a rich and beautiful
town, abounding in Roman remains, which exhibit ample evidences of its
ancient grandeur--the country is arid, stony, and barren-looking,
though here the vine, the olive, and the fig-tree, wherever there is
soil enough, grow luxuriantly in the open air. Indeed, the country
very much resembles in its character the land of Judea, being rocky,
parched, and in many places waste, though in others abounding in corn
and wine and oil. In the interior parts of the district the scenery is
wild and grand, especially in the valleys lying under the lofty
mountain of Lozère. But the rocks and stones are everywhere in the
ascendant.
A few years ago we visited the district; and while proceeding in the
old-fashioned diligence which runs between Alais and Florac--for the
district is altogether beyond the reach of railways--a French
contractor, accompanying a band of Italian miners, whom he was taking
into the mountains to search for minerals, pointing to the sterile
rocks, exclaimed to us, "Messieurs, behold the very poorest district
in France! It contains nothing but juniper-bushes! As for its
agriculture, it produces nothing; manufactures, nothing; commerce,
nothing! _Rien, rien, rien!_"
The observation of this French _entrepreneur_ reminds us of an
anecdote that Telford, the Scotch engineer, used to relate of a
countryman with reference to his appreciation of Scotch mountain
beauty. An English artist, enraptured by the scenery of Ben MacDhui,
was expatiating on its magnificence, and appealed to the native guide
for confirmation of his news. "I dinna ken aboot the scenery," replied
the man, "but there's plenty o' big rocks and stanes; an' the kintra's
awfu' puir." The same observation might doubtless apply to the
Cevennes. Yet, though the people may be poor, they are not miserable
or destitute, for they are all well-clad and respectable-looking
peasants, and there is not a beggar to be seen in the district.
But the one country, as the other, grows strong and brave men. These
barren mountain districts of the Cevennes have bred a race of heroes;
and the men are as simple and kind as they are brave. Hospitality is a
characteristic of the people, which never fails to strike the visitor
accustomed to the exactions which are so common along the hackneyed
tourist routes.
As in other parts of France, the peasantry here are laborious almost
to excess. Robust and hardy, they are distinguished for their
perseverance against the obstacles which nature constantly opposes to
them. Out-door industry being suspended in winter, during which they
are shut up in their cabins for nearly six months by the ice and snow,
they occupy themselves in preparing their wool for manufacture into
cloth. The women card, the children spin, the men weave; and each
cottage is a little manufactory of drugget and serge, which is taken
to market in spring, and sold in the low-country towns. Such was the
industry of the Cevennes nearly two hundred years since, and such it
remains to the present day.
The people are of a contented nature, and bear their poverty with
cheerfulness and even dignity. While they partake of the ardour and
strong temper which characterize the inhabitants of the South of
France, they are probably, on the whole, more grave and staid than
Frenchmen generally, and are thought to be more urbane and
intelligent; and though they are unmanageable by force, they are
remarkably accessible to kindness and moral suasion.
Such, in a few words, are the more prominent characteristics of the
country and people of the Cevennes.
* * * * *
When the popular worship of the mountain district of Languedoc--in
which the Protestants constituted the majority of the population--was
suppressed, great dismay fell upon the people; but they made no signs
of resistance to the royal authority. For a time they remained
comparatively passive, and it was at first thought they were
indifferent. Their astonished enemies derisively spoke of them as
displaying "the patience of a Huguenot,"--the words having passed into
a proverb.
But their persecutors did not know the stuff of which these
mountaineers were made. They had seen their temples demolished one
after another, and their pastors banished, leaving them "like poor
starved sheep looking for the pasture of life." Next they heard that
such of their pastors as had been apprehended for venturing to
minister to them in "the Desert" had been taken to Nismes and
Montpellier and hanged. Then they began to feel excited and indignant.
For they could not shake off their own belief and embrace another
man's, even though that man was their king. If Louis XIV. had ordered
them to believe that two and two make six, they could not possibly
believe, though they might pretend to do so, that it made any other
number than four. And so it was with the King's order to them to
profess a faith which they could not bring their minds to believe in.
These poor people entertained the conviction that they possessed
certain paramount rights as men. Of these they held the right of
conscience to be one of the principal. They were willing to give unto
Cæsar the things that were Cæsar's; but they could not give him those
which belonged unto God. And if they were forced to make a choice,
then they must rather disobey their King than the King of kings.
Though deprived of their leaders and pastors, the dispossessed
Huguenots emerged by degrees from their obscurity, and began to
recognise each other openly. If their temples were destroyed, there
remained the woods and fields and mountain pastures, where they might
still meet and worship God, even though it were in defiance of the
law. Having taken counsel together, they resolved "not to forsake the
assembling of themselves together;" and they proceeded, in all the
Protestant districts in the South of France--in Viverais, Dauphiny,
and the Cevennes--to hold meetings of the people, mostly by night, for
worship--in woods, in caves, in rocky gorges, and in hollows of the
hills. Then began those famous assemblies of "the Desert," which were
the nightmare of Louvois and the horror of Louis XIV.
When it came to the knowledge of the authorities that such meetings
were being held, large bodies of troops were sent into the southern
provinces, with orders to disperse them and apprehend the ringleaders.
These orders were carried out with much barbarity. Amongst various
assemblies which were discovered and attacked in the Cevennes, were
those of Auduze and Vigan, where the soldiers fell upon the
defenceless people, put the greater number to the sword, and hanged
upon the nearest trees those who did not succeed in making their
escape.
The authorities waited to see the effect of these "vigorous measures;"
but they were egregiously disappointed. The meetings in the Desert
went on as before, and even increased in number. Then milder means
were tried. Other meetings were attacked in like manner, and the
people found attending them taken prisoners. They were then threatened
with death unless they became converted, and promised to attend Mass.
They declared that they preferred death. A passion for martyrdom even
seemed to be spreading amongst the infatuated people!
Then the peasantry began secretly to take up arms for their defence.
They had thus far been passive in their resistance, and were content
to brave death provided they could but worship together. At length
they felt themselves driven in their despair to resist force by
force--acting, however, in the first place, entirely on the
defensive--"leaving the issue," to use the words of one of their
solemn declarations, "to the providence of God."
They began--these poor labourers, herdsmen, and wool-carders--by
instituting a common fund for the purpose of helping their distressed
brethren in surrounding districts. They then invited such as were
disposed to join them to form themselves into companies, so as to be
prepared to come together and give their assistance as occasion
required. When meetings in the Desert were held, it became the duty of
these enrolled men to post themselves as sentinels on the surrounding
heights, and give notice of the approach of their enemies. They also
constituted a sort of voluntary police for their respective districts,
taking notice of the changes of the royal troops, and dispatching
information by trusty emissaries, intimating the direction of their
march.
The Intendant, Baville, wrote to Louvois, minister of Louis XIV.
during the persecutions, expressing his surprise and alarm at the
apparent evidences of organization amongst the peasantry. "I have just
learned," said he in one letter,[33] "that last Sunday there was an
assembly of nearly four hundred men, many of them armed, at the foot
of the mountain of Lozère. I had thought," he added, "that the great
lesson taught them at Vigan and Anduze would have restored
tranquillity to the Cevennes, at least for a time. But, on the
contrary, the severity of the measures heretofore adopted seems only
to have had the effect of exasperating and hardening them in their
iniquitous courses."
[Footnote 33: October 20, 1686.]
* * * * *
As the massacres had failed, the question next arose whether the
inhabitants might not be driven into exile, and the country entirely
cleared of them. "They pretend," said Louvois, "to meet in 'the
Desert;' why not take them at their word, and make the Cevennes
_really_ a Desert?" But there were difficulties in the way of
executing this plan. In the first place, the Protestants of Languedoc
were a quarter of a million in number. And, besides, if they were
driven out of it, what would become of the industry and the wealth of
this great province--what of the King's taxes?
The Duke de Noailles advised that it would be necessary to proceed
with some caution in the matter. "If his Majesty," he wrote to
Baville, "thinks there is no other remedy than changing the whole
people of the Cevennes, it would be better to begin by expelling those
who are not engaged in commerce, who inhabit inaccessible mountain
districts, where the severity of the climate and the poverty of the
soil render them rude and barbarous, as in the case of those people
who recently met at the foot of the Lozère. Should the King consent to
this course, it will be necessary to send here at least four
additional battalions of foot to execute his orders."[34]
[Footnote 34: Noailles to Baville, 29th October, 1686.]
An attempt was made to carry out this measure of deportation of the
people, but totally failed. With the aid of spies, stimulated by high
rewards, numerous meetings in the Desert were fallen upon by the
troops, and those who were not hanged were transported--some to Italy,
some to Switzerland, and some to America. But transportation had no
terrors for the people, and the meetings continued to be held as
before.
Baville then determined to occupy the entire province with troops, and
to carry out a general disarmament of the population. Eight
regiments of regular infantry were sent into the Cevennes, and fifty
regiments of militia were raised throughout the province, forming
together an army of some forty thousand men. Strong military posts
were established in the mountains, and new forts and barracks were
erected at Alais, Anduze, St. Hyppolyte, and Nismes. The
mountain-roads being almost impassable, many of them mere mule paths,
Baville had more than a hundred new high-roads and branch-roads
constructed and made practicable for the passage of troops and
transport of cannon.
By these means the whole country became strongly occupied, but still
the meetings in the Desert went on. The peasantry continued to brave
all risks--of exile, the galleys, the rack, and the gibbet--and
persevered in their assemblies, until the very ferocity of their
persecutors became wearied. The people would not be converted either
by the dragoons or the priests who were stationed amongst them. In the
dead of the night they would sally forth to their meetings in the
hills; though their mountains were not too steep, their valleys not
too secluded, their denies not too impenetrable to protect them from
pursuit and attack, for they were liable at any moment to be fallen
upon and put to the sword.
The darkness, the dangers, the awe and mystery attending these
midnight meetings invested them with an extraordinary degree of
interest and even fascination. It is not surprising that under such
circumstances the devotion of these poor people should have run into
fanaticism and superstition. Singing the psalms of Marot by night,
under the shadow of echoing rocks, they fancied they heard the sounds
of heavenly voices filling the air. At other times they would meet
amidst the ruins of their fallen sanctuaries, and mysterious sounds of
sobbing and wailing and groaning would seem as if to rise from the
tombs of their fathers.
* * * * *
Under these distressing circumstances--in the midst of poverty,
suffering, and terror--a sort of religious hysteria suddenly developed
itself amongst the people, breaking out and spreading like many other
forms of disease, and displaying itself chiefly in the most persecuted
quarters of Dauphiny, Viverais, and the Cevennes. The people had lost
their pastors; they had not the guidance of sober and intelligent
persons; and they were left merely to pray and to suffer. The terrible
raid of the priests against the Protestant books had even deprived
most of the Huguenots of their Bibles and psalm-books, so that they
were in a great measure left to profit by their own light, such as it
was.
The disease to which we refer, had often before been experienced,
under different forms, amongst uneducated people when afflicted by
terror and excitement; such, for instance, as the Brotherhood of the
Flagellants, which followed the attack of the plague in the Middle
Ages; the Dancing Mania, which followed upon the Black Death; the
Child's Pilgrimages, the Convulsionaires, the Revival epilepsies and
swoons, which have so often accompanied fits of religious devotion
worked up into frenzy; these diseases being merely the result of
excitement of the senses, which convulse the mind and powerfully
affect the whole nervous system.
The "prophetic malady," as we may call it, which suddenly broke out
amongst the poor Huguenots, began with epileptic convulsions. They
fell to the ground senseless, foamed at the mouth, sobbed, and
eventually revived so far as to be able to speak and "prophesy," like
a mesmerised person in a state of _clairvoyance_. The disease spread
rapidly by the influence of morbid sympathy, which, under the peculiar
circumstances we have described, exercises an amazing power over human
minds. Those who spoke with power were considered "inspired." They
prayed and preached ecstatically, the most inspired of the whole being
women, boys, and even children.
One of the first "prophets" who appeared was Isabel Vincent, a young
shepherdess of Crest, in Dauphiny, who could neither read nor write.
Her usual speech was the patois of her country, but when she became
inspired she spoke perfectly, and, according to Michelet, with great
eloquence. "She chanted," he says, "at first the Commandments, then a
psalm, in a low and fascinating voice. She meditated a moment, then
began the lamentation of the Church, tortured, exiled, at the galleys,
in the dungeons: for all those evils she blamed our sins only, and
called all to penitence. Then, starting anew, she spoke angelically of
the Divine goodness."
Boucher, the intendant of the province, had her apprehended and
examined. She would not renounce. "You may take my life," she said,
"but God will raise up others to speak better things than I have
done." She was at last imprisoned at Grenoble, and afterwards in the
Tower of Constance.
As Isabel Vincent had predicted, many prophets followed in her steps,
but they did not prophesy as divinely as she. They denounced "Woe,
woe" upon their persecutors. They reviled Babylon as the oppressor of
the House of Israel. They preached the most violent declamations
against Rome, drawn from the most lugubrious of the prophets, and
stirred the minds of their hearers into the most furious indignation.
The rapidity with which the contagion of convulsive prophesying spread
was extraordinary. The adherents were all of the poorer classes, who
read nothing but the Bible, and had it nearly by heart. It spread from
Dauphiny to Viverais, and from thence into the Cevennes. "I have
seen," said Marshal Villars, "things that I could never have believed
if they had not passed under my own eyes--an entire city, in which all
the women and girls, without exception, appeared possessed by the
devil; they quaked and prophesied publicly in the streets."[35]
[Footnote 35: "Vie du Maréchal de Villars," i. 125.]
Flottard says there were eight thousand persons in one province who
had inspiration. All were not, however, equally inspired. There were
four degrees of ecstasy: first, the being called; next, the
inspiration; then, the prophesy; and, lastly, the gift, which was the
inspiration in the highest degree.
All this may appear ludicrous to some. And yet the school of credulity
is a very wide one. Even in these enlightened times in which we live,
we hear of tables turning, spelling out words, and "prophesying" in
their own way. There are even philosophers, men of science, and
literati who believe in spiritualists that rise on sofas and float
about in the air, who project themselves suddenly out of one window
and enter by another, and do many other remarkable things. And though
our spiritual table-rapping and floating about may seem to be of no
possible use, the "prophesying" of the Camisards was all but essential
to the existence of the movement in which they were engaged.
The population became intensely excited by the prevalence of this
enthusiasm or fanaticism. "When a Huguenot assembly," says Brueys,
"was appointed, even before daybreak, from all the hamlets round, the
men, women, boys, girls, and even infants, came in crowds, hurrying
from their huts, pierced through the woods, leapt over the rocks, and
flew to the place of appointment."[36]
[Footnote 36: Brueys, "Histoire du Fanaticisme de Notre
Temps."]
Mere force was of no avail against people who supposed themselves to
be under supernatural influences. The meetings in the Desert,
accordingly, were attended with increased and increasing fascination,
and Baville, who had reported to the King the entire pacification and
conversion of Languedoc, to his dismay found the whole province
bursting with excitement, which a spark at any moment might fire into
frenzy. And that spark was shortly afterwards supplied by the
archpriest Chayla, director of missions at Pont-de-Montvert.
Although it was known that many of the peasantry attended the meetings
armed, there had as yet been no open outbreak against the royal
authority in the Cevennes. At Cheilaret, in the Vivarais, there had
been an encounter between the troops and the peasantry; but the people
were speedily dispersed, leaving three hundred dead and fifty wounded
on the field.
The Intendant Baville, after thus pacifying the Vivarais, was
proceeding on his way back to Montpellier, escorted by some companies
of dragoons and militia, passing through the Cevennes by one of the
new roads he had caused to be constructed along the valley of the
Tarn, by Pont-de-Montvert to Florac. What was his surprise, on passing
through the village of Pont-de-Montvert, to hear the roll of a drum,
and shortly after to perceive a column of rustics, some three or four
hundred in number, advancing as if to give him battle. Baville at once
drew up his troops and charged the column, which broke and fled into
an adjoining wood. Some were killed and others taken prisoners, who
were hanged next day at St. Jean-du-Gard. A reward of five hundred
louis d'or was advertised for the leader, who was shortly after
tracked to his hiding-place in a cavern situated between Anduze and
Alais, and was there shot, but not until after he had killed three
soldiers with his fusil.
After this event persecution was redoubled throughout the Cevennes.
The militia ran night and day after the meetings in the Desert. All
persons found attending them, who could be captured, were either
killed on the spot or hanged. Two companies of militia were quartered
in Pont-de-Montvert at the expense of the inhabitants; and they acted
under the direction of the archpriest Du Chayla. This priest, who was
a native of the district, had been for some time settled as a
missionary in Siam engaged in the conversion of Buddhists, and on his
return to France he was appointed to undertake the conversion of the
people of the Cevennes to the faith of Rome.
* * * * *
The village of Pont-de-Montvert is situated in the hollow of a deep
valley formed by the mountain of Lozère on the north, and of Bougès on
the south, at the point at which two streams, descending from their
respective summits, flow into the Tarn. The village is separated by
these streams into three little hamlets, which are joined together by
the bridge which gives its name to the place. The addition of "Mont
Vert," however, is a misnomer; for though seated at the foot of a
steep mountain, it is not green, but sterile, rocky, and verdureless.
The village is best reached from Florac, from which it is about twenty
miles distant. The valley runs east and west, and is traversed by a
tolerably good road, which at the lower part follows the windings of
the Tarn, and higher up runs in and out along the mountain ledges, at
every turn presenting new views of the bold, grand, and picturesque
scenery which characterizes the wilder parts of the Cevennes. Along
this route the old mule-road is still discernible in some places--a
difficult, rugged, mountain path, which must have kept the district
sealed up during the greater part of the year, until Baville
constructed the new road for the purpose of opening up the country for
the easier passage of troops and munitions of war.
A few poor hamlets occur at intervals along the road, sometimes
perched on apparently inaccessible rocks, and at the lower part of the
valley an occasional château is to be seen, as at Miral, picturesquely
situated on a height. But the country is too poor by nature--the
breadth of land in the bottom of the ravine being too narrow and that
on the mountain ledges too stony and sterile--ever to have enabled it
to maintain a considerable population. On all sides little is to be
seen but rocky mountain sides, stony and precipitous, with bold
mountain peaks extending beyond them far away in the distance.
Pont-de-Montvert is the centre of a series of hamlets, the inhabitants
of which were in former times almost exclusively Protestant, as they
are now; and where meetings in the Desert were of the most frequent
occurrence. Strong detachments of troops were accordingly stationed
there and at Florac for the purpose of preventing the meetings and
overawing the population. Besides soldiers, the authorities also
established missions throughout the Cevennes, and the principal
inspector of these missions was the archpriest Chayla. The house in
which he resided at Pont-de-Montvert is still pointed out. It is
situated near the north end of the bridge over the Tarn; but though
the lower part of the building remains as it was in his time, the
upper portion has been for the most part rebuilt.
Chayla was a man of great force of character--zealous, laborious, and
indefatigable--but pitiless, relentless, and cruel. He had no bowels
of compassion. He was deaf to all appeals for mercy. With him the
penalty of non-belief in the faith of Rome was imprisonment, torture,
death. Eight young priests lived with him, whose labours he directed;
and great was his annoyance to find that the people would not attend
his ministrations, but continued to flock after their own
prophet-preachers in the Desert.
Moral means having failed, he next tried physical. He converted the
arched cellars of his dwelling into dungeons, where he shut up those
guilty of contumacy; and day by day he put them to torture. It seems
like a satire on religion to say that, in his attempt to convert
souls, this vehement missionary made it one of his principal studies
to find out what amount of agony the bodies of those who differed from
him would bear short of actual death. He put hot coals into their
hands, which they were then made to clench; wrapped round their
fingers cotton steeped in oil, which was then set on fire; besides
practising upon them the more ordinary and commonplace tortures. No
wonder that the archpriest came to be detested by the inhabitants of
Pont-de-Montvert.
At length, a number of people in the district, in order to get beyond
reach of Chayla's cruelty, determined to emigrate from France and take
refuge in Geneva. They assembled one morning secretly, a cavalcade of
men and women, and set out under the direction of a guide who knew the
mountain paths towards the east. When they had travelled a few hours,
they fell into an ambuscade of militia, and were marched back to the
archpriest's quarters at Pont-de-Montvert. The women were sent to
Mende to be immured in convents, and the men were imprisoned in the
archpriest's dungeons. The parents of some of the captives ran to
throw themselves at his feet, and implored mercy for their sons; but
Chayla was inexorable. He declared harshly that the prisoners must
suffer according to the law--that the fugitives must go the galleys,
and their guide to the gibbet.
On the following Sunday, the 23rd of July, 1702, one of the preaching
prophets, Pierre Seguier of Magistavols, a hamlet lying to the south
of Pont-de-Montvert, preached to an assembly on the neighbouring
mountain of Bougès; and there he declared that the Lord had ordered
him to take up arms to deliver the captives and exterminate the
archpriest of Moloch. Another and another preacher followed in the
same strain, the excited assembly encouraging them by their cries, and
calling upon them to execute God's vengeance on the persecutors of
God's people.
That same night Seguier and his companions went round amongst the
neighbouring hamlets to summon an assemblage of their sworn followers
for the evening of the following day. They met punctually in the
Altefage Wood, and under the shadow of three gigantic beech trees, the
trunks of which were standing but a few years ago, they solemnly swore
to deliver their companions and destroy the archpriest.
When night fell, a band of fifty determined men marched down the
mountain towards the bridge, led by Seguier. Twenty of them were armed
with guns and pistols. The rest carried scythes and hatchets. As they
approached the village, they sang Marot's version of the
seventy-fourth Psalm. The archpriest heard the unwonted sound as they
came marching along. Thinking it was a nocturnal assembly, he cried to
his soldiers, "Run and see what this means." But the doors of the
house were already invested by the mountaineers, who shouted out for
"The prisoners! the prisoners!" "Back, Huguenot canaille!" cried
Chayla from the window. But they only shouted the louder for "The
prisoners!"
The archpriest then directed the militia to fire, and one of the
peasants fell dead. Infuriated, they seized the trunk of a tree, and
using it as a battering-ram, at once broke in the door. They next
proceeded to force the entrance to the dungeon, in which they
succeeded, and called upon the prisoners to come forth. But some of
them were so crippled by the tortures to which they had been
subjected, that they could not stand. At sight of their sufferings the
fury of the assailants increased, and, running up the staircase, they
called out for the archpriest. "Burn the priest and the satellites of
Baal!" cried their leader; and heaping together the soldiers' straw
beds, the chairs, and other combustibles, they set the whole on fire.
Chayla, in the hope of escaping, jumped from a window into the garden,
and in the fall broke his leg. The peasants discovered him by the
light of the blazing dwelling. He called for mercy. "No," said
Seguier, "only such mercy as you have shown to others;" and he struck
him the first blow.
The others followed. "This for my father," said the next, "whom you
racked to death!"
"This for my brother," said another, "whom you sent to the galleys!"
"This for my mother, who died of grief!"
This for my sister, my relatives, my friends, in exile, in prison, in
misery!
And thus blow followed blow, fifty-two in all, half of which would
probably have been mortal, and the detested Chayla lay a bleeding mass
at their feet!
[Illustration: Map of the Country of the Cevennes.]
CHAPTER VI.
INSURRECTION OF THE CAMISARDS.
The poor peasants, wool-carders, and neatherds of the Cevennes, formed
only a small and insignificant section of the great body of men who
were about the same time engaged in different countries of Europe in
vindicating the cause of civil and religious liberty. For this cause,
a comparative handful of people in the Low Countries, occupying the
Dutch United Provinces, had banded themselves together to resist the
armies of Spain, then the most powerful monarchy in the world. The
struggle had also for some time been in progress in England and
Scotland, where it culminated in the Revolution of 1688; and it was
still raging in the Vaudois valleys of Piedmont.
The object contended for in all these cases was the same. It was the
vindication of human freedom against royal and sacerdotal despotism.
It could only have been the direst necessity that drove a poor,
scattered, unarmed peasantry, such as the people of the Cevennes, to
take up arms against so powerful a sovereign as Louis XIV. Their
passive resistance had lasted for fifteen long years, during which
many of them had seen their kindred racked, hanged, or sent to the
galleys; and at length their patience was exhausted, and the
inevitable outburst took place. Yet they were at any moment ready to
lay down their arms and return to their allegiance, provided only a
reasonable degree of liberty of worship were assured to them. This,
however, their misguided and bigoted monarch, would not tolerate; for
he had sworn that no persons were to be suffered in his dominions save
those who were of "the King's religion."
The circumstances accompanying the outbreak of the Protestant
peasantry in the Cevennes in many respects resembled those which
attended the rising of the Scotch Covenanters in 1679. Both were
occasioned by the persistent attempts of men in power to enforce a
particular form of religion at the point of the sword. The resisters
of the policy were in both cases Calvinists;[37] and they were alike
indomitable and obstinate in their assertion of the rights of
conscience. They held that religion was a matter between man and his
God, and not between man and his sovereign or the Pope. The peasantry
in both cases persevered in their own form of worship. In Languedoc,
the mountaineers of the Cevennes held their assemblies in "The
Desert;" and in Scotland, the "hill-folk" of the West held their
meetings on the muirs. In the one country as in the other, the
monarchy sent out soldiers as their missionaries--Louis XIV. employing
the dragoons of Louvois and Baville, and Charles II. those of
Claverhouse and Dalzell. These failing, new instruments of torture
were invented for their "conversion." But the people, in both cases,
continued alike stubborn in their adherence to their own simple and,
as some thought, uncouth form of faith.
[Footnote 37: Whether it be that Calvinism is eclectic as
regards races and individuals, or that it has (as is most
probably the case) a powerful formative influence upon
individual character, certain it is that the Calvinists of
all countries have presented the strongest possible
resemblance to each other--the Calvinists of Geneva and
Holland, the Huguenots of France, the Covenanters of
Scotland, and the Puritans of Old and New England, seeming,
as it were, to be but members of the same family. It is
curious to speculate on the influence which the religion of
Calvin--himself a Frenchman--might have exercised on the
history of France, as well as on the individual character of
Frenchmen, had the balance of forces carried the nation
bodily over to Protestantism (as was very nearly the case)
towards the end of the sixteenth century. Heinrich Heine has
expressed the opinion that the western races contain a large
proportion of men for whom the moral principle of Judaism has
a strong elective affinity; and in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, the Old Testament certainly seems to
have exercised a much more powerful influence on the minds of
religious reformers than the New. "The Jews," says Heine,
"were the Germans of the East, and nowadays the Protestants
in German countries (England, Scotland, America, Germany,
Holland) are nothing more nor less than ancient Oriental
Jews."]
The French Calvinist peasantry, like the Scotch, were great in their
preachers and their prophets. Both devoted themselves with enthusiasm
to psalmody, insomuch that "psalm-singers" was their nickname in both
countries. The one had their Clement Marot by heart, the other their
Sternhold and Hopkins. Huguenot prisoners in chains sang psalms in
their dungeons, galley slaves sang them as they plied at the oar,
fugitives in the halting-places of their flight, the condemned as they
marched to the gallows, and the Camisards as they rushed into battle.
It was said of the Covenanters that "they lived praying and preaching,
and they died praying and fighting;" and the same might have been said
of the Huguenot peasantry of the Cevennes.
The immediate cause of the outbreak of the insurrection in both
countries was also similar. In the one case, it was the cruelty of the
archpriest Chayla, the inventor of a new machine of torture called
"the Squeezers,"[38] and in the other the cruelty of Archbishop
Sharpe, the inventor of that horrible instrument called "the Iron
Boot," that excited the fury of the people; and the murder of the one
by Seguier and his band at Pont-de-Montvert, as of the other by
Balfour of Burley and his companions on Magus Muir, proved the signal
for a general insurrection of the peasantry in both countries. Both
acts were of like atrocity; but they corresponded in character with
the cruelties which had provoked them. Insurrections, like
revolutions, are not made of rose-water. In such cases, action and
reaction are equal; the violence of the oppressors usually finding its
counterpart in the violence of the oppressed.
[Footnote 38: The instrument is thus described by Cavalier,
in his "Memoirs of the Wars of the Cevennes," London, 1726:
"This inhuman man had invented a rack (more cruel, if it be
possible, than that usually made use of) to torment these
poor unfortunate gentlemen and ladies; which was a beam he
caused to be split in two, with vices at each end. Every
morning he would send for these poor people, in order to
examine them, and if they refused to confess what he desired,
he caused their legs to be put in the slit of the beam, and
there squeezed them till the bones cracked," &c., &c. (p.
35).]
The insurrection of the French peasantry proved by far the most
determined and protracted of the two; arising probably from the more
difficult character of the mountain districts which they occupied and
the quicker military instincts of the people, as well as because
several of their early leaders and organizers were veteran soldiers
who had served in many campaigns. The Scotch insurgents were
suppressed by the English army under the Duke of Monmouth in less than
two months after the original outbreak, though their cause eventually
triumphed in the Revolution of 1688; whereas the peasantry of the
Cevennes, though deprived of all extraneous help, continued to
maintain a heroic struggle for several years, but were under the
necessity of at last succumbing to the overpowering military force of
Louis XIV., after which the Huguenots of France continued to be
stamped out of sight, and apparently out of existence, for nearly a
century.
* * * * *
In the preceding chapter, we left the archpriest Chayla a corpse at
the feet of his murderers. Several of the soldiers found in the
château were also killed, as well as the cook and house-steward, who
had helped to torture the prisoners. But one of the domestics, and a
soldier, who had treated them with kindness, were, at their
intercession, pardoned and set at liberty. The corpses were brought
together in the garden, and Seguier and his companions, kneeling round
them--a grim and ghastly sight--sang psalms until daybreak, the
uncouth harmony mingling with the crackling of the flames of the
dwelling overhead, and the sullen roar of the river rushing under the
neighbouring bridge.
When the grey of morning appeared, the men rose from their knees,
emerged from the garden, crossed the bridge, and marched up the main
street of the village. The inhabitants had barricaded themselves in
their houses, being in a state of great fear lest they should be
implicated in the murder of the archpriest. But Seguier and his
followers made no further halt in Pont-de-Montvert, but passed along,
still singing psalms, towards the hamlet of Frugères, a little further
up the valley of the Tarn.
Seguier has been characterised as "the Danton of the Cevennes." This
fierce and iron-willed man was of great stature--bony and
dark-visaged, without upper teeth, his hair hanging loose over his
shoulders--and of a wild and mystic appearance, occasioned probably by
the fits of ecstasy to which he was subject, and the wandering life he
had for so many years led as a prophet-preacher in the Desert. This
terrible man had resolved upon a general massacre of the priests, and
he now threw himself upon Frugères for the purpose of carrying out the
enterprise begun by him at Pont-de-Montvert. The curé of the hamlet,
who had already heard of Chayla's murder, fled from his house at sound
of the approaching psalm-singers, and took refuge in an adjoining
rye-field. He was speedily tracked thither, and brought down by a
musket-ball; and a list of twenty of his parishioners, whom he had
denounced to the archpriest, was found under his cassock.
From Frugères the prophet and his band marched on to St. Maurice de
Ventalong, so called because of the winds which at certain seasons
blow so furiously along the narrow valley in which it is situated; but
the prior of the convent, having been warned of the outbreak, had
already mounted his horse and taken to flight. Here Seguier was
informed of the approach of a body of militia who were on his trail;
but he avoided them by taking refuge on a neighbouring mountain-side,
where he spent the night with his companions in a thicket.
Next morning, at daybreak, he descended the mountain, crossed the
track of his pursuers, and directed himself upon St. André de Lancèze.
The whole country was by this time in a state of alarm; and the curé
of the place, being on the outlook, mounted the clock-tower and rang
the tocsin. But his parishioners having joined the insurgents, the
curé was pursued, captured in the belfry, and thrown from its highest
window. The insurgents then proceeded to gut the church, pull down the
crosses, and destroy all the emblems of Romanism on which they could
lay their hands.
Seguier and his band next hurried across the mountains towards the
south, having learnt that the curés of the neighbourhood had assembled
at St. Germain to assist at the obsequies of the archpriest Chayla,
whose body had been brought thither from Pont-de-Montvert on the
morning after his murder. When Seguier was informed that the town and
country militia were in force in the place, he turned aside and went
in another direction. The curés, however, having heard that Seguier
was in the neighbourhood, fled panic-stricken, some to the château of
Portes, others to St. André, while a number of them did not halt until
they had found shelter within the walls of Alais, some twenty miles
distant.
Thus four days passed. On the fifth night Seguier appeared before the
château of Ladevèze, and demanded the arms which had been deposited
there at the time of the disarmament of the peasantry. The owner
replied by a volley of musketry, which killed and wounded several of
the insurgents, at the same time ringing the alarm-bell. Seguier,
furious at this resistance, at once burst open the gates, and ordered
a general massacre of the household. This accomplished, he ransacked
the place of its arms and ammunition, and before leaving set the
castle on fire, the flames throwing a lurid glare over the surrounding
country. Seguier's band then descended the mountain on which the
château is situated, and made for the north in the direction of
Cassagnas, arriving at the elevated plateau of Font-Morte a little
before daybreak.
In the meantime, Baville, the intendant of the province, was hastening
to Pont-de-Montvert to put down the insurrection and avenge the death
of the archpriest. The whole country was roused. Troops were
dispatched in hot haste from Alais; the militia were assembled from
all quarters and marched upon the disturbed district. The force was
placed under the orders of Captain Poul, an old soldier of fortune,
who had distinguished himself in the German wars, and in the recent
crusade against the Italian Vaudois. It was because of the individual
prowess which Captain Poul had displayed in his last campaign, that,
at the peace of Ryswick, Baville requested that he should be attached
to the army of Languedoc, and employed in putting down the insurgents
of the Cevennes.
Captain Poul was hastening with his troops to Florac when, having been
informed of the direction in which Seguier and his band had gone, he
turned aside at Barre, and after about an hour's march eastward, he
came up with them at Font-Morte. They suddenly started up from amongst
the broom where they had lain down to sleep, and, firing off their
guns upon the advancing host, without offering any further resistance,
fled in all directions. Poul and his men spurred after them, cutting
down the fugitives. Coming up with Seguier, who was vainly trying to
rally his men, Poul took him prisoner with several others, and they
were forthwith chained and marched to Florac. As they proceeded along
the road, Poul said to Seguier, "Well, wretch! now I have got you, how
do you expect to be treated after the crimes you have committed?" "As
I would myself have treated you, had I taken you prisoner," was the
reply.
Seguier stood before his judges calm and fearless. "What is your
name?" he was asked. "Pierre Seguier." "Why do they call you Esprit?"
"Because the Spirit of God is in me." "Your abode?" "In the Desert,
and shortly in heaven." "Ask pardon of the King!" "We have no other
King but the Eternal." "Have you no feeling of remorse for your
crimes?" "My soul is as a garden full of shady groves and of peaceful
fountains."
Seguier was condemned to have his hands cut off at the wrist, and he
burnt alive at Pont-de-Montvert. Nouvel, another of the prisoners, was
broken alive at Ladevèze, and Bonnet, a third, was hanged at St.
André. They all suffered without flinching. Seguier's last words,
spoken amidst the flames, were, "Brethren, wait, and hope in the
Eternal. The desolate Carmel shall yet revive, and the solitary
Lebanon shall blossom as the rose!" Thus perished the grim,
unflinching prophet of Magistavols, the terrible avenger of the
cruelties of Chayla, the earliest leader in the insurrection of the
Camisards!
It is not exactly known how or when the insurgents were first called
Camisards. They called themselves by no other name than "The Children of
God" (_Enfants de Dieu_); but their enemies variously nicknamed them
"The Barbets," "The Vagabonds," "The Assemblers," "The Psalm-singers,"
"The Fanatics," and lastly, "The Camisards." This name is said to have
been given them because of the common blouse or camisole which they
wore--their only uniform. Others say that it arose from their wearing a
white shirt, or camise, over their dress, to enable them to distinguish
each other in their night attacks; and that this was not the case, is
partly countenanced by the fact that in the course of the insurrection a
body of peasant royalists took the field, who designated themselves the
"_White_ Camisards," in contradistinction from the others. Others say
the word is derived from _camis_, signifying a roadrunner. But whatever
the origin of the word may be, the Camisards was the name most commonly
applied to the insurgents, and by which they continue to be known in
local history.
* * * * *
Captain Poul vigorously followed up the blow delivered at Font-Morte.
He apprehended all suspected persons in the Upper Cevennes, and sent
them before the judges at Florac. Unable to capture the insurgents who
had escaped, he seized their parents, their relations, and families,
and these were condemned to various punishments. But what had become
of the insurgents themselves? Knowing that they had nothing but death
to expect, if taken, they hid themselves in caves known only to the
inhabitants of the district, and so secretly that Poul thought they
had succeeded in making their escape from France. The Intendant
Baville arrived at the same conclusion, and he congratulated himself
accordingly on the final suppression of the outbreak. Leaving sundry
detachments of troops posted in the principal villages, he returned to
Alais, and invited the fugitive priests at once to return to their
respective parishes.
After remaining in concealment for several days, the surviving
insurgents met one night to consult as to the steps they were to take,
with a view to their personal safety. They had by this time been
joined by several sympathizers, amongst others by three veteran
soldiers--Laporte, Espérandieu, and Rastelet--and by young Cavalier,
who had just returned from Geneva, where he had been in exile, and was
now ready to share in the dangers of his compatriots. The greater
number of those present were in favour of bidding a final adieu to
France, and escaping across the frontier into Switzerland, considering
that the chances of their offering any successful resistance to their
oppressors, were altogether hopeless. But against this craven course
Laporte raised his voice.
"Brethren," said he, "why depart into the land of the stranger? Have
we not a country of our own, the country of our fathers? It is, you
say, a country of slavery and death! Well! Free it! and deliver your
oppressed brethren. Never say, 'What can we do? we are few in number,
and without arms!' The God of armies shall be our strength. Let us
sing aloud the psalm of battles, and from the Lozère even to the sea
Israel will arise! As for arms, have we not our hatchets? These will
bring us muskets! Brethren, there is only one course worthy to be
pursued. It is to live for our country; and, if need be, to die for
it. Better die by the sword than by the rack or the gallows!"
From this moment, not another word was said of flight. With one voice,
the assembly cried to the speaker, "Be our chief! It is the will of
the Eternal!" "The Eternal be the witness of your promises," replied
Laporte; "I consent to be your chief!" He assumed forthwith the title
of "Colonel of the Children of God," and named his camp "The camp of
the Eternal!"
Laporte belonged to an old Huguenot family of the village of
Massoubeyran, near Anduze. They were respectable peasants, some of
whom lived by farming and others by trade. Old John Laporte had four
sons, of whom the eldest succeeded his father as a small farmer and
cattle-breeder, occupying the family dwelling at Massoubeyran, still
known there as the house of "Laporte-Roland." It contains a secret
retreat, opening from a corner of the floor, called the "Cachette de
Roland," in which the celebrated chief of this name, son of the
owner, was accustomed to take refuge; and in this cottage, the old
Bible of Roland's father, as well as the halbert of Roland himself,
continue to be religiously preserved.
Two of Laporte's brothers were Protestant ministers. One of them was
the last pastor of Collet-de-Deze in the Cevennes. Banished because of
his faith, he fled from France at the Revocation, joined the army of
the Prince of Orange in Holland, and came over with him to England as
chaplain of one of the French regiments which landed at Torbay in
1688. Another brother, also a pastor, remained in the Cevennes,
preaching to the people in the Desert, though at the daily risk of his
life, and after about ten years' labour in this vocation, he was
apprehended, taken prisoner to Montpellier, and strangled on the
Peyrou in the year 1696.
The fourth brother was the Laporte whom we have just described in
undertaking the leadership of the hunted insurgents remaining in the
Upper Cevennes. He had served as a soldier in the King's armies, and
at the peace of Ryswick returned to his native village, the year after
his elder brother had suffered martyrdom at Montpellier. He settled
for a time at Collet-de-Deze, from which his other brother had been
expelled, and there he carried on the trade of an ironworker and
blacksmith. He was a great, brown, brawny man, of vehement piety, a
constant frequenter of the meetings in the Desert, and a mighty
psalm-singer--one of those strong, massive, ardent-natured men who so
powerfully draw others after them, and in times of revolution exercise
a sort of popular royalty amongst the masses. The oppression which had
raged so furiously in the district excited his utmost indignation,
and when he sought out the despairing insurgents in the mountains,
and found that they were contemplating flight, he at once gave
utterance to the few burning words we have cited, and fixed their
determination to strike at least another blow for the liberty of their
country and their religion.
The same evening on which Laporte assumed the leadership (about the
beginning of August, 1702) he made a descent on three Roman Catholic
villages in the neighbourhood of the meeting-place, and obtained
possession of a small stock of powder and balls. When it became known
that the insurgents were again drawing together, others joined them.
Amongst these were Castonet, a forest-ranger of the Aigoal mountain
district in the west, who brought with him some twelve recruits from
the country near Vebron. Shortly after, there arrived from Vauvert the
soldier Catinet, bringing with him twenty more. Next came young
Cavalier, from Ribaute, with another band, armed with muskets which
they had seized from the prior of St. Martin, with whom they had been
deposited.
Meanwhile Laporte's nephew, young Roland, was running from village to
village in the Vaunage, holding assemblies and rousing the people to
come to the help of their distressed brethren in the mountains. Roland
was a young man of bright intelligence, gifted with much of the
preaching power of his family. His eloquence was of a martial sort,
for he had been bred a soldier, and though young, had already fought
in many battles. He was everywhere received with open arms in the
Vaunage.
"My brethren," said he, "the cause of God and the deliverance of
Israel is at stake. Follow us to the mountains. No country is better
suited for war--we have the hill-tops for camps, gorges for
ambuscades, woods to rally in, caves to hide in, and, in case of
flight, secret tracts trodden only by the mountain goat. All the
people there are your brethren, who will throw open their cabins to
you, and share their bread and milk and the flesh of their sheep with
you, while the forests will supply you with chestnuts. And then, what
is there to fear? Did not God nourish his chosen people with manna in
the desert? And does He not renew his miracles day by day? Will not
his Spirit descend upon his afflicted children? He consoles us, He
strengthens us, He calls us to arms, He will cause his angels to march
before us! As for me, I am an old soldier, and will do my duty!"[39]
[Footnote 39: Brueys, "Histoire de Fanatisme;" Peyrat,
"Histoire des Pasteurs du Désert."]
These stirring words evoked an enthusiastic response. Numbers of the
people thus addressed by Roland declared themselves ready to follow
him at once. But instead of taking with him all who were willing to
join the standard of the insurgents, he directed them to enrol and
organize themselves, and await his speedy return; selecting for the
present only such as were in his opinion likely to make efficient
soldiers, and with these he rejoined his uncle in the mountains.
The number of the insurgents was thus raised to about a hundred and
fifty--a very small body of men, contemptible in point of numbers
compared with the overwhelming forces by which they were opposed, but
all animated by a determined spirit, and commanded by fearless and
indomitable leaders. The band was divided into three brigades of fifty
each; Laporte taking the command of the companions of Seguier; the
new-comers being divided into two bodies of like number, who elected
Roland and Castanet as their respective chiefs.
Laporte occupied the last days of August in drilling his troops, and
familiarising them with the mountain district which was to be the
scene of their operations. While thus engaged, he received an urgent
message from the Protestant herdsmen of the hill-country of Vebron,
whose cattle, sheep, and goats a band of royalist militia, under
Colonel Miral, had captured, and were driving northward towards
Florac. Laporte immediately ran to their help, and posted himself to
intercept them at the bridge of Tarnon, which they must cross. On the
militia coming up, the Camisards fell upon them furiously, on which
they took to flight, and the cattle were driven back in triumph to the
villages.
Laporte then led his victorious troops towards Collet, the village in
which his brother had been pastor. The temple in which he ministered
was still standing--the only one in the Cevennes that had not been
demolished, the Seigneur of the place intending to convert it into a
hospital. Collet was at present occupied by a company of fusiliers,
commanded by Captain Cabrières. On nearing the place, Laporte wrote to
this officer, under an assumed name, intimating that a religious
assembly was to be held that night in a certain wood in the
neighbourhood. The captain at once marched thither with his men, on
which Laporte entered the village, and reopened the temple, which had
continued unoccupied since the day on which his brother had gone into
exile. All that night Laporte sang psalms, preached, and prayed by
turns, solemnly invoking the help of the God of battles in this holy
war in which he was engaged for the liberation of his country. Shortly
before daybreak, Laporte and his companions retired from the temple,
and after setting fire to the Roman Catholic church, and the houses of
the consul, the captain, and the curé, he left the village, and
proceeded in a northerly direction.
That same morning, Captain Poul arrived at the neighbouring valley of
St. Germain, for the purpose of superintending the demolition of
certain Protestant dwellings, and then he heard of Laporte's midnight
expedition. He immediately hastened to Collet, assembled all the
troops he could muster, and put himself on the track of the Camisards.
After a hot march of about two hours in the direction of Coudouloux,
Poul discerned Laporte and his band encamped on a lofty height, from
the scarped foot of which a sloping grove of chestnuts descended into
the wide grassy plain, known as the "Champ Domergue."
The chestnut grove had in ancient times been one of the sacred places
of the Druids, who celebrated their mysterious rites in its recesses,
while the adjoining mountains were said to have been the honoured
haunts of certain of the divinities of ancient Gaul. It was therefore
regarded as a sort of sacred place, and this circumstance was probably
not without its influence in rendering it one of the most frequent
resorts of the hunted Protestants in their midnight assemblies, as
well as because it occupied a central position between the villages of
St. Frézal, St. Andéol, Dèze, and Violas. Laporte had now come hither
with his companions to pray, and they were so engaged when the scouts
on the look-out announced the approach of the enemy.
Poul halted his men to take breath, while Laporte held a little
council of war. What was to be done? Laporte himself was in favour of
accepting battle on the spot, while several of his lieutenants advised
immediate flight into the mountains. On the other hand, the young and
impetuous Cavalier, who was there, supported the opinion of his chief,
and urged an immediate attack; and an attack was determined on
accordingly.
The little band descended from their vantage-ground on the hill, and
came down into the chestnut wood, singing the sixty-eighth Psalm--"Let
God arise, let his enemies be scattered." The following is the song
itself, in the words of Marot. When the Huguenots sang it, each
soldier became a lion in courage.
"Que Dieu se montre seulement
Et l'on verra dans un moment
Abandonner la place;
Le camp des ennemies épars,
Épouvanté de toutes parts,
Fuira devant sa face.
On verra tout ce camp s'enfuir,
Comme l'on voit s'évanouir;
Une épaisse fumée;
Comme la cire fond au feu,
Ainsi des méchants devant
Dieu, La force est consumée.
L'Éternel est notre recours;
Nous obtenons par son secours,
Plus d'une déliverance.
C'est Lui qui fut notre support,
Et qui tient les clefs de la mort,
Lui seul en sa puissance.
A nous défendre toujours prompt,
Il frappe le superbe front
De la troupe ennemie;
On verra tomber sous ses coups
Ceux qui provoquent son courroux
Par leur méchante vie."
This was the "Marseillaise" of the Camisards, their war-song in many
battles, sung by them as a _pas de charge_ to the music of Goudimal.
Poul, seeing them approach from under cover of the wood, charged them
at once, shouting to his men, "Charge, kill, kill the Barbets!"[40]
But "the Barbets," though they were only as one to three of their
assailants, bravely held their ground. Those who had muskets kept up a
fusillade, whilst a body of scythemen in the centre repulsed Poul, who
attacked them with the bayonet. Several of these terrible scythemen
were, however, slain, and three were taken prisoners.
[Footnote 40: The "Barbets" (or "Water-dogs") was the
nickname by which the Vaudois were called, against whom Poul
had formerly been employed in the Italian valleys.]
Laporte, finding that he could not drive Poul back, retreated slowly
into the wood, keeping up a running fire, and reascended the hill,
whither Poul durst not follow him. The Royalist leader was satisfied
with remaining master of the hard-fought field, on which many of his
soldiers lay dead, together with a captain of militia.
The Camisard chiefs then separated, Laporte and his band taking a
westerly direction. The Royalists, having received considerable
reinforcements, hastened from different directions to intercept him, but
he slipped through their fingers, and descended to Pont-de-Montvert,
from whence he threw himself upon the villages situated near the sources
of the western Gardon. At the same time, to distract the attention of
the Royalists, the other Camisard leaders descended, the one towards the
south, and the other towards the east, disarming the Roman Catholics,
carrying off their arms, and spreading consternation wherever they went.
Meanwhile, Count Broglie, Captain Poul, Colonel Miral, and the
commanders of the soldiers and militia all over the Cevennes, were
hunting the Protestants and their families wherever found, pillaging
their houses, driving away their cattle, and burning their huts; and
it was evident that the war on both sides was fast drifting into one
of reprisal and revenge. Brigands, belonging to neither side,
organized themselves in bodies, and robbed Protestants and Catholics
with equal impartiality.
One effect of this state of things was rapidly to increase the numbers
of the disaffected. The dwellings of many of the Protestants having
been destroyed, such of the homeless fugitives as could bear arms fled
into the mountains to join the Camisards, whose numbers were thus
augmented, notwithstanding the measures taken for their extermination.
Laporte was at last tracked by his indefatigable enemy, Captain Poul,
who burned to wipe out the disgrace which he conceived himself to have
suffered at Champ-Domergue. Information was conveyed to him that
Laporte and his band were in the neighbourhood of Molezon on the
western Gardon, and that they intended to hold a field-meeting there
on Sunday, the 22nd of October.
Poul made his dispositions accordingly. Dividing his force into two
bodies, he fell upon the insurgents impetuously from two sides, taking
them completely by surprise. They hastily put themselves in order of
battle, but their muskets, wet with rain, would not fire, and Laporte
hastened with his men to seek the shelter of a cliff near at hand.
While in the act of springing from one rock to another, he was seen to
stagger and fall. He had been shot dead by a musket bullet, and his
career was thus brought to a sudden close. His followers at once fled
in all directions.
Poul cut off Laporte's head, as well as the heads of the other
Camisards who had been killed, and sent them in two baskets to Count
Broglie. Next day the heads were exposed on the bridge of Anduze; the
day after on the castle wall of St. Hypolite; after which these
ghastly trophies of Poul's victory were sent to Montpellier to be
permanently exposed on the Peyrou.
Such was the end of Laporte, the second leader of the Camisards.
Seguier, the first, had been chief for only six days; Laporte, the
second, for only about two months. Again Baville supposed the
pacification of the Cevennes to be complete. He imagined that Poul, in
cutting off Laporte's head, had decapitated the insurrection. But the
Camisard ranks had never been so full as now, swelled as they were by
the persecutions of the Royalists, who, by demolishing the homes of
the peasantry, had in a measure forced them into the arms of the
insurgents. Nor were they ever better supplied with leaders, even
though Laporte had fallen. No sooner did his death become known, than
the "Children of God" held a solemn assembly in the mountains, at
which Roland, Castanet, Salomon, Abraham, and young Cavalier were
present; and after lamenting the death of their chief, they with one
accord elected Laporte's nephew, Roland, as his successor.
* * * * *
A few words as to the associates of Roland, whose family and origin
have already been described. André Castanet of Massavaque, in the
Upper Cevennes, had been a goatherd in his youth, after which he
worked at his father's trade of a wool-carder. An avowed Huguenot, he
was, shortly after the peace of Ryswick, hunted out of the country
because of his attending the meetings in the Desert; but in 1700 he
returned to preach and to prophesy, acting also as a forest-ranger in
the Aigoal Mountains. Of all the chiefs he was the greatest
controversialist, and in his capacity of preacher he distinguished
himself from his companions by wearing a wig. There must have been
something comical in his appearance, for Brueys describes him as a
little, squat, bandy-legged man, presenting "the figure of a little
bear." But it was an enemy who drew the picture.
Next there was Salomon Conderc, also a wool-carder, a native of the
hamlet of Mazelrode, south of the mountain of Bougès. For twenty years
the Condercs, father and son, had been zealous worshippers in the
Desert--Salomon having acted by turns as Bible-reader, precentor,
preacher, and prophet. We have already referred to the gift of
prophesying. All the leaders of the Camisards were prophets. Elie
Marion, in his "Théâtre Sacré de Cevennes," thus describes the
influence of the prophets on the Camisard War:--
"We were without strength and without counsel," says he; "but our
inspirations were our succour and our support. They elected our
leaders, and conducted them; they were our military discipline. It was
they who raised us, even weakness itself, to put a strong bridle upon
an army of more than twenty thousand picked soldiers. It was they who
banished sorrow from our hearts in the midst of the greatest peril, as
well as in the deserts and the mountain fastnesses, when cold and
famine oppressed us. Our heaviest crosses were but lightsome burdens,
for this intimate communion that God allowed us to have with Him bore
up and consoled us; it was our safety and our happiness."
Many of the Condercs had suffered for their faith. The archpriest
Chayla had persecuted them grievously. One of their sisters was seized
by the soldiery and carried off to be immured in a convent at Mende,
but was rescued on the way by Salomon and his brother Jacques. Of the
two, Salomon, though deformed, had the greatest gift in prophesying,
and hence the choice of him as a leader.
Abraham Mazel belonged to the same hamlet as Conderc. They were both
of the same age--about twenty-five--of the same trade, and they were
as inseparable as brothers. They had both been engaged with Seguier's
band in the midnight attack on Pont-de-Montvert, and were alike
committed to the desperate enterprise they had taken in hand. The
tribe of Mazel abounds in the Cevennes, and they had already given
many martyrs to the cause. Some emigrated to America, some were sent
to the galleys; Oliver Mazel, the preacher, was hanged at Montpellier
in 1690, Jacques Mazel was a refugee in London in 1701, and in all the
combats of the Cevennes there were Mazels leading as well as
following.
Nicholas Joany, of Genouillac, was an old soldier, who had seen much
service, having been for some time quartermaster of the regiment of
Orleans. Among other veterans who served with the Camisards, were
Espérandieu and Rastelet, two old sub-officers, and Catinat and
Ravenel, two thorough soldiers. Of these Catinat achieved the greatest
notoriety. His proper name was Mauriel--Abdias Mauriel; but having
served as a dragoon under Marshal Catinat in Italy, he conceived such
an admiration for that general, and was so constantly eulogizing him,
that his comrades gave him the nickname of Catinat, which he continued
to bear all through the Camisard war.
But the most distinguished of all the Camisard chiefs, next to Roland,
was the youthful John Cavalier, peasant boy, baker's apprentice, and
eventually insurgent leader, who, after baffling and repeatedly
defeating the armies of Louis XIV., ended his remarkable career as
governor of Jersey and major-general in the British service.
Cavalier was a native of Ribaute, a village on the Gardon, a little
below Anduze. His parents were persons in humble circumstances, as may
be inferred from the fact that when John was of sufficient age he was
sent into the mountains to herd cattle, and when a little older he was
placed apprentice to a baker at Anduze.
His father, though a Protestant at heart, to avoid persecution,
pretended to be converted to Romanism, and attended Mass. But his
mother, a fervent Calvinist, refused to conform, and diligently
trained her sons in her own views. She was a regular attender of
meetings in the Desert, to which she also took her children.
Cavalier relates that on one occasion, when a very little fellow, he
went with her to an assembly which was conducted by Claude Brousson;
and when he afterwards heard that many of the people had been
apprehended for attending it, of whom some were hanged and others sent
to the galleys, the account so shocked him that he felt he would then
have avenged them if he had possessed the power.
As the boy grew up, and witnessed the increasing cruelty with which
conformity was enforced, he determined to quit the country; and,
accompanied by twelve other young men, he succeeded in reaching Geneva
after a toilsome journey of eight days. He had not been at Geneva more
than two months, when--heart-sore, solitary, his eyes constantly
turned towards his dear Cevennes--he accidentally heard that his
father and mother had been thrown into prison because of his
flight--his father at Carcassone, and his mother in the dreadful tower
of Constance, near Aiguesmortes, one of the most notorious prisons of
the Huguenots.
He at once determined to return, in the hope of being able to get them
set at liberty. On his reaching Ribaute, to his surprise he found them
already released, on condition of attending Mass. As his presence in
his father's house might only serve to bring fresh trouble upon
them--he himself having no intention of conforming--he went up for
refuge into the mountains of the Cevennes.
The young Cavalier was present at the midnight meeting on the Bougès,
at which it was determined to slay the archpriest Chayla. He implored
leave to accompany the band; but he was declared to be too young for
such an enterprise, being a boy of only sixteen, so he was left behind
with his friends.
Being virtually an outlaw, Cavalier afterwards joined the band of
Laporte, under whom he served as lieutenant during his short career.
At his death the insurrection assumed larger proportions, and recruits
flocked apace to the standard of Roland, Laporte's successor.
Harvest-work over, the youths of the Lower Cevennes hastened to join
him, armed only with bills and hatchets. The people of the Vaunage
more than fulfilled their promise to Roland, and sent him five hundred
men. Cavalier also brought with him from Ribaute a further number of
recruits, and by the end of autumn the Camisards under arms, such as
they were, amounted to over a thousand men.
Roland, unable to provide quarters or commissariat for so large a
number, divided them into five bodies, and sent them into their
respective cantonments (so to speak) for the winter. Roland himself
occupied the district known as the Lower Cevennes, comprising the
Gardonnenque and the mountain district situated between the rivers
Vidourle and the western Gardon. That part of the Upper Cevennes,
which extends between the Anduze branch of the Gardon and the river
Tarn, was in like manner occupied by a force commanded by Abraham
Hazel and Solomon Conderc, while Andrew Castanet led the people of the
western Cevennes, comprising the mountain region of the Aigoal and the
Esperou, near the sources of the Gardon d'Anduze and the Tarnon. The
rugged mountain district of the Lozère, in which the Tarn, the Ceze,
and the Alais branch of the Gardon have their origin, was placed under
the command of Joany. And, finally, the more open country towards the
south, extending from Anduze to the sea-coast, including the districts
around Alais, Uzes, Nismes, as well as the populous valley of the
Vaunage, was placed under the direction of young Cavalier, though he
had scarcely yet completed his seventeenth year.
These chiefs were all elected by their followers, who chose them, not
because of any military ability they might possess, but entirely
because of their "gifts" as preachers and "prophets." Though Roland
and Joany had been soldiers, they were also preachers, as were
Castanet, Abraham, and Salomon; and young Cavalier had already given
remarkable indications of the prophetic gift. Hence, when it became
the duty of the band to which he belonged to select a chief, they
passed over the old soldiers, Espérandieu, Raslet, Catinat, and
Ravenel, and pitched upon the young baker lad of Ribaute, not because
he could fight, but because he could preach; and the old soldiers
cheerfully submitted themselves to his leadership.
The portrait of this remarkable Camisard chief represents him as a
little handsome youth, fair and ruddy complexioned, with lively and
prominent blue eyes, and a large head, from whence his long fair hair
hung floating over his shoulders. His companions recognised in him a
supposed striking resemblance to the scriptural portrait of David, the
famous shepherd of Israel.
The Camisard legions, spread as they now were over the entire Cevennes,
and embracing Lower Languedoc as far as the sea, were for the most part
occupied during the winter of 1702-3 in organizing themselves, obtaining
arms, and increasing their forces. The respective districts which they
occupied were so many recruiting-grounds, and by the end of the season
they had enrolled nearly three thousand men. They were still, however,
very badly armed. Their weapons included fowling-pieces, old matchlocks,
muskets taken from the militia, pistols, sabres, scythes, hatchets,
billhooks, and even ploughshares. They were very short of powder, and
what they had was mostly bought surreptitiously from the King's
soldiers, or by messengers sent for the purpose to Nismes and Avignon.
But Roland, finding that such sources of supply could not be depended
upon, resolved to manufacture his own powder.
A commissariat was also established, and the most spacious caves in
the most sequestered places were sought out and converted into
magazines, hospitals, granaries, cellars, arsenals, and powder
factories. Thus Mialet, with its extensive caves, was the
head-quarters of Roland; Bouquet and the caves at Euzet, of Cavalier;
Cassagnacs and the caves at Magistavols, of Salomon; and so on with
the others. Each chief had his respective canton, his granary, his
magazine, and his arsenal. To each retreat was attached a special body
of tradesmen--millers, bakers, shoemakers, tailors, armourers, and
other mechanics; and each had its special guards and sentinels.
We have already referred to the peculiar geological features of the
Cevennes, and to the limestone strata which embraces the whole
granitic platform of the southern border almost like a frame. As is
almost invariably the case in such formations, large caves, occasioned
by the constant dripping of water, are of frequent occurrence; and
those of the Cevennes, which are in many places of great extent,
constituted a peculiar feature in the Camisard insurrection. There is
one of such caves in the neighbourhood of the Protestant town of
Ganges, on the river Herault, which often served as a refuge for the
Huguenots, though it is now scarcely penetrable because of the heavy
falls of stone from the roof. This cavern has two entrances, one from
the river Herault, the other from the Mendesse, and it extends under
the entire mountain, which separates the two rivers. It is still known
as the "Camisards' Grotto." There are numerous others of a like
character all over the district; but as those of Mialet were of
special importance--Mialet, "the Metropolis of the Insurrection,"
being the head-quarters of Roland--it will be sufficient if we briefly
describe a visit paid to them in the month of June, 1870.
* * * * *
The town of Anduze is the little capital of the Gardonnenque, a
district which has always been exclusively Protestant. Even at the
present day, of the 5,200 inhabitants of Anduze, 4,600 belong to that
faith; and these include the principal proprietors, cultivators, and
manufacturers of the town and neighbourhood. During the wars of
religion, Anduze was one of the Huguenot strongholds. After the death
of Henry IV. the district continued to be held by the Duc de Rohan,
the ruins of whose castle are still to be seen on the summit of a
pyramidal hill on the north of the town. Anduze is jammed in between
the precipitous mountain of St. Julien, which rises behind it, and the
river Gardon, along which a modern quay-wall extends, forming a
pleasant promenade as well as a barrier against the furious torrents
which rush down from the mountains in winter.
A little above the town, the river passes through a rocky gorge formed
by the rugged grey cliffs of Peyremale on the one bank and St. Julien
on the other. The bare precipitous rocks rise up on either side like
two cyclopean towers, flanking the gateway of the Cevennes. The gorge
is so narrow at bottom that there is room only for the river running
in its rocky bed below, and a roadway along either bank--that on the
eastern side having been partly formed by blasting out the cliff which
overhangs it.
After crossing the five-arched bridge which spans the Gardon, the road
proceeds along the eastern bank, up the valley towards Mialet. It
being market-day at Anduze, well-clad peasants were flocking into the
town, some in their little pony-carts, others with their baskets or
bundles of produce, and each had his "Bon jour, messieurs!" for us as
we passed. So long as the road held along the bottom of the valley,
passing through the scattered hamlets and villages north of the town,
our little springless cart got along cleverly enough. But after we had
entered the narrower valley higher up, and the cultivated ground
became confined to a little strip along either bank, then the mountain
barriers seemed to rise in front of us and on all sides, and the road
became winding, steep, and difficult.
A few miles up the valley, the little hamlet of Massoubeyran,
consisting of a group of peasant cottages--one of which was the
birthplace of Roland, the Camisard chief--was seen on a hill-side to
the right; and about two miles further on, at a bend of the road, we
came in sight of the village of Mialet, with its whitewashed,
flat-roofed cottages--forming a little group of peasants' houses lying
in the hollow of the hills. The principal building in it is the
Protestant temple, which continues to be frequented by the
inhabitants; the _Annuaire Protestant_ for 1868-70, stating the
Protestant population of the district to be 1,325. Strange to say, the
present pastor, M. Seguier, bears the name of the first leader of the
Camisard insurrection; and one of the leading members of the
consistory, M. Laporte, is a lineal descendant of the second and third
leaders.
From its secluded and secure position among the hills, as well as
because of its proximity to the great Temelac road constructed by
Baville, which passed from Anduze by St. Jean-de-Gard into the Upper
Cevennes, Mialet was well situated as the head-quarters of the
Camisard chief. But it was principally because of the numerous
limestone caves abounding in the locality, which afforded a ready
hiding-place for the inhabitants in the event of the enemies'
approach, as well as because they were capable of being adapted for
the purpose of magazines, stores, and hospitals, that Mialet became of
so much importance as the citadel of the insurgents. One of such
caverns or grottoes is still to be seen about a mile below Mialet, of
extraordinary magnitude. It extends under the hill which rises up on
the right-hand side of the road, and is entered from behind, nearly
at the summit. The entrance is narrow and difficult, but the interior
is large and spacious, widening out in some places into dome-shaped
chambers, with stalactites hanging from the roof. The whole extent of
this cavern cannot be much less than a quarter of a mile, judging from
the time it took to explore it and to return from the furthest point
in the interior to the entrance. The existence of this place had been
forgotten until a few years ago, when it was rediscovered by a man of
Anduze, who succeeded in entering it, but, being unable to find his
way out, he remained there for three days without food, until the
alarm was given and his friends came to his rescue and delivered him.
Immediately behind the village of Mialet, under the side of the hill,
is another large cavern, with other grottoes branching out of it,
capable, on an emergency, of accommodating the whole population. This
was used by Roland as his principal magazine. But perhaps the most
interesting of these caves is the one used as a hospital for the sick
and wounded. It is situated about a mile above Mialet, in a limestone
cliff almost overhanging the river. The approach to it is steep and
difficult, up a footpath cut in the face of the rock. At length a
little platform is reached, about a hundred feet above the level of
the river, behind which is a low wall extending across the entrance to
the cavern. This wall is pierced with two openings, intended for two
culverins, one of which commanded the road leading down the pass, and
the other the road up the valley from the direction of the village.
The outer vault is large and roomy, and extends back into a lofty
dome-shaped cavern about forty feet high, behind which a long tortuous
vault extends for several hundred feet. The place is quite dry, and
sufficiently spacious to accommodate a large number of persons; and
there can be no doubt as to the uses to which it was applied during
the wars of the Cevennes.
The person who guided us to the cave was an ordinary working man of
the village--apparently a blacksmith--a well-informed, intelligent
person--who left his smithy, opposite the Protestant temple at which
our pony-cart drew up, to show us over the place; and he took pride in
relating the traditions which continue to be handed down from father
to son relating to the great Camisard war of the Cevennes.
CHAPTER VII.
EXPLOITS OF CAVALIER.
The country round Nismes, which was the scene of so many contests
between the Royalists and the Camisard insurgents at the beginning of
last century, presents nearly the same aspect as it did then,
excepting that it is traversed by railways in several directions. The
railway to Montpellier on the west, crosses the fertile valley of the
Vaunage, "the little Canaan," still rich in vineyards as of old. That
to Alais on the north, proceeds for the most part along the valley of
the Gardon, the names of the successive stations reminding the passing
traveller of the embittered contests of which they were the scenes in
former times: Nozières, Boucoiran, Ners, Vezenobres, and Alais itself,
now a considerable manufacturing town, and the centre of an important
coal-mining district.
The country in the neighbourhood of Nismes is by no means picturesque.
Though undulating, it is barren, arid, and stony. The view from the
Tour Magne, which is very extensive, is over an apparently skeleton
landscape, the bare rocks rising on all sides without any covering of
verdure. In summer the grass is parched and brown. There are few trees
visible; and these mostly mulberry, which, when, cropped, have a
blasted look. Yet, wherever soil exists, in the bottoms, the land is
very productive, yielding olives, grapes, and chestnuts in great
abundance.
As we ascend the valley of the Gardon, the country becomes more
undulating and better wooded. The villages and farmhouses have all an
old-fashioned look; not a modern villa is to be seen. We alight from
the train at the Ners station--Ners, where Cavalier drove Montrevel's
army across the river, and near which, at the village of Martinargues,
he completely defeated the Royalists under Lajonquière. We went to see
the scene of the battle, some three miles to the south-east, passing
through a well-tilled country, with the peasants busily at work in the
fields. From the high ground behind Ners a fine view is obtained of
the valley of the Gardon, overlooking the junction of its two branches
descending by Alais and Anduze, the mountains of the Cevennes rising
up in the distance. To the left is the fertile valley of Beaurivage,
celebrated in the Pastorals of Florian, who was a native of the
district.
Descending the hill towards Ners, we were overtaken by an aged peasant
of the village, with a scythe over his shoulder, returning from his
morning's work. There was the usual polite greeting and exchange of
salutations--for the French peasant is by nature polite--and a ready
opening was afforded for conversation. It turned out that the old man
had been a soldier of the first empire, and fought under Soult in the
desperate battle of Toulouse in 1814. He was now nearly eighty, but
was still able to do a fair day's work in the fields. Inviting us to
enter his dwelling and partake of his hospitality, he went down to his
cellar and fetched therefrom a jug of light sparkling wine, of which
we partook. In answer to an inquiry whether there were any Protestants
in the neighbourhood, the old man replied that Ners was "all
Protestant." His grandson, however, who was present, qualified this
sweeping statement by the remark, _sotto voce_, that many of them were
"nothing."
The conversation then turned upon the subject of Cavalier and his
exploits, when our entertainer launched out into a description of the
battle of Martinargues, in which the Royalists had been "toutes
abattus." Like most of the Protestant peasantry of the Cevennes, he
displayed a very familiar acquaintance with the events of the civil
war, and spoke with enthusiasm and honest pride of the achievements of
the Camisards.
* * * * *
We have in previous chapters described the outbreak of the
insurrection and its spread throughout the Upper Cevennes; and we have
now rapidly to note its growth and progress to its culmination and
fall.
While the Camisards were secretly organizing their forces under cover
of the woods and caves of the mountain districts, the governor of
Languedoc was indulging in the hope that the insurrection had expired
with the death of Laporte and the dispersion of his band. But, to his
immense surprise, the whole country was suddenly covered with
insurgents, who seemed as if to spring from the earth in all quarters
simultaneously. Messengers brought him intelligence at the same time
of risings in the mountains of the Lozère and the Aigoal, in the
neighbourhoods of Anduze and Alais, and even in the open country about
Nismes and Calvisson, down almost to the sea-coast.
Wherever the churches had been used as garrisons and depositories of
arms, they were attacked, stormed, and burnt. Cavalier says he never
meddled with any church which had not been thus converted into a "den
of thieves;" but the other leaders were less scrupulous. Salomon and
Abraham destroyed all the establishments and insignia of their enemies
on which they could lay hands--crosses, churches, and presbyteries.
The curé of Saint-Germain said of Castanet in the Aigoal that he was
"like a raging torrent." Roland and Joany ran from village to village
ransacking dwellings, châteaux, churches, and collecting arms. Knowing
every foot of the country, they rapidly passed by mountain tracks from
one village to another; suddenly appearing in the least-expected
quarters, while the troops in pursuit of them had passed in other
directions.
Cavalier had even the hardihood to descend upon the low country, and
to ransack the Catholic villages in the neighbourhood of Nismes. By
turns he fought, preached, and sacked churches. About the middle of
November, 1702, he preached at Aiguevives, a village not far from
Calvisson, in the Vaunage. Count Broglie, commander of the royal
troops, hastened from Nismes to intercept him. But pursuing Cavalier
was like pursuing a shadow; he had already made his escape into the
mountains. Broglie assembled the inhabitants of the village in the
church, and demanded to be informed who had been present with the
Camisard preacher. "All!" was the reply: "we are all guilty." He
seized the principal persons of the place and sent them to Baville.
Four were hanged, twelve were sent to the galleys, many more were
flogged, and a heavy fine was levied on the entire village.
Meanwhile, Cavalier had joined Roland near Mialet, and again descended
upon the low country, marching through the villages along the valley
of the Vidourle, carrying off arms and devastating churches. Broglie
sent two strong bodies of troops to intercept them; but the
light-footed insurgents had already crossed the Gardon.
A few days later (December 5th), they were lying concealed in the
forest of Vaquières, in the neighbourhood of Cavalier's head-quarters
at Euzet. Their retreat having been discovered, a strong force of
soldiers and militia was directed upon them, under the command of the
Chevalier Montarnaud (who, being a new convert, wished to show his
zeal), and Captain Bimard of the Nismes militia.
They took with them a herdsman of the neighbourhood for their guide,
not knowing that he was a confederate of the Camisards. Leading the
Royalists into the wood, he guided them along a narrow ravine, and
hearing no sound of the insurgents, it was supposed that they were
lying asleep in their camp.
Suddenly three sentinels on the outlook fired off their pieces. At
this signal Ravenel posted himself at the outlet of the defile, and
Cavalier and Catinat along its two sides. Raising their war-song, the
sixty-eighth psalm the Camisards furiously charged the enemy. Captain
Bimard fell at the first fire. Montarnaud turned and fled with such of
the soldiers and militia as could follow him; and not many of them
succeeded in making their escape from the wood.
"After which complete victory," says Cavalier, "we returned to the
field of battle to give our hearty thanks to Almighty God for his
extraordinary assistance, and afterwards stripped the corpses of the
enemy, and secured their arms. We found a purse of one hundred
pistoles in Captain Bimard's pocket, which was very acceptable, for we
stood in great need thereof, and expended part of it in buying hats,
shoes, and stockings for those who wanted them, and with the
remainder bought six great mule loads of brandy, for our winter's
supply, from a merchant who was sending it to be sold at Anduze
market."[41]
[Footnote 41: "Memoirs of the Wars of the Cevennes," p. 74.]
On the Sunday following, Cavalier held an assembly for public worship
near Monteze on the Gardon, at which about five hundred persons were
present. The governor of Alais, being informed of the meeting,
resolved to put it down with a strong hand; and he set out for the
purpose at the head of a force of about six hundred horse and foot. A
mule accompanied him, laden with ropes with which to bind or hang the
rebels. Cavalier had timely information, from scouts posted on the
adjoining hills, of the approach of the governor's force, and though
the number of fighting men in the Camisard assembly was comparatively
small, they resolved to defend themselves.
Sending away the women and others not bearing arms, Cavalier posted
his little band behind an old entrenchment on the road along which the
governor was approaching, and awaited his attack. The horsemen came on
at the charge; but the Camisards, firing over the top of the
entrenchment, emptied more than a dozen saddles, and then leaping
forward, saluted them with a general discharge. At this, the horsemen
turned and fled, galloping through the foot coming up behind them, and
throwing them into complete disorder. The Camisards pulled off their
coats, in order the better to pursue the fugitives.
The Royalists were in full flight, when they were met by a
reinforcement of two hundred men of Marsilly's regiment of foot. But
these, too, were suddenly seized by the panic, and turned and fled
with the rest, the Camisards pursuing them for nearly an hour, in the
course of which they slew more than a hundred of the enemy. Besides
the soldiers' clothes, of which they stripped the dead, the Camisards
made prize of two loads of ammunition and a large quantity of arms,
which they were very much in need of, and also of the ropes with which
the governor had intended to hang them.
Emboldened by these successes, Cavalier determined on making an attack
on the strong castle of Servas, occupying a steep height on the east
of the forest of Bouquet. Cavalier detested the governor and garrison
of this place because they too closely watched his movements, and
overlooked his head-quarters, which were in the adjoining forest; and
they had, besides, distinguished themselves by the ferocity with which
they attacked and dispersed recent assemblies in the Desert.
Cavalier was, however, without the means of directly assaulting the
place, and he waited for an opportunity of entering it, if possible,
by stratagem. While passing along the road between Alais and Lussan
one day, he met a detachment of about forty men of the royal army,
whom he at once attacked, killing a number of them, and putting the
rest to flight. Among the slain was the commanding officer of the
party, in whose pockets was found an order signed by Count Broglie
directing all town-majors and consuls to lodge him and his men along
their line of march. Cavalier at once determined on making use of this
order as a key to open the gates of the castle of Servas.
He had twelve of his men dressed up in the clothes of the soldiers who
had fallen, and six others in their ordinary Camisard dress bound with
ropes as prisoners of war. Cavalier himself donned the uniform of the
fallen officer; and thus disguised and well armed, the party moved up
the steep ascent to the castle. On reaching the outer gate Cavalier
presented the order of Count Broglie, and requested admittance for the
purpose of keeping his pretended Camisard prisoners in safe custody
for the night. He was at once admitted with his party. The governor
showed him round the ramparts, pointing out the strength of the place,
and boasting of the punishments he had inflicted on the rebels.
At supper Cavalier's soldiers took care to drop into the room, one by
one, apparently for orders, and suddenly, on a signal being given, the
governor and his attendants were seized and bound. At the same time
the guard outside was attacked and overpowered. The outer gates were
opened, the Camisards rushed in, the castle was taken, and the
garrison put to the sword.
Cavalier and his band carried off with them to their magazine at
Bouquet all the arms, ammunition, and provisions they could find, and
before leaving they set fire to the castle. There must have been a
large store of gunpowder in the vaults of the place besides what the
Camisards carried away, for they had scarcely proceeded a mile on
their return journey when a tremendous explosion took place, shaking
the ground like an earthquake, and turning back, they saw the
battlements of the detested Château Servas hurled into the air.
Shortly after, Roland repeated at Sauvé, a little fortified town hung
along the side of a rocky hill a few miles to the south of Anduze, the
stratagem which Cavalier had employed at Servas, and with like
success. He disarmed the inhabitants, and carried off the arms and
provisions in the place: and though he released the commandant and
the soldiers whom he had taken prisoners, he shot a persecuting priest
and a Capuchin monk, and destroyed all the insignia of Popery in
Sauvé.
These terrible measures caused a new stampede of the clergy all over
the Cevennes. The nobles and gentry also left their châteaux, the
merchants their shops and warehouses, and took refuge in the fortified
towns. Even the bishops of Mende, Uzes, and Alais barricaded and
fortified their episcopal palaces, and organized a system of defence
as if the hordes of Attila had been at their gates.
With each fresh success the Camisards increased in daring, and every
day the insurrection became more threatening and formidable. It
already embraced the whole mountain district of the Cevennes, as well
as a considerable extent of the low country between Nismes and
Montpellier. The Camisard troops, headed by their chiefs, marched
through the villages with drums beating in open day, and were
quartered by billet on the inhabitants in like manner as the royal
regiments. Roland levied imposts and even tithes throughout his
district, and compelled the farmers, at the peril of their lives, to
bring their stores of victual to the "Camp of the Eternal." In the
midst of all, they held their meetings in the Desert, at which the
chiefs preached, baptized, and administered the sacrament to their
flocks.
The constituted authorities seemed paralyzed by the extent of the
insurrection, and the suddenness with which it spread. The governor of
the province had so repeatedly reported to his royal master the
pacification of Languedoc, that when this last and worst outbreak
occurred he was ashamed to announce it. The peace at Ryswick had set at
liberty a large force of soldiers, who had now no other occupation than
to "convert" the Protestants and force them to attend Mass. About five
hundred thousand men were now under arms for this purpose--occupied as a
sort of police force, very much to their own degradation as soldiers.
A large body of this otherwise unoccupied army had been placed under
the direction of Baville for the purpose of suppressing the
rebellion--an army of veteran horse and foot, whose valour had been
tried in many hard-fought battles. Surely it was not to be said that
this immense force could be baffled and defied by a few thousand
peasants, cowherds, and wool-carders, fighting for what they
ridiculously called their "rights of conscience!" Baville could not
believe it; and he accordingly determined again to apply himself more
vigorously than ever to the suppression of the insurrection, by means
of the ample forces placed at his disposal.
Again the troops were launched against the insurgents, and again and
again they were baffled in their attempts to overtake and crush them.
The soldiers became worn out by forced marches, in running from one
place to another to disperse assemblies in the Desert. They were
distracted by the number of places in which the rebels made their
appearance. Cavalier ran from town to town, making his attacks
sometimes late at night, sometimes in the early morning; but before
the troops could come up he had done all the mischief he intended, and
was perhaps fifty miles distant on another expedition. If the
Royalists divided themselves into small bodies, they were in danger of
being overpowered; and if they kept together in large bodies, they
moved about with difficulty, and could not overtake the insurgents,
"by reason," said Cavalier, "we could go further in three hours than
they could in a whole day; regular troops not being used to march
through woods and mountains as we did."
At length the truth could not be concealed any longer. The States of
Languedoc were summoned to meet at Montpellier, and there the
desperate state of affairs was fully revealed. The bishops of the
principal dioceses could with difficulty attend the meeting, and were
only enabled to do so by the assistance of strong detachments of
soldiers--the Camisards being masters of the principal roads. They
filled the assembly with their lamentations, and declared that they
had been betrayed by the men in power. At their urgent solicitation,
thirty-two more companies of Catholic fusiliers and another regiment
of dragoons were ordered to be immediately embodied in the district.
The governor also called to his aid an additional regiment of dragoons
from Rouergue; a battalion of marines from the ships-of-war lying at
Marseilles and Toulon; a body of Miguelets from Roussillon, accustomed
to mountain warfare; together with a large body of Irish officers and
soldiers, part of the Irish Brigade.
* * * * *
And how did it happen that the self-exiled Irish patriots were now in
the Cevennes, helping the army of Louis XIV. to massacre the Camisards
by way of teaching them a better religion? It happened thus: The
banishment of the Huguenots from France, and their appearance under
William III. in Ireland to fight at the Boyne and Augrhim, contributed
to send the Irish Brigade over to France--though it must be confessed
that the Irish Brigade fought much better for Louis XIV. than they had
ever done for Ireland.
After the surrender of Limerick in 1691, the principal number of the
Irish followers of James II. declared their intention of abandoning
Ireland and serving their sovereign's ally the King of France. The
Irish historians allege that the number of the brigade at first
amounted to nearly thirty thousand men.[42] Though, they fought
bravely for France, and conducted themselves valiantly in many of her
great battles, they were unfortunately put forward to do a great deal
of dirty work for Louis XIV. One of the first campaigns they were
engaged in was in Savoy, under Catinat, in repressing the Vaudois or
Barbets.
[Footnote 42: O'Callaghan's "History of the Irish Brigades in
the service of France," p. 29.]
The Vaudois peasantry were for the most part unarmed, and their only
crime was their religion. The regiments of Viscount Clare and Viscount
Dillon, principally distinguished themselves against the Vaudois. The
war was one of extermination, in which many of the Barbets were
killed. Mr. O'Connor states that between the number of the Alpine
mountaineers cut off, and the extent of devastation and pillage
committed amongst them by the Irish, Catinat's commission was executed
with terrible fidelity; the memory of which "has rendered their name
and nation odious to the Vaudois. Six generations," he remarks, "have
since passed, away, but neither time nor subsequent calamities have
obliterated the impression made by the waste and desolation of this
military incursion."[43] Because of the outrages and destruction
committed upon the women and children in the valleys in the absence of
their natural defenders, the Vaudois still speak of the Irish as "the
foreign assassins."
[Footnote 43: Ibid., p. 180.]
The Brigade having thus faithfully served Louis XIV. in Piedmont,
were now occupied in the same work in the Cevennes. The historian of
the Brigade does not particularise the battles in which they were
engaged with the Camisards, but merely announces that "on several
occasions, the Irish appear to have distinguished themselves,
especially their officers."
* * * * *
When Cavalier heard of the vast additional forces about to be thrown
into the Cevennes, he sought to effect a diversion by shifting the
theatre of war. Marching down towards the low country with about two
hundred men, he went from village to village in the Vaunage, holding
assemblies of the people. His whereabouts soon became known to the
Royalists, and Captain Bonnafoux, of the Calvisson militia, hearing
that Cavalier was preaching one day at the village of St. Comes,
hastened to capture him.
Bonnafoux had already distinguished himself in the preceding year, by
sabring two assemblies surprised by him at Vauvert and Caudiac, and
his intention now was to serve Cavalier and his followers in like
manner. Galloping up to the place of meeting, the Captain was
challenged by the Camisard sentinel; and his answer was to shoot the
man dead with his pistol. The report alarmed the meeting, then
occupied in prayer; but rising from their knees, they at once formed
in line and advanced to meet the foe, who turned and fled at their
first discharge.
Cavalier next went southward to Caudiac, where he waited for an
opportunity of surprising Aimargues, and putting to the sword the
militia, who had long been the scourge of the Protestants in that
quarter. He entered the latter town on a fair day, and walked about
amongst the people; but, finding that his intention was known, and
that his enterprise was not likely to succeed, he turned aside and
resolved upon another course. But first it was necessary that his
troops should be supplied with powder and ammunition, of which they
had run short. So, disguising himself as a merchant, and mounted on a
horse with capacious saddlebags, he rode off to Nismes, close at hand,
to buy gunpowder. He left his men in charge of his two lieutenants,
Ravanel and Catinat, who prophesied to him that during his absence
they would fight a battle and win a victory.
Count Broglie had been promptly informed by the defeated Captain
Bonnafoux that the Camisards were in the neighbourhood; and he set out
in pursuit of them with a strong body of horse and foot. After several
days' search amongst the vineyards near Nismes and the heathery hills
about Milhaud, Broglie learnt that the Camisards were to be found at
Caudiac. But when he reached that place he found the insurgents had
already left, and taken a northerly direction. Broglie followed their
track, and on the following day came up with them at a place called
Mas de Gaffarel, in the Val de Bane, about three miles west of Nismes,
The Royalists consisted of two hundred militia, commanded by the Count
and his son, and two troops of dragoons, under Captain la Dourville
and the redoubtable Captain Poul.
The Camisards had only time to utter a short prayer, and to rise from
their knees and advance singing their battle psalm, when Poul and his
dragoons were upon them. Their charge was so furious that Ravanel and
his men were at first thrown into disorder; but rallying, and bravely
fighting, they held their ground. Captain Poul was brought to the
ground by a stone hurled from a sling by a young Vauvert miller named
Samuelet; Count Broglie himself was wounded by a musket-ball, and many
of his dragoons lay stretched on the field. Catinat observing the fall
of Poul, rushed forward, cut off his head with a sweep of his sabre,
and mounting Poul's horse, almost alone chased the Royalists, now
flying in all directions. Broglie did not draw breath until he had
reached the secure shelter of the castle of Bernis.
While these events were in progress, Cavalier was occupied on his
mission of buying gunpowder in Nismes. He was passing along the
Esplanade--then, as now, a beautiful promenade--when he observed from
the excitement of the people, running about hither and thither, that
something alarming had occurred. On making inquiry he was told that
"the Barbets" were in the immediate neighbourhood, and it was even
feared they would enter and sack the city. Shortly after, a trooper
was observed galloping towards them at full speed along the
Montpellier Road, without arms or helmet. He was almost out of breath
when he came up, and could only exclaim that "All is lost! Count
Broglie and Captain Poul are killed, and the Barbets are pursuing the
remainder of the royal troops into the city!"
The gates were at once ordered to be shut and barricaded; the
_générale_ was beaten; the troops and militia were mustered; the
priests ran about in the streets crying, "We are undone!" Some of the
Roman Catholics even took shelter in the houses of the Protestants,
calling upon them to save their lives. But the night passed, and with
it their alarm, for the Camisards did not make their appearance. Next
morning a message arrived from Count Broglie, shut up in the castle
of Bernis, ordering the garrison to come to his relief.
In the meantime, Cavalier, with the assistance of his friends in
Nismes, had obtained the articles of which he was in need, and
prepared to set out on his return journey. The governor and his
detachment were issuing from the western gate as he left, and he
accompanied them part of the way, still disguised as a merchant, and
mounted on his horse, with a large portmanteau behind him, and
saddlebags on either side full of gunpowder and ammunition. The
Camisard chief mixed with the men, talking with them freely about the
Barbets and their doings. When he came to the St. Hypolite road he
turned aside; but they warned him that if he went that way he would
certainly fall into the hands of the Barbets, and lose not only his
horse and his merchandise, but his life. Cavalier thanked them for
their advice, but said he was not afraid of the Barbets, and proceeded
on his way, shortly rejoining his troop at the appointed rendez-vous.
The Camisards crossed the Gardon by the bridge of St. Nicholas, and
were proceeding towards their head-quarters at Bouquet, up the left
bank of the river, when an attempt was made by the Chevalier de St.
Chaptes, at the head of the militia of the district, to cut off their
retreat. But Ravanel charged them with such fury as to drive the
greater part into the Gardon, then swollen by a flood, and those who
did not escape by swimming were either killed or drowned.
Thus the insurrection seemed to grow, notwithstanding all the measures
taken to repress it. The number of soldiers stationed in the province
was from time to time increased; they were scattered in detachments
all over the country, and the Camisards took care to give them but
few opportunities of exhibiting their force, and then only when at a
comparative disadvantage. The Royalists, at their wits' end,
considered what was next to be done in order to the pacification of
the country. The simple remedy, they knew, was to allow these poor
simple people to worship in their own way without molestation. Grant
them this privilege, and they were at any moment ready to lay down
their arms, and resume their ordinary peaceful pursuits.
But this was precisely what the King would not allow. To do so would
be an admission of royal fallibility which neither he nor his advisers
were prepared to make. To enforce conformity on his subjects, Louis
XIV. had already driven some half-a-million of the best of them into
exile, besides the thousands who had perished on gibbets, in dungeons,
or at the galleys. And was he now to confess, by granting liberty of
worship to these neatherds, carders, and peasants, that the rigorous
policy of "the Most Christian King" had been an entire mistake?
It was resolved, therefore, that no such liberty should be granted,
and that these peasants, like the rest of the King's subjects, were to
be forced, at the sword's point if necessary, to worship God in _his_
way, and not in theirs. Viewed in this light, the whole proceeding
would appear to be a ludicrous absurdity, but for its revolting
impiety and the abominable cruelties with which it was accompanied.
Yet the Royalists even blamed themselves for the mercy which they had
hitherto shown to the Protestant peasantry; and the more virulent
amongst them urged that the whole of the remaining population that
would not at once conform to the Church of Rome, should forthwith be
put to the sword!
Brigadier Julien, an apostate Protestant, who had served under William
of Orange in Ireland, and afterwards under the Duke of Savoy in
Piedmont, disappointed with the slowness of his promotion, had taken
service under Louis XIV., and was now employed as a partizan chief in
the suppression of his former co-religionists in Languedoc. Like all
renegades, he was a bitter and furious persecutor; and in the councils
of Baville his voice was always raised for the extremest measures. He
would utterly exterminate the insurgents, and, if necessary, reduce
the country to a desert. "It is not enough," said he, "merely to kill
those bearing arms; the villages which supply the combatants, and
which give them shelter and sustenance, ought to be burnt down: thus
only can the insurrection be suppressed."
In a military point of view Julien was probably right; but the savage
advice startled even Baville. "Nothing can be easier," said he, "than
to destroy the towns and villages; but this would be to make a desert
of one of the finest and most productive districts of Languedoc." Yet
Baville himself eventually adopted the very policy which he now
condemned.
In the first place, however, it was determined to pursue and destroy
Cavalier and his band. Eight hundred men, under the Count de Touman,
were posted at Uzes; two battalions of the regiment of Hainault, under
Julien, at Anduze; while Broglie, with a strong body of dragoons and
militia, commanded the passes at St. Ambrose. These troops occupied,
as it were, the three sides of a triangle, in the centre of which
Cavalier was known to be in hiding in the woods of Bouquet. Converging
upon him simultaneously, they hoped to surround and destroy him.
But the Camisard chief was well advised of their movements. To draw
them away from his magazines, Cavalier marched boldly to the north,
and slipping through between the advancing forces, he got into
Broglie's rear, and set fire to two villages inhabited by Catholics.
The three bodies at once directed themselves upon the burning
villages; but when they reached them Cavalier had made his escape, and
was nowhere to be heard of. For four days they hunted the country
between the Garden and the Ceze, beating the woods and exploring the
caves; and then they returned, harassed and vexed, to their respective
quarters.
While the Royalists were thus occupied, Cavalier fell upon a convoy of
provisions which Colonel Marsilly was leading to the castle of
Mendajols, scattered and killed the escort, and carried off the mules
and their loads to the magazines at Bouquet. During the whole of the
month of January, the Camisards, notwithstanding the inclemency of the
weather, were constantly on the move, making their appearance in the
most unexpected quarters; Roland descending from Mialet on Anduze, and
rousing Broglie from his slumbers by a midnight fusillade; Castanet
attacking St. André, and making a bonfire of the contents of the
church; Joany disarming Genouillac; and Lafleur terrifying the
villages of the Lozère almost to the gates of Mende.
Although the winters in the South of France, along the shores of the
Mediterranean, are comparatively mild and genial, it is very different
in the mountain districts of the interior, where the snow lies thick
upon the ground, and the rivers are bound up by frost. Cavalier, in
his Memoirs, describes the straits to which his followers were reduced
in that inclement season, being "destitute of houses or beds,
victuals, bread, or money, and left to struggle with hunger, cold,
snow, misery, and poverty."
"General Broglie," he continues, "believed and hoped that though
he had not been able to destroy us with the sword, yet the
insufferable miseries of the winter would do him that good
office. Yet God Almighty prevented it through his power, and by
unexpected means his Providence ordered the thing so well that at
the end of the winter we found ourselves in being, and in a
better condition than we expected.... As for our retiring places,
we were used in the night-time to go into hamlets or sheepfolds
built in or near the woods, and thought ourselves happy when we
lighted upon a stone or piece of timber to make our pillows
withal, and a little straw or dry leaves to lie upon in our
clothes. We did in this condition sleep as gently and soundly as
if we had lain upon a down bed. The weather being extremely cold,
we had a great occasion for fire; but residing mostly in woods,
we used to get great quantity of faggots and kindle them, and so
sit round about them and warm ourselves. In this manner we spent
a quarter of a year, running up and down, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, through great forests and upon high mountains,
in deep snow and upon ice. And notwithstanding the sharpness of
the weather, the small stock of our provisions, and the marches
and counter-marches we were continually obliged to make, and
which gave us but seldom the opportunity of washing the only
shirt we had upon our back, not one amongst us fell sick. One
might have perceived in our visage a complexion as fresh as if we
had fed upon the most delicious meats, and at the end of the
season we found ourselves in a good disposition heartily to
commence the following campaign."[44]
[Footnote 44: Cavalier's "Memoirs of the Wars of the
Cevennes," pp. 111-114.]
The campaign of 1703, the third year of the insurrection, began
unfavourably for the Camisards. The ill-success of Count Broglie as
commander of the royal forces in the Cevennes, determined Louis
XIV.--from whom the true state of affairs could no longer be
concealed--to supersede him by Marshal Montrevel, one of the ablest of
his generals. The army of Languedoc was again reinforced by ten
thousand of the best soldiers of France, drawn from the armies of
Germany and Italy. It now consisted of three regiments of dragoons and
twenty-four battalions of foot--of the Irish Brigade, the Miguelets,
and the Languedoc fusiliers--which, with the local militia,
constituted an effective force of not less than sixty thousand men!
Such was the irresistible army, commanded by a marshal of France,
three lieutenant-generals, three major-generals, and three
brigadier-generals, now stationed in Languedoc, to crush the peasant
insurrection. No wonder that the Camisard chiefs were alarmed when the
intelligence reached them of this formidable force having been set in
motion for their destruction.
The first thing they determined upon was to effect a powerful
diversion, and to extend, if possible, the area of the insurrection.
For this purpose, Cavalier, at the head of eight hundred men,
accompanied by thirty baggage mules, set out in the beginning of
February, with the object of raising the Viverais, the north-eastern
quarter of Languedoc, where the Camisards had numerous partizans. The
snow was lying thick upon the ground when they set out; but the little
army pushed northward, through Rochegude and Barjac. At the town of
Vagnas they found their way barred by a body of six hundred militia,
under the Count de Roure. These they attacked with great fury and
speedily put to flight.
But behind the Camisarde was a second and much stronger royalist
force, eighteen hundred men, under Brigadier Julien, who had hastened
up from Lussan upon Cavalier's track, and now hung upon his rear in
the forest of Vagnas. Next morning the Camisards accepted battle,
fought with their usual bravery, but having been trapped into an
ambuscade, they were overpowered by numbers, and at length broke and
fled in disorder, leaving behind them their mules, baggage, seven
drums, and a quantity of arms, with some two hundred dead and
wounded. Cavalier himself escaped with difficulty, and, after having
been given up for lost, reached the rendez-vous at Bouquet in a state
of complete exhaustion, Ravanel and Catinat having preceded him
thither with, the remains of his broken army.
Roland and Cavalier now altered their tactics. They resolved to avoid
pitched battles such as that at Vagnas, where they were liable to be
crushed at a blow, and to divide their forces into small detachments
constantly on the move, harassing the enemy, interrupting their
communications, and falling upon detached bodies whenever an
opportunity for an attack presented itself.
To the surprise of Montrevel, who supposed the Camisards finally
crushed at Vagnas, the intelligence suddenly reached him of a
multitude of attacks on fortified posts, burning of châteaux and
churches, captures of convoys, and defeats of detached bodies of
Royalists.
Joany attacked Genouillac, cut to pieces the militia who defended it,
and carried off their arms and ammunition, with other spoils, to the
camp at Faux-des-Armes. Shortly after, in one of his incursions, he
captured a convoy of forty mules laden with cloth, wine, and
provisions for Lent; and, though hotly pursued by a much superior
force, he succeeded in making his escape into the mountains.
Castanet was not less active in the west--sacking and burning Catholic
villages, and putting their inhabitants to the sword by way of
reprisal for similar atrocities committed by the Royalists. At the
same time, Montrevel pillaged and burned Euzet and St. Jean de
Ceirarges, villages inhabited by Protestants; and there was not a
hamlet but was liable at any moment to be sacked and destroyed by one
or other of the contending parties.
Nor was Roland idle. Being greatly in want of arms and ammunition, as
well as of shoes and clothes for his men, he collected a considerable
force, and made a descent, for the purpose of obtaining them, on the
rich and populous towns of the south; more particularly on the
manufacturing town of Ganges, where the Camisards had many friends.
Although Roland, to divert the attention of Montrevel from Ganges,
sent a detachment of his men into the neighbourhood of Nismes to raise
the alarm there, it was not long before a large royalist force was
directed against him.
Hearing that Montrevel was marching upon Ganges, Roland hastily left
for the north, but was overtaken near Pompignan by the marshal at the
head of an army of regular horse and foot, including several regiments
of local militia, Miguelets, marines, and Irish. The Royalists were
posted in such a manner as to surround the Camisards, who, though they
fought with their usual impetuosity, and succeeded in breaking through
the ranks of their enemies, suffered a heavy loss in dead and wounded.
Roland himself escaped with difficulty, and with his broken forces
fled through Durfort to his stronghold at Mialet.
After the battle, Marshal Montrevel returned to Ganges, where he
levied a fine of ten thousand livres on the Protestant population,
giving up their houses to pillage, and hanging a dozen of those who
had been the most prominent in abetting the Camisards during their
recent visit. At the game time, he reported to head-quarters at Paris
that he had entirely destroyed the rebels, and that Languedoc was now
"pacified."
Much to his surprise, however, not many weeks elapsed before
Cavalier, who had been laid up by the small-pox during Roland's
expedition to Ganges, again appeared in the field, attacking convoys,
entering the villages and carrying off arms, and spreading terror anew
to the very gates of Nismes. He returned northwards by the valley of
the Rhône, driving before him flocks and herds for the provisioning of
his men, and reached his retreat at Bouquet in safety. Shortly after,
he issued from it again, and descended upon Ners, where he destroyed a
detachment of troops under Colonel de Jarnaud; next day he crossed the
Gardon, and cut up a reinforcement intended for the garrison of
Sommières; and the day after he was heard of in another place,
attacking a convoy, and carrying off arms, ammunition, and provisions.
Montrevel was profoundly annoyed at the failure of his efforts thus
far to suppress the insurrection. It even seemed to increase and
extend with every new measure taken to crush it. A marshal of France,
at the head of sixty thousand men, he feared lest he should lose
credit with his friends at court unless he were able at once to root
out these miserable cowherds and wool-carders who continued to bid
defiance to the royal authority which he represented; and he
determined to exert himself with renewed vigour to exterminate them
root and branch.
In this state of irritation the intelligence was one day brought to
the marshal while sitting over his wine after dinner at Nismes, that
an assembly of Huguenots was engaged in worship in a mill situated on
the canal outside the Port-des-Carmes. He at once ordered out a
battalion of foot, marched on the mill, and surrounded it. The
soldiers burst open the door, and found from two to three hundred
women, children, and old men engaged in prayer; and proceeded to put
them to the sword. But the marshal, impatient at the slowness of the
butchery, ordered the men to desist and to fire the place. This order
was obeyed, and the building, being for the most part of wood, was
soon wrapped in flames, from amidst which rose the screams of women
and children. All who tried to escape were bayoneted, or driven back
into the burning mill. Every soul perished--all excepting a girl, who
was rescued by one of Montrevel's servants. But the pitiless marshal
ordered both the girl and her deliverer to be put to death. The former
was hanged forthwith, but the lackey's life was spared at the
intercession of some sisters of mercy accidentally passing the place.
In the same savage and relentless spirit, Montrevel proceeded to
extirpate the Huguenots wherever found. He caused all suspected
persons in twenty-two parishes in the diocese of Nismes to be seized
and carried off. The men were transported to North America, and the
women and children imprisoned in the fortresses of Roussillon.
But the most ruthless measures were those which were adopted in the
Upper Cevennes: there nothing short of devastation would satisfy the
marshal. Thirty-two parishes were completely laid waste; the cattle,
grain, and produce which they contained were seized and carried into
the towns of refuge garrisoned by the Royalists--Alais, Anduze,
Florac, St. Hypolite, and Nismes--so that nothing should be left
calculated to give sustenance to the rebels. Four hundred and
sixty-six villages and hamlets were reduced to mere heaps of ashes and
blackened ruins, and such of their inhabitants as were not slain by
the soldiery fled with their families into the wilderness.
All the principal villages inhabited by the Protestants were thus
completely destroyed, together with their mills and barns, and every
building likely to give them shelter. Mialet was sacked and
burnt--Roland, still suffering from his wounds, being unable to strike
a blow in defence of his stronghold. St. Julien was also plundered and
levelled, and its inhabitants carried captive to Montpellier, where
the women and children were imprisoned, and the men sent to the
galleys.
When Cavalier heard of the determination of Montrevel to make a desert
of the country, he sent word to him that for every Huguenot village
destroyed he would destroy two inhabited by the Romanists. Thus the
sacking and burning on the one side was immediately followed by
increased sacking and burning on the other. The war became one of
mutual destruction and extermination, and the unfortunate inhabitants
on both sides were delivered over to all the horrors of civil war.
So far, however, from the Camisards being suppressed, the destruction
of the dwellings of the Huguenots only served to swell their numbers,
and they descended from their mountains upon the Catholics of the
plains in increasing force and redoubled fury. Montlezan was utterly
destroyed--all but the church, which was strongly barricaded, and
resisted Cavalier's attempts to enter it. Aurillac, also, was in like
manner sacked and gutted, and the destroying torrent swept over all
the towns and villages of the Cevennes.
Cavalier was so ubiquitous, so daring, and often so successful in his
attacks, that of all the Camisard leaders he was held to be the most
dangerous, and a high price was accordingly set upon his head by the
governor. Hence many attempts were made to betray him. He was haunted
by spies, some of whom even succeeded in obtaining admission to his
ranks. More than once the spies were detected--it was pretended
through prophetic influence--and immediately shot. But on one occasion
Cavalier and his whole force narrowly escaped destruction through the
betrayal of a pretended follower.
While the Royalists were carrying destruction through the villages of
the Upper Cevennes, Cavalier, Salomon, and Abraham, in order to divert
them from their purpose, resolved upon another descent into the low
country, now comparatively ungarrisoned. With this object they
gathered together some fifteen hundred men, and descended from the
mountains by Collet, intending to cross the Gardon at Beaurivage. On
Sunday, the 29th of April, they halted in the wood of Malaboissière, a
little north of Mialet, for a day's preaching and worship; and after
holding three services, which were largely attended, they directed
their steps to the Tower of Belliot, a deserted farmhouse on the south
of the present high road between Alais and Anduze.
The house had been built on the ruins of a feudal castle, and took its
name from one of the old towers still standing. It was surrounded by a
dry stone wall, forming a court, the entrance to which was closed by
hurdles. On their arrival at this place late at night, the Camisards
partook of the supper which had been prepared for them by their
purveyor on the occasion--a miller of the neighbourhood, named
Guignon--whose fidelity was assured not only by his apparent piety,
but by the circumstance that two of his sons belonged to Cavalier's
band.
No sooner, however, had the Camisards lain down to sleep than the
miller, possessed by the demon of gold, set out directly for Alais,
about three miles distant, and, reaching the quarters of Montrevel,
sold the secret of Cavalier's sleeping-place to the marshal for fifty
pieces of gold, and together with it the lives of his own sons and
their fifteen hundred companions.
The marshal forthwith mustered all the available troops in Alais,
consisting of eight regiments of foot (of which one was Irish) and two
of dragoons, and set out at once for the Tower of Belliot, taking the
precaution to set a strict guard upon all the gates, to prevent the
possibility of any messenger leaving the place to warn Cavalier of his
approach. The Royalists crept towards the tower in three bodies, so as
to cut off their retreat in every direction. Meanwhile, the Camisards,
unapprehensive of danger, lay wrapped in slumber, filling the tower,
the barns, the stables, and outhouses.
The night was dark, and favoured the Royalists' approach. Suddenly,
one of their divisions came upon the advanced Camisard sentinels. They
fired, but were at once cut down. Those behind fled back to the
sleeping camp, and raised the cry of alarm. Cavalier started up,
calling his men "to arms," and, followed by about four hundred, he
precipitated himself on the heads of the advancing columns. Driven
back, they rallied again, more troops coming up to their support, and
again they advanced to the attack.
To his dismay, Cavalier found the enemy in overwhelming force,
enveloping his whole position. By great efforts he held them back
until some four or five hundred more of his men had joined him, and
then he gave way and retired behind a ravine or hollow, probably
forming part of the fosse of the ancient château. Having there rallied
his followers, he recrossed the ravine to make another desperate
effort to relieve the remainder of his troop shut up in the tower.
A desperate encounter followed, in the midst of which two of the
royalist columns, mistaking each other for enemies in the darkness,
fired into each other and increased the confusion and the carnage. The
moon rose on this dreadful scene, and revealed to the Royalists the
smallness of the force opposed to them. The struggle was renewed again
and again; Cavalier still seeking to relieve those shut up in the
tower, and the Royalists, now concentrated and in force, to surround
and destroy him.
At length, after the struggle had lasted for about five hours,
Cavalier, in order to save the rest of his men, resolved on retiring
before daybreak; and he succeeded in effecting his retreat without
being pursued by the enemy.
The three hundred Camisards who continued shut up in the tower refused
to surrender. They transformed the ruin into a fortress, barricading
every entrance, and firing from every loophole. When their ammunition
was expended, they hurled stones, joists, and tiles down upon their
assailants from the summit of the tower. For four more hours they
continued to hold out. Cannon were sent for from Alais, to blow in the
doors; but before they arrived all was over. The place had been set on
fire by hand grenades, and the imprisoned Camisards, singing psalms
amidst the flames to their last breath, perished to a man.
This victory cost Montrevel dear. He lost some twelve hundred dead and
wounded before the fatal Tower of Belliot; whilst Cavalier's loss was
not less than four hundred dead, of whom a hundred and eighteen were
found at daybreak along the brink of the ravine. One of these was
mistaken for the body of Cavalier; on which Montrevel, with
characteristic barbarity, ordered the head to be cut off and sent to
_Cavalier's mother_ for identification!
From the slight glimpses we obtain of the _man_ Montrevel in the
course of these deplorable transactions, there seems to have been
something ineffably mean and spiteful in his nature. Thus, on another
occasion, in a fit of rage at having been baffled by the young
Camisard leader, he dispatched a squadron of dragoons to Ribaute for
the express purpose of pulling down the house in which Cavalier had
been born!
A befitting sequel to this sanguinary struggle at the Tower of Belliot
was the fate of Guignon, the miller, who had betrayed the sleeping
Camisards to Montrevel. His crime was discovered. The gold was found
upon him. He was tried, and condemned to death. The Camisards, under
arms, assembled to see the sentence carried out. They knelt round the
doomed man, while the prophets by turn prayed for his soul, and
implored the clemency of the Sovereign Judge. Guignon professed the
utmost contrition, besought the pardon of his brethren, and sought
leave to embrace for the last time his two sons--privates in the
Camisard ranks. The two young men, however, refused the proffered
embrace with a gesture of apparent disgust; and they looked on, the
sad and stern spectators of the traitor's punishment.
Again Montrevel thought he had succeeded in crushing the insurrection,
and that he had cut off its head with that of the Camisard chief. But
his supposed discovery of the dead body proved an entire mistake; and
not many days elapsed before Cavalier made his appearance before the
gates of Alais, and sent in a challenge to the governor to come out
and fight him. And it is to be observed that by this time a fiercely
combative spirit, of fighting for fighting's sake, began to show
itself among the Camisards. Thus, Castanet appeared one day before the
gates of Meyreuis, where the regiment of Cordes was stationed, and
challenged the colonel to come out and fight him in the open; but the
challenge was declined. On another occasion, Cavalier in like manner
challenged the commander of Vic to bring out thirty of his soldiers
and fight thirty Camisards. The challenge was accepted, and the battle
took place; they fought until ten men only remained alive on either
side, but the Camisards were masters of the field.
Montrevel only redoubled his efforts to exterminate the Camisards. He
had no other policy. In the summer of 1703 the Pope (Clement XI.) came
to his assistance, issuing a bull against the rebels as being of "the
execrable race of the ancient Albigenses," and promising "absolute and
general remission of sins" to all such as should join the holy militia
of Louis XIV. in "exterminating the cursed heretics and miscreants,
enemies alike of God and of Cæsar."
A special force was embodied with this object--the Florentines, or
"White Camisards"--distinguished by the white cross which they wore in
front of their hats. They were for the most part composed of
desperadoes and miscreants, and went about pillaging and burning, with
so little discrimination between friend and foe, that the Catholics
themselves implored the marshal to suppress them. These Florentines
were the perpetrators of such barbarities that Roland determined to
raise a body of cavalry to hunt them down; and with that object,
Catinat, the old dragoon, went down to the Camargues--a sort of
island-prairies lying between the mouths of the Rhône--where the Arabs
had left a hardy breed of horses; and there he purchased some two
hundred steeds wherewith to mount the Camisard horse, to the command
of which Catinat was himself appointed.
It is unnecessary to particularise the variety of combats, of
marchings and countermarchings, which occurred during the progress of
the insurrection. Between the contending parties, the country was
reduced to a desert. Tillage ceased, for there was no certainty of the
cultivator reaping the crop; more likely it would be carried off or
burnt by the conflicting armies. Beggars and vagabonds wandered about
robbing and plundering without regard to party or religion; and social
security was entirely at an end.
Meanwhile, Montrevel still called for more troops. Of the twenty
battalions already entrusted to him, more than one-third had perished;
and still the insurrection was not suppressed. He hoped, however, that
the work was now accomplished; and, looking to the wasted condition of
the country, that the famine and cold of the winter of 1703-4 would
complete the destruction of such of the rebels as still survived.
During the winter, however, the Camisard chiefs had not only been able
to keep their forces together, but to lay up a considerable store of
provisions and ammunition, principally by captures from the enemy; and
in the following spring they were in a position to take the field in
even greater force than ever. They, indeed, opened the campaign by
gaining two important victories over the Royalists; but though they
were their greatest, they were also nearly their last.
The battle of Martinargues was the Cannæ of the Camisards. It was
fought near the village of that name, not far from Ners, early in the
spring of 1704. The campaign had been opened by the Florentines, who,
now that they had made a desert of the Upper Cevennes, were burning
and ravaging the Protestant villages of the plain. Cavalier had put
himself on their track, and pursued and punished them so severely,
that in their distress they called upon Montrevel to help them,
informing him of the whereabouts of the Camisards.
A strong royalist force of horse and foot was immediately sent in
pursuit, under the command of Brigadier Lajonquière. He first marched
upon the Protestant village of Lascours, where Cavalier had passed the
previous night. The brigadier severely punished the inhabitants for
sheltering the Camisards, putting to death four persons, two of them
girls, whom he suspected to be Cavalier's prophetesses. On the people
refusing to indicate the direction in which the Camisards had gone, he
gave the village up to plunder, and the soldiers passed several hours
ransacking the place, in the course of which they broke open and
pillaged the wine-cellars.
Meanwhile, Cavalier and his men had proceeded in a northerly
direction, along the right bank of the little river Droude, one of the
affluents of the Gardon. A messenger from Lascours overtook him,
telling him of the outrages committed on the inhabitants of the
village; and shortly after, the inhabitants of Lascours themselves
came up--men, women, and children, who had been driven from their
pillaged homes by the royalist soldiery. Cavalier was enraged at the
recital of their woes; and though his force was not one-sixth the
strength of the enemy, he determined to meet their advance and give
them battle.
Placing the poor people of Lascours in safety, the Camisard leader
took up his position on a rising ground at the head of a little valley
close to the village of Martinargues. Cavalier himself occupied the
centre, his front being covered by a brook running in the hollow of a
ravine. Ravanel and Catinat, with a small body of men, were posted
along the two sides of the valley, screened by brushwood. The
approaching Royalists, seeing before them only the feeble force of
Cavalier, looked upon his capture as certain.
"See!" cried Lajonquière, "at last we have hold of the Barbets we have
been so long looking for!" With his dragoons in the centre, flanked by
the grenadiers and foot, the Royalists advanced with confidence to the
charge. At the first volley, the Camisards prostrated themselves, and
the bullets went over their heads. Thinking they had fallen before his
fusillade, the commander ordered his men to cross the ravine and fall
upon the remnant with the bayonet. Instantly, however, Cavalier's men
started to their feet, and smote the assailants with a deadly volley,
bringing down men and horses. At the same moment, the two wings, until
then concealed, fired down upon the Royalists and completed their
confusion. The Camisards, then raising their battle-psalm, rushed
forward and charged the enemy. The grenadiers resisted stoutly, but
after a few minutes the entire body--dragoons, grenadiers, marines,
and Irish--fled down the valley towards the Gardon, and the greater
number of those who were not killed were drowned, Lajonquière himself
escaping with difficulty.
In this battle perished a colonel, a major, thirty-three captains and
lieutenants, and four hundred and fifty men, while Cavalier's loss was
only about twenty killed and wounded. A great booty was picked up on
the field, of gold, silver, jewels, ornamented swords, magnificent
uniforms, scarfs, and clothing, besides horses, as well as the plunder
brought from Lascours.
The opening of the Lascours wine-cellars proved the ruin of the
Royalists, for many of the men were so drunk that they were unable
either to fight or fly. After returning thanks to God on the
battle-field, Cavalier conducted the rejoicing people of Lascours back
to their village, and proceeded to his head-quarters at Bouquet with
his booty and his trophies.
Another encounter shortly followed at the Bridge of Salindres, about
midway between Auduze and St. Jean du Gard, in which Roland inflicted
an equally decisive defeat on a force commanded by Brigadier Lalande.
Informed of the approach of the Royalists, Roland posted his little
army in the narrow, precipitous, and rocky valley, along the bottom of
which runs the river Gardon. Dividing his men into three bodies, he
posted one on the bridge, another in ambuscade at the entrance to the
defile, and a third on the summit of the precipice overhanging the
road.
The Royalists had scarcely advanced to the attack of the bridge, when
the concealed Camisards rushed out and assailed their rear, while
those stationed above hurled down rocks and stones, which threw them
into complete disorder. They at once broke and fled, rushing down to
the river, into which they threw themselves; and but for Roland's
neglect in guarding the steep footpath leading to the ford at the
mill, the whole body would have been destroyed. As it was, they
suffered heavy loss, the general himself escaping with difficulty,
leaving his white-plumed hat behind him in the hands of the Camisards.
CHAPTER VIII.
END OF THE CAMISARD INSURRECTION.
The insurrection in the Cevennes had continued for more than two
years, when at length it began to excite serious uneasiness at
Versailles. It was felt to be a source of weakness as well as danger
to France, then at war with Portugal, England, and Savoy. What
increased the alarm of the French Government was the fact that the
insurgents were anxiously looking abroad for help, and endeavouring to
excite the Protestant governments of the North to strike a blow in
their behalf.
England and Holland had been especially appealed to. Large numbers of
Huguenot soldiers were then serving in the English army; and it was
suggested that if they could effect a landing on the coast of
Languedoc, and co-operate with the Camisards, it would at the same
time help the cause of religious liberty, and operate as a powerful
diversion in favour of the confederate armies, then engaged with the
armies of France in the Low Countries and on the Rhine.
In order to ascertain the feasibility of the proposed landing, and the
condition of the Camisard insurgents, the ministry of Queen Anne sent
the Marquis de Miremont, a Huguenot refugee in England, on a mission
to the Cevennes; and he succeeded in reaching the insurgent camp at
St. Felix, where he met Roland and the other leaders, and arranged
with them for the descent of a body of Huguenot soldiers on the coast.
In the month of September, 1703, the English fleet was descried in the
Gulf of Lyons, off Aiguesmortes, making signals, which, however, were
not answered. Marshal Montrevel had been warned of the intended
invasion; and, summoning troops from all quarters, he so effectually
guarded the coast, that a landing was found impracticable. Though
Cavalier was near at hand, he was unable at any point to communicate
with the English ships; and after lying off for a few days, they
spread their sails, and the disheartened Camisards saw their intended
liberators disappear in the distance.
The ministers of Louis XIV. were greatly alarmed by this event. The
invasion had been frustrated for the time, but the English fleet might
return, and eventually succeed in effecting a landing. The danger,
therefore, had to be provided against, and at once. It became clear,
even to Louis XIV. himself, that the system of terror and coercion
which had heretofore been exclusively employed against the insurgents,
had proved a total failure. It was accordingly determined to employ
some other means, if possible, of bringing this dangerous insurrection
to an end. In pursuance of this object, Montrevel, to his intense
mortification, was recalled, and the celebrated Marshal Villars, the
victor of Hochstadt and Friedlingen, was appointed in his stead, with
full powers to undertake and carry out the pacification of Languedoc.
Villars reached Nismes towards the end of August, 1704; but before his
arrival, Montrevel at last succeeded in settling accounts with
Cavalier, and wiped out many old scores by inflicting upon him the
severest defeat the Camisard arms had yet received. It was his first
victory over Cavalier, and his last.
Cavalier's recent successes had made him careless. Having so often
overcome the royal troops against great odds, he began to think
himself invincible, and to despise his enemy. His success at
Martinargues had the effect of greatly increasing his troops; and he
made a descent upon the low country in the spring of 1704, at the head
of about a thousand foot and two hundred horse.
Appearing before Bouciran, which he entered without resistance, he
demolished the fortifications, and proceeded southwards to St. Géniès,
which he attacked and took, carrying away horses, mules, and arms.
Next day he marched still southward to Caveirac, only about three
miles east of Nismes.
Montrevel designedly published his intention of taking leave of his
government on a certain day, and proceeding to Montpellier with only a
very slender force--pretending to send the remainder to Beaucaire, in
the opposite direction, for the purpose of escorting Villars, his
successor, into the city. His object in doing this was to deceive the
Camisard leader, and to draw him into a trap.
The intelligence became known to Cavalier, who now watched the
Montpellier road, for the purpose of inflicting a parting blow upon
his often-baffled enemy. Instead, however, of Montrevel setting out
for Montpellier with a small force, he mustered almost the entire
troops belonging to the garrison of Nismes--over six thousand horse
and foot--and determined to overwhelm Cavalier, who lay in his way.
Montrevel divided his force into several bodies, and so disposed them
as completely to surround the comparatively small Camisard force,
near Langlade. The first encounter was with the royalist regiment of
Firmarcon, which Cavalier completely routed; but while pursuing them
too keenly, the Camisards were assailed in flank by a strong body of
foot posted in vineyards along the road, and driven back upon the main
body. The Camisards now discovered that a still stronger battalion was
stationed in their rear; and, indeed, wherever they turned, they saw
the Royalists posted in force. There was no alternative but cutting
their way through the enemy; and Cavalier, putting himself at the head
of his men, led the way, sword in hand.
A terrible struggle ensued, and the Camisards at last reached the
bridge at Rosni; but there, too, the Royalists were found blocking the
road, and crowding the heights on either side. Cavalier, to avoid
recognition, threw off his uniform, and assumed the guise of a simple
Camisard. Again he sought to force his way through the masses of the
enemy. His advance was a series of hand-to-hand fights, extending over
some six miles, and the struggle lasted for nearly the entire day.
More than a thousand dead strewed the roads, of whom one half were
Camisards. The Royalists took five drums, sixty-two horses, and four
mules laden with provisions, but not one prisoner.
When Villars reached Nismes and heard of this battle, he went to see
the field, and expressed his admiration at the skill and valour of the
Camisard chief. "Here is a man," said he, "of no education, without
any experience in the art of war, who has conducted himself under the
most difficult and delicate circumstances as if he had been a great
general. Truly, to fight such a battle were worthy of Cæsar!"
Indeed, the conduct of Cavalier in this struggle so impressed Marshal
Villars, that he determined, if possible, to gain him over, together
with his brave followers, to the ranks of the royal army. Villars was
no bigot, but a humane and honourable man, and a thorough soldier. He
deplored the continuance of this atrocious war, and proceeded to take
immediate steps to bring it, if possible, to a satisfactory
conclusion.
In the meantime, however, the defeat of the Camisards had been
followed by other reverses. During the absence of Cavalier in the
South, the royalist general Lalande, at the head of five thousand
troops, fell upon the joint forces of Roland and Joany at Brenoux, and
completely defeated them. The same general lay in wait for the return
of Cavalier with his broken forces, to his retreat near Euzet; and on
his coming up, the Royalists, in overpowering numbers, fell upon the
dispirited Camisards, and inflicted upon them another heavy loss.
But a greater calamity, if possible, was the discovery and capture of
Cavalier's magazines in the caverns near Euzet. The royalist soldiers,
having observed an old woman frequently leaving the village for the
adjoining wood with a full basket and returning with an empty one,
suspected her of succouring the rebels, arrested her, and took her
before the general. When questioned at first she would confess
nothing; on which she was ordered forthwith to be hanged. When taken
to the gibbet in the market-place, however, the old woman's resolution
gave way, and she entreated to be taken back to the general, when she
would confess everything. She then acknowledged that she had the care
of an hospital in the adjoining wood, and that her daily errands had
been thither. She was promised pardon if she led the soldiers at once
to the place; and she did so, a battalion following at her heels.
Advancing into the wood, the old woman led the soldiers to the mouth
of a cavern, into which she pointed, and the men entered. The first
sight that met their eyes was a number of sick and wounded Camisards
lying upon couches along ledges cut in the rock. They were immediately
put to death. Entering further into the cavern, the soldiers were
surprised to find in an inner vault an immense magazine of grain,
flour, chestnuts, beans, barrels of wine and brandy; farther in,
stores of drugs, ointment, dressings, and hospital furnishings; and
finally, an arsenal containing a large store of sabres, muskets,
pistols, and gunpowder, together with the materials for making it; all
of which the Royalists seized and carried off.
Lalande, before leaving Euzet, inflicted upon it a terrible
punishment. He gave it up to pillage, then burnt it to the ground, and
put the inhabitants to the sword--all but the old woman, who was left
alone amidst the corpses and ashes of the ruined village. Lalande
returned in triumph to Alais, some of his soldiers displaying on the
points of their bayonets the ears of the slain Camisards.
Other reverses followed in quick succession. Salomon was attacked near
Pont-de-Montvert, the birthplace of the insurrection, and lost some
eight hundred of his men. His magazines at Magistavols were also
discovered and ransacked, containing, amongst other stores, twenty
oxen and a hundred sheep.
Thus, in four combats, the Camisards lost nearly half their forces,
together with a large part of their arms, ammunition, and provisions.
The country occupied by them had been ravaged and reduced to a state
of desert, and there seemed but little prospect of their again being
able to make head against their enemies.
The loss of life during the last year of the insurrection had been
frightful. Some twenty thousand men had perished--eight thousand
soldiers, four thousand of the Roman Catholic population, and from
seven to eight thousand Protestants.
Villars had no sooner entered upon the functions of his office than he
set himself to remedy this dreadful state of things. He was encouraged
in his wise intentions by the Baron D'Aigalliers, a Protestant
nobleman of high standing and great influence, who had emigrated into
England at the Revocation, but had since returned. This nobleman
entertained the ardent desire of reconciling the King with his
Protestant subjects; and he was encouraged by the French Court to
endeavour to bring the rebels of the Cevennes to terms.
One of the first things Villars did, was to proceed on a journey
through the devastated districts; and he could not fail to be
horrified at the sight of the villages in ruins, the wasted vineyards,
the untilled fields, and the deserted homesteads which met his eyes on
every side. Wherever he went, he gave it out that he was ready to
pardon all persons--rebels as well as their chiefs--who should lay
down their arms and submit to the royal clemency; but that, if they
continued obstinate and refused to submit, he would proceed against
them to the last extremity. He even offered to put arms in the hands
of such of the Protestant population as would co-operate with him in
suppressing the insurrection.
In the meantime, the defeated Camisards under Roland were reorganizing
their forces, and preparing again to take the field. They were
unwilling to submit themselves to the professed clemency of Villars,
without some sufficient guarantee that their religious rights--in
defence of which they had taken up arms--would be respected. Roland
was already establishing new magazines in place of those which had
been destroyed; he was again recruiting his brigades from the
Protestant communes, and many of those who had recovered from their
wounds again rallied under his standard.
At this juncture, D'Aigalliers suggested to Villars that a negotiation
should be opened directly with the Camisard chiefs to induce them to
lay down their arms. Roland refused to listen to any overtures; but
Cavalier was more accessible, and expressed himself willing to
negotiate for peace provided his religion was respected and
recognised.
And Cavalier was right. He saw clearly that longer resistance was
futile, that it could only end in increased devastation and
destruction; and he was wise in endeavouring to secure the best
possible terms under the circumstances for his suffering
co-religionists. Roland, who refused all such overtures, was the more
uncompromising and tenacious of purpose; but Cavalier, notwithstanding
his extreme youth, was by far the more practical and politic of the
two.
There is no doubt also that Cavalier had begun to weary of the
struggle. He became depressed and sad, and even after a victory he
would kneel down amidst the dead and wounded, and pray to God that He
would turn the heart of the King to mercy, and help to re-establish
the ancient temples throughout the land.
An interview with Cavalier was eventually arranged by Lalande. The
brigadier invited him to a conference, guaranteeing him safe conduct,
and intimating that if he refused the meeting, he would be regarded as
the enemy of peace, and held responsible before God and man for all
future bloodshed. Cavalier replied to Lalande's invitation, accepting
the interview, indicating the place and the time of meeting.
Catinat, the Camisard general of horse, was the bearer of Cavalier's
letter, and he rode on to Alais to deliver it, arrayed in magnificent
costume. Lalande was at table when Catinat was shown in to him.
Observing the strange uniform and fierce look of the intruder, the
brigadier asked who he was. "Catinat!" was the reply. "What," cried
Lalande, "are you the Catinat who killed so many people in Beaucaire?"
"Yes, it is I," said Catinat, "and I only endeavoured to do my duty."
"You are hardy, indeed, to dare to show yourself before me." "I have
come," said the Camisard, "in good faith, persuaded that you are an
honest man, and on the assurance of my brother Cavalier that you would
do me no harm. I come to deliver you his letter." And so saying, he
handed it to the brigadier. Hastily perusing the letter, Lalande said,
"Go back to Cavalier, and tell him that in two hours I shall be at the
Bridge of Avène with only ten officers and thirty dragoons."
The interview took place at the time appointed, on the bridge over the
Avène, a few miles south of Alais. Cavalier arrived, attended by three
hundred foot and sixty Camisard dragoons. When the two chiefs
recognised each other, they halted their escorts, dismounted, and,
followed by some officers, proceeded on foot to meet each other.
Lalande had brought with him Cavalier's younger brother, who had been
for some time a prisoner, and presented him, saying, "The King gives
him to you in token of his merciful intentions." The brothers, who
had not met since their mother's death, embraced and wept. Cavalier
thanked the general; and then, leaving their officers, the two went on
one side, and conferred together alone.
"The King," said Lalande, "wishes, in the exercise of his clemency, to
terminate this war amongst his subjects; what are your terms and your
demands?" "They consist of three things," replied Cavalier: "liberty
of worship; the deliverance of our brethren who are in prison and at
the galleys; and, if the first condition be refused, then free
permission to leave France." "How many persons would wish to leave the
kingdom?" asked Lalande. "Ten thousand of various ages and both
sexes." "Ten thousand! It is impossible! Leave might possibly be
granted for two, but certainly not for ten." "Then," said Cavalier,
"if the King will not allow us to leave the kingdom, he will at least
re-establish our ancient edicts and privileges?"
Lalande promised to report the result of the conference to the
marshal, though he expressed a doubt whether he could agree to the
terms proposed. The brigadier took leave of Cavalier by expressing the
desire to be of service to him at any time; but he made a gross and
indelicate mistake in offering his purse to the Camisard chief. "No,
no!" said Cavalier, rejecting it with a look of contempt, "I wish for
none of your gold, but only for religious liberty, or, if that be
refused, for a safe conduct out of the kingdom."
Lalande then asked to be taken up to the Camisard troop, who had been
watching the proceedings of their leader with great interest. Coming
up to them in the ranks, he said, "Here is a purse of a hundred louis
with which to drink the King's health." Their reply was like their
leader's, "We want no money, but liberty of conscience." "It is not
in my power to grant you that," said the general, "but you will do
well to submit to the King's will." "We are ready," said they, "to
obey his orders, provided he grants our just demands; but if not, we
are prepared to die arms in hand." And thus ended this memorable
interview, which lasted for about two hours; Lalande and his followers
returning to Alais, while Cavalier went with his troop in the
direction of Vezenobres.
Cavalier's enemies say that in the course of his interview with
Lalande he was offered honours, rewards, and promotion, if he would
enter the King's service; and it is added that Cavalier was tempted by
these offers, and thereby proved false to his cause and followers. But
it is more probable that Cavalier was sincere in his desire to come to
fair terms with the King, observing the impossibility, under the
circumstances, of prolonging the struggle against the royal armies
with any reasonable prospect of success. If Cavalier were really
bribed by any such promises of promotion, at all events such promises
were never fulfilled; nor did the French monarch reward him in any way
for his endeavours to bring the Camisard insurrection to an end.
It was characteristic of Roland to hold aloof from these negotiations,
and refuse to come to any terms whatever with "Baal." As if to
separate himself entirely from Cavalier, he withdrew into the Upper
Cevennes to resume the war. At the very time that Cavalier was holding
the conference with the royalist general at the Bridge of the Avène,
Roland and Joany, with a body of horse and foot, waylaid the Count de
Tournou at the plateau of Font-morte--the place where Seguier, the
first Camisard leader, had been defeated and captured--and suddenly
fell upon the Royalists, putting them to flight.
A rich booty fell into the hands of the Camisards, part of which
consisted of the quarter's rental of the confiscated estate of Salgas,
in the possession of the King's collector, Viala, whom the royalist
troops were escorting to St. Jean de Gard. The collector, who had made
himself notorious for his cruelty, was put to death after frightful
torment, and his son and nephew were also shot. So far, therefore, as
Roland and his associates were concerned, there appeared to be no
intention of surrender or compromise; and Villars was under the
necessity of prosecuting the war against them to the last extremity.
In the meantime, Cavalier was hailed throughout the low country as the
pacificator of Languedoc. The people on both sides had become heartily
sick of the war, and were glad to be rid of it on any terms that
promised peace and security for the future. At the invitation of
Marshal Villars, Cavalier proceeded towards Nismes, and his march from
town to town was one continuous ovation. He was eagerly welcomed by
the population; and his men were hospitably entertained by the
garrisons of the places through which they passed. Every liberty was
allowed him; and not a day passed without a religious meeting being
held, accompanied with public preaching, praying, and psalm-singing.
At length Cavalier and his little army approached the neighbourhood of
Nismes, where his arrival was anticipated with extraordinary interest.
The beautiful old city had witnessed many strange sights; but probably
the entry of the young Camisard chief was one of the most remarkable
of all. This herd-boy and baker's apprentice of the Cevennes, after
holding at bay the armies of France for nearly three years, had come
to negotiate a treaty of peace with its most famous general. Leaving
the greater part of his cavalry and the whole of his infantry at St.
Césaire, a few miles from Nismes, Cavalier rode towards the town
attended by eighteen horsemen commanded by Catinat. On approaching the
southern gate, he found an immense multitude waiting his arrival. "He
could not have been more royally welcomed," said the priest of St.
Germain, "had he been a king."
Cavalier rode at the head of his troop gaily attired; for fine dress
was one of the weaknesses of the Camisard chiefs. He wore a
tight-fitting doeskin coat ornamented with gold lace, scarlet
breeches, a muslin cravat, and a large beaver with a white plume; his
long fair hair hanging over his shoulders. Catinat rode by his side on
a high-mettled charger, attracting all eyes by his fine figure, his
martial air, and his magnificent costume. Cavalier's faithful friend,
Daniel Billard, rode on his left; and behind followed his little
brother in military uniform, between the Baron d'Aigalliers and
Lacombe, the agents for peace.
The cavalcade advanced through the dense crowd, which could with
difficulty be kept back, past the Roman Amphitheatre, and along the
Rue St. Antoine, to the Garden of the Récollets, a Franciscan convent,
nearly opposite the elegant Roman temple known as the Maison
Carrée.[45] Alighting from his horse at the gate, and stationing his
guard there under the charge of Catinat, Cavalier entered the garden,
and was conducted to Marshal Villars, with whom was Baville, intendant
of the province; Baron Sandricourt, governor of Nismes; General
Lalande, and other dignitaries. Cavalier looked such a mere boy, that
Villars at first could scarcely believe that it was the celebrated
Camisard chief who stood before him. The marshal, however, advanced
several steps, and addressed some complimentary words to Cavalier, to
which he respectfully replied.
[Footnote 45: The Nismes Theatre now occupies part of the
Jardin des Récollets.]
The conference then began and proceeded, though not without frequent
interruptions from Baville, who had so long regarded Cavalier as a
despicable rebel, that he could scarcely brook the idea of the King's
marshal treating with him on anything like equal terms. But the
marshal checked the intendant by reminding him that he had no
authority to interfere in a matter which the King had solely entrusted
to himself. Then turning to Cavalier, he asked him to state his
conditions for a treaty of peace.
Cavalier has set forth in his memoirs the details of the conditions
proposed by him, and which he alleges were afterwards duly agreed to
and signed by Villars and Baville, on the 17th of May, 1704, on the
part of the King. The first condition was liberty of conscience, with
the privilege of holding religious assemblies in country places. This
was agreed to, subject to the Protestant temples not being rebuilt.
The second--that all Protestants in prison or at the galleys should be
set at liberty within six weeks from the date of the treaty--was also
agreed to. The third--that all who had left the kingdom on account of
their religion should have liberty to return, and be restored to their
estates and privileges--was agreed to, subject to their taking the
oath of allegiance. The fourth--as to the re-establishment of the
parliament of Languedoc on its ancient footing--was promised
consideration. The fifth and sixth--that the province should be free
from capitation tax for ten years, and that the Protestants should
hold Montpellier, Cette, Perpignan, and Aiguesmortes, as cautionary
towns--were refused. The seventh--that those inhabitants of the
Cevennes whose houses had been burnt during the civil war should pay
no imposts for seven years--was granted. And the eighth--that Cavalier
should raise a regiment of dragoons to serve the King in Portugal--was
also granted.
These conditions are said to have been agreed to on the distinct
understanding that the insurrection should forthwith cease, and that
all persons in arms against the King should lay them down and submit
themselves to his majesty's clemency.
The terms having been generally agreed to, Cavalier respectfully took
his leave of the marshal, and returned to his comrades at the gate.
But Catinat and the Camisard guard had disappeared. The conference had
lasted two hours, during which Cavalier's general of horse had become
tired of waiting, and gone with his companions to refresh himself at
the sign of the Golden Cup. On his way thither, he witched the world
of Nismes with his noble horsemanship, making his charger bound and
prance and curvet, greatly to the delight of the immense crowd that
followed him.
On the return of the Camisard guard to the Récollets, Cavalier mounted
his horse, and, escorted by them, proceeded to the Hôtel de la Poste,
where he rested. In the evening, he came out on the Esplanade, and
walked freely amidst the crowd, amongst whom were many ladies, eager
to see the Camisard hero, and happy if they could but hear him speak,
or touch his dress. He then went to visit the mother of Daniel, his
favourite prophet, a native of Nismes, whose father and brother were
both prisoners because of their religion. Returning to the hotel,
Cavalier mustered his guard, and set out for Calvisson, followed by
hundreds of people, singing together as they passed through the town
gate the 133rd Psalm--"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity!"
Cavalier remained with his companions at Calvisson for eight days,
during which he enjoyed the most perfect freedom of action. He held
public religious services daily, at first amidst the ruins of the
demolished Protestant temple, and afterwards, when the space was
insufficient, in the open plain outside the town walls. People came
from all quarters to attend them--from the Vaunage, from Sommières,
from Lunel, from Nismes, and even from Montpellier. As many as forty
thousand persons are said to have resorted to the services during
Cavalier's sojourn at Calvisson. The plains resounded with preaching
and psalmody from morning until evening, sometimes until late at
night, by torchlight.
These meetings were a great cause of offence to the more bigoted of
the Roman Catholics, who saw in them the triumph of their enemies.
They muttered audibly against the policy of Villars, who was
tolerating if not encouraging heretics--worthy, in their estimation,
only of perdition. Fléchier, Bishop of Nismes, was full of
lamentations on the subject, and did not scruple to proclaim that war,
with all its horrors, was even more tolerable than such a peace as
this.
Unhappily, the peace proved only of short duration, and Cavalier's
anticipations of unity and brotherly love were not destined to be
fulfilled. Whether Roland was jealous of the popularity achieved by
Cavalier, or suspected treachery on the part of the Royalists, or
whether he still believed in the ability of his followers to conquer
religious liberty and compel the re-establishment of the ancient
edicts by the sword, does not clearly appear. At all events, he
refused to be committed in any way by what Cavalier had done; and when
the treaty entered into with Villars was submitted to Roland for
approval, he refused to sign it. A quarrel had almost occurred between
the chiefs, and hot words passed between them. But Cavalier controlled
himself, and still hoped to persuade Roland to adopt a practicable
course, and bring the unhappy war to a conclusion.
It was at length agreed between them that a further effort should be
made to induce Villars to grant more liberal terms, particularly with
respect to the rebuilding of the Protestant temples; and Cavalier
consented that Salomon should accompany him to an interview with the
marshal, and endeavour to obtain such a modification of the treaty as
should meet Roland's views. Accordingly, another meeting shortly after
took place in the Garden of the Récollets at Nismes, Cavalier leaving
it to Salomon to be the spokesman on the occasion.
But Salomon proved as uncompromising as his chief. He stated his
_ultimatum_ bluntly and firmly--re-establishment of the Edict of
Nantes, and complete liberty of conscience. On no other terms, he
said, would the Camisards lay down their arms. Villars was courtly and
polite as usual, but he was as firm as Salomon. He would adhere to the
terms that had been agreed to, but could not comply with the
conditions proposed. The discussion lasted for two hours, and at
length became stormy and threatening on the part of Salomon, on which
the marshal turned on his heel and left the apartment.
Cavalier's followers had not yet been informed of the conditions of
the treaty into which he had entered with Villars, but they had been
led to believe that the Edict was to be re-established and liberty of
worship restored. Their suspicions had already been roused by the
hints thrown out by Ravanel, who was as obdurate as Roland in his
refusal to lay down his arms until the Edict had been re-established.
While Cavalier was still at Nismes, on his second mission to Villars,
accompanied by Salomon, Ravanel, who had been left in charge of the
troop at Calvisson, assembled the men, and told them he feared they
were being betrayed--that they were to be refused this free exercise
of their religion in temples of their own, but were to be required to
embark as King's soldiers on shipboard, perhaps to perish at sea.
"Brethren," said he, "let us cling by our own native land, and live
and die for the Eternal." The men enthusiastically applauded the stern
resolve of Ravanel, and awaited with increasing impatience the return
of the negotiating chief.
On Cavalier's return to his men, he found, to his dismay, that instead
of being welcomed back with the usual cordiality, they were drawn up
in arms under Ravanel, and received him in silence, with angry and
scowling looks. He upbraided Ravanel for such a reception, on which
the storm immediately burst. "What is the treaty, then," cried
Ravanel, "that thou hast made with this marshal?"
Cavalier, embarrassed, evaded the inquiry; but Ravanel, encouraged by
his men, proceeded to press for the information. "Well," said
Cavalier, "it is arranged that we shall go to serve in Portugal."
There was at once a violent outburst from the ranks. "Traitor! coward!
then thou hast sold us! But we shall have no peace--no peace without
our temples."
At sound of the loud commotion and shouting, Vincel, the King's
commissioner, who remained at Calvisson pending the negotiations, came
running up, and the men in their rage would have torn him to pieces,
but Cavalier threw himself in their way, exclaiming, "Back, men! Do
him no harm, kill me instead." His voice, his gesture, arrested the
Camisards, and Vincel turned and fled for his life.
Ravanel then ordered the _générale_ to be beaten. The men drew up in
their ranks, and putting himself at their head, Ravanel marched them
out of Calvisson by the northern gate. Cavalier, humiliated and
downcast, followed the troop--their leader no more. He could not part
with them thus--the men he had so often led to victory, and who had
followed him so devotedly--but hung upon their rear, hoping they would
yet relent and return to him as their chief.
Catinat, his general of horse, observing Cavalier following the men,
turned upon him. "Whither wouldst thou go, traitor?" cried Catinat.
What! Catinat, of all others, to prove unfaithful? Yet it was so!
Catinat even, presented his pistol at his former chief, but he did not
fire.
Cavalier would not yet turn back. He hung upon the skirts of the
column, entreating, supplicating, adjuring the men, by all their
former love for him, to turn, and follow him. But they sternly marched
on, scarcely even deigning to answer him. Ravanel endeavoured to drive
him back by reproaches, which at length so irritated Cavalier, that he
drew his sword, and they were about to rush at each other, when one
of the prophets ran between them and prevented bloodshed.
Cavalier did not desist from following them for several miles, until
at length, on reaching St. Estève, the men were appealed to as to whom
they would follow, and they declared themselves for Ravanel. Cavalier
made a last appeal to their allegiance, and called out, "Let those who
love me, follow me!" About forty of his old adherents detached
themselves from the ranks, and followed Cavalier in the direction of
Nismes. But the principal body remained with Ravanel, who, waving his
sabre in the air, and shouting, "Vive l'Épée de l'Éternel!" turned his
men's faces northward and marched on to rejoin Roland in the Upper
Cevennes.
Cavalier was completely prostrated by the desertion of his followers.
He did not know where next to turn. He could not rejoin the Camisard
camp nor enter the villages of the Cevennes, and he was ashamed to
approach Villars, lest he should be charged with deceiving him. But he
sent a letter to the marshal, informing him of the failure of his
negotiations, the continued revolt of the Camisards, and their
rejection of him as their chief. Villars, however, was gentle and
generous; he was persuaded that Cavalier had acted loyally and in good
faith throughout, and he sent a message by the Baron d'Aigalliers,
urgently inviting him to return to Nismes and arrange as to the
future. Cavalier accordingly set out forthwith, accompanied by his
brother and the prophet Daniel, and escorted by the ten horsemen and
thirty foot who still remained faithful to his person.
It is not necessary further to pursue the history of Cavalier.
Suffice it to say that, at the request of Marshal Villars, he
proceeded to Paris, where he had an unsatisfactory interview with
Louis XIV.; that fearing an intention on the part of the Roman
Catholic party to make him a prisoner, he fled across the frontier
into Switzerland; that he eventually reached England, and entered the
English army, with the rank of Colonel; that he raised a regiment of
refugee Frenchmen, consisting principally of his Camisard followers,
at the head of whom he fought most valiantly at the battle of Almanza;
that he was afterwards appointed governor of Jersey, and died a
major-general in the British service in the year 1740, greatly
respected by all who knew him.
* * * * *
Although Cavalier failed in carrying the treaty into effect, so far as
he was concerned, his secession at this juncture proved a deathblow to
the insurrection. The remaining Camisard leaders endeavoured in vain
to incite that enthusiasm amongst their followers which had so often
before led them to victory. The men felt that they were fighting
without hope, and as it were with halters round their necks. Many of
them began to think that Cavalier had been justified in seeking to
secure the best terms practicable; and they dropped off, by tens and
fifties, to join their former leader, whose head-quarters for some
time continued to be at Vallabergue, an island in the Rhône a little
above Beaucaire.
The insurgents were also in a great measure disarmed by Marshal
Villars, who continued to pursue a policy of clemency, and at the same
time of severity. He offered a free pardon to all who surrendered
themselves, but threatened death to all who continued to resist the
royal troops. In sign of his clemency, he ordered the gibbets which
had for some years stood _en permanence_ in all the villages of the
Cevennes, to be removed; and he went from town to town, urging all
well-disposed people, of both religions, to co-operate with him in
putting an end to the dreadful civil war that had so long desolated
the province.
Moved by the marshal's eloquent appeals, the principal towns along the
Gardon and the Vidourle appointed deputies to proceed in a body to the
camp of Roland, and induce him if possible to accept the proffered
amnesty. They waited upon him accordingly at his camp of St. Felix and
told him their errand. But his answer was to order them at once to
leave the place on pain of death.
Villars himself sent messengers to Roland--amongst others the Baron
d'Aigalliers--offering to guarantee that no one should be molested on
account of his religion, provided he and his men would lay down their
arms; but Roland remained inflexible--nothing short of complete
religious liberty would induce him to surrender.
Roland and Joany were still at the head of about a thousand men in the
Upper Cevennes. Pont-de-Montvert was at the time occupied by a body of
Miguelets, whom they determined if possible to destroy. Dividing their
army into three bodies, they proceeded to assail simultaneously the
three quarters of which the village is composed. But the commander of
the Miguelets, informed of Roland's intention, was prepared to receive
him. One of the Camisard wings was attacked at the same time in front
and rear, thrown into confusion and defeated; and the other wings were
driven back with heavy loss.
This was Roland's last battle. About a month later--in August,
1704--while a body of Camisards occupied the Château of Castelnau, not
far from Ners, the place was suddenly surrounded at night by a body of
royalist dragoons. The alarm was raised, and Roland, half-dressed,
threw himself on horseback and fled. He was pursued, overtaken, and
brought to a stand in a wood, where, setting his back to a tree he
defended himself bravely for a time against overpowering numbers, but
was at last shot through the heart by a dragoon, and the Camisard
chief lay dead upon the ground.
The insurrection did not long survive the death of Roland. The other
chiefs wandered about from place to place with their followers, but
they had lost heart and hope, and avoided further encounters with the
royal forces. One after another of them surrendered. Castanet and
Catinat both laid down their arms, and were allowed to leave France
for Switzerland, accompanied by twenty-two of their men. Joany also
surrendered with forty-six of his followers.
One by one the other chiefs laid down their arms--all excepting
Abraham and Ravanel, who preferred liberty and misery at home to peace
and exile abroad. They continued for some time to wander about in the
Upper Cevennes, hiding in the woods by day and sleeping in caves by
night--hunted, deserted, and miserable. And thus at last was Languedoc
pacified; and at the beginning of January, 1705, Marshal Villars
returned to Versailles to receive the congratulations and honours of
the King.
Several futile attempts were afterwards made by the banished leaders
to rekindle the insurrection from its embers, Catinat and Castanet,
wearied of their inaction at Geneva, stole back across the frontier
and rejoined Ravanel in the Cevennes; but their rashness cost them
their lives. They were all captured and condemned to death. Castanet
and Salomon were broken alive on the wheel on the Peyrou at
Montpellier, and Catinat, Ravanel, with several others, were burnt
alive on the Place de la Beaucaire at Nismes.
The last to perish were Abraham and Joany. The one was shot while
holding the royal troops at bay, firing upon them from the roof of a
cottage at Mas-de-Couteau; the other was captured in the mountains
near the source of the Tarn. He was on his way to prison, tied behind
a trooper, like Rob Roy in Scott's novel, when, suddenly freeing
himself from his bonds while crossing the bridge of Pont-de-Montvert,
he slid from the horse, and leapt over the parapet into the Tarn. The
soldiers at once opened fire upon the fugitive, and he fell, pierced
with many balls, and was carried away in the torrent. And thus
Pont-de-Montvert, which had seen the beginning, also saw the end of
the insurrection.
CHAPTER IX.
GALLEY-SLAVES FOR THE FAITH.
After the death of the last of the Camisard leaders, there was no
further effort at revolt. The Huguenots seemed to be entirely put
down, and Protestantism completely destroyed. There was no longer any
resistance nor protest. If there were any Huguenots who had not become
Catholics, they remained mute. Force had at last succeeded in stifling
them.
A profound quiet reigned for a time throughout France. The country had
become a circle, closely watched by armed men--by dragoons, infantry,
archers, and coastguards--beyond which the Huguenots could not escape
without running the risk of the prison, the galley, or the gibbet.
The intendants throughout the kingdom flattered Louis XIV., and Louis
XIV. flattered himself, that the Huguenots had either been converted,
extirpated, or expelled the kingdom. The King had medals struck,
announcing the "_extinction of heresy_." A proclamation to this effect
was also published by the King, dated the 8th of March, 1715,
declaring the entire conversion of the French Huguenots, and
sentencing those who, after that date, relapsed from Catholicism to
Protestantism, to all the penalties of heresy.
What, then, had become of the Huguenots? They were for the moment
prostrate, but their life had not gone out of them. Many were no doubt
"converted." They had not strength to resist the pains and penalties
threatened by the State if they refused. They accordingly attended
Mass, and assisted in ceremonies which at heart they detested. Though
they blushed at their apostasy, they were too much broken down and
weary of oppression and suffering to attempt to be free.
But though many Huguenots pretended to be "converted," the greater
number silently refrained. They held their peace and bided their time.
Meanwhile, however, they were subject to all the annoyances of
persecution. Persecution had seized them from the day of their birth,
and never relaxed its hold until the day of their death. Every
new-born child must be taken to the priest to be baptized. When the
children had grown into boys and girls, they must go to school and be
educated, also by the priest. If their parents refused to send them,
the children were forcibly seized, taken away, and brought up in the
Jesuit schools and nunneries. And lastly, when grown up into young men
and women, they must be married by the priest, or their offspring be
declared illegitimate.
The Huguenots refused to conform to all this. Nevertheless, it was by
no means easy to continue to refuse obeying the priest. The priest was
well served with spies, though the principal spy in every parish was
himself. There were also numerous other professional spies--besides
idlers, mischief-makers, and "good-natured friends." In time of peace,
also, soldiers were usually employed in performing the disgraceful
duty of acting as spies upon the Huguenots.
The Huguenot was ordered to attend Mass under the penalty of fine and
imprisonment. Supposing he refused, because he did not believe that
the priest had the miraculous power of converting bread and wine into
something the very opposite. The priest insisted that he did possess
this power, and that he was supported by the State in demanding that
the Huguenot _must_ come and worship his transubstantiation of bread
into flesh and wine into blood. "I do not believe it," said the
Huguenot. "But I _order_ you to come, for Louis XIV. has proclaimed
you to be a converted Catholic, and if you refuse you will be at once
subject to all the penalties of heresy." It was certainly very
difficult to argue with a priest who had the hangman at his back, or
with the King who had his hundred thousand dragoons. And so, perhaps,
the threatened Huguenot went to Mass, and pretended to believe all
that the priest had said about his miraculous powers.
But many resolutely continued to refuse, willing to incur the last and
heaviest penalties. Then it came to be seen that Protestantism,
although, declared defunct by the King's edict, had not in fact expired,
but was merely reposing for a time in order to make a fresh start
forward. The Huguenots who still remained in France, whether as "new
converts" or as "obstinate heretics," at length began to emerge from
their obscurity. They met together in caves and solitary places--in deep
and rocky gorges--in valleys among the mountains--where they prayed
together, sang together their songs of David, and took counsel one with
another.
At length, from private meetings for prayer, religious assemblies
began to be held in the Desert, and preachers made their appearance.
The spies spread about the country informed the intendants. The
meetings were often surprised by the military. Sometimes the soldiers
would come upon them suddenly, and fire into the crowd of men, women,
and children. On some occasions a hundred persons or more would be
killed upon the spot. Of those taken prisoners, the preachers were
hanged or broken on the wheel, the women were sent to prison, and the
children, to nunneries, while the men were sent to be galley-slaves
for life.[46]
[Footnote 46: In the Viverais and elsewhere they sang the
song of the persecuted Church:--
"Nos filles dans les monastères,
Nos prisonniers dans les cachots.
Nos martyrs dont le sang se répand à grands flots,
Nos confesseurs sur les galères,
Nos malades persécutés,
Nos mourants exposés à plus d'une furie,
Nos morts traînés à la voierie,
Te disent (ô Dieu!) nos calamités."]
The persecutions to which Huguenot women and children were exposed
caused a sudden enlargement of all the prisons and nunneries in
France. Many of the old castles were fitted up as gaols, and even
their dungeons were used for the incorrigible heretics. One of the
worst of these was the Tour de Constance in the town of Aiguesmortes,
which is to this day remembered with horror as the principal dungeon
of the Huguenot women.
The town of Aiguesmortes is situated in the department of Gard, close
to the Mediterranean, whose waters wash into the salt marshes and
lagunes by which it is surrounded. It was erected in the thirteenth
century for Philip the Bold, and is still interesting as an example of
the ancient feudal fortress. The fosse has since been filled up, on
account of the malaria produced by the stagnant water which it
contained.
The place is approached by a long causeway raised above the marsh, and
the entrance to the tower is spanned by an ancient gatehouse. In
advance of the tower, to the north, in an angle of the wall, is a
single, large round tower, which served as a citadel. It is sixty-six
feet in diameter and ninety feet high, surmounted by a lighthouse
turret of thirty-four feet. It consists of two large vaulted
apartments, the staircase from the one to the other being built within
the wall itself, which is about eighteen feet thick. The upper chamber
is dimly lighted by narrow chinks through the walls. The lowest of the
apartments is the dungeon, which is almost without light and air. In
the centre of the floor is a hole connected with a reservoir of water
below.
This Tour de Constance continued to be the principal prison for
Huguenot women in France for a period of about a hundred years. It was
always horribly unhealthy; and to be condemned to this dungeon was
considered almost as certain though a slower death than to be
condemned to the gallows. Sixteen Huguenot women confined there in
1686 died within five months. Most of them were the wives of merchants
of Nismes, or of men of property in the district. When the prisoners
died off, the dungeon was at once filled up again with more victims,
and it was rarely, if ever, empty, down to a period within only a few
years before the outbreak of the French Revolution.
The punishment of the men found attending religious meetings, and
taken prisoners by the soldiers, was to be sentenced to the galleys,
mostly for life. They were usually collected in large numbers, and
sent to the seaports attached together by chains. They were sent
openly, sometimes through the entire length of the kingdom, by way of
a show. The object was to teach the horrible delinquency of professing
Protestantism; for it could not be to show the greater beautifulness
and mercifulness of Catholicism.
The punishment of the Chain varied in degree. Sometimes it was more
cruel than at other times. This depended upon the drivers of the
prisoners. Marteilhe describes the punishment during his conveyance
from Havre to Marseilles in the winter of 1712.[47] The Chain to which
he belonged did not reach Marseilles until the 17th January, 1713. The
season was bitterly cold; but that made no difference in the treatment
of Huguenot prisoners.
[Footnote 47: "Autobiography of a French Protestant condemned
to the Galleys because of his Religion." Rotterdam, 1757.
(Since reprinted by the Religious Tract Society.)]
The Chain consisted of a file of prisoners, chained one to another in
various ways. On this occasion, each pair was fastened by the neck
with a thick chain three feet long, in the middle of which was a round
ring. After being thus chained, the pairs were placed in file, couple
behind couple, when another long thick chain was passed through the
rings, thus running along the centre of the gang, and the whole were
thus doubly-chained together. There were no less than four hundred
prisoners in the chain described by Marteilhe. The number had,
however, greatly fallen off through deaths by barbarous treatment
before it reached Marseilles.
It must, however, be added, that the whole gang did not consist of
Huguenots, but only a part of it--the Huguenots being distinguished by
their red jackets. The rest consisted of murderers, thieves,
deserters, and criminals of various sorts.
The difficulty which the prisoners had in marching along the roads was
very great; the weight of chain which each member had to carry being
no less than one hundred and fifty pounds. The lodging they had at
night was of the worst description. While at Paris, the galley-slaves
were quartered in the Château de la Tournelle, which was under the
spiritual direction of the Jesuits. The gaol consisted of a large
cellar or dungeon, fitted with huge beams of oak fixed close to the
floor. Thick iron collars were attached by iron chains to the beams.
The collar being placed round the prisoner's neck, it was closed and
riveted upon an anvil with heavy blows of a hammer.
Twenty men in pairs were thus chained to each beam. The dungeon was so
large that five hundred men could thus be fastened up. They could not
sleep lying at full length, nor could they sleep sitting or standing
up straight; the beam to which they were chained being too high in the
one case and too low in the other. The torture which they endured,
therefore, is scarcely to be described. The prisoners were kept there
until a sufficient number could be collected to set out in a great
chain for Marseilles.
When they arrived at the first stage out of Paris, at Charenton, after
a heavy day's fatigue, their lodging was no better than before. A
stable was found in which they were chained up in such a way that they
could with difficulty sit down, and then only on a dung-heap. After
they had lain there for a few hours, the prisoners' chains were taken
off, and they were turned out into the spacious courtyard of the inn,
where they were ordered to strip off their clothes, put them down at
their feet, and march over to the other side of the courtyard.
The object of this proceeding was to search the pockets of the
prisoners, examine their clothes, and find whether they contained any
knives, files, or other tools which might be used for cutting the
chains. All money and other valuables or necessaries that the clothes
contained were at the same time taken away.
The night was cold and frosty, with a keen north wind blowing; and
after the prisoners had been exposed to it for about half an hour,
their bodies became so benumbed that they could scarcely move across
the yard to where their clothes were lying. Next morning it was found
that eighteen of the unfortunates were happily released by death.
It is not necessary to describe the tortures endured by the
galley-slaves to the end of their journey. One little circumstance
may, however, be mentioned. While marching towards the coast, the
exhausted Huguenots, weary and worn out by the heaviness of their
chains, were accustomed to stretch out their little wooden cups for a
drop of water to the inhabitants of the villages through which they
passed. The women, whom they mostly addressed, answered their
entreaties with the bitterest spite. "Away, away!" they cried; "you
are going where you will have _water enough_!"
When the gang or chain reached the port at which the prisoners were to
be confined, they were drafted on board the different galleys. These
were for the most part stationed at Toulon, but there were also other
galleys in which Huguenots were imprisoned--at Marseilles, Dunkirk,
Brest, St. Malo, and Bordeaux. Let us briefly describe the galley of
those days.
The royal galley was about a hundred and fifty feet long and forty feet
broad, and was capable of containing about five hundred men. It had
fifty benches for rowers, twenty-five on each side. Between these two
rows of benches was the raised middle gallery, commonly called the waist
of the ship, four feet high and about three or four feet broad. The oars
were fifty feet long, of which thirty-seven feet were outside the ship
and thirteen within. Six men worked at each oar, all chained to the same
bench. They had to row in unison, otherwise they would be heavily struck
by the return rowers both before and behind them. They were under the
constant command of the _comite_ or galley-slave-driver, who struck all
about him with his long whip in urging them to work. To enable his
strokes to _tell_, the men sat naked while they rowed.[48] Their dress
was always insufficient, summer and winter--the lower part of their
bodies being covered with a short red jacket and a sort of apron, for
their manacles prevented them wearing any other dress.
[Footnote 48: Le comite ou chef de chiourme, aidé de deux
_sous-comites_, allait et venait sans cesse sur le coursier,
frappant les forçats à coup de nerfs de boeuf, comme un
cocher ses chevaux. Pour rendre les coups plus sensible et
pour économiser les vêtements, _les galériens étaient nus_
quand ils ramaient.--ATHANASE COQUEREL FILS. _Les Forçats
pour la Foi_, 64.]
The chain which bound each rower to his bench was fastened to his leg,
and was of such a length as to enable his feet to come and go whilst
rowing. At night, the galley-slave slept where he sat--on the bench on
which he had been rowing all day. There was no room for him to lie
down. He never quitted his bench except for the hospital or the grave;
yet some of the Huguenot rowers contrived to live upon their benches
for thirty or forty years!
During all these years they toiled in their chains in a hell of foul
and disgusting utterance, for they were mixed up with thieves and the
worst of criminals. They ate the bread and drank the waters of
bitterness. They seemed to be forsaken by the world. They had no one
to love them, for most had left their families behind them at home, or
perhaps in convents or prisons. They lived under the constant threats
of their keepers, who lashed them to make them row harder, who lashed
them to make them sit up, or lashed them to make them lie down. The
Chevalier Langeron, captain of _La Palme_, of which Marteilhe was at
first a rower, used to call the _comite_ to him and say, "Go and
refresh the backs of these Huguenots with a salad of strokes of the
whip." For the captain, it seems, "held the most Jesuitical
sentiments," and hated his Huguenot prisoners far worse than his
thieves or his murderers.[49]
[Footnote 49: "The Autobiography of a French Protestant,"
68.]
And yet, at any moment, a word spoken would have made these Huguenots
free. The Catholic priests frequently visited the galleys and
entreated them to become converted. If "converted," and the Huguenots
would only declare that they believed in the miraculous powers of the
clergy, their chains would fall away from their limbs at once; and
they would have been restored to the world, to their families, and to
liberty! And who would not have declared themselves "converted,"
rather than endure these horrible punishments? Yet by far the greater
number of the Huguenots did not. They could not be hypocrites. They
would not lie to God. Rather than do this, they had the heroism--some
will call it the obstinacy--to remain galley-slaves for life!
Many of the galley-slaves did not survive their torture long. Men of
all ages and conditions, accustomed to indoor life, could not bear the
exposure to the sun, rain, and snow, which the punishment of the
galley-slave involved. The old men and the young soon succumbed and
died. Middle-aged men survived the longest. But there was always a
change going on. When the numbers of a galley became thinned by death,
there were other Huguenots ready to be sent on board--perhaps waiting
in some inland prison until another "Great Chain" could be made up for
the seaports, to go on board the galley-ships, to be manacled,
tortured, and killed off as before.
Such was the treatment of the galley-slaves in time of peace. But the
galleys were also war-ships. They carried large numbers of armed men
on board. Sometimes they scoured the Mediterranean, and protected
French merchant-ships against the Sallee rovers. At other times they
were engaged in the English channel, attacking Dutch and English
ships, sometimes picking up a prize, at other times in actual
sea-fight.
When the service required, they were compelled to row incessantly
night and day, without rest, save in the last extremity; and they were
treated as if, on the first opportunity, in sight of the enemy, they
would revolt and betray the ship; hence they were constantly watched
by the soldiers on board, and if any commotion appeared amongst them,
they were shot down without ceremony, and their bodies thrown into the
sea. Loaded cannons were also placed at the end of the benches of
rowers, so as to shoot them down in case of necessity.
Whenever an enemy's ship came up, the galley-slaves were covered over
with a linen screen, so as to prevent them giving signals to the
enemy. When an action occurred, they were particularly exposed to
danger, for the rowers and their oars were the first to be shot
at--just as the boiler or screw of a war-steamer would be shot at
now--in order to disable the ship. The galley-slaves thus suffered
much more from the enemy's shot than the other armed men of the ship.
The rowers benches were often filled with dead, before the soldiers
and mariners on board had been touched.
Marteilhe, while a galley-slave on board _La Palme_, was engaged in an
adventure which had nearly cost him his life. Four French galleys,
after cruising along the English coast from Dover to the Downs, got
sight of a fleet of thirty-five merchant vessels on their way from the
Texel to the Thames, under the protection of one small English
frigate. The commanders of the galleys, taking counsel together,
determined to attack the frigate (which they thought themselves easily
able to master), and so capture the entire English fleet.
The captain of the frigate, when he saw the galleys approach him,
ordered the merchantmen to crowd sail and make for the Thames, the
mouth of which they had nearly reached. He then sailed down upon the
galleys, determined to sacrifice his ship if necessary for the safety
of his charge. The galleys fired into him, but he returned never a
shot. The captain of the galley in which Marteilhe was, said, "Oh, he
is coming to surrender!" The frigate was so near that the French
musqueteers were already firing full upon her. All of a sudden the
frigate tacked and veered round as if about to fly from the galleys.
The Frenchmen called out that the English were cowards in thus trying
to avoid the battle. If they did not surrender at once, they would
sink the frigate!
The English captain took no notice. The frigate then turned her stern
towards the galley, as if to give the Frenchmen an opportunity of
boarding her. The French commander ordered the galley at once to run
at the enemy's stern, and the crew to board the frigate. The rush was
made; the galley-slaves, urged by blows of the whip, rowing with great
force. The galley was suddenly nearing the stern of the frigate, when
by a clever stroke of the helm the ship moved to one side, and the
galley, missing it, rushed past. All the oars on that side were
suddenly broken off, and the galley was placed immediately under the
broadside of the enemy.
Then began the English part of the game. The French galley was seized
with grappling irons and hooked on to the English broadside. The men
on board the galley were as exposed as if they had been upon a raft or
a bridge. The frigate's guns, which were charged with grapeshot, were
discharged full upon them, and a frightful carnage ensued. The English
also threw hand grenades, which went down amongst the rowers and
killed many. They next boarded the galley, and cut to pieces all the
armed men they could lay hold of, only sparing the convicts, who could
make no attempt at defence.
The English captain then threw off the galley, which he had broadsided
and disarmed, in order to look after the merchantmen, which some of
the other galleys had gone to intercept on their way to the mouth of
the Thames. Some of the ships had already been captured; but the
commanders of the galleys, seeing their fellow-commodores flying
signals of distress, let go their prey, and concentrated their attack
upon the frigate. This they surrounded, and after a very hard struggle
the frigate was captured, but not until the English captain had
ascertained that all the fleet of which he had been in charge had
entered the Thames and were safe.
In the above encounter with the English frigate Marteilhe had nearly
lost his life. The bench on which he was seated, with five other
slaves, was opposite one of the loaded guns of the frigate. He saw
that it must be discharged directly upon them. His fellows tried to
lie down flat, while Marteilhe himself stood up. He saw the gunner
with his lighted match approach the touchhole; then he lifted up his
heart to God; the next moment he was lying stunned and prostrate in
the centre of the galley, as far as the chain would allow him to
reach. He was lying across the body of the lieutenant, who was killed.
A long time passed, during which the fight was still going on, and
then Marteilhe came to himself, towards dark. Most of his
fellow-slaves were killed. He himself was bleeding from a large open
wound on his shoulder, another on his knee, and a third in his
stomach. Of the eighteen men around him he was the only one that
escaped, with his three wounds.
The dead were all thrown into the sea. The men were about to throw
Marteilhe after them, but while attempting to release him from his
chain, they touched the wound upon his knee, and he groaned heavily.
They let him remain where he lay. Shortly after, he was taken down to
the bottom of the hold with the other men, where he long lay amongst
the wounded and dying. At length he recovered from his wounds, and was
again returned to his bench, to re-enter the horrible life of a
galley-slave.
There was another mean and unmanly cruelty, connected with this
galley-slave service, which was practised only upon the Huguenots. If
an assassin or other criminal received a wound in the service of the
state while engaged in battle, he was at once restored to his
liberty; but if a Huguenot was wounded, he was never released. He was
returned to his bench and chained as before; the wounds he had
received being only so many additional tortures to be borne by him in
the course of his punishment.
Marteilhe, as we have already stated, was disembarked when he had
sufficiently recovered, and marched through the entire length of
France, enchained with other malefactors. On his arrival at
Marseilles, he was placed on board the galley _Grand Réale_, where he
remained until peace was declared between England and France by the
Treaty of Utrecht.[50]
[Footnote 50: "Autobiography of a French Protestant,"
112-21.]
Queen Anne of England, at the instigation of the Marquis de Rochegade,
then made an effort to obtain the liberation of Protestants serving at
the galleys; and at length, out of seven hundred and forty-two
Huguenots who were then enslaved, a hundred and thirty-six were
liberated, of whom Marteilhe was one. He was thus enabled to get rid
of his inhuman countrymen, and to spend the remainder of his life in
Holland and England, where Protestants were free.
CHAPTER X.
ANTOINE COURT
Almost at the very time that Louis XIV. was lying on his death-bed at
Versailles, a young man conceived the idea of re-establishing
Protestantism in France! Louis XIV. had tried to enter heaven by
superstition and cruelty. On his death-bed he began to doubt whether
he "had not carried his authority too far."[51] But the Jesuits tried
to make death easy for him, covering his body with relics of the true
cross.
[Footnote 51: Saint-Simon and Dangeau.]
Very different was the position of the young man who tried to undo all
that Louis XIV., under the influence of his mistress De Maintenon, and
his Jesuit confessor, Père la Chase,[52] had been trying all his life
to accomplish. He was an intelligent youth, the son of Huguenot
parents in Viverais, of comparatively poor and humble condition. He
was, however, full of energy, activity, and a zealous disposition for
work. Observing the tendency which Protestantism had, while bereft of
its pastors, to run into gloomy forms of fanaticism, Antoine Court
conceived the idea of reviving the pastorate, and restoring the
proscribed Protestant Church of France. It was a bold idea, but the
result proved that Antoine Court was justified in entertaining it.
[Footnote 52: Amongst the many satires and epigrams with
which Louis XIV. was pursued to the grave, the following
epitaph may be given:--
"Ci gist le mari de Thérèse
De la Montespan le Mignon,
L'esclave de la Maintenon,
Le valet du père La Chaise."
At the death of Louis XIV., Voltaire, an _élève_ of the
Jesuits, was appropriately coming into notice. At the age of
about twenty he was thrown into the Bastille; for having
written a satire on Louis XIV., of which the following is an
extract:--
"J'ai vu sous l'habit d'une femme
Un démon nous donner la loi;
Elle sacrifia son Dieu, sa foi, son âme,
Pour séduire l'esprit d'un trop crédule roi.
* * * * *
J'ai vu l'hypocrite honoré:
J'ai vu, c'est dire tout, le jésuite adoré:
J'ai vu ces maux sous le règne funeste
D'un prince que jadis la colère céleste
Accorda, par vengeance, à nos désirs ardens:
J'ai vu ces maux, et je n'ai pas vingt ans."
Voltaire denied having written this satire.]
Louis XIV. died in August, 1715. During that very month, Court
summoned together a small number of Huguenots to consider his
suggestions. The meeting was held at daybreak, in an empty quarry near
Nismes, which has already been mentioned in the course of this
history. But it may here be necessary to inform the reader of the
early life of this enthusiastic young man.
Antoine Court was born at Villeneuve de Berg, in Viverais, in the year
1696. Religious persecution was then at its height; assemblies were
vigorously put down; and all pastors taken prisoners were hanged on
the Peyrou at Montpellier. Court was only four years old when his
father died, and his mother resolved, if the boy lived, to train him
up so that he might consecrate himself to the service of God. He was
still very young while the Camisard war was in progress, but he heard
a great deal about it, and vividly remembered all that he heard.
Antoine Court, like many Protestant children, was compelled to attend
a Jesuit school in his neighbourhood. Though but a boy he abhorred the
Mass. With Protestants the Mass was then the symbol of persecution; it
was identified with the Revocation of the Edict--the dragonnades, the
galleys, the prisons, the nunneries, the monkeries, and the Jesuits.
The Mass was not a matter of knowledge, but of fear, of terror, and of
hereditary hatred.
At school, the other boys were most bitter against Court, because he
was the son of a Huguenot. Every sort of mischief was practised upon
him, for little boys are generally among the greatest of persecutors.
Court was stoned, worried, railed at, laughed at, spit at. When
leaving school, the boys called after him "He, he! the eldest son of
Calvin!" They sometimes pursued him with clamour and volleys of stones
to the door of his house, collecting in their riotous procession all
the other Catholic boys of the place. Sometimes they forced him into
church whilst the Mass was being celebrated. In fact, the boy's hatred
of the Mass and of Catholicism grew daily more and more vehement.
All these persecutions, together with reading some of the books which
came under his notice at home, confirmed his aversion to the
Jesuitical school to which he had been sent. At the same time he
became desirous of attending the secret assemblies, which he knew were
being held in the neighbourhood. One day, when his mother set out to
attend one of them, the boy set out to follow her. She discovered him,
and demanded whither he was going. "I follow you, mother," said he,
"and I wish you to permit me to go where you go. I know that you go to
pray to God, and will you refuse me the favour of going to do so with
you?"
She shed tears at his words, told him of the danger of attending the
assembly, and strongly exhorted him to secrecy; but she allowed him to
accompany her. He was at that time too little and weak to walk the
whole way to the meeting; but other worshippers coming up, they took
the boy on their shoulders and carried him along with them.
At the age of seventeen, Court began to read the Bible at the
assemblies. One day, in a moment of sudden excitement, common enough
at secret meetings, he undertook to address the assembly. What he said
was received with much approval, and he was encouraged to go on
preaching. He soon became famous among the mountaineers, and was
regarded as a young man capable of accomplishing great things.
As he grew older, he at length determined to devote his life to
preaching and ministering to the forsaken and afflicted Protestants.
It was a noble, self-denying work, the only earthly reward for which
was labour, difficulty, and danger. His mother was in great trouble,
for Antoine was her only remaining son. She did not, however, press
him to change his resolution. Court quoted to her the text, "Whoever
loves father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me." After
this, she only saw in her son a victim consecrated, like another
Abraham, to the Divine service.
After arriving at his decision, Court proceeded to visit the Huguenots
in Low Languedoc, passing by Uzes to Nismes, and preaching wherever he
could draw assemblies of the people together. His success during this
rapid excursion induced him to visit Dauphiny. There he met Brunel,
another preacher, with knapsack on his back, running from place to
place in order to avoid spies, priests, and soldiers. The two were
equally full of ardour, and they went together preaching in many
places, and duly encouraging each other.
From Dauphiny, Court directed his steps to Marseilles, where the royal
galleys stationed there contained about three hundred Huguenot
galley-slaves. He penetrated these horrible floating prisons, without
being detected, and even contrived to organize amongst them a regular
system of secret worship. Then he returned to Nismes, and from thence
went through the Cevennes and the Viverais, preaching to people who
had never met for Protestant worship since the termination of the wars
of the Camisards. To elude the spies, who began to make hot search for
him, because of the enthusiasm which he excited, Court contrived to be
always on the move, and to appear daily in some fresh locality.
The constant fatigue which he underwent undermined his health, and he
was compelled to remain for a time inactive at the mineral waters of
Euzet. This retirement proved useful. He began to think over what
might be done to revivify the Protestant religion in France. Remember
that he was at that time only nineteen years of age! It might be
thought presumptuous in a youth, comparatively uninstructed, even to
dream of such a subject. The instruments of earthly power--King, Pope,
bishops, priests, soldiers, and spies--were all arrayed against him.
He had nothing to oppose to them but truth, uprightness, conscience,
and indefatigable zeal for labour.
When Court had last met the few Protestant preachers who survived in
Languedoc, they were very undecided about taking up his scheme. They
had met at Nismes to take the sacrament in the house of a friend.
There were Bombonnoux (an old Camisard), Crotte, Corteiz, Brunel, and
Court. Without coming to any decision, they separated, some going to
Switzerland, and others to the South and West of France. It now rested
with Court, during his sickness, to study and endeavour to arrange the
method of reorganization of the Church.
The Huguenots who remained in France were then divided into three
classes--the "new converts," who professed Catholicism while hating
it; the lovers of the ancient Protestant faith, who still clung to it;
and, lastly, the more ignorant, who still clung to prophesying and
inspiration. These last had done the Protestant Church much injury,
for the intelligent classes generally regarded them as but mere
fanatics.
Court found it would be requisite to keep the latter within the
leading-strings of spiritual instruction, and to encourage the "new
converts" to return to the church of their fathers by the
re-establishment of some efficient pastoral service. He therefore
urged that religious assemblies must be continued, and that discipline
must be established by the appointment of elders, presbyteries, and
synods, and also by the training up of a body of young pastors to
preach amongst the people, and discipline them according to the rules
of the Protestant Church. Nearly thirty years had passed since it had
been disorganized by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, so that
synods, presbyteries, and the training of preachers had become almost
forgotten.
The first synod was convened by Court, and held in the abandoned
quarry near Nismes, above referred to, in the very same month in which
Louis XIV. breathed his last. It was a very small beginning. Two or
three laymen and a few preachers[53] were present, the whole meeting
numbering only nine persons. The place in which the meeting was held
had often before been used as a secret place of worship by the
Huguenots. Religious meetings held there had often been dispersed by
the dragoons, and there was scarcely a stone in it that had not been
splashed by Huguenot blood. And now, after Protestantism had been
"finally suppressed," Antoine Court assembled his first synod to
re-establish the proscribed religion!
[Footnote 53: Edmund Hughes says the preachers were probably
Rouviere (or Crotte), Jean Huc, Jean Vesson, Etienne Arnaud,
and Durand.]
The first meeting took place on the 21st of August, 1715, at daybreak.
After prayer, Court, as moderator, explained his method of
reorganization, which was approved. The first elders were appointed
from amongst those present. A series of rules and regulations was
resolved upon and ordered to be spread over the entire province. The
preachers were then charged to go forth, to stir up the people and
endeavour to bring back the "new converts."
They lost no time in carrying out their mission. The first districts
in which they were appointed to work were those of Mende, Alais,
Viviers, Uzes, Nismes, and Montpellier, in Languedoc--districts which,
fifteen years before, had been the scenes of the Camisard war. There,
in unknown valleys, on hillsides, on the mountains, in the midst of
hostile towns and villages, the missionaries sought out the huts, the
farms, and the dwellings of the scattered, concealed, and
half-frightened Huguenots. Amidst the open threats of the magistrates
and others in office, and the fear of the still more hateful priests
and spies, they went from house to house, and prayed, preached,
advised, and endeavoured to awaken the zeal of their old allies of the
"Religion."
The preachers were for the most part poor, and some of them were
labouring men. They were mostly natives of Languedoc. Jean Vesson, a
cooper by trade, had in his youth been "inspired," and prophesied in
his ecstasy. Mazelet, now an elderly man, had formerly been celebrated
among the Camisards, and preached with great success before the
soldiers of Roland. At forty he was not able to read or write; but
having been forced to fly into Switzerland, he picked up some
education at Geneva, and had studied divinity under a fellow-exile.
Bombonnoux had been a brigadier in the troop of Cavalier. After his
chief's defection he resolved to continue the war to the end, by
preaching, if not by fighting. He had been taken prisoner and
imprisoned at Montpellier, in 1705. Two of his Camisard friends were
first put upon the rack, and then, while still living, thrown upon a
pile and burnt to death before his eyes. But the horrible character of
the punishment did not terrify him. He contrived to escape from prison
at Montpellier, and then went about convoking assemblies and preaching
to the people as before.
Besides these, there were Huc, Corteiz, Durand, Arnaud, Brunel, and
Rouviere or Crotte, who all went about from place to place, convoking
assemblies and preaching. There were also some local preachers, as
they might be called--old men who could not move far from home--who
worked at their looms or trades, sometimes tilling the ground by day,
and preaching at night. Amongst these were Monteil, Guillot, and
Bonnard, all more than sixty years of age.
Court, because of his youth and energy, seems to have been among the
most active of the preachers. One day, near St. Hypolite, a chief
centre of the Huguenot population, he convoked an assembly on a
mountain side, the largest that had taken place for many years. The
priests of the parish gave information to the authorities; and the
governor of Alais offered a reward of fifty pistoles to anyone who
would apprehend and deliver up to him the young preacher. Troops were
sent into the district; upon which Court descended from the mountains
towards the towns of Low Languedoc, and shortly after he arrived at
Nismes.
At Nismes, Court first met Jacques Roger, who afterwards proved of
great assistance to him in his work. Roger had long been an exile in
Wurtemburg. He was originally a native of Boissieres, in Languedoc,
and when a young man was compelled to quit France with his parents,
who were Huguenots. His heart, however, continued to draw him towards
his native country, although it had treated himself and his family so
cruelly.
As Roger grew older, he determined to return to France, with the
object of helping his friends of the "Religion." A plan had occurred
to him, like that which Antoine Court was now endeavouring to carry
into effect. The joy with which Roger encountered Court at Nismes, and
learnt his plans, may therefore be conceived. The result was, that
Roger undertook to "awaken" the Protestants of Dauphiny, and to
endeavour to accomplish there what Court was already gradually
effecting in Languedoc. Roger held his first synod in Dauphiny in
August, 1716, at which seven preachers and several elders or _anciens_
assisted.
In the meantime Antoine Court again set out to visit the churches
which had been reconstructed along the banks of the Gardon. He had
been suffering from intermittent fever, and started on his journey
before he was sufficiently recovered. Having no horse, he walked on
foot, mostly by night, along the least known by-paths, stopping here
and there upon his way. At length he became so enfeebled and ill as to
be unable to walk further. He then induced two men to carry him. By
crossing their hands over each other, they took him up between them,
and carried him along on this improvised chair.
Court found a temporary lodging with a friend. But no sooner had he
laid himself down to sleep, than the alarm was raised that he must get
up and fly. A spy had been observed watching the house. Court rose,
put on his clothes, and though suffering great pain, started afresh.
The night was dark and rainy. By turns shivering with cold and in an
access of fever, he wandered alone for hours across the country,
towards the house of another friend, where he at last found shelter.
Such were the common experiences of these wandering, devoted,
proscribed, and heroic ministers of the Gospel.
Their labours were not carried on without encountering other and
greater dangers. Now that the Protestants were becoming organized, it
was not so necessary to incite them to public worship. They even
required to be restrained, so that they might not too suddenly awaken
the suspicion or excite the opposition of the authorities. Thus, at
the beginning of 1717, the preacher Vesson held an open assembly near
Anduze. It was surprised by the troops; and seventy-two persons made
prisoners, of whom the men were sent to the galleys for life, and the
women imprisoned in the Tour de Constance. Vesson was on this occasion
reprimanded by the synod, for having exposed his brethren to
unnecessary danger.
While there was the danger of loss of liberty to the people, there was
the danger of loss of life to the pastors who were bold enough to
minister to their religious necessities. Etienne Arnaud having
preached to an assembly near Alais, was taken prisoner by the
soldiers. They took him to Montpellier, where he was judged,
condemned, and sent back to Alais to be hanged. This brave young man
gave up his life with great courage and resignation. His death caused
much sorrow amongst the Protestants, but it had no effect in
dissuading the preachers and pastors from the work they had taken in
hand. There were many to take the place of Arnaud. Young Bètrine
offered himself to the synod, and was accepted.
Scripture readers were also appointed, to read the Bible at meetings
which preachers were not able to attend. There was, however, a great
want of Bibles amongst the Protestants. One of the first things done
by the young King Louis XV.--the "Well-beloved" of the Jesuits--on his
ascending the throne, was to issue a proclamation ordering the seizure
of Bibles, Testaments, Psalm-books, and other religious works used by
the Protestants. And though so many books had already been seized and
burnt in the reign of Louis XIV., immense piles were again collected
and given to the flames by the executioners.
"Our need of books is very great," wrote Court to a friend abroad; and
the same statement was repeated in many of his letters. His principal
need was of Bibles and Testaments; for every Huguenot knew the greater
part of the Psalms by heart. When a Testament was obtained, it was
lent about, and for the most part learnt off. The labour was divided
in this way. One person, sometimes a boy or girl, of good memory,
would undertake to learn one or more chapters in the Gospels, another
a certain number in the Epistles, until at last a large portion of the
book was committed to memory, and could be recited at the meetings of
the assemblies. And thus also it happened, that the conversation of
the people, as well as the sermons of their preachers, gradually
assumed a strongly biblical form.
Strong appeals were made to foreign Protestants to supply the people
with books. The refugees who had settled in Switzerland, Holland, and
England sent the Huguenots remaining in France considerable help in
this way. They sent many Testaments and Psalm-books, together with
catechisms for the young, and many devotional works written by French
divines residing in Holland and England--by Drelincourt, Saurin,
Claude and others. These were sent safely across the frontier in
bales, put into the hands of colporteurs, and circulated amongst the
Protestants all over the South of France. The printing press of Geneva
was also put in requisition; and Court had many of his sermons printed
there and distributed amongst the people.
Until this time, Court had merely acted as a preacher; and it was now
determined to ordain and consecrate him as a pastor. The ceremony,
though, comparatively unceremonious, was very touching. A large number
of Protestants in the Vaunage assembled on the night of the 21st
November, 1718, and, after prayer, Court rose and spoke for some time
of the responsible duties of the ministry, and of the necessity and
advantages of preaching. He thanked God for having raised up ministers
to serve the Church when so many of her enemies were seeking for her
ruin. He finally asked the whole assembly to pray for grace to enable
him to fulfil with renewed zeal the duties to which, he was about to
be called, together with all the virtues needed for success. At these
touching words the assembled hearers shed tears. Then Corteiz, the old
pastor, drew near to Court, now upon his knees, and placing a Bible
upon his head, in the name of Jesus Christ, and with the authority of
the synod, gave him power to exercise all the functions of the
ministry. Cries of joy were heard on all sides. Then, after further
prayer, the assembly broke up in the darkness of the night.
The plague which broke out in 1720 helped the progress of the new
Church. The Protestants thought the plague had been sent as a
punishment for their backsliding. Piety increased, and assemblies in
the Desert were more largely attended than before. The intendants
ceased to interfere with them, and the soldiers were kept strictly
within their cantonments. More preachers were licensed, and more
elders were elected. Many new churches were set up throughout
Languedoc; and the department of the Lozère, in the Cevennes, became
again almost entirely Protestant. Roger and Villeveyre were almost
equally successful in Dauphiny; and Saintonge, Normandy, and Poitou
were also beginning to maintain a connection with the Protestant
churches of Languedoc.
CHAPTER XI.
REORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH IN THE DESERT.
The organization of the Church in the Desert is one of the most
curious things in history. Secret meetings of the Huguenots had long
been held in France. They were began several years before the Act of
Revocation was proclaimed, when the dragonnades were on foot, and
while the Protestant temples were being demolished by the Government.
The Huguenots then arranged to meet and hold their worship in retired
places.
As the meetings were at first held, for the most part, in Languedoc,
and as much of that province, especially in the district of the
Cevennes, is really waste and desert land, the meetings were at first
called "Assemblies in the Desert," and for nearly a hundred years they
retained that name.
When Court began to reorganize the Protestant Church in France,
shortly after the Camisard war, meetings in the Desert had become
almost unknown. There were occasional prayer-meetings, at which
chapters of the Bible were read or recited by those who remembered
them, and psalms were sung; but there were few or no meetings at which
pastors presided. Court, however, resolved not only to revive the
meetings of the Church in the Desert, but to reconstitute the
congregations, and restore the system of governing them according to
the methods of the Huguenot Church.
The first thing done in reconstituting a congregation, was to appoint
certain well-known religious men, as _anciens_ or elders. These were
very important officers. They formed the church in the first instance;
for where there were no elders, there was no church. They were members
of the _consistoire_ or presbytery. They looked after the flock,
visited them in their families, made collections, named the pastors,
and maintained peace, order, and discipline amongst the people. Though
first nominated by the pastors, they were elected by the congregation;
and the reason for their election was their known ability, zeal, and
piety.
The elder was always present at the assemblies, though the minister
was absent. He prevented the members from succumbing to temptation and
falling away; he censured scandal; he kept up the flame of religious
zeal, and encouraged the failing and helpless; he distributed amongst
the poorest the collections made and intrusted to him by the Church.
We have said that part of the duty of the elders was to censure
scandal amongst the members. If their conduct was not considered
becoming the Christian life, they were not visited by the pastors and
were not allowed to attend the assemblies, until they had declared
their determination to lead a better life. What a punishment for
infraction of discipline! to be debarred attending an assembly, for
being present at which, the pastor, if detected, might be hanged, and
the penitent member sent to the galleys for life![54]
[Footnote 54: C. Coquerel, "Église du Désert," i. 105.]
The elders summoned the assemblies. They gave the word to a few
friends, and these spread the notice about amongst the rest. The news
soon became known, and in the course of a day or two, the members of
the congregation, though living perhaps in distant villages, would be
duly informed of the time and place of the intended meeting. It was
usually held at night,--in some secret place--in a cave, a hollow in
the woods, a ravine, or an abandoned farmstead.
Men, women, and even children were taken thither, after one, two, or
sometimes three leagues' walking. The meetings were always full of
danger, for spies were lurking about. Catholic priests were constant
informers; and soldiers were never far distant. But besides the
difficulties of spies and soldiers, the meetings were often dispersed
by the rain in summer, or by the snow in winter.
After the Camisard war, and before the appearance of Court, these
meetings rarely numbered more than a hundred persons. But Court and
his fellow-pastors often held meetings at which more than two thousand
people were present. On one occasion, not less than four thousand
persons attended an assembly in Lower Languedoc.
When the meetings were held by day, they were carefully guarded and
watched by sentinels on the look-out, especially in those places near
which garrisons were stationed. The fleetest of the young men were
chosen for this purpose. They watched the garrison exits, and when the
soldiers made a sortie, the sentinels communicated by signal from hill
to hill, thus giving warning to the meeting to disperse. But the
assemblies were mostly held at night; and even then the sentinels were
carefully posted about, but not at so great a distance.
The chief of the whole organization was the pastor. First, there were
the members entitled to church, privileges; next the _anciens_; and
lastly the pastors. As in Presbyterianism, so in Huguenot Calvinism,
its form of government was republican. The organization was based upon
the people who elected their elders; then upon the elders who selected
and recommended the pastors; and lastly upon the whole congregation of
members, elders, and pastors (represented in synods), who maintained
the entire organization of the Church.
There were three grades of service in the rank of pastor--first
students, next preachers, and lastly pastors. Wonderful that there
should have been students of a profession, to follow which was almost
equal to a sentence of death! But there were plenty of young
enthusiasts ready to brave martyrdom in the service of the proscribed
Church. Sometimes it was even necessary to restrain them in their
applications.
Court once wrote to Pierre Durand, at a time when the latter was
restoring order and organization in Viverais: "Sound and examine well
the persons offering themselves for your approval, before permitting
them to enter on this glorious employment. Secure good, virtuous men,
full of zeal for the cause of truth. It is piety only that inspires
nobility and greatness of soul. Piety sustains us under the most
extreme dangers, and triumphs over the severest obstacles. The good
conscience always marches forward with its head erect."
When the character of the young applicants was approved, their studies
then proceeded, like everything else connected with the proscribed
religion, in secret. The students followed the professor and pastor in
his wanderings over the country, passing long nights in marching,
sometimes hiding in caves by day, or sleeping under the stars by
night, passing from meeting to meeting, always with death looming
before them.
"I have often pitched my professor's chair," said Court, "in a torrent
underneath a rock. The sky was our roof, and the leafy branches thrown
out from the crevices in the rock overhead, were our canopy. There I
and my students would remain for about eight days; it was our hall,
our lecture-room, and our study. To make the most of our time, and to
practise the students properly, I gave them a text of Scripture to
discuss before me--say the first eleven verses of the fifth chapter of
Luke. I would afterwards propose to them some point of doctrine, some
passage of Scripture, some moral precept, or sometimes I gave them
some difficult passages to reconcile. After the whole had stated their
views upon the question under discussion, I asked the youngest if he
had anything to state against the arguments advanced; then the others
were asked in turn; and after they had finished, I stated the views
which I considered most just and correct. When the more advanced
students were required to preach, they mounted a particular place,
where a pole had been set across some rocks in the ravine, and which
for the time served for a pulpit. And when they had delivered
themselves, the others were requested by turns to express themselves
freely upon the subject of the sermon which they had heard."
When the _proposant_ or probationer was considered sufficiently able
to preach, he was sent on a mission to visit the churches. Sometimes
he preached the approved sermons of other pastors; sometimes he
preached his own sermons, after they had been examined by persons
appointed by the synod. After a time, if approved by the moderator and
a committee of the synod, the _proposant_ was licensed to preach. His
work then resembled that of a pastor; but he could not yet administer
the sacrament. It was only when he had passed the synod, and been
appointed by the laying on of hands, that he could exercise the higher
pastoral functions.
Then, with respect to the maintenance of the pastors and preachers,
Court recounts, not without pride, that for the ten years between 1713
and 1723 (excepting the years which he spent at Geneva), he served the
Huguenot churches without receiving a farthing. His family and friends
saw to the supply of his private wants. With respect to the others,
they were supported by collections made at the assemblies; and, as the
people were nearly all poor, the amount collected was very small. On
one occasion, three assemblies produced a halfpenny and six
half-farthings.
But a regular system of collecting moneys was framed by the synods
(consisting of a meeting of pastors and elders), and out of the common
fund so raised, emoluments were assigned, first to those preachers who
were married, and afterwards to those who were single. In either case
the pay was very small, scarcely sufficient to keep the wolf from the
door.
The students for the ministry were at first educated by Court and
trained to preach, while he was on his dangerous journeys from one
assembly in the Desert to another. Nor was the supply of preachers
sufficient to visit the congregations already organized. Court had
long determined, so soon as the opportunity offered, of starting a
school for the special education of preachers and pastors, so that the
work he was engaged in might be more efficiently carried on. He at
first corresponded with influential French refugees in England and
Holland with reference to the subject. He wrote to Basnage and Saurin,
but they received his propositions coolly. He wrote to William Wake,
then Archbishop of Canterbury, who promised his assistance. At last
Court resolved to proceed into Switzerland, to stir up the French
refugees disposed to help him in his labours.
Arrived at Geneva, Court sought out M. Pictet, to whom he explained
the state of affairs in France. It had been rumoured amongst the
foreign Protestants that fanaticism and "inspiration" were now in the
ascendant among the Protestants of France. Court showed that this was
entirely a mistake, and that all which the proscribed Huguenots in
France wanted, was a supply of properly educated pastors. The friends
of true religion, and the enemies of fanaticism, ought therefore to
come to their help and supply them with that of which they stood most
in need. If they would find teachers, Court would undertake to supply
them with congregations. And Huguenot congregations were rapidly
increasing, not only in Languedoc and Dauphiny, but in Normandy,
Picardy, Poitou, Saintonge, Bearn, and the other provinces.
At length the subject became matured. It was not found desirable to
establish the proposed school at Geneva, that city being closely
watched by France, and frequently under the censure of its government
for giving shelter to refugee Frenchmen. It was eventually determined
that the college for the education of preachers should begin at
Lausanne. It was accordingly commenced in the year 1726, and
established under the superintendence of M. Duplan.
A committee of refugees called the "Society of Help for the Afflicted
Faithful," was formed at Lausanne to collect subscriptions for the
maintenance of the preachers, the pastors, and the seminary. These
were in the first place received from Huguenots settled in
Switzerland, afterwards increased by subscriptions obtained from
refugees settled in Holland, Germany, and England. The King of England
subscribed five hundred guineas yearly. Duplan was an indefatigable
agent. In fourteen years he collected fourteen thousand pounds. By
these efforts the number of students was gradually increased. They
came from all parts of France, but chiefly from Languedoc. Between
1726 (the year in which it was started) and 1753, ninety students had
passed through the seminary.
When the students had passed the range of study appointed by the
professors, they returned from Switzerland to France to enter upon the
work of their lives. They had passed the school for martyrdom, and
were ready to preach to the assemblies--they had paved their way to
the scaffold!
The preachers always went abroad with their lives in their hands. They
travelled mostly by night, shunning the open highways, and selecting
abandoned routes, often sheep-paths across the hills, to reach the
scene of their next meeting. The trace of their steps is still marked
upon the soil of the Cevennes, the people of the country still
speaking of the solitary routes taken by their instructors when
passing from parish to parish, to preach to their fathers.
They were dressed, for disguise, in various ways; sometimes as
peasants, as workmen, or as shepherds. On one occasion, Court and
Duplan travelled the country disguised as officers! The police heard
of it, and ordered their immediate arrest, pointing out the town and
the very house where they were to be taken. But the preachers escaped,
and assumed a new dress.
When living near Nismes, Court was one day seated under a tree
composing a sermon, when a party of soldiers, hearing that he was in
the neighbourhood, came within sight. Court climbed up into the tree,
where he remained concealed among the branches, and thus contrived to
escape their search.
On another occasion, he was staying with a friend, in whose house he
had slept during the previous night. A detachment of troops suddenly
surrounded the house, and the officer knocked loudly at the door.
Court made his friend go at once to bed pretending to be ill, while he
himself cowered down in the narrow space between the bed and the wall.
His wife slowly answered the door, which the soldiers were threatening
to blow open. They entered, rummaged the house, opened all the chests
and closets, sounded the walls, examined the sick man's room, and
found nothing!
Court himself, as well as the other pastors, worked very hard. On one
occasion, Court made a round of visits in Lower Languedoc and in the
Cevennes, at first alone, and afterwards accompanied by a young
preacher. In the space of two months and a few days he visited
thirty-one churches, holding assemblies, preaching, and administering
the sacrament, during which he travelled over three hundred miles. The
weather did not matter to the pastors--rain nor snow, wind nor storm,
never hindered them. They took the road and braved all. Even sickness
often failed to stay them. Sickness might weaken but did not overthrow
them.
The spies and police so abounded throughout the country, and were so
active, that they knew all the houses in which the preachers might
take refuge. A list of these was prepared and placed in the hands of
the intendant of the province.[55] If preachers were found in them,
both the shelterers and the sheltered knew what they had to expect.
The whole property and goods of the former were confiscated and they
were sent to the galleys for life; and the latter were first tortured
by the rack, and then hanged. The houses in which preachers were found
were almost invariably burnt down.
[Footnote 55: It has since been published in the "Bulletin de
la Société du Protestantisme Français."]
Notwithstanding the great secrecy with which the whole organization
proceeded, preachers were frequently apprehended, assemblies were
often surprised, and many persons were imprisoned and sent to the
galleys for life. Each village had its chief spy--the priest; and
beneath the priest there were a number of other spies--spies for
money, spies for cruelty, spies for revenge.
Was an assembly of Huguenots about to be held? A spy, perhaps a
traitor, would make it known. The priest's order was sufficient for
the captain of the nearest troop of soldiers to proceed to disperse
it. They marched and surrounded the assembly. A sound of volley-firing
was heard. The soldiers shot down, hanged, or made prisoners of the
unlawful worshippers. Punishments were sudden, and inquiry was never
made into them, however brutal. There was the fire for Bibles,
Testaments, and psalm-books; galleys for men; prisons and convents for
women; and gibbets for preachers.
In 1720 a large number of prisoners were captured in the famous old
quarry near Nismes, long the seat of secret Protestant worship. But
the troops surrounded the meeting suddenly, and the whole were taken.
The women were sent for life to the Tour de Constance, and the men,
chained in gangs, were sent all through France to La Rochelle, to be
imprisoned in the galleys there. The ambassador of England made
intercession for the prisoners, and their sentence was commuted into
one of perpetual banishment from France. They were accordingly
transported to New Orleans on the Mississippi, to populate the rising
French colony in that quarter of North America.
Thus crimes abounded, and cruelty when practised upon Huguenots was
never investigated. The seizure and violation of women was common.
Fathers knew the probable consequence when their daughters were
seized. The daughter of a Huguenot was seized at Uzes, in 1733, when
the father immediately died of grief. Two sisters were seized at the
same place to be "converted," and their immediate relations were
thrown into gaol in the meantime. This was a common proceeding. The
Tour de Constance was always filling, and kept full.
The dying were tortured. If they refused the viaticum they were
treated as "damned persons." When Jean de Molènes of Cahors died,
making a profession of Protestantism, his body was denounced as
damned, and it was abandoned without sepulture. A woman who addressed
some words of consolation to Joseph Martin when dying was condemned to
pay a fine of six thousand livres, and be imprisoned in the castle of
Beauregard; and as for Martin, his memory was declared to be damned
for ever. Many such outrages to the living and dead were constantly
occurring.[56] Gaolers were accustomed to earn money by exhibiting the
corpses of Huguenot women at fairs, inviting those who paid for
admission, to walk up and "see the corpse of a damned person."[57]
[Footnote 56: Edmund Hughes, "Histoire de la Restauration du
Protestantisme en France," ii. 94.]
[Footnote 57: Bénoît, "Edit de Nantes," v. 987.]
Notwithstanding all these cruelties, Protestantism was making
considerable progress, both in Languedoc and Dauphiny. In reorganizing
the Church, the whole country had been divided into districts, and
preachers and pastors endeavoured to visit the whole of their members
with as much regularity as possible. Thus Languedoc was divided into
seven districts, and to each of those a _proposant_ or probationary
preacher was appointed. The presbyteries and synods met regularly and
secretly in a cave, or the hollow bed of a river, or among the
mountains. They cheered each other up, though their progress was
usually over the bodies of their dead friends.
For any pastor or preacher to be apprehended, was, of course, certain
death. Thus, out of thirteen Huguenots who were found worshipping in a
private apartment at Montpellier, in 1723, Vesson, the pastor, and
Bonicel and Antoine Comte, his assistants, were at once condemned and
hanged on the Peyrou, the other ten persons being imprisoned or sent
to the galleys for life.
Shortly after, Huc, the aged pastor, was taken prisoner in the
Cevennes, brought to Montpellier, and hanged in the same place. A
reward of a thousand livres was offered by Bernage, the intendant, for
the heads of the remaining preachers, the fatal list comprising the
names of Court, Cortez, Durand, Rouviere, Bombonnoux, and others. The
names of these "others" were not mentioned, not being yet thought
worthy of the gibbet.
And yet it was at this time that the Bishop of Alais made an appeal to
the government against the toleration shown to the Huguenots! In 1723,
he sent a long memorial to Paris, alleging that Catholicism was
suffering a serious injury; that not only had the "new converts"
withdrawn themselves from the Catholic Church, but that the old
Catholics themselves were resorting to the Huguenot assemblies; that
sometimes their meetings numbered from three to four thousand persons;
that their psalms were sometimes overheard in the surrounding
villages; that the churches were becoming deserted, the curés in some
parishes not being able to find a single Catholic to serve at Mass;
that the Protestants had ceased to send their children to school, and
were baptized and married without the intervention of the Church.
In consequence of these representations, the then Regent, the Duke of
Bourbon, sent down an urgent order to the authorities to carry out the
law--to prevent meetings, under penalty of death to preachers, and
imprisonment at the galleys to all who attended them, ordering that
the people should be _forced_ to go to church and the children to
school, and reviving generally the severe laws against Protestantism
issued by Louis XIV. The result was that many of the assemblies were
shortly after attacked and dispersed, many persons were made prisoners
and sent to the galleys, and many more preachers were apprehended,
racked, and hanged.
Repeated attempts were made to apprehend Antoine Court, as being the
soul of the renewed Protestant organization. A heavy reward was
offered for his head. The spies and police hunted after him in all
directions. Houses where he was supposed to be concealed were
surrounded by soldiers at night, and every hole and corner in them
ransacked. Three houses were searched in one night. Court sometimes
escaped with great difficulty. On one occasion he remained concealed
for more than twenty hours under a heap of manure. His friends
endeavoured to persuade him to leave the country until the activity of
the search for him had passed.
Since the year 1722, Court had undertaken new responsibilities. He had
become married, and was now the father of three children. He had
married a young Huguenot woman of Uzes. He first met her in her
father's house, while he was in hiding from the spies. While he was
engaged in his pastoral work his wife and family continued to live at
Uzes. Court was never seen in her company, but could only visit his
family secretly. The woman was known to be of estimable character, but
it gave rise to suspicions that she had three children without a known
father. The spies were endeavouring to unravel the secret, tempted by
the heavy reward offered for Court's head.
One day the new commandant of the town, passing before the door of the
house where Court's wife lived, stopped, and, pointing to the house,
put some questions to the neighbours. Court was informed of this, and
immediately supposed that his house had become known, that his wife
and family had been discovered and would be apprehended. He at once
made arrangements for having them removed to Geneva. They reached that
city in safety, in the month of April, 1729.
Shortly after, Court, still wandering and preaching about Languedoc,
became seriously ill. He feared for his wife, he feared for his
family, and conceived the design of joining them in Switzerland. A few
months later, exhausted by his labours and continued illness, he left
Languedoc and journeyed by slow stages to Geneva. He was still a young
man, only thirty-three; but he had worked excessively hard during the
last dozen years. Since the age of fourteen, in fact, he had
evangelized Languedoc.
Shortly before Court left France for Switzerland, the preacher,
Alexandre Roussel, was, in the year 1728, added to the number of
martyrs. He was only twenty-six years of age. The occasion on which he
was made prisoner was while attending an assembly near Vigan. The
whole of the people had departed, and Roussel was the last to leave
the meeting. He was taken to Montpellier, and imprisoned in the
citadel, which had before held so many Huguenot pastors. He was asked
to abjure, and offered a handsome bribe if he would become a Catholic.
He refused to deny his faith, and was sentenced to die. When Antoine
Court went to offer consolation to his mother, she replied, "If my son
had given way I should have been greatly distressed; but as he died
with constancy, I thank God for strengthening him to perform this last
work in his service."
Court did not leave his brethren in France without the expostulations
of his friends. They alleged that his affection for his wife and
family had cooled his zeal for God's service. Duplan and Cortez
expostulated with him; and the churches of Languedoc, which he himself
had established, called upon him to return to his duties amongst them.
But Court did not attend to their request. His determination was for
the present unshaken. He had a long arrears of work to do in quiet. He
had money to raise for the support of the suffering Church of France,
and for the proper maintenance of the college for students, preachers,
and pastors. He had to help the refugees, who still continued to leave
France for Switzerland, and to write letters and rouse the Protestant
kingdoms of the north, as Brousson had done before him some thirty
years ago.
The city of Berne was very generous in its treatment of Court and the
Huguenots generally. The Bernish Government allotted Court a pension
of five hundred livres a-year--for he was without the means of
supporting his family--all his own and his wife's property having been
seized and sequestrated in France. Court preached with great success
in the principal towns of Switzerland, more particularly at Berne, and
afterwards at Lausanne, where he spent the rest of his days.
Though he worked there more peacefully, he laboured as continuously as
ever in the service of the Huguenot churches. He composed addresses to
them; he educated preachers and pastors for them; and one of his
principal works, while at Lausanne, was to compose a history of the
Huguenots in France subsequent to the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes.
What he had done for the reorganization of the Huguenot Church in
France may be thus briefly stated. Court had begun his work in 1715,
at which time there was no settled congregation in the South of
France. The Huguenots were only ministered to by occasional wandering
pastors. In 1729, the year in which Court finally left France, there
were in Lower Languedoc 29 organized, though secretly governed,
churches; in Upper Languedoc, 11; in the Cevennes, 18; in the Lozère
12; and in Viverais, 42 churches. There were now over 200,000
recognised Protestants in Languedoc alone. The ancient discipline had
been restored; 120 churches had been organized; a seminary for the
education of preachers and pastors had been established; and
Protestantism was extending in Dauphiny, Bearn, Saintonge,[58] and
other quarters.
[Footnote 58: In 1726, a deputation from Guyenne, Royergue,
and Poitou, appeared before the Languedoc synod, requesting
preachers and pastors to be sent to them. The synod agreed to
send Maroger as preacher. Bètrine (the first of the Lausanne
students) and Grail were afterwards sent to join him.
Protestantism was also reawakening in Saintonge and Picardy,
and pastors from Languedoc journeyed there to administer the
sacrament. Preachers were afterwards sent to join them, to
awaken the people, and reorganize the congregations.]
Such were, in a great measure, the results of the labours of Antoine
Court and his assistants during the previous fifteen years.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CHURCH IN THE DESERT, 1730-62--PAUL RABAUT.
The persecutions of the Huguenots increased at one time and relaxed at
another. When France was at war, and the soldiers were fighting in
Flanders or on the Rhine, the bishops became furious, and complained
bitterly to the government of the toleration shown to the Protestants.
The reason was that there were no regiments at liberty to pursue the
Huguenots and disperse their meetings in the Desert. When the soldiers
returned from the wars, persecution began again.
It usually began with the seizing and burning of books. The
book-burning days were considered amongst the great days of fête.
One day in June, 1730, the Intendant of Languedoc visited Nismes,
escorted by four battalions of troops. On arriving, the principal
Catholics were selected, and placed as commissaries to watch the
houses of the suspected Huguenots. At night, while the inhabitants
slept, the troops turned out, and the commissaries pointed out the
Huguenot houses to be searched. The inmates were knocked up, the
soldiers entered, the houses were rummaged, and all the books that
could be found were taken to the Hôtel de Ville.
A few days after a great _auto-da-fé_ was held. The entire Catholic
population turned out. There were the four battalions of troops, the
gendarmes, the Catholic priests, and the chief dignitaries; and in
their presence all the Huguenot books were destroyed. They were thrown
into a pile on the usual place of execution, and the hangman set fire
to this great mass of Bibles, psalm-books, catechisms, and
sermons.[59] The officers laughed, the priests sneered, the multitude
cheered. These bonfires were of frequent occurrence in all the towns
of Languedoc.
[Footnote 59: E. Hughes, "Histoire de la Restauration, du
Protestantisme en France," ii. 96.]
But if the priests hated the printed word, still more did they hate
the spoken word. They did not like the Bible, but they hated the
preachers. Fines, _auto-da-fés_, condemnation to the galleys, seizures
of women and girls, and profanation of the dead, were tolerable
punishments, but there was nothing like hanging a preacher. "Nothing,"
said Saint-Florentin to the commandant of La Devese, "can produce more
impression than hanging a preacher; and it is very desirable that you
should immediately take steps to arrest one of them."
The commandant obeyed orders, and apprehended Pierre Durand. He was on
his way to baptize the child of one of his congregation, who lived on
a farm in Viverais. An apparent peasant, who seemed to be waiting his
approach, offered to conduct him to the farm. Durand followed him. The
peasant proved to be a soldier in disguise. He led Durand directly
into the midst of his troop. There he was bound and carried off to
Montpellier.
Durand was executed at the old place--the Peyrou--the soldiers
beating their drums to stifle his voice while he prayed. His corpse
was laid beside that of Alexandre Roussel, under the rampart of the
fortress of Montpellier. Durand was the last of the preachers in
France who had attended the synod of 1715. They had all been executed,
excepting only Antoine Court, who was safe in Switzerland.
The priests were not so successful with Claris, the preacher, who
contrived to escape their clutches. Claris had just reached France on
his return from the seminary at Lausanne. He had taken shelter for the
night with a Protestant friend at Foissac, near Uzes. Scarcely had he
fallen asleep, when the soldiers, informed by the spies, entered his
chamber, bound him, and marched him off on foot by night, to Alais. He
was thrown into gaol, and was afterwards judged and condemned to
death. His friends in Alais, however, secretly contrived to get an
iron chisel passed to him in prison. He raised the stone of a chamber
which communicated with his dungeon, descended to the ground, and
silently leapt the wall. He was saved.
Pastors and preachers continued to be tracked and hunted with renewed
ardour in Saintonge, Poitou, Gascony, and Dauphiny. "The Chase," as it
was called, was better organized than it had been for twenty years
previously. The Catholic clergy, however, continued to complain. The
chase, they said, was not productive enough! The hangings of pastors
were too few. The curates of the Cevennes thus addressed the
intendants: "You do not perform your duty: you are neither active
enough nor pitiless enough;"[60] and they requested the government to
adopt more vigorous measures.
[Footnote 60: E. Hughes, ii. 99. Coquerel, "L'Église dans le
Désert," i. 258.]
The intendants, who were thus accused, insisted that they _had_ done
their duty. They had hanged all the Huguenot preachers that the
priests and their spies had discovered and brought to them. They had
also offered increased rewards for the preachers' heads. If
Protestantism counted so large a number of adherents, _they_ were
surely not to blame for that! Had the priests themselves done _their_
duty? Thus the intendants and the curés reproached each other by
turns.
And yet the pastors and preachers had not been spared. They had been
hanged without mercy. They knew they were in the peril of constant
death. "I have slept fifteen days in a meadow," wrote Cortez, the
pastor, "and I write this under a tree." Morel, the preacher, when
attending an assembly, was fired at by the soldiers and died of his
wounds. Pierre Dortial was also taken prisoner when holding an
assembly. The host with whom he lived was condemned to the galleys for
life; the arrondissement in which the assembly had been held was
compelled to pay a fine of three thousand livres; and Dortial himself
was sentenced to be hanged. When the aged preacher was informed of his
sentence he exclaimed: "What an honour for me, oh my God! to have been
chosen from so many others to suffer death because of my constancy to
the truth." He was executed at Nismes, and died with courage.
In 1742 France was at war, and the Huguenots enjoyed a certain amount
of liberty. The edicts against them were by no means revoked; their
execution was merely suspended. The provinces were stripped of troops,
and the clergy could no longer call upon them to scatter the meetings
in the Desert. Hence the assemblies increased. The people began to
think that the commandants of the provinces had received orders to
shut their eyes, and see nothing of the proceedings of the Huguenots.
At a meeting held in a valley between Calvisson and Langlade, in
Languedoc, no fewer than ten thousand persons openly met for worship.
No troops appeared. There was no alarm nor surprise. Everything passed
in perfect quiet. In many other places, public worship was celebrated,
the sacrament was administered, children were baptized, and marriages
were celebrated in the open day.[61]
[Footnote 61: Although marriages by the pastors had long been
declared illegal, they nevertheless married and baptized in
the Desert. After 1730, the number of Protestant marriages
greatly multiplied, though it was known that the issue of
such marriages were declared, by the laws of France to be
illegal. Many of the Protestants of Dauphiny went across the
frontier into Switzerland, principally to Geneva, and were
there married.]
The Catholics again urgently complained to the government of the
increasing number of Huguenot meetings. The Bishop of Poitiers
complained that in certain parishes of his diocese there was not now a
single Catholic. Low Poitou contained thirty Protestant churches,
divided into twelve arrondissements, and each arrondissement contained
about seven thousand members. The Procureur-Général of Normandy said,
"All this country is full of Huguenots." But the government had at
present no troops to spare, and the Catholic bishops and clergy must
necessarily wait until the war with the English and the Austrians had
come to an end.
Antoine Court paid a short visit to Languedoc in 1744, to reconcile a
difference which had arisen in the Church through the irregular
conduct of Pastor Boyer. Court was received with great enthusiasm, and
when Boyer was re-established in his position as pastor, after making
his submission to the synod, a convocation of Huguenots was held near
Sauzet, at which thousands of people were present. Court remained for
about a month in France, preaching almost daily to immense audiences.
At Nismes, he preached at the famous place for Huguenot meetings--in
the old quarry, about three miles from the town. There were about
twenty thousand persons present, ranged, as in an amphitheatre, along
the sides of the quarry. It was a most impressive sight. Peasants and
gentlemen mixed together. Even the "beau monde" of Nismes was present.
Everybody thought that there was now an end of the persecution.[62]
[Footnote 62: Of the preachers about this time (1740-4) the
best known were Morel, Foriel, Mauvillon, Voulaud, Corteiz,
Peyrot, Roux, Gauch, Coste, Dugnière, Blachon, Gabriac,
Déjours, Rabaut, Gibert, Mignault, Désubas, Dubesset, Pradel,
Morin, Defferre, Loire, Pradon,--with many more. Defferre
restored Protestantism in Berne. Loire (a native of St. Omer,
and formerly a Catholic), Viala, Préneuf, and Prudon, were
the apostles of Normandy, Rouergue, Guyenne, and Poitou.]
In the meantime the clergy continued to show signs of increasing
irritation. They complained, denounced, and threatened. Various
calumnies were invented respecting the Huguenots. The priests of
Dauphiny gave out that Roger, the pastor, had read an edict purporting
to be signed by Louis XV. granting complete toleration to the
Huguenots! The report was entirely without foundation, and Roger
indignantly denied that he had read any such edict. But the report
reached the ears of the King, then before Ypres with his army; on
which he issued a proclamation announcing that the rumour publicly
circulated that it was his intention to tolerate the Huguenots was
absolutely false.
No sooner had the war terminated, and the army returned to France,
than the persecutions recommenced as hotly as ever. The citizens of
Nismes, for having recently encouraged the Huguenots and attended
Court's great meeting, were heavily fined. All the existing laws for
the repression and destruction of Protestantism were enforced.
Suspected persons were apprehended and imprisoned without trial. A new
"hunt" was set on foot for preachers. There were now plenty of
soldiers at liberty to suppress the meetings in the Desert, and they
were ordered into the infested quarters. In a word, persecution was
let loose all over France. Nor was it without the usual results. It
was very hot in Dauphiny. There a detachment of horse police,
accompanied by regular troops and a hangman, ran through the province
early in 1745, spreading terror everywhere. One of their exploits was
to seize a sick old Huguenot, drag him from his bed, and force him
towards prison. He died upon the road.
In February, it was ascertained that the Huguenots met for worship in
a certain cavern. The owner of the estate on which the cavern was
situated, though unaware of the meetings, was fined a thousand crowns,
and imprisoned for a year in the Castle of Cret.
Next month, Louis Ranc, a pastor, was seized at Livron while baptizing
an infant, taken to Die, and hanged. He had scarcely breathed his
last, when the hangman cut the cord, hewed off the head, and made a
young Protestant draw the corpse along the streets of Die.
In the month of April, 1745, Jacques Roger, the old friend and
coadjutor of Court--the apostle of Dauphiny as Court had been of
Languedoc--was taken prisoner and conducted to Grenoble. Roger was
then eighty years old, worn out with privation and hard work. He was
condemned to death. He professed his joy at being still able to seal
with his blood the truths he had so often proclaimed. On his way to
the scaffold, he sang aloud the fifty-first Psalm. He was executed in
the Place du Breuil. After he had hung for twenty-four hours, his body
was taken down, dragged along the streets of Grenoble, and thrown into
the Isère.
At Grenoble also, in the same year, seven persons were condemned to
the galleys. A young woman was publicly whipped at the same place for
attending a Huguenot meeting. Seven students and pastors who could not
be found, were hanged in effigy. Four houses were demolished for
having served as asylums for preachers. Fines were levied on all
sides, and punishments of various kinds were awarded to many hundred
persons. Thus persecution ran riot in Dauphiny in the years 1745 and
1746.
In Languedoc it was the same. The prisons and the galleys were always
kept full. Dragoons were quartered in the Huguenot villages, and by
this means the inhabitants were soon ruined. The soldiers pillaged the
houses, destroyed the furniture, tore up the linen, drank all the
wine, and, when they were in good humour, followed the cattle, swine,
and fowl, and killed them off sword in hand. Montauban, an old
Huguenot town, was thus ruined in the course of a very few months.
One day, in a Languedoc village, a soldier seized a young girl with a
foul intention. She cried aloud, and the villagers came to her rescue.
The dragoons turned out in a body, and fired upon the people. An old
man was shot dead, a number of the villagers were taken prisoners,
and, with their hands tied to the horses' tails, were conducted for
punishment to Montauban.
All the towns and villages in Upper Languedoc were treated with the
same cruelty. Nismes was fined over and over again. Viverais was
treated with the usual severity. M. Désubas, the pastor, was taken
prisoner there, and conducted to Vernoux. As the soldiers led him
through the country to prison, the villagers came out in crowds to see
him pass. Many followed the pastor, thinking they might be able to
induce the magistrates of Vernoux to liberate him. The villagers were
no sooner cooped up in a mass in the chief street of the town, than
they were suddenly fired upon by the soldiers. Thirty persons were
killed on the spot, more than two hundred were wounded, and many
afterwards died of their wounds.
Désubas, the pastor, was conducted to Nismes, and from Nismes to
Montpellier. While on his way to death at Montpellier, some of his
peasant friends, who lived along the road, determined to rescue him.
But when Paul Rabaut heard of the proposed attempt, he ran to the
place where the people had assembled and held them back. He was
opposed to all resistance to the governing power, and thought it
possible, by patience and righteousness, to live down all this
horrible persecution.
Désubas was judged, and, as usual, condemned to death. Though it was
winter time, he was led to his punishment almost naked; his legs
uncovered, and only in thin linen vest over his body. Arrived at the
gallows, his books and papers were burnt before his eyes, and he was
then delivered over to the executioner. A Jesuit presented a crucifix
for him to kiss, but he turned his head to one side, raised his eyes
upwards, and was then hanged.
The same persecution prevailed over the greater part of France. In
Saintonge, Elie Vivien, the preacher, was taken prisoner, and hanged
at La Rochelle. His body remained for twenty-four hours on the
gallows. It was then placed upon a forked gibbet, where it hung until
the bones were picked clean by the crows and bleached by the wind and
the sun.[63]
[Footnote 63: E. Hughes, "Histoire de la Restauration," &c.,
ii. 202.]
The same series of persecutions went on from one year to another. It
was a miserable monotony of cruelty. There was hanging for the
pastors; the galleys for men attending meetings in the Desert; the
prisons and convents for women and children. Wherever it was found
that persons had been married by the Huguenot pastors, they were haled
before the magistrate, fined and imprisoned, and told that they had
been merely living in concubinage, and that their children were
illegitimate.
Sometimes it was thought that the persecutors would relent. France was
again engaged in a disastrous war with England and Austria; and it was
feared that England would endeavour to stir up a rebellion amongst the
Huguenots. But the pastors met in a general synod, and passed
resolutions assuring the government of their loyalty to the King,[64]
and of their devotion to the laws of France!
[Footnote 64: On the 1st of November, 1746, the ministers of
Languedoc met in haste, and wrote to the Intendant, Le Nain:
"Monseigneur, nous n'avons aucune connaissance de ces gens
qu'on appelle émissaires, et qu'on dit être envoyés des pays
étrangers pour solliciter les Protestants à la révolte. Nous
avons exhorté, et nous nous proposons d'exhorter encore dans
toutes les occasions, nos troupeaux à la soumission au
souverain et à la patience dans les afflictions, et de nous
écarter jamais de la pratique de ce précepte: Craignez Dieu
et honorez le roi."]
Their "loyalty" proved of no use. The towns of Languedoc were as
heavily fined as before, for attending meetings in the Desert.[65]
Children were, as usual, taken away from their parents and placed in
Jesuit convents. Le Nain apprehended Jean Desjours, and had him hanged
at Montpellier, on the ground that he had accompanied the peasants
who, as above recited, went into Vernoux after the martyr Désubas.
[Footnote 65: Près de Saint-Ambroix (Cevennes) se tint un
jour une assemblée. Survint un détachement. Les femmes et les
filles furent dépouillées, violées, et quelques hommes furent
blessés.--E. HUGHES, _Histoire de la Restauration, &c._, ii.
212.]
The Catholics would not even allow Protestant corpses to be buried in
peace. At Levaur a well-known Huguenot died. Two of his friends went
to dig a grave for him by night; they were observed by spies and
informed against. By dint of money and entreaties, however, the
friends succeeded in getting the dead man buried. The populace,
stirred up by the White Penitents (monks), opened the grave, took out
the corpse, sawed the head from the body, and prepared to commit
further outrages, when the police interfered, and buried the body
again, in consideration of the large sum that had been paid to the
authorities for its interment.
The populace were always wild for an exhibition of cruelty. In
Provence, a Protestant named Montague died, and was secretly interred.
The Catholics having discovered the place where he was buried
determined to disinter him. The grave was opened, and the corpse taken
out. A cord was attached to the neck, and the body was hauled through
the village to the music of a tambourine and flageolet. At every step
it was kicked or mauled by the crowd who accompanied it. Under the
kicks the corpse burst. The furious brutes then took out the entrails
and attached them to poles, going through the village crying, "Who
wants preachings? Who wants preachings?"[66]
[Footnote 66: Antoine Court, "Mémoire Historique," 140.]
To such a pitch of brutality had the kings of France and their
instigators, the Jesuits--who, since the Revocation of the Edict, had
nearly the whole education of the country in their hands--reduced the
people; from whom they were themselves, however, to suffer almost an
equal amount of indignity.
In the midst of these hangings and cruelties, the bishops again
complained bitterly of the tolerance granted to the Huguenots. M. de
Montclus, Bishop of Alais, urged "that the true cause of all the evils
that afflict the country was the relaxation of the laws against heresy
by the magistrates, that they gave themselves no trouble to persecute
the Protestants, and that their further emigration from the kingdom
was no more to be feared than formerly." It was, they alleged, a great
danger to the country that there should be in it two millions of men
allowed to live without church and outside the law.[67]
[Footnote 67: See "Memorial of General Assembly of Clergy to
the King," in _Collection des procès-verbaux_, 345.]
The afflicted Church at this time had many misfortunes to contend
with. In 1748, the noble, self-denying, indefatigable Claris died--one
of the few Protestant pastors who died in his bed. In 1750, the
eloquent young preacher, François Benezet,[68] was taken and hanged at
Montpellier. Meetings in the Desert were more vigorously attacked and
dispersed, and when surrounded by the soldiers, most persons were
shot; the others were taken prisoners.
[Footnote 68: The King granted 480 livres of reward to the
spy who detected Benezet and procured his apprehension by the
soldiers.]
The Huguenot pastors repeatedly addressed Louis XV. and his ministers,
appealing to them for protection as loyal subjects. In 1750 they
addressed the King in a new memorial, respectfully representing that
their meetings for public worship, sacraments, baptisms, and
marriages, were matters of conscience. They added: "Your troops pursue
us in the deserts as if we were wild beasts; our property is
confiscated; our children are torn from us; we are condemned to the
galleys; and although our ministers continually exhort us to discharge
our duty as good citizens and faithful subjects, a price is set upon
their heads, and when they are taken, they are cruelly executed." But
Louis XV. and his ministers gave no greater heed to this petition than
they had done to those which had preceded it.
After occasional relays the Catholic persecutions again broke out. In
1752 there was a considerable emigration in consequence of a new
intendant having been appointed to Languedoc. The Catholics called
upon him to put in force the powers of the law. New brooms sweep
clean. The Intendant proceeded to carry out the law with such ferocity
as to excite great terror throughout the province. Meetings were
surrounded; prisoners taken and sent to the galleys; and all the gaols
and convents were filled with women and children.
The emigration began again. Many hundred persons went to Holland; and
a still larger number went to settle with their compatriots as silk
and poplin weavers in Dublin. The Intendant of Languedoc tried to stop
their flight. The roads were again watched as before. All the outlets
from the kingdom were closed by the royalist troops. Many of the
intending emigrants were made prisoners. They were spoiled of
everything, robbed of their money, and thrown into gaol. Nevertheless,
another large troop started, passed through Switzerland, and reached
Ireland at the end of the year.
At the same time, emigration was going on from Normandy and Poitou,
where persecution was compelling the people to fly from their own
shores and take refuge in England. This religious emigration of 1752
was, however, almost the last which took place from France. Though the
persecutions were drawing to an end, they had not yet come to a close.
In 1754, the young pastor Tessier (called Lafage), had just returned
from Lausanne, where he had been pursuing his studies for three years.
He had been tracked by a spy to a certain house, where he had spent
the night. Next morning the house was surrounded by soldiers. Tessier
tried to escape by getting out of a top window and running along the
roofs of the adjoining houses. A soldier saw him escaping and shot at
him. He was severely wounded in the arm. He was captured, taken before
the Intendant of Languedoc, condemned, and hanged in the course of the
same day.
Religious meetings also continued to be surrounded, and were treated
in the usual brutal manner. For instance, an assembly was held in
Lower Languedoc on the 8th of August, 1756, for the purpose of
ordaining to the ministry three young men who had arrived from
Lausanne, where they had been educated. A number of pastors were
present, and as many as from ten to twelve thousand men, women, and
children were there from the surrounding country. The congregation was
singing a psalm, when a detachment of soldiers approached. The people
saw them; the singing ceased; the pastors urging patience and
submission. The soldiers fired; every shot told; and the crowd fled in
all directions. The meeting was thus dispersed, leaving the
murderers--in other words, the gallant soldiers--masters of the field;
a long track of blood remaining to mark the site on which the
prayer-meeting had been held.
It is not necessary to recount further cruelties and tortures.
Assemblies surrounded and people shot; preachers seized and hanged;
men sent to the galleys; women sent to the Tour de Constance; children
carried off to the convents--such was the horrible ministry of torture
in France. When Court heard of the re-inflictions of some old form of
torture--"Alas," said he, "there is nothing new under the sun. In all
times, the storm of persecution has cleansed the threshing-floor of
the Lord."
And yet, notwithstanding all the bitterness of the persecution, the
number of Protestants increased. It is difficult to determine their
numbers. Their apologists said they amounted to three millions;[69]
their detractors that they did not amount to four hundred thousand.
The number of itinerant pastors, however, steadily grew. In 1756 there
were 48 pastors at work, with 22 probationary preachers and students.
In 1763 there were 62 pastors, 35 preachers, and 15 students.
[Footnote 69: Ripert de Monclar, procureur-général, writing
in 1755, says: "According to the jurisprudence of this
kingdom, there are no French Protestants, and yet, according
to the truth of facts, there are three millions. These
imaginary beings fill the towns, provinces, and rural
districts, and the capital alone contains sixty thousand of
them."]
Then followed the death of Antoine Court himself in Switzerland--after
watching over the education and training of preachers at the Lausanne
Seminary. Feeling his powers beginning to fail, he had left Lausanne,
and resided at Timonex. There, assisted by his son Court de Gébelin,
Professor of Logic at the College, he conducted an immense
correspondence with French Protestants at home and abroad.
Court's wife died in 1755, to his irreparable loss. His "Rachel,"
during his many years of peril, had been his constant friend and
consoler. Unable, after her death, to live at Timonex, so full of
cruel recollections, Court returned to Lausanne. He did not long
survive his wife's death. While engaged in writing the history of the
Reformed Church of France, he was taken ill. His history of the
Camisards was sent to press, and he lived to revise the first
proof-sheets. But he did not survive to see the book published. He
died on the 15th June, 1760, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
From the time of Court's death--indeed from the time that Court left
France to settle at Lausanne--Paul Rabaut continued to be looked upon
as the leader and director of the proscribed Huguenot Church. Rabaut
originally belonged to Bedarieux in Languedoc. He was a great friend
of Pradel's. Rabaut served the Church at Nismes, and Pradel at Uzes.
Both spent two years at Lausanne in 1744-5. Court entertained the
highest affection for Rabaut, and regarded him as his successor. And
indeed he nobly continued the work which Court had begun.
Besides being zealous, studious, and pious, Rabaut was firm, active,
shrewd, and gentle. He stood strongly upon moral force. Once, when the
Huguenots had become more than usually provoked by the persecutions
practised on them, they determined to appear armed at the assemblies.
Rabaut peremptorily forbade it. If they persevered, he would forsake
their meetings. He prevailed, and they came armed only with their
Bibles.
The directness of Rabaut's character, the nobility of his sentiments,
the austerity of his life, and his heroic courage, evidently destined
him as the head of the work which Court had begun. Antoine Court! Paul
Rabaut! The one restored Protestantism in France, the other rooted and
established it.
Rabaut's enthusiasm may be gathered from the following extract of a
letter which he wrote to a friend at Geneva: "When I fix my attention
upon the divine fire with which, I will not say Jesus Christ and the
Apostles, but the Reformed and their immediate successors, burned for
the salvation of souls, it seems to me that, in comparison with them,
we are ice. Their immense works astound me, and at the same time cover
me with confusion. What would I not give to resemble them in
everything laudable!"
Rabaut had the same privations, perils, and difficulties to undergo as
the rest of the pastors in the Desert. He had to assume all sorts of
names and disguises while he travelled through the country, in order
to preach at the appointed places. He went by the names of M. Paul, M.
Denis, M. Pastourel, and M. Theophile; and he travelled under the
disguises of a common labourer, a trader, a journeyman, and a baker.
He was condemned to death, as a pastor who preached in defiance of the
law; but his disguises were so well prepared, and the people for whom
he ministered were so faithful to him, that the priests and other
spies never succeeded in apprehending him. Singularly enough, he was
in all other respects in favour of the recognition of legal authority,
and strongly urged his brethren never to adopt any means whatever of
forcibly resisting the King's orders.
Many of the military commanders were becoming disgusted with the
despicable and cowardly business which the priests called upon them to
do. Thus, on one occasion, a number of Protestants had assembled at
the house of Paul Rabaut at Nismes, and, while they were on their
knees, the door was suddenly burst open, when a man, muffled up,
presented himself, and throwing open his cloak, discovered the
military commandant of the town. "My friends," he said, "you have Paul
Rabaut with you; in a quarter of an hour I shall be here with my
soldiers, accompanied by Father ----, who has just laid the
information against you." When the soldiers arrived, headed by the
commandant and the father, of course no Paul Rabaut was to be found.
"For more than thirty years," says one of Paul Rabaut's biographers,
"caverns and huts, whence he was unearthed like a wild animal, were
his only habitation. For a long time he dwelt in a safe hiding-place
that one of his faithful guides had provided for him, under a pile of
stones and thorn-bushes. It was discovered at length by a shepherd,
and such was the wretchedness of his condition, that, when he was
forced to abandon the place, he still regretted this retreat, which
was more fit for savage beasts than men."
Yet this hut of piled stones was for some time the centre of
Protestant affairs in France. All the faithful instinctively turned to
Rabaut when assailed by fresh difficulties and persecutions, and acted
on his advice. He obtained the respect even of the Catholics
themselves, because it was known that he was a friend of peace, and
opposed to all risings and rebellions amongst his people.
Once he had the courage to present a petition to the Marquis de
Paulmy, Minister of War, when changing horses at a post-house between
Nismes and Montpellier. Rabaut introduced himself by name, and the
Marquis knew that it was the proscribed pastor who stood before him.
He might have arrested and hanged Rabaut on the spot; but, impressed
by the noble bearing of the pastor, he accepted the petition, and
promised to lay it before the king.
CHAPTER XIII
END OF THE PERSECUTIONS--THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
In the year 1762, the execution of an unknown Protestant at Toulouse
made an extraordinary noise in Europe. Protestant pastors had so often
been executed, that the punishment had ceased to be a novelty.
Sometimes they were simply hanged; at other times they were racked,
and then hanged; and lastly, they were racked, had their larger bones
broken, and were then hanged. Yet none of the various tortures
practised on the Protestant pastors had up to that time excited any
particular sensation in France itself, and still less in Europe.
Cruelty against French Huguenots was so common a thing in those days,
that few persons who were of any other religion, or of no religion at
all, cured anything about it. The Protestants were altogether outside
the law. When a Protestant meeting was discovered and surrounded, and
men, women, and children were at once shot down, no one could call the
murderers in question, because the meetings were illegal. The persons
taken prisoners at the meetings were brought before the magistrates
and sentenced to punishments even worse than death. They might be sent
to the galleys, to spend the remainder of their lives amongst
thieves, murderers, and assassins. Women and children found at such
meetings might also be sentenced to be imprisoned in the Tour de
Constance. There were even cases of boys of twelve years old having
been sent to the galleys for life, because of having accompanied their
parents to "the Preaching."[70]
[Footnote 70: Athanase Coquerel, "Les Forçats pour la Foi,"
91.]
The same cruelties were at that time practised upon the common people
generally, whether they were Huguenots or not. The poor creatures,
whose only pleasure consisted in sometimes hunting a Protestant, were
so badly off in some districts of France that they even fed upon
grass. The most distressed districts in France were those in which the
bishops and clergy were the principal owners of land. They were the
last to abandon slavery, which continued upon their estates until
after the Revolution.
All these abominations had grown up in France, because the people had
begun to lose the sense of individual liberty. Louis XIV. had in his
time prohibited the people from being of any religion different from
his own. "His Majesty," said his Prime Minister Louvois, "will not
suffer any person to remain in his kingdom who shall not be of his
religion." And Louis XV. continued the delusion. The whole of the
tyrannical edicts and ordinances of Louis XIV. continued to be
maintained.
It was not that Louis XIV. and Louis XV. were kings of any virtue or
religion. Both were men of exceedingly immoral habits. We have
elsewhere described Louis XIV., but Louis XV., the Well-beloved, was
perhaps the greatest profligate of the two. Madame de Pompadour, when
she ceased to be his mistress, became his procuress. This infamous
woman had the command of the state purse, and she contrived to build
for the sovereign a harem, called the Parc-aux-Cerfs, in the park of
Versailles, which cost the country at least a hundred millions of
francs.[71] The number of young girls taken from Paris to this place
excited great public discontent; and though morals generally were not
very high at that time, the debauchery and intemperance of the King
(for he was almost constantly drunk)[72] contributed to alienate the
nation, and to foster those feelings of hatred which broke forth
without restraint in the ensuing reign.
[Footnote 71: "Madame de Pompadour découvrit que Louis XV.
pourrait lui-même s'amuser à faire l'éducation de ces jeunes
malheureuses. De petites filles de neuf à douze ans,
lorsqu'elles avaient attiré les regards de la police par leur
beauté, étaient enlevées à leurs mères par plusieurs
artifices, conduites à Versailles, et retenues dans les
parties les plus élevées et les plus inaccessibles des petits
appartements du roi.... Le nombre des malheureuses qui
passèrent successivement à Parc-aux-Cerfs est immense; à leur
sortie elles étaient mariées à des hommes vils ou crédules
auxquels elles apportaient une bonne dot. Quelques unes
conservaient un traitement fort considerable." "Les dépenses
du Parc-aux-Cerfs, dit Lacratelle, se payaient avec des
acquits du comptant. Il est difficile de les évaluer; mais il
ne peut y avoir aucune exagération à affirmer qu'elles
coûtèrent plus de 100 millions à l'État. Dans quelques
libelles on les porte jusqu'à un milliard."--SISMONDI,
_Histoire de Française_, Brussels, 1844, xx. 153-4. The
account given by Sismondi of the debauches of this persecutor
of the Huguenots is very full. It is _not_ given in the "Old
Court Life of France," recently written by a lady.]
[Footnote 72: Sismondi, xx. 157.]
In the midst of all this public disregard for virtue, a spirit of
ribaldry and disregard for the sanctions of religion had long been
making its appearance in the literature of the time. The highest
speculations which can occupy the attention of man were touched with a
recklessness and power, a brilliancy of touch and a bitterness of
satire, which forced the sceptical productions of the day upon the
notice of all who studied, read, or delighted in literature;--for
those were the days of Voltaire, Rousseau, Condorcet, and the great
men of "The Encyclopædia."
While the King indulged in his vicious pleasures, and went reeking
from his debaucheries to obtain absolution from his confessors, the
persecution of the Protestants went on as before. Nor was it until
public opinion (such as it was) was brought to bear upon the hideous
incongruity that religious persecutions were at once brought summarily
to an end.
The last executions of Huguenots in France because of their
Protestantism occurred in 1762. Francis Rochette, a young pastor,
twenty-six years old, was laid up by sickness at Montauban. He
recovered sufficiently to proceed to the waters of St. Antonin for the
recovery of his health, when he was seized, together with his two
guides or bearers, by the burgess guard of the town of Caussade. The
three brothers Grenier endeavoured to intercede for them; but the
mayor of Caussade, proud of his capture, sent the whole of the
prisoners to gaol.
They were tried by the judges of Toulouse on the 18th of February.
Rochette was condemned to be hung in his shirt, his head and feet
uncovered, with a paper pinned on his shirt before and behind, with
the words written thereon--"_Ministre de la religion prétendue
réformée._" The three brothers Grenier, who interfered on behalf of
Rochette, were ordered to have their heads taken off for resisting the
secular power; and the two guides, who were bearing the sick Rochette
to St. Antonin for the benefit of the waters, were sent to the galleys
for life.
Barbarous punishments such as these were so common when Protestants
were the offenders, that the decision, of the judges did not excite
any particular sensation. It was only when Jean Calas was shortly
after executed at Toulouse that an extraordinary sensation was
produced--and that not because Calas was a Protestant, but because his
punishment came under the notice of Voltaire, who exposed the inhuman
cruelty to France, Europe, and the world at large.
The reason why Protestant executions terminated with the death of
Calas was as follows:--The family of Jean Calas resided at Toulouse,
then one of the most bigoted cities in France. Toulouse swarmed with
priests and monks, more Spanish than French in their leanings. They
were great in relics, processions, and confraternities. While
"mealy-mouthed" Catholics in other quarters were becoming somewhat
ashamed of the murders perpetrated during the Massacre of St.
Bartholomew, and were even disposed to deny them, the more outspoken
Catholics of Toulouse were even proud of the feat, and publicly
celebrated the great southern Massacre of St. Bartholomew which took
place in 1572. The procession then held was one of the finest church
commemorations in the south; it was followed by bishops, clergy, and
the people of the neighbourhood, in immense numbers.
Calas was an old man of sixty-four, and reduced to great weakness by a
paralytic complaint. He and his family were all Protestants excepting
one son, who had become a Catholic. Another of the sons, however, a
man of ill-regulated life, dissolute, and involved in pecuniary
difficulties, committed suicide by hanging himself in an outhouse.
On this, the brotherhood of White Penitents stirred up a great fury
against the Protestant family in the minds of the populace. The monks
alleged that Jean Calas had murdered his son because he wished to
become a Catholic. They gave out that it was a practice of the
Protestants to keep an executioner to murder their children who wished
to abjure the reformed faith, and that one of the objects of the
meetings which they held in the Desert, was to elect this executioner.
The White Penitents celebrated mass for the suicide's soul; they
exhibited his figure with a palm branch in his hand, and treated him
as a martyr.
The public mind became inflamed. A fanatical judge, called David, took
up the case, and ordered Calas and his whole family to be sent to
prison. Calas was tried by the court of Toulouse. They tortured the
whole family to compel them to confess the murder;[73] but they did
not confess. The court wished to burn the mother, but they ended by
condemning the paralytic father to be broken alive on the wheel.[74]
The parliament of Toulouse confirmed the atrocious sentence, and the
old man perished in torments, declaring to the last his entire
innocence. The rest of the family were discharged, although if there
had been any truth in the charge for which Jean Calas was racked to
death, they must necessarily have been his accomplices, and equally
liable to punishment.
[Footnote 73: Sismondi, xx. 328.]
[Footnote 74: To be broken alive on the wheel was one of the
most horrible of tortures, a bequest from ages of violence
and barbarism. It was preserved in France mainly for the
punishment of Protestants. The prisoner was extended on a St.
Andrew's cross, with eight notches cut on it--one below each
arm between the elbow and wrist, another between each elbow
and the shoulders, one under each thigh, and one under each
leg. The executioner, armed with a heavy triangular bar of
iron, gave a heavy blow on each of these eight places, and
broke the bone. Another blow was given in the pit of the
stomach. The mangled victim was lifted from the cross and
stretched on a small wheel placed vertically at one of the
ends of the cross, his back on the upper part of the wheel,
his head and feet hanging down. There the tortured creature
hung until he died. Some lingered five or six hours, others
much longer. This horrible method of torture was only
abolished at the French Revolution in 1790.]
The ruined family left Toulouse and made for Geneva, then the
head-quarters of Protestants from the South of France. And here it was
that the murder of Jean Calas and the misfortunes of the Calas family
came under the notice of Voltaire, then living at Ferney, near Geneva.
In the midst of the persecutions of the Protestants a great many
changes had been going on in France. Although the clergy had for more
than a century the sole control of the religious education of the
people, the people had not become religious. They had become very
ignorant and very fanatical. The upper classes were anything but
religious; they were given up for the most part to frivolity and
libertinage. The examples of their kings had been freely followed.
Though ready to do honour to the court religion, the higher classes
did not believe in it. The press was very free for the publication of
licentious and immoral books, but not for Protestant Bibles. A great
work was, however, in course of publication, under the editorship of
D'Alembert and Diderot, to which Voltaire, Rousseau, and others
contributed, entitled "The Encyclopædia." It was a description of the
entire circle of human knowledge; but the dominant idea which pervaded
it was the utter subversion of religion.
The abuses of the Church, its tyranny and cruelty, the ignorance and
helplessness in which it kept the people, the frivolity and unbelief
of the clergy themselves, had already condemned it in the minds of the
nation. The writers in "The Encyclopædia" merely gave expression to
their views, and the publication of its successive numbers was
received with rapture. In the midst of the free publication of
obscene books, there had also appeared, before the execution of Calas,
the Marquis de Mirabeau's "Ami des Hommes," Rousseau's "Émile," the
"Contrat Social," with other works, denying religion of all kinds, and
pointing to the general downfall, which was now fast approaching.
When the Calas family took refuge in Geneva, Voltaire soon heard of
their story. It was communicated to him by M. de Végobre, a French
refugee. After he had related it, Voltaire said, "This is a horrible
story. What has become of the family?" "They arrived in Geneva only
three days ago." "In Geneva!" said Voltaire; "then let me see them at
once." Madame Calas soon arrived, told him the whole facts of the
case, and convinced Voltaire of the entire innocence of the family.
Voltaire was no friend of the Huguenots. He believed the Huguenot
spirit to be a republican spirit. In his "Siècle de Louis XIV.," when
treating of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he affirmed that
the Reformed were the enemies of the State; and though he depicted
feelingly the cruelties they had suffered, he also stated clearly that
he thought they had deserved them. Voltaire probably owed his hatred
of the Protestants to the Jesuits, by whom he was educated. He was
brought up at the Jesuit College of Louis le Grand, the chief
persecutor of the Huguenots. Voltaire also owed much of the looseness
of his principles to his godfather, the Abbé Chateauneuf, grand-prior
of Vendôme, the Abbé de Chalieu, and others, who educated him in an
utter contempt for the doctrines they were appointed and paid to
teach. It was when but a mere youth that Father Lejay, one of
Voltaire's instructors, predicted that he would yet be the Coryphæus
of Deism in France.
Nor was Voltaire better pleased with the Swiss Calvinists. He
encountered some of the most pedantic of them while residing at
Lausanne and Geneva.[75] At the latter place, he covered with sarcasm
the "twenty-four periwigs"--the Protestant council of the city. They
would not allow him to set up a theatre in Geneva, so he determined to
set up one himself at La Chatelaine, about a mile off, but beyond the
Genevese frontier. His object, he professed, was "to corrupt the
pedantic city." The theatre is still standing, though it is now used
only as a hayloft. The box is preserved from which Voltaire cheered
the performance of his own and other plays.
[Footnote 75: While Voltaire lived at Lausanne, one of the
baillies (the chief magistrates of the city) said to him:
"Monsieur de Voltaire, they say that you have written against
the good God: it is very wrong, but I hope He will pardon
you.... But, Monsieur de Voltaire, take very good care not to
write against their excellencies of Berne, our sovereign
lords, for be assured that they will _never_ forgive you."]
But though Voltaire hated Protestantism like every other religion, he
also hated injustice. It was because of this that he took up the case
of the Calas family, so soon as he had become satisfied of their
innocence. But what a difficulty he had to encounter in endeavouring
to upset the decision of the judges, and the condemnation of Calas by
the parliament of Toulouse. Moreover, he had to reverse their decision
against a dead man, and that man a detested Huguenot.
Nevertheless Voltaire took up the case. He wrote letters to his
friends in all parts of France. He wrote to the sovereigns of Europe.
He published letters in the newspapers. He addressed the Duke de
Choiseul, the King's Secretary of State. He appealed to philosophers,
to men of letters, to ladies of the court, and even to priests and
bishops, denouncing the sentence pronounced against Calas,--the most
iniquitous, he said, that any court professing to act in the name of
justice had ever pronounced. Ferney was visited by many foreigners,
from Germany, America, England, and Russia; as well as by numerous
persons of influence in France. To all these he spoke vehemently of
Calas and his sentence. He gave himself no rest until he had inflamed
the minds of all men against the horrible injustice.
At length, the case of Calas became known all over France, and in fact
all over Europe. The press of Paris rang with it. In the boudoirs and
salons, Calas was the subject of conversation. In the streets, men
meeting each other would ask, "Have you heard of Calas?" The dead man
had already become a hero and a martyr!
An important point was next reached. It was decided that the case of
Calas should be remitted to a special court of judges appointed to
consider the whole matter. Voltaire himself proceeded to get up the
case. He prepared and revised the memorials, he revised all the
pleadings of the advocates, transforming them into brief, conclusive
arguments, sparkling with wit, reason, and eloquence. The revision of
the process commenced. The people held their breaths while it
proceeded.
At length, in the spring of 1766--four years after Calas had been
broken to death on the wheel--four years after Voltaire had undertaken
to have the unjust decision of the Toulouse magistrates and parliament
reversed, the court of judges, after going completely over the
evidence, pronounced the judgment to have been entirely unfounded!
The decree was accordingly reversed. Jean Calas was declared to have
been innocent. The man was, however, dead. But in order to compensate
his family, the ministry granted 36,000 francs to Calas's widow, on
the express recommendation of the court which reversed the abominable
sentence.[76]
[Footnote 76: It may be added that, after the reversal of the
sentence, David, the judge who had first condemned Calas,
went insane, and died in a madhouse.]
The French people never forgot Voltaire's efforts in this cause.
Notwithstanding all his offences against morals and religion, Voltaire
on this occasion acted on his best impulses. Many years after, in
1778, he visited Paris, where he was received with immense enthusiasm.
He was followed in the streets wherever he went. One day when passing
along the Pont Royal, some person asked, "Who is that man the crowd is
following?" "Ne savez vous pas," answered a common woman, "que c'est
le sauveur de Calas!" Voltaire was more touched with this simple
tribute to his fame than with all the adoration of the Parisians.
It was soon found, however, that there were many persons still
suffering in France from the cruelty of priests and judges; and one of
these occurred shortly after the death of Calas. One of the ordinary
practices of the Catholics was to seize the children of Protestants
and carry them off to some nunnery to be educated at the expense of
their parents. The priests of Toulouse had obtained a _lettre de
cachet_ to take away the daughter of a Protestant named Sirven, to
compel her to change her religion. She was accordingly seized and
carried off to a nunnery. She manifested such reluctance to embrace
Catholicism, and she was treated with such cruelty, that she fled from
the convent in the night, and fell into a well, where she was found
drowned.
The prejudices of the Catholic bigots being very much excited about
this time by the case of Calas, blamed the family of Sirven (in the
same manner as they had done that of Calas) with murdering their
daughter. Foreseeing that they would be apprehended if they remained,
the whole family left the city, and set out for Geneva. After they
left, Sirven was in fact sentenced to death _par contumace_. It was
about the middle of winter when they set out, and Sirven's wife died
of cold on the way, amidst the snows of the Jura.
On his arrival at Geneva, Sirven stated his case to Voltaire, who took
it up as he had done that of Calas. He exerted himself as before.
Advocates of the highest rank offered to conduct Sirven's case; for
public opinion had already made considerable progress. Sirven was
advised to return to Toulouse, and offer himself as a prisoner. He did
so. The case was tried with the same results as before; the advocates,
acting under Voltaire's instructions and with his help, succeeded in
obtaining the judges' unanimous decision that Sirven was innocent of
the crime for which he had already been sentenced to death.
After this, there were no further executions of Protestants in France.
But what became of the Huguenots at the galleys, who still continued
to endure a punishment from day to day, even worse than death
itself?[77] Although, they were often cut off by fever, starvation,
and exposure, many of them contrived to live on to a considerable age.
After the trials of Calas and Sirven, the punishment of the galleys
was evidently drawing to an end. Only two persons were sent to the
galleys during the year in which Pastor Rochette was hanged. But a
circumstance came to light respecting one of the galley-slaves who had
been liberated in that very year (1762), which had the effect of
eventually putting an end to the cruelty.
[Footnote 77: The Huguenots sometimes owed their release from
the galleys to money payments made by Protestants (but this
was done secretly), the price of a galley-slave being about a
thousand crowns; sometimes they owed it to the influence of
Protestant princes; but never to the voluntary mercy of the
Catholics. In 1742, while France was at war with England, and
Prussia was quietly looking on, Antoine Court made an appeal
to Frederick the Great, and at his intervention with Louis
XV. thirty galley-slaves were liberated. The Margrave of
Bayreuth, Culmbach and his wife, the sister of the Great
Frederick, afterwards visited the galleys at Toulon, and
succeeded in obtaining the liberation of several
galley-slaves.]
The punishment was not, however, abolished by Christian feeling, or by
greater humanity on the part of the Catholics; nor was it abolished
through the ministers of justice, and still less by the order of the
King. It was put an end to by the Stage! As Voltaire, the Deist,
terminated the hanging of Protestants, so did Fenouillot, the player,
put an end to their serving as galley-slaves. The termination of this
latter punishment has a curious history attached to it.
It happened that a Huguenot meeting for worship was held in the
neighbourhood of Nismes, on the first day of January, 1756. The place
of meeting was called the Lecque,[78] situated immediately north of
the Tour Magne, from which the greater part of the city has been
built. It was a favourable place for holding meetings; but it was not
so favourable for those who wished to escape. The assembly had
scarcely been constituted by prayer, when the alarm was given that the
soldiers were upon them! The people fled on all sides. The youngest
and most agile made their escape by climbing the surrounding rocks.
[Footnote 78: This secret meeting-place of the Huguenots is
well known from the engraved picture of Boze.]
Amongst these, Jean Fabre, a young silk merchant of Nismes, was
already beyond reach of danger, when he heard that his father had been
made a prisoner. The old man, who was seventy-eight, could not climb
as the others had done, and the soldiers had taken him and were
leading him away. The son, who knew that his father would be sentenced
to the galleys for life, immediately determined, if possible, to
rescue him from this horrible fate. He returned to the group of
soldiers who had his father in charge, and asked them to take him
prisoner in his place. On their refusal, he seized his father and drew
him from their grasp, insisting upon them taking himself instead. The
sergeant in command at first refused to adopt this strange
substitution; but, conquered at last by the tears and prayers of the
son, he liberated the aged man and accepted Jean Fabre as his
prisoner.
Jean Fabre was first imprisoned at Nismes, where he was prevented
seeing any of his friends, including a certain young lady to whom he
was about shortly to be married. He was then transferred to
Montpellier to be judged; where, of course, he was condemned, as he
expected, to be sent to the galleys for life. With this dreadful
prospect before him, of separation from all that he loved--from his
father, for whom he was about to suffer so much; from his betrothed,
who gave up all hope of ever seeing him again--and having no prospect
of being relieved from his horrible destiny, his spirits failed, and
he became seriously ill. But his youth and Christian resignation came
to his aid, and he finally recovered.
The Protestants of Nismes, and indeed of all Languedoc, were greatly
moved by the fate of Jean Fabre. The heroism of his devotion to his
parent soon became known, and the name of the volunteer convict was
in every mouth. The Duc de Mirepoix, then governor of the province,
endeavoured to turn the popular feeling to some account. He offered
pardon to Fabre and Turgis (who had been taken prisoner with him)
provided Paul Rabaut, the chief pastor of the Desert, a hard-working
and indefatigable man, would leave France and reside abroad. But
neither Fabre, nor Rabaut, nor the Huguenots generally, had any
confidence in the mercy of the Catholics, and the proposal was coldly
declined.
Fabre was next sent to Toulon under a strong escort of cavalry. He was
there registered in the class of convicts; his hair was cut close; he
was clothed in the ignominious dress of the galley-slave, and placed
in a galley among murderers and criminals, where he was chained to one
of the worst. The dinner consisted of a porridge of cooked beans and
black bread. At first he could not touch it, and preferred to suffer
hunger. A friend of Fabre, who was informed of his starvation, sent
him some food more savoury and digestible; but his stomach was in such
a state that he could not eat even that. At length he became
accustomed to the situation, though the place was a sort of hell, in
which he was surrounded by criminals in rags, dirt, and vermin, and,
worst of all, distinguished for their abominable vileness of speech.
He was shortly after seized with a serious illness, when he was sent
to the hospital, where he found many Huguenot convicts imprisoned,
like himself, because of their religion.[79]
[Footnote 79: Letter of Jean Fabre, in Athanase Coquerel's
"Forçats pour la Foi," 201-3.]
Repeated applications were made to Saint-Florentin, the Secretary of
State, by Fabre's relatives, friends, and fellow Protestants for his
liberation, but without result. After he had been imprisoned for some
years, a circumstance happened which more than anything else
exasperated his sufferings. The young lady to whom he was engaged had
an offer of marriage made to her by a desirable person, which her
friends were anxious that she should accept. Her father had been
struck by paralysis, and was poor and unable to maintain himself as
well as his daughter. He urged that she should give up Fabre, now
hopelessly imprisoned for life, and accept her new lover.
Fabre himself was consulted on the subject; his conscience was
appealed to, and how did he decide? It was only after the bitterest
struggle, that he determined on liberating his betrothed. He saw no
prospect of his release, and why should he sacrifice her? Let her no
longer be bound up with his fearful fate, but be happy with another if
she could.
The young lady yielded, though not without great misgivings. The day
for her marriage with her new lover was fixed; but, at the last
moment, she relented. Her faithfulness and love for the heroic
galley-slave had never been shaken, and she resolved to remain
constant to him, to remain unmarried if need be, or to wait for his
liberation until death!
It is probable that her noble decision determined Fabre and Fabre's
friends to make a renewed effort for his liberation. At last, after
having been more than six years a galley-slave, he bethought him of a
method of obtaining at least a temporary liberty. He proposed--without
appealing to Saint-Florentin, who was the bitter enemy of the
Protestants--to get his case made known to the Duc de Choiseul,
Minister of Marine. This nobleman was a just man, and it had been in a
great measure through his influence that the judgment of Calas had
been reconsidered and reversed.
Fabre, while on the rowers' bench, had often met with a M. Johannot, a
French Protestant, settled at Frankfort-on-Maine, to whom he stated
his case. It may be mentioned that Huguenot refugees, on their visits
to France, often visited the Protestant prisoners at the galleys,
relieved their wants, and made intercession for them with the outside
world. It may also be incidentally mentioned that this M. Johannot was
the ancestor of two well-known painters and designers, Alfred and
Tony, who have been the illustrators of some of our finest artistic
works.
Johannot made the case of Fabre known to some French officers whom he
met at Frankfort, interested them greatly in his noble character and
self-sacrifice, and the result was that before long Fabre obtained,
directly from the Duc de Choiseul, leave of absence from the position
of galley-slave. The annoyance of Saint-Florentin, Minister of State,
was so well-known, that Fabre, on his liberation, was induced to
conceal himself. Nor could he yet marry his promised wife, as he had
not been discharged, but was only on leave of absence; and
Saint-Florentin obstinately refused to reverse the sentence that had
been pronounced against him.
In the meantime, Fabre's name was becoming celebrated. He had no idea,
while privately settled at Ganges as a silk stocking maker, that great
people in France were interesting themselves about his fate. The
Duchesse de Grammont, sister of the Duc de Choiseul, had heard about
him from her brother; and the Prince de Beauvau, governor of
Languedoc, the Duchesse de Villeroy, and many other distinguished
personages, were celebrating his heroism.
Inquiry was made of the sergeant who had originally apprehended Fabre,
upon his offering himself in exchange for his father (long since
dead), and the sergeant confirmed the truth of the noble and generous
act. At the same time, M. Alison, first consul at Nismes, confirmed
the statement by three witnesses, in presence of the secretary of the
Prince de Beauvau. The result was, that Jean Fabre was completely
exonerated from the charge on account of which he had been sent to the
galleys. He was now a free man, and at last married the young lady who
had loved him so long and so devotedly.
One day, to his extreme surprise, Fabre received from the Duc de
Choiseul a packet containing a drama, in which he found his own
history related in verse, by Fenouillot de Falbaire. It was entitled
"The Honest Criminal." Fabre had never been a criminal, except in
worshipping God according to his conscience, though that had for
nearly a hundred years been pronounced a crime by the law of France.
The piece, which was of no great merit as a tragedy, was at first
played before the Duchesse de Villeroy and her friends, with great
applause, Mdlle. Clairon playing the principal female part.
Saint-Florentin prohibited the playing of the piece in public,
protesting to the last against the work and the author. Voltaire
played it at Ferney, and Queen Marie Antoinette had it played in her
presence at Versailles. It was not until 1789 that the piece was
played in the theatres of Paris, when it had a considerable success.
We do not find that any Protestants were sent to be galley-slaves
after 1762, the year that Calas was executed. A reaction against this
barbarous method of treating men for differences of opinion seems to
have set in; or, perhaps, it was because most men were ceasing to
believe in the miraculous powers of the priests, for which the
Protestants had so long been hanged and made galley-slaves.
After the liberation of Fabre in 1762, other galley-slaves were
liberated from time to time. Thus, in the same year, Jean Albiges and
Jean Barran were liberated after eight years of convict life. They had
been condemned for assisting at Protestant assemblies. Next year,
Maurice was liberated; he had been condemned for life for the same
reason.
While Voltaire had been engaged in the case of Calas he asked the Duc
de Choiseul for the liberation of a galley-slave. The man for whom he
interceded, had been a convict twenty years for attending a Protestant
meeting. Of course, Voltaire cared nothing for his religion, believing
Catholicism and Protestantism to be only two forms of the same
superstition. The name of this galley-slave was Claude Chaumont. Like
nearly all the other convicts he was a working man--a little
dark-faced shoemaker. Some Protestant friends he had at Geneva
interceded with Voltaire for his liberation.
On Chaumont's release in 1764, he waited upon his deliverer to thank
him. "What!" said Voltaire, on first seeing him, "my poor little bit
of a man, have they put _you_ in the galleys? What could they have
done with you? The idea of sending a little creature to the
galley-chain, for no other crime than that of praying to God in bad
French!"[80] Voltaire ended by handing the impoverished fellow a sum
of money to set him up in the world again, when he left the house the
happiest of men.
[Footnote 80: "Voltaire et les Genevois," par J. Gaberel,
74-5.]
We may briefly mention a few of the last of the galley-slaves. Daniel
Bic and Jean Cabdié, liberated in 1764, for attending religious
meetings. Both were condemned for life, and had been at the
galley-chain for ten years.
Jean Pierre Espinas, an attorney, of St. Felix de Châteauneuf, in
Viverais, who had been condemned for life for having given shelter to
a pastor, was released in 1765, at the age of sixty-seven, after being
chained at the galleys for twenty-five years.
Jean Raymond, of Fangères, the father of six children, who had been a
galley-slave for thirteen years, was liberated in 1767. Alexandre
Chambon, a labourer, more than eighty years old, condemned for life in
1741, for attending a religious meeting, was released in 1769, on the
entreaty of Voltaire, after being a galley-slave for twenty-eight
years. His friends had forgotten him, and on his release he was
utterly destitute and miserable.[81]
[Footnote 81: "Lettres inédites des Voltaire," publiées par
Athanase Coquerel fils, 247.]
In 1772, three galley-slaves were liberated from their chains. André
Guisard, a labourer, aged eighty-two, Jean Roque, and Louis Tregon, of
the same class, all condemned for life for attending religious
meetings. They had all been confined at the chain for twenty years.
The two last galley-slaves were liberated in 1775, during the first
year of the reign of Louis XVI., and close upon the outbreak of the
French Revolution. They had been quite forgotten, until Court de
Gébelin, son of Antoine Court, discovered them. When he applied for
their release to M. de Boyne, Minister of Marine, he answered that
there were no more Protestant convicts at the galleys; at least, he
believed so. Shortly after, Turgot succeeded Boyne, and application
was made to him. He answered that there was no need to recommend such
objects to him for liberation, as they were liberated already.
On the two old men being told they were released, they burst into
tears; but were almost afraid of returning to the world which no
longer knew them. One of them was Antoine Rialle, a tailor of Aoste,
in Dauphiny, who had been condemned by the parliament of Grenoble to
the galleys for life "for contravening the edicts of the King
concerning religion." He was seventy-eight years old, and had been a
galley-slave for thirty years.
The other, Paul Achard, had been a shoemaker of Châtillon, also in
Dauphiny. He was condemned to be a galley-slave for life by the
parliament of Grenoble, for having given shelter to a pastor. Achard
had also been confined at the galleys for thirty years.
It is not known when the last Huguenot women were liberated from the
Tour de Constance, at Aiguesmortes. It would probably be about the
time when the last Huguenots were liberated from the galleys. An
affecting picture has been left by an officer who visited the prison
at the release of the last prisoners. "I accompanied," he says, "the
Prince de Beauvau (the intendant of Languedoc under Louis XVI.) in a
survey which he made of the coast. Arriving at Aiguesmortes, at the
gate of the Tour de Constance, we found at the entrance the principal
keeper, who conducted us by dark steps through a great gate, which
opened with an ominous noise, and over which was inscribed a motto
from Dante--'Lasciate ogni speranza voi che'ntrate.'
"Words fail me to describe the horror with which we regarded a scene
to which we were so unaccustomed--a frightful and affecting picture,
in which the interest was heightened by disgust. We beheld a large
circular apartment, deprived of air and of light, in which fourteen
females still languished in misery. It was with difficulty that the
Prince smothered his emotion; and doubtless it was the first time that
these unfortunate creatures had there witnessed compassion depicted
upon a human countenance; I still seem to behold the affecting
apparition. They fell at our feet, bathed in tears, and speechless,
until, emboldened by our expressions of sympathy, they recounted to us
their sufferings. Alas! all their crime consisted in having been
attached to the same religion as Henry IV. The youngest of these
martyrs was more than fifty years old. She was but _eight_ when first
imprisoned for having accompanied her mother to hear a religious
service, and her punishment had continued until now!"[82]
[Footnote 82: Froissard, "Nismes et ses Environs," ii. 217.]
After the liberation of the last of the galley-slaves there were no
further apprehensions nor punishments of Protestants. The priests had
lost their power; and the secular authority no longer obeyed their
behests. The nation had ceased to believe in them; in some places they
were laughed at; in others they were detested. They owed this partly
to their cruelty and intolerance, partly to their luxury and
self-indulgence amidst the poverty of the people, and partly to the
sarcasms of the philosophers, who had become more powerful in France
than themselves. "It is not enough," said Voltaire, "that we prove
intolerance to be horrible; we must also prove to the French that it
is ridiculous."
In looking back at the sufferings of the Huguenots remaining in France
since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; at the purity,
self-denial, honesty, and industry of their lives; at the devotion
with which they adhered to religious duty and the worship of God; we
cannot fail to regard them--labourers and peasants though they
were--as amongst the truest, greatest, and worthiest heroes of their
age. When society in France was falling to pieces; when its men and
women were ceasing to believe in themselves and in each other; when
the religion of the State had become a mass of abuse, consistent only
in its cruelty; when the debauchery of its kings[83] had descended
through the aristocracy to the people, until the whole mass was
becoming thoroughly corrupt; these poor Huguenots seem to have been
the only constant and true men, the only men holding to a great idea,
for which they were willing to die--for they were always ready for
martyrdom by the rack, the gibbet, or the galleys, rather than forsake
the worship of God freely and according to conscience.
[Footnote 83: Such was the dissoluteness of the manners of
the court, that no less than 500,000,000 francs of the public
debt, or £20,000,000 sterling, had been incurred for expenses
too ignominious to bear the light, or even to be named in the
public accounts. It appears from an authentic document,
quoted in Soulavie's history, that in the sixteen months
immediately preceding the death of Louis XV., Madame du Barry
(originally a courtesan,) had drawn from the royal treasury
no less than 2,450,000 francs, or equal to about £200,000 of
our present money. ["Histoire de la Décadence de la Monarchie
Française," par Soulavie l'Aîné, iii. 330.] "La corruption,"
says Lacretelle, "entrait dans les plus paisibles ménages,
dans les familles les plus obscures. Elle [Madame du Barri]
était savamment et longtemps combinée par ceux qui servaient
les débauches de Louis. Des émissaires étaient employées à
séduire des filles qui n'étaient point encore nubiles, à
combattre dans de jeunes femmes des principes de pudeur et de
fidélité. Amant de grade, il livrait à la prostitution
publique celles de ses sujettes qu'il avait prématurement
corrompues. Il souffrait que les enfans de ses infâmes
plaisirs partageassent la destinée obscure et dangereuse de
ceux qu'un père n'avoue point." LACRETELLE, _Histoire de
France pendant le xviii Siècle_, iii. 171-173.]
But their persecution was now in a great measure at an end. It is
true the Protestants were not recognised, but they nevertheless held
their worship openly, and were not interfered with. When Louis XVI.
succeeded to the throne in 1774, on the administration of the oath for
the extermination of heretics denounced by the Church, the Archbishop
of Toulouse said to him: "It is reserved for you to strike the final
blow against Calvinism in your dominions. Command the dispersion of
the schismatic assemblies of the Protestants, exclude the sectarians,
without distinction, from all offices of the public administration,
and you will insure among your subjects the unity of the true
Christian religion."
No attention was paid to this and similar appeals for the restoration
of intolerance. On the contrary, an Edict of Toleration was issued by
Louis XVI. in 1787, which, though granting a legal existence to the
Protestants, nevertheless set forth that "The Catholic, Apostolic, and
Roman religion alone shall continue to enjoy the right of public
worship in our realm."
Opinion, however, moved very fast in those days. The Declaration of
Rights of 1789 overthrew the barriers which debarred the admission of
Protestants to public offices. On the question of tolerance, Rabaut
Saint-Etienne, son of Paul Rabaut, who sat in the National Assembly
for Nismes, insisted on the freedom of the Protestants to worship God
after their accustomed forms. He said he represented a constituency of
360,000, of whom 120,000 were Protestants. The penal laws against the
worship of the Reformed, he said, had never been formally abolished.
He claimed the rights of Frenchmen for two millions of useful
citizens. It was not toleration he asked for, _it was liberty_.
"Toleration!" he exclaimed; "sufferance! pardon! clemency! ideas
supremely unjust towards the Protestants, so long as it is true that
difference of religion, that difference of opinion, is not a crime!
Toleration! I demand that toleration should be proscribed in its turn,
and deemed an iniquitous word, dealing with us as citizens worthy of
pity, as criminals to whom pardon is to be granted!"[84]
[Footnote 84: "History of the Protestants of France," by G.
de Félice, book v. sect. i.]
The motion before the House was adopted with a modification, and all
Frenchmen, without distinction of religious opinions, were declared
admissible to all offices and employments. Four months later, on the
15th March, 1790, Rabaut Saint-Etienne himself, son of the long
proscribed pastor of the Desert, was nominated President of the
Constituent Assembly, succeeding to the chair of the Abbé Montesquieu.
He did not, however, occupy the position long. In the struggles of the
Convention he took part with the Girondists, and refused to vote for
the death of Louis XVI. He maintained an obstinate struggle against
the violence of the Mountain. His arrest was decreed; he was dragged
before the revolutionary tribunal, and condemned to be executed within
twenty-four hours.
The horrors of the French Revolution hide the doings of Protestantism
and Catholicism alike for several years, until Buonaparte came into
power. He recognised Catholicism as the established religion, and paid
for the maintenance of the bishops and priests. He also protected
Protestantism, the members of which were entitled to all the benefits
secured to the other Christian communions, "with the exception of
pecuniary subvention."
The comparative liberty which the Protestants of France had enjoyed
under the Republic and the Empire seemed to be in some peril at the
restoration of the Bourbons. The more bigoted Roman Catholics of the
South hailed their return as the precursors of renewed persecution:
and they raised the cry of "Un Dieu, un Roi, une Foi."
The Protestant mayor of Nismes was publicly insulted, and compelled to
resign his office. The mob assembled in the streets and sang ferocious
songs, threatening to "make black puddings of the blood of the
Calvinists' children."[85] Another St. Bartholomew was even
threatened; the Protestants began to conceal themselves, and many fled
for refuge to the Upper Cevennes. Houses were sacked, their inmates
outraged, and in many cases murdered.
[Footnote 85: See the Rev. Mark Wilks's "History of the
Persecutions endured by the Protestants of the South of
France, 1814, 1815, 1816." Longmans, 1821.]
The same scenes occurred in most of the towns and villages of the
department of Gard; and the authorities seemed to be powerless to
prevent them. The Protestants at length began to take up arms for
their defence; the peasantry of the Cevennes brought from their secret
places the rusty arms which their fathers had wielded more than a
century before; and another Camisard war seemed imminent.
In the meantime, the subject of the renewed Protestant persecutions in
the South of France was, in May, 1816, brought under the notice of the
British House of Commons by Sir Samuel Romilly--himself the descendant
of a Languedoc Huguenot--in a powerful speech; and although the
motion was opposed by the Government, there can be little doubt that
the discussion produced its due effect; for the Bourbon Government,
itself becoming alarmed, shortly after adopted vigorous measures, and
the persecution was brought to an end.
Since that time the Protestants of France have remained comparatively
unmolested. Evidences have not been wanting to show that the
persecuting spirit of the priest-party has not become extinct. While
the author was in France in 1870, to visit the scenes of the wars of
the Camisards, he observed from the papers that a French deputy had
recently brought a case before the Assembly, in which a Catholic curé
of Ville-d'Avray refused burial in the public cemetery to the corpse
of a young English lady, because she was a Protestant, and remitted it
to the place allotted for criminals and suicides. The body accordingly
lay for eighteen days in the cabin of the gravedigger, until it could
be transported to the cemetery of Sèvres, where it was finally
interred.
But the people of France, as well as the government, have become too
indifferent about religion generally, to persecute any one on its
account. The nation is probably even now suffering for its
indifference, and the spectacle is a sad one. It is only the old, old
story. The sins of the fathers are being visited on the children.
Louis XIV. and the French nation of his time sowed the wind, and their
descendants at the Revolution reaped the whirlwind. And who knows how
much of the sufferings of France during the last few years may have
been due to the ferocious intolerance, the abandonment to vicious
pleasures, the thirst for dominion, and the hunger for "glory," which
above all others characterized the reign of that monarch who is in
history miscalled "the Great?"
It will have been noted that the chief scenes of the revival of
Protestantism described in the preceding pages occurred in Languedoc
and the South of France, where the chief strength of the Huguenots
always lay. The Camisard civil war which happened there, was not
without its influence. The resolute spirit which it had evoked
survived. The people were purified by suffering, and though they did
not conquer civil liberty, they continued to live strong, hardy,
virtuous lives. When Protestantism was at length able to lift up its
head after so long a period of persecution, it was found that, during
its long submergence, it had lost neither in numbers, in moral or
intellectual vigour, nor in industrial power.
To this day the Protestants of Languedoc cherish the memory of their
wanderings and worshippings in the Desert; and they still occasionally
hold their meetings in the old frequented places. Not far from Nismes
are several of these ancient meeting-places of the persecuted, to
which we have above referred. One of them is about two miles from the
city, in the bed of a mountain torrent. The worshippers arranged
themselves along the slopes of the narrow valley, the pastor preaching
to them from the grassy level in the hollow, while sentinels posted
on the adjoining heights gave warning of the approach of the enemy.
Another favourite place of meeting was the hollow of an ancient quarry
called the Echo, from which the Romans had excavated much of the stone
used in the building of the city. The congregation seated themselves
around the craggy sides, the preacher's pulpit being placed in the
narrow pass leading into the quarry. Notwithstanding all the
vigilance of the sentinels, many persons of both sexes and various
ages were often dragged from the Echo to imprisonment or death. Even
after the persecutions had ceased, these meeting-places continued to
be frequented by the Protestants of Nismes, and they were sometimes
attended by five or six thousand persons, and on sacrament days by
even double that number.
Although the Protestants of Languedoc for the most part belong to the
National Reformed Church, the independent character of the people has
led them to embrace Protestantism in other forms. Thus, the
Evangelical Church is especially strong in the South, whilst the
Evangelical Methodists number more congregations and worshippers in
Languedoc than in all the rest of France. There are also in the
Cevennes several congregations of Moravian Brethren. But perhaps one
of the most curious and interesting issues of the Camisard war is the
branch of the Society of Friends still existing in Languedoc--the only
representatives of that body in France, or indeed on the European
continent.
When the Protestant peasants of the Cevennes took up arms and
determined to resist force by force, there were several influential
men amongst them who kept back and refused to join them. They held
that the Gospel they professed did not warrant them in taking up arms
and fighting, even against the enemies who plundered and persecuted
them. And when they saw the excesses into which the Camisards were led
by the war of retaliation on which they had entered, they were the
more confirmed in their view that the attitude which the rebels had
assumed, was inconsistent with the Christian religion.
After the war had ceased, these people continued to associate
together, maintaining a faithful testimony against war, refusing to
take oaths, and recognising silent worship, without dependence on
human acquirements. They were not aware of the existence of a similar
body in England and America until the period of the French Revolution,
when some intercourse began to take place between them.
In 1807, Stephen Grellet, an American Friend, of French origin,
visited Languedoc, and held many religious meetings in the towns and
villages of the Lower Cevennes, which were not only attended by the
Friends of Congenies, St. Hypolite, Granges, St. Grilles, Fontane's,
Vauvert, Quissac, and other places in the neighbourhood of Nismes, but
by the inhabitants at large, Roman Catholics as well as Protestants.
At that time, as now, Congenies was regarded as the centre of the
district principally inhabited by the Friends, and there they possess
a large and commodious meeting-house, built for the purpose of
worship.
At the time of Stephen Grellet's visit, he especially mentioned Louis
Majolier as "a father and a pillar" amongst the little flock.[86] And
it may not be unworthy to note that the daughter of the same Louis
Majolier is at the present time one of the most acceptable female
preachers of the Society of Friends in England.
[Footnote 86: "Life of Stephen Grellet," third edition.
London, 1870.]
It may also be mentioned, in passing, that there still exist amongst
the Vosges mountains the remnants of an ancient sect--the Anabaptists
of Munster--who hold views in many respects similar to those of the
Friends. Amongst other things, they testify against war as
unchristian, and refuse under any circumstances to carry arms. Rather
than do so, they have at different times suffered imprisonment,
persecution, and even death. The republic of 1793 respected their
scruples, and did not require the Anabaptists to fight in the ranks,
but employed them as pioneers and drivers, while Napoleon made them
look after the wounded on the field of battle, and attend to the
waggon train and ambulances.[87] And we understand that they continue
to be similarly employed down to the present time.
[Footnote 87: Michel, "Les Anabaptistes des Vosges." Paris,
1862.]
* * * * *
It forms no part of our subject to discuss the present state of the
French Protestant Church. It has lost no part of its activity during
the recent political changes. Although its clergy had for some time
been supported by the State, they had not met in public synod until
June, 1872, after an interval of more than two hundred years. During
that period many things had become changed. Rationalism had invaded
Evangelicalism. Without a synod, or a settled faith, the Protestant
churches were only so many separate congregations, often representing
merely individual interests. In fact, the old Huguenot Church required
reorganization; and great results are expected from the proceedings
adopted at the recently held synod of the French Protestant
Church.[88]
[Footnote 88: The best account of the proceedings at this
synod is given in _Blackwood's Magazine_ for January, 1873.]
With respect to the French Catholic Church, its relative position to
the Protestants remains the same as before. But it has no longer the
power to persecute. The Gallican Church has been replaced by the
Ultramontane Church, but its impulses are no kindlier, though it has
become "Infallible."
The principal movement of the Catholic priests of late years has been
to get up appearances of the Virgin. The Virgin appears, usually, to
a child or two, and pilgrimages are immediately got up to the scene of
her visit. By getting up religious movements of this kind, the priests
and their followers believe that France will yet be helped towards the
_Revanche_, which she is said to long for.
But pilgrimages will not make men; and if France wishes to be free,
she will have to adopt some other methods. Bismarck will never be put
down by pilgrimages. It was a sad saying of Father Hyacinthe at
Geneva, that "France is bound to two influences--Superstition and
Irreligion."
MEMOIRS OF DISTINGUISHED HUGUENOT REFUGEES.
I.
STORY OF SAMUEL DE PÉCHELS.
When Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, he issued a number of
decrees or edicts for the purpose of stamping out Protestantism in
France. Each decree had the effect of an Act of Parliament. Louis
combined in himself the entire powers of the State. The King's word
was law. "_L'état c'est Moi_" was his maxim.
The Decrees which Louis issued were tyrannical, brutal, and cowardly.
Some were even ludicrous in their inhumanity. Thus Protestant grooms
were forbidden to give riding-lessons; Protestant barbers were
forbidden to cut hair; Protestant washerwomen were forbidden to wash
clothes; Protestant servants were forbidden to serve either Roman
Catholic or Protestant mistresses. They must all be "converted." A
profession of the Roman Catholic faith was required from simple
artisans--from shoemakers, tailors, masons, carpenters, and
such-like--before they were permitted to labour at their respective
callings.
The cruelty went further. Protestants were forbidden to be employed as
librarians and printers. They could not even be employed as labourers
upon the King's highway. They could not serve in any public office
whatever. They were excluded from the collection of the taxes, and
from all government departments. Protestant apothecaries must shut up
their shops. Protestant advocates were forbidden to plead before the
courts. Protestant doctors were forbidden to practise medicine and
surgery. The _sages-femmes_ must necessarily be of the Roman Catholic
religion.
The cruelty was extended to the family. Protestant parents were
forbidden to instruct their children in their own faith. They were
enjoined, under a heavy penalty, to have their children baptized by
the Roman Catholic priest, and brought up in the Roman Catholic
religion. When the law was disobeyed, the priests were empowered to
seize and carry off the children, and educate them, at the expense of
the parents, in monasteries and nunneries.
Then, as regards the profession of the Protestant religion:--It was
decreed by the King, that all the Protestant temples in France should
be demolished, or converted to other uses. Protestant pastors were
ordered to quit the country within fifteen days after the date of the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. If found in the country after that
period, they were condemned to death. A reward of five thousand five
hundred livres was offered for the apprehension of any Protestant
pastor. When apprehended he was hung. Protestant worship was
altogether prohibited. If any Protestants were found singing psalms,
or engaged in prayer, in their own houses, they were liable to have
their entire property confiscated, and to be sent to the galleys for
life.
These monstrous decrees were carried into effect--at a time when
France reigned supreme in the domain of intellect, poetry, and the
arts--in the days of Racine, Corneille, Molière--of Bossuet,
Bourdaloue, and Fénélon. Louis XIV. had the soldier, the hangman, and
the priest at his command; but they all failed him. They could
imprison, they could torture, they could kill, they could make the
Protestants galley-slaves; they could burn their Bibles, and deprive
them of everything that they valued; but the impregnable rights of
conscience defied them.
The only thing left for the Protestants was to fly from France in all
directions. They took refuge in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and
England. The flight from France had begun before the Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, but after that act the flight rapidly increased. Not
less than a million of persons are supposed to have escaped from
France in consequence of the Revocation.
Steps were, however, taken by the King to stop the emigration. He
issued a decree ordering that the property and goods of all those
Protestants who had already escaped should be confiscated to the
Crown, unless they returned within three months from the date of the
Revocation. Then, with respect to the Protestants who remained in
France, he decreed that all French_men_ found attempting to escape
were to be sent to the galleys for life; and that all French_women_
found attempting to escape were to be imprisoned for life. The spies
who denounced the fugitive Protestants were rewarded by the
apportionment of half their goods.
This decree was not, however, considered sufficiently severe, and it
was shortly after followed by another, proclaiming that any captured
fugitives, as well as any person found acting as their guide, should
be condemned to death. Another royal decree was issued respecting
those fugitives who attempted to escape by sea. It was to the effect,
that before any ship was allowed to set sail for a foreign port, the
hold should be fumigated with a deadly gas, so that any hidden
Huguenot who could not otherwise be detected, might be suffocated to
death.
These measures, however, did not seem to have the effect of
"converting" the French Protestants. The Dragonnades were next
resorted to. Louis XIV. was pleased to call the dragoons his Booted
Missionaries, _ses missionnaires bottés_. The dragonnades are said to
have been the invention of Michel de Marillac, whose name will
doubtless descend to infamous notoriety, like those of Catherine de
Médicis, the Guises, and the authors of the Massacre of St.
Bartholomew.
Yet there was not much genius displayed in the invention of the
Dragonnades. It merely consisted in this: whenever it was found that a
town abounded with Huguenots, the dragoons, hussars, and troops of
various kinds were poured into it, and quartered on the inhabitants.
Twenty, thirty, or forty were quartered together, according to the
size of the house. They occupied every room; they beat their drums and
blew their trumpets; they smoked, drank, and swore, without any regard
to the infirm, the sick, or the dying, until the inmates were
"converted."
The whole army of France was let loose upon the Huguenots. They had
been beaten out of Holland by the Dutch Calvinists; and they could now
fearlessly take their revenge out of their unarmed Huguenot
fellow-countrymen. Whenever they quartered themselves in a dwelling,
it was, for the time being, their own. They rummaged the cellars,
drank the wines, ordered the best of everything, pillaged the house,
and treated everybody who belonged to it as a slave. The Huguenots
were not only compelled to provide for the entertainment of their
guests, but to pay them their wages. The superior officers were paid
fifteen francs a day, the lieutenants nine francs, and the common
soldiers three francs. If the money was not paid, the household
furniture, the horses and cows, and all the other articles that could
be seized, were publicly sold.
No wonder that so many Huguenots were "converted" by the dragoons.
Forty thousand persons were converted in Poitou. The regiment of
Asfeld was the instrument of their conversion. A company and a half of
dragoons occupied the house of a single lady at Poitiers until she was
converted to the Roman Catholic faith. What bravery!
The Huguenots of Languedoc were amongst the most obstinate of all.
They refused to be converted by the priests; and then Louis XIV.
determined to dragonnade them. About sixty thousand troops were
concentrated on the province. Noailles, the governor, shortly after
wrote to the King that he had converted the city of Nismes in
twenty-four hours. Twenty thousand converts had been made in
Montauban; and he promised that by the end of the month there would be
no more Huguenots left in Languedoc.
Many persons were doubtless converted by force, or by the fear of
being dragonnaded; but there were also many more who were ready to run
all risks rather than abjure their faith. Of those who abjured, the
greater number took the first opportunity of flying from France, by
land or by sea, and taking refuge in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, or
England. Many instances might be given of the heroic fortitude with
which the Huguenots bore the brutality of their enemies; but, for the
present, it may be sufficient to mention the case of the De Péchels of
Montauban.
The citizens of Montauban had been terribly treated before and after
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The town had been one of the
principal Huguenot places of refuge in France. Hence its population
was principally Protestant. Its university had been shut up. Its
churches had been levelled to the ground. Its professors and pastors
had been banished from France. And now it was to be dragonnaded.
The town was filled with troops, who were quartered on the
Protestants. One of the burgesses called upon the Intendant, threw
himself at his feet, and prayed to be delivered from the dragoons. "On
one condition only!" replied Dubois, "that you become a Catholic." "I
cannot," said the townsman, "because, if the Sultan quartered twenty
janissaries on me, I might, for the same reason, be forced to become a
Turk."
Although many of the townsmen pretended to be converted, the
Protestant chiefs held firm to their convictions, and resisted all
persuasions, promises, and threats, to induce them to abjure their
religion. Amongst them were Samuel de Péchels de la Boissonade and the
Marquise de Sabonnières, his wife, who, in the midst of many trials
and sorrows, preferred to do their duty to every other consideration.
The family of De Péchels had long been settled at Montauban. Being
regarded as among the heads of the Protestant party in Montauban, they
were marked out by the King's ministers for the most vigorous
treatment. When the troops entered the town on the 20th of August,
1685, they treated the inhabitants as if the town had been taken by
assault. The officers and soldiers vied with each other in committing
acts of violence. They were sanctioned by the magistrate, who
authorised their excesses, in conformity with the King's will. Tumult
and disorder prevailed everywhere. Houses were broken into. Persons of
the reformed religion, without regard to age, sex, or condition, were
treated with indignity. They were sworn at, threatened, and beaten.
Their families were turned out of doors. Every room in the house was
entered and ransacked of its plate, silk, linen, and clothes. When the
furniture was too heavy to be carried away, it was demolished. The
mirrors were slashed with swords, or shot at with pistols. In short,
so far as regarded their household possessions, the greater number of
the Protestants were completely ruined.
Samuel de Péchels de la Boissonade had no fewer than thirty-eight
dragoons and fusiliers quartered upon him. It was intended at first to
quarter these troopers on Roupeiroux, the King's adjutant; but having
promptly changed his religion to avoid the horrors of the dragonnade,
they were removed to the house of De Péchels, and he was ordered by
Chevalier Duc, their commander, to pay down the money which he had
failed to get from Roupeiroux, during the days that the troopers
should have occupied his house. De Péchels has himself told the story
of his sufferings, and we proceed to quote his own words:--
"Soon after," he says, "my house was filled with officers, troopers,
and their horses, who took possession of every room with such
unfeeling harshness that I could not reserve a single one for the use
of my family; nor could I make these unfeeling wretches listen to my
declaration that I was ready to give up all that I possessed without
resistance. Doors were broken open, boxes and cupboards forced. They
liked better to carry off what belonged to me in this violent manner
than to take the keys which my wife and I, standing on either side,
continued to offer. The granaries served for the reception of their
horses among the grain and meal, which the wretches, with the greatest
barbarity, made them trample underfoot. The very bread destined for my
little children, like the rest, was contemptuously trodden down by the
horses.
"Nothing could stop the brutality of these madmen. I was thrust out
into the street with my wife, now very near her confinement, and four
very young children, taking nothing with me but a little cradle and a
small supply of linen, for the babe whose birth was almost momentarily
expected. The street being full of people, diverted at seeing us thus
exposed, we were delayed some moments near the door, during which we
were pitilessly drenched by the troopers, who amused themselves at the
windows with emptying upon our heads pitchers of water, to add to
their enjoyment of our sad condition.
"From this moment I gave up both house and goods to be plundered,
without having in view any place of refuge but the street, ill suited,
it must be owned, for such a purpose, and especially so to a woman
expecting her confinement hourly, and to little children of too tender
an age to make their own way--some of them, indeed, being unable to
walk or speak--and having no hope but in the mercy of God and His
gracious protection."
De Péchels proceeded to the house of Marshal Boufflers, commander of
the district, thinking it probable that a man of honour, such as he
was supposed to be, would discourage such barbarities, and place the
dragoons under some sort of military control. But no! The Marshal
could not be found. He carefully kept out of the way of all Protestant
complainants. De Péchels, however, met Chevalier Duc, who commanded
the soldiers that had turned him out of his house. In answer to the
expostulations of De Péchels, the Chevalier gave him to understand
that the same treatment would be continued unless he "changed his
religion." "Then," answered De Péchels, "by God's help I never will."
At length, when De Péchels' house had been thoroughly stripped, and
the dragoons had decamped elsewhere, he received an order to return,
in order to entertain another detachment of soldiers. The criminal
judge, who had possession of the keys, entered the house, and found it
in extreme disorder. "I was obliged to remain in it," says De Péchels,
"amidst dirt and vermin, in obedience to the Intendant's orders,
reiterated in the strictest manner by the criminal judge, that I
should await the arrival of a fresh party of lodgers, who accordingly
came on the day following."
The new party consisted of six soldiers of the regiment of fusiliers,
who called themselves simply "missionaries," as distinct from the
"booted missionaries" who had just left. They were savage at not
finding anything to plunder, their predecessors having removed
everything in the shape of booty. The fusiliers were shortly followed
by six soldiers of Dampier's regiment, who were still more ferocious.
They gave De Péchels and his wife no peace day or night; they kept the
house in a constant uproar; swore and sang obscene songs, and carried
their insolence to the utmost pitch. At length De Péchels was forced
to quit the house, on account of his wife, who was near the time of
her confinement. These are his own words:--
"For a long time we were wandering through the streets, no one daring
to offer us an asylum, as the ordinance of the Intendant imposed a
fine of four or five hundred livres[89] upon any one who should
receive Protestants into their houses. My mother's house had long been
filled with soldiers, as well as that of my sister De Darassus; and
not knowing where to go, I suffered great agony of mind for fear my
poor wife should give birth to her infant in the street. In this
lamentable plight, the good providence of God led us to the house of
Mdlle. de Guarrison, my wife's sister, from whence, most fortunately,
a large number of soldiers, with their officers, were issuing. They
had occupied it for some time, and had allowed the family no rest. Now
they were changing their quarters, to continue their lawless mission
in some country town. The stillness of the house after their departure
induced us to enter it at once, and hardly had my wife accepted the
bed Mdlle. de Guarrison offered her, than she was happily delivered of
a daughter, blessed be God, who never leaves Himself without a witness
to those who fear His name.
[Footnote 89: The French livre was worth three francs, or
about two shillings and sixpence English money.]
"That same evening a great number of soldiers arrived, and took up
their quarters in M. de Guarrison's house, and two days after, this
burden was augmented by the addition of a colonel, a captain, and two
lieutenants, with a large company of soldiers and several servants,
all of whom conducted themselves with a degree of violence scarcely to
be described. They had no regard for the owners of the house, but
robbed them with impunity. They had no pity for my poor wife, weak and
ill as she was; nor for the helpless children, who suffered much under
these miserable conditions.
"Officers, soldiers, and servants pillaged the house with odious
rivalry, took possession of all the rooms, drove out the owners, and
obliged the poor sick woman (by their continual threats and abominable
conduct) to get up and try to retire to some other place. She crept
into the courtyard, where, with her infant, she was detained in the
cold for a long time by the soldiers, who would not allow her to quit
the premises. At length, however, my poor wife got into the street,
still, however, guarded by soldiers, who would not allow her to go out
of their sight, or to speak with any one. She complained to the
Intendant of their cruel ways, but instead of procuring her any
relief, he aggravated her affliction, ordering the soldiers to keep
strict watch over her, never to leave her, and to inform him with what
persons she found a refuge, that he might make them pay the penalty."
De Péchels' wife was thus under the necessity of sleeping, with her
babe and her children, in the street. After all was quiet, they sought
for a door-step, and lay down for the night under the stars.
Madame de Péchels at length found temporary shelter. Mademoiselle de
Delada, a friend of the Intendant, touched by the poor woman's sad
condition, implored the magistrate's permission to give her refuge;
and being a well-known Roman Catholic, she was at length permitted to
take Madame de Péchels and her babe into her house, but on condition
that four soldiers should still keep her in view. She remained there
for a short time, until she was able to leave her bed, when she was
privily removed to a country house belonging to Mademoiselle de
Delada, not far from the town of Montauban.
To return to Samuel de Péchels. His house was still overflowing with
soldiers. They proceeded to wreck what was left of his household
effects; they carried off and sold his papers and his library, which
was considerable. Some of the soldiers of Dampier's regiment carried
off in a sack a pair of brass chimney dogs, the shovel and tongs, a
grate, and some iron spits, the wretched remains of his household
furniture. They proceeded to lay waste his farms and carry off his
cattle, selling the latter by public auction in the square. They next
pulled down his house, and sold the materials. After this, ten
soldiers were quartered in a neighbouring tavern, at De Péchels'
expense. Not being able to pay the expenses, the Intendant sent some
archers to him to say that he would be carried off to prison unless
he changed his religion. To that proposal he answered, as before, that
"by the help of God he would never make that change, and that he was
quite prepared to go to any place to which his merciful Saviour might
lead him."
He was accordingly taken, into custody, and placed, for a time, in the
Royal Château. On the same day, his sister De Darassus was committed
to prison. Still holding steadfast by his faith, De Péchels was, after
a month's imprisonment at Montauban, removed to the prison of Cahors,
where he was put into the lowest dungeon. "By the grace of my
Saviour," said he, "I strengthened myself more in my determination to
die rather than renounce the truth."
After lying for more than three months in the dampest mould of the
lowest dungeon in the prison of Cahors, and being still found
immovable in his faith, De Péchels was ordered to be taken to the
citadel of Montpellier, to wait there until he could be transported to
America. His wife, the Marquise de Sabonnières, having heard of his
condemnation (though he was never tried), determined to see him before
he left France for ever. The road from Cahors to Montpellier did not
pass through Montauban, but a few miles to the east of it. Having
spent the night in prayer to God, that He might endow her with
firmness to sustain the trials of a scene, which was as heroic in her
as it was touching to those who witnessed it, she went forth in the
morning to wait along the roadside for the arrival of the illustrious
body of prisoners, who were on their way, some to the galleys, some to
banishment, some to imprisonment, and some to death.
At length the glorious band arrived. They were chained two and two.
They were for the most part ladies and gentlemen who had refused to
abjure their religion. Among them were M. Desparvés, a gentleman from
the neighbourhood of Laitoure, old and blind, led by his wife; M. de
la Rességuerie, of Montauban, and many more. Madame de Péchels
implored leave of the guard who conducted the prisoners to have an
interview with her husband. It was granted. She had been supplied with
the fortitude for which she had so ardently and piously prayed to God
during the whole of the past night. It seemed as if some supernatural
power had prompted the discourse with her husband, which softened the
hearts of those who, up to that time, had appeared inaccessible to the
sentiments of humanity. The superintendent allowed the noble couple to
pray together; after which they were separated without the least
weakness betraying itself on the part of Madame de Péchels, who
remained unmoved, whilst all the bystanders were melted into tears.
The procession of guards and prisoners then went on its way.
The trials of Madame de Péchels were not yet ended. Though she had
parted with her husband, who was now on his way to banishment, she had
still the children with her; and, cruellest torture of all! these were
now to be torn from her. One evening a devoted friend came to inform
her that a body of men were to arrive next morning and take her
children, even the baby from her breast, and immure them in a convent.
She was also informed that she herself was to be seized and
imprisoned.
The intelligence fell like a thunderbolt upon the tender mother. What
was she to do? Was she to abjure her religion? She prayed for help
from God. Part of the night was thus spent before she could make up
her mind to part from her innocent children, who were to be brought up
in a religion at variance with her own. In any case, a separation was
necessary. Could she not fly, like so many other Protestant women, and
live in hopes of better days to come? It was better to fly from France
than encounter the horrors of a French prison. Before she parted with
her children she embraced them while they slept; she withdrew a few
steps to tear herself from them, and again she came back to bid them a
last farewell!
At length, urged by the person who was about to give her a refuge in
his house, she consented to follow him. The man was a weaver by trade,
and all day long he carried on his work in the only room which he
possessed. Madame de Péchels passed the day in a recess, concealed by
the bed of her entertainers, and in the evening she came out, and the
good people supplied her with what was necessary. She passed six
months in this retreat, without any one knowing what had become of
her. It was thought that she had taken refuge in some foreign country.
Numbers of ladies had already been able to make their escape. The
frontier was strictly guarded by troops, police, and armed peasantry.
The high-roads as well as the byways were patrolled day and night, and
all the bridges were strongly guarded. But the fugitives avoided the
frequented routes. They travelled at night, and hid themselves during
the day. There were Protestant guides who knew every pathway leading
out of France, through forests, wastes, or mountain paths, where no
patrols were on the watch; and they thus succeeded in leading
thousands of refugee Protestants across the frontier. And thus it was
that Madame de Péchels was at length enabled, with the help of a
guide, to reach Geneva, one of the great refuges of the Huguenots.
On arrival there she felt the loss of her children more than ever.
She offered to the guide who had conducted her all the money that she
possessed to bring her one or other of her children. The eldest girl,
then nine or ten years old, was communicated with, but having already
tasted the pleasure of being her own mistress, she refused the
proposal to fly into Switzerland to join her mother. Her son Jacob was
next communicated with. He was seven years old. He was greatly moved
at the name of his mother, and he earnestly entreated to be taken to
where she was. The guide at once proceeded to fulfil his engagement.
The boy fled with him from France, passing for his son. The way was
long--some five hundred miles. The journey occupied them about three
weeks. They rested during the day, and travelled at night. They
avoided every danger, and at length the faithful guide was able to
place the loving son in the arms of his noble and affectionate mother.
Samuel de Péchels was condemned to banishment without the shadow of a
trial. He could not be dragooned into denying his faith, and he was
therefore imprisoned, preparatory to his expulsion from France. "I was
told," he said, "by the Sieur Raoul, Roqueton (or chief archer) to the
Intendant of Montauban, that if I would not change my religion, he had
orders from the King and the Intendant to convey me to the citadel of
Montpellier, from thence to be immediately shipped for America. My
reply was, that I was ready to go forthwith whithersoever it was God's
pleasure to lead me, and that assuredly, by God's help, I would make
no change in my religion."
After five months' imprisonment at Cahors, he was taken out and
marched, as already related, to the citadel of Montpellier. The
citadel adjoins the Peyrou, a lofty platform of rock, which commands
a splendid panoramic view of the surrounding country. It is now laid
out as a pleasure-ground, though it was then the principal
hanging-place of the Languedoc Protestants. Brousson, and many other
faithful pastors of the "Church in the Desert," laid down their lives
there. Half-a-dozen decaying corpses might sometimes be seen swinging
from the gibbets on which the ministers had been hung.
A more bitter fate was, however, reserved for De Péchels. After about
a month's imprisonment in the citadel, he was removed to Aiguesmortes,
under the charge of several mounted archers and foot soldiers. He was
accompanied by fourteen Protestant ladies and gentlemen, on their way
to perpetual imprisonment, to the galleys, or to banishment.
Aiguesmortes was the principal fortified dungeon in the south of
France, used for the imprisonment of Huguenots who refused to be
converted. It is situated close to the Mediterranean, and is
surrounded by lagunes and salt marshes. It is a most unhealthy place;
and imprisonment at Aiguesmortes was considered a slower but not a
less certain death than hanging. Sixteen Huguenot women were confined
there in 1686, and the whole of them died within five months. When the
prisoners died off, the place was at once filled again. The castle of
Aiguesmortes was thus used as a prison for nearly a hundred years.
De Péchels gives the following account of his journey from Montpellier
to Aiguesmortes:--"Mounted on asses, harnessed in the meanest manner,
without stirrups, and with wretched ropes for halters, we entered
Aiguesmortes, and were there locked up in the Tower of Constance, with
thirty other male prisoners and twenty women and girls, who had also
been brought hither, tied two and two. The men were placed in an
upper apartment of the tower, and the women and girls below, so that
we could hear each other pray to God and sing His praises with a loud
voice."
De Péchels did not long remain a prisoner at Aiguesmortes. He was
shortly after put on board a king's ship bound for Marseilles. He was
very ill during the voyage, suffering from seasickness and continual
fainting fits. On reaching Marseilles he was confined in the hospital
prison used for common felons and galley-slaves. It was called the
Chamber of Darkness, because of its want of light. The single
apartment contained two hundred and thirty prisoners. Some of them
were chained together, two and two; others, three and three. The
miserable palliasses on which they slept had been much worn by the
galley-slaves, who had used them during their illnesses. The women
were separated from the men by a linen cloth attached to the ceiling,
which was drawn across every evening, and formed the only partition
between them.
As may easily be supposed, the condition of the prisoners was
frightful. The swearing of the common felons was mixed with the
prayers of the Huguenots. The guards walked about all night to keep
watch and ward over them. They fell upon any who assembled and knelt
together, separating them and swearing at them, and mercilessly
ill-treating them, men and women alike. "But all their strictness and
rage," says De Péchels, "could not prevent one from seeing always, in
different parts of the dungeon, little groups upon their knees,
imploring the mercy of God and singing His praises, whilst others kept
near the guards so as to hinder them from interfering with the little
bands of worshippers."
At length the time arrived for the embarkation of the Huguenots for
America. On the 18th of September, 1687, De Péchels, with fifty-eight
men and twenty-one women, was put on board a _flûte_ called the
_Mary_--the French _flûte_ consisting of a heavy narrow-sterned
vessel, called in England a "pink." De Péchels was carefully separated
from all with whom he had formed habits of intimacy, and whose
presence near him would doubtless have helped him to bear the
bitterness of his fate. On the same day, ninety prisoners of both
sexes were embarked in another ship, named the _Concord_, bound for
the same destination. The two vessels set sail in the first place for
Toulon, in order to obtain an escort of two ships-of-war.
The voyage was very disastrous. Three hours after the squadron had
left Toulon, the _Mary_ was nearly dashed against a rock, owing to the
roughness of the weather. Three days after, a frightful storm arose,
and dashed the prisoners against each other. All were sick; indeed, De
Péchels' malady lasted during the entire voyage. The squadron first
cast anchor amongst the Formentera Islands, off the coast of Spain,
where they took in water. On the next day they anchored in the Straits
of Gibraltar for the same purpose. They next sailed for Cadiz, but a
strong west wind having set in, the ship was forced back to the road
of Gibraltar. After waiting there for three days they again started,
under the shelter of a Dutch fleet of eighteen sail, "which," says De
Péchels, "providentially saved us from falling into the hands of the
Algerine corsairs, some of whom had appeared in sight, and from whose
hands God, in His great mercy, delivered us." As if the Algerine
corsairs would have treated the Huguenots worse than their own king
was now treating them. The Algerine corsairs would have sold them into
slavery; whilst the French king was transporting them to America for
the same purpose.
At length the squadron reached Cadiz roads. Many ships were
there--English as well as Dutch. When the foreigners heard of the
state and misfortunes of the Huguenots on board the French ships, they
came to visit them in their anchoring ground, and were profuse in
their charity to the prisoners for conscience' sake confined in the
two French vessels. "God, who never leaves Himself without witness,
brought us consolation and relief from this town, where superstition
and bigotry reign in their fullest force." As it was in De Péchels'
day, so it is now.
At length the French squadron set sail for America. The voyage was
tedious and miserable. There were about a hundred and thirty prisoners
on board. Seventy of them were sick felons, chained with heavy irons.
Being useless for the French galleys, they were now being transported
to America, to be sold as slaves. The imprisoned Huguenots--men and
women--were fifty-nine in number. They were crammed into a part of the
ship that could scarcely hold them. They could not stand upright; nor
could they lie down. They had to lie upon each other. The den was
moreover very dark, the only light that entered it being through the
narrow hatchway; and even this was often closed. The wonder is that
they were not suffocated outright.
The burning heat of the sun shining on the deck above them, the
never-ceasing fire of the kitchen, which was situated alongside their
place of confinement, created such a stifling heat, that the prisoners
had to take off their shirts to relieve their agony. The horrid stench
arising from so many persons being crowded together, and the entire
want of the means of cleanliness, caused the inmates to become covered
with vermin. They were also tormented by the intolerable thirst which
no means were taken to allay. Their feeding was horrible; for they
must be kept alive in some way, in order that the intentions of their
gracious sovereign might be carried into effect. One day they had
stinking salt beef; the next, cod fish half boiled; then peas as hard
as when they were put into the pot; and at other times, dried cod
fish, or rank cheese. These things, together with the violent motion
of the sea, occasioned severe sickness, from which many of the
sufferers were relieved by death. This deplorable voyage extended over
five months. Here is De Péchels' account of the sufferings of the
prisoners, written in his own words:--
"The intense and suffocating heat, the horrible odour, the maddening
swarm of vermin that devoured us, the incessant thirst and wretched
fare, sufficed not to satisfy our overseers. They sometimes struck us
rudely, and very often threw down sea-water upon us, when they saw us
engaged in prayer and praise to God. The common talk of these enemies
of the truth was how they would hang, when they came to America, every
man who would not go to mass, and how they would deliver the women to
the natives. But far from being frightened at these threats, or even
moved by all the barbarities of which we were the victims, many of us
felt a secret joy that we were chosen to suffer for the holy name of
Jesus, who strengthened us with a willingness to die for His sake. For
myself, these menaces had been so often repeated during my
imprisonments, that they had become familiar; insomuch that, far from
being shaken by them any more than by the sufferings to which it had
pleased my Saviour to call me, I considered them as transient things,
not worthy to be weighed against the glory to come, and such as would
procure me a weight of glory supremely excellent. 'Blessed are they
who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.'"
On the 2nd of January, 1688, the island of San Domingo came in sight.
It was for the most part inhabited by savages. The French had a
settlement on the west coast of the island, and the Spaniards occupied
the eastern part. Dense forests separated the two settlements. The
_Mary_ coasted along the island, and afterwards made sail for
Guadaloupe, another colony belonging to the French. The ship seemed as
yet to have had no proper destination, for, four days later, the
_Mary_ weighed her anchor, and sailed to St. Christopher, another
island partly belonging to the French. "It was well situated," says De
Péchels, "as may readily be believed, when I add that it possessed a
colony of Jesuits--an order which never selects a bad situation. The
Jesuits here are very rich and in high repute. Two of the fraternity,
having come on board, were received by the crew with every
demonstration of respect; and on their retirement, three guns were
fired as a mark of honour to the distinguished visitors."
The Huguenots were still under hatches,--weary, longing, wretched, and
miserable. They were most anxious to be put on shore--anywhere, even
among savages. But the _Mary_ had not yet arrived at her destination.
She again set sail, and passed St. Kitts, St. Eustace, St. Croix,
Porto Rico, and at length again reached San Domingo. The ship dropped
anchor before Port au Prince, the residence of the governor. The
galley-slaves were disembarked and sold. Some of the Huguenots were
also sold for slaves, though De Péchels was not among them. The rest
were transferred to the _Maria_, a king's ship, commanded by M. de
Beauguay, who treated the prisoners with much humanity. The ship then
set sail for Léogane, another part of the colony, where the remaining
Huguenots were disembarked. They were quartered on the inhabitants at
the pleasure of the governor.
De Péchels says that he passed his time at this place in tranquillity,
waiting till it might please God to afford him an opportunity of
escaping from his troubles. He visited the inhabitants, especially
those of his own religious persuasion--a circumstance which gave much
umbrage to the Dominican monks. They ordered some of the bigots among
their parishioners to lodge a complaint against him with the governor,
to the effect that he was hindering his fellow-prisoners from becoming
Roman Catholics, and preventing those who had become so from going to
mass. He accordingly received a verbal command from M. Dumas, the
King's lieutenant, to repair immediately to Avache (probably La
Vache), an island about a hundred leagues distant from Léogane. He was
accordingly despatched by ship to Avache, which he reached on the 8th
of June. He was put in charge of Captain Laurans, a renowned
freebooter, and was specially lodged under his roof. The captain was
ordered never to lose sight of his prisoner.
De Péchels suffered much at this place in consequence of the intense
heat, and the insects, mosquitoes, and horrible flies by which he was
surrounded. "And yet," he says, "God in His great mercy willed that in
this very place I should find the means of escaping from my exile, and
making my way to the English island of Jamaica. On the 13th of August
a little shallop of that generous nation, in its course from the
island of St. Thomas to Jamaica, stopped at Avache to water and take
provisions. Two months already had I watched for such an opportunity,
and now that God had presented me with this, I thought it should not
be neglected. So fully was I persuaded of this, that without
reflecting upon the smallness of the shallop, I put myself on board
with victuals for four days, although assured that the passage would
only occupy three. But instead of performing the passage in three
days, as we had thought, it was ten days before we made the island,
during the whole of which time I was constantly unwell from bad
weather and consequent seasickness. During the last three days I
suffered also from hunger, my provisions being spent, with the
exception of some little wretched food, salt and smoky, which the
sailors eat to keep themselves from starving. God, in His great
compassion, preserved me from all dangers, and brought me happily to
Jamaica, where, however, I thought to leave my bones."
The voyage was followed by a serious illness. De Péchels was obliged
to take to his bed, where he lay for fifteen days prostrated by fever,
accompanied by incessant pains in his head. After the fever had left
him, he could neither walk nor stand. By slow degrees his strength
returned. He was at length able to walk; and he then began to make
arrangements for setting out for England. On the 1st of October he
embarked on board an English vessel bound for London. During his
voyage north he suffered from cold, as much as he had before suffered
from heat. At length the coast of England was sighted. Two days after,
the ship reached the Downs; and on the 22nd of December it was borne
up the Thames by the tide, to within about seven miles from London
Bridge. There the ship stopped to discharge part of her cargo; and De
Péchels, having taken his place on board a small sloop for the great
city, arrived there at ten o'clock the same night.
On arrival in London, De Péchels proceeded to make inquiry amongst his
Huguenot friends--who had by that time reached England in great
numbers--for his wife, his children, his mother, and his sisters.
Alas! what disappointment! He found no wife, no child, nor any
relation ready to welcome him. His wife, however, was living at
Geneva, with their only son; for the youngest had died at Montauban
during De Péchels' exile. His daughters were still at Montauban--the
eldest in a convent. His mother and youngest sister were both in
prison--the one at Moissac, the other at Auvillard. A message was,
however, sent to Madame de Péchels, that her husband was now in
England, and longing to meet her.
It was long before the message reached Madame de Péchels; and still
longer before she could join her husband in London. While at Geneva,
she had maintained herself and her son by the work of her hands. On
receiving the message she immediately set out, but her voyage could
not fail to be one of hardship to a person in her reduced
circumstances. We are not informed how she and her son contrived to
travel the long distance of eight hundred miles (by way of the Rhine
and Holland) from Geneva to London; but at length she reached the
English capital, when she had the mortification to find that her
husband was not there, but had left London for Ireland only four days
before. During the absence of her husband, Madame de Péchels, whose
courage never abandoned her, chose rather to stoop to the most
toilsome labours than to have recourse to the charity of the
government, of which many, less self-helping, or perhaps more
necessitous, did not scruple to take advantage.
We must now revert to the circumstances under which De Péchels left
London for Ireland. At the time when he arrived in England, the
country was in the throes of a Revolution. Only a month before,
William of Orange had landed at Torbay, with a large body of troops,
a considerable proportion of which consisted of Huguenot officers and
soldiers. There were three strong regiments of Huguenot infantry, and
a complete squadron of Huguenot cavalry. Marshal Schomberg, next in
command to William of Orange, was a banished Huguenot; and many of his
principal officers were French.
James II. had so distinctly shown his disposition to carry back the
nation to the Roman Catholic religion, that the Prince of Orange, on
his landing at Torbay, was hailed as the deliverer of England. His
troops advanced direct upon London. He was daily joined by fresh
adherents; by the gentry, officers, and soldiers. There was scarcely a
show of resistance; and when he entered London, James was getting on
board a smack in the Thames, and slinking ignominiously out of his
kingdom. Towards the end of June, 1689, William and Mary were
proclaimed King and Queen of Great Britain; and they were solemnly
crowned at Westminster about three months after.
But James II. had not yet been got rid of. In the spring of 1689 he
landed at Kinsale, in Ireland, with substantial help obtained from the
French king. Before many weeks had elapsed, forty thousand Irish stood
in arms to support his cause. It was clear that William III. must
fight for his throne, and that Ireland was to be the battle-field. He
accordingly called his forces together again--for the greater part had
been disbanded--when he prepared to take the field in person. Four
Huguenot regiments were at once raised, three infantry regiments, and
one cavalry regiment. The cavalry regiment was raised by Marshal
Schomberg, its colonel. It was composed of French gentlemen, privates
as well as officers. De Péchels was offered a commission in the
regiment, which he cheerfully accepted. He assumed the name of his
barony, La Boissonade, as was common in those days; and he acted as
lieutenant in the company of La Fontain.
The regiment, when completed, was at once despatched to the north of
Ireland to join the little army of about ten thousand Protestants, who
had already laid siege to and taken the fortified town of
Carrickfergus. Schomberg's regiment embarked from Chester, on Monday,
the 25th of August, 1689; and on the following Saturday the squadron
arrived in Belfast Lough. The troopers were landed a little to the
west of Carrickfergus, and marched along the road towards Belfast,
which is still known as "Troopers' Lane." Next day the Duke moved on
in pursuit of the enemy. The regiment passed through Belfast, which
was then a very small place. It consisted of a few streets of thatched
cottages, grouped around what is now known as the High Street of
Belfast. Schomberg's regiment joined the infantry and the
Enniskilleners, who were encamped in a wood on the west of the town.
Next morning the little army started in pursuit of the enemy, who,
though in much greater numbers, fled before them, laying waste the
country. At night Schomberg's troops encamped at Lisburn; on the
following day at Dromore; on the third at Brickclay (this must be
Loughbrickland); and then on to Newry. All the villages they passed
were either burnt or burning. At length they heard that James's Irish
army was at Newry, and that the Duke of Berwick (James's natural son)
was in possession of the town with a strong body of horse. But before
Schomberg could reach the place the Duke of Berwick had evacuated it,
leaving the town in flames. The Duke had fled with such haste that he
had left some of his baggage behind him, and thrown his cannon into
the river. Schomberg ordered his cavalry to advance rapidly upon
Dundalk, in order to prevent the town from sharing the same fate as
Newry. This forced march took the enemy by surprise. They suddenly
abandoned Dundalk, without burning it, and never paused until they had
reached the entrenched camp of King James.
The weather had now become cold, dreary, and rainy. Provisions were
scarcely to be had. The people of Dundalk were themselves starving.
Strong bodies of cavalry foraged the country, but were able to find
next to nothing in the shape of food for themselves, or corn for their
horses. The ships from England, laden with provisions which ought to
have arrived at Belfast, were forced back by contrary winds. Thus the
army was becoming rapidly famished. Disease soon made its appearance,
and carried off the men by hundreds. Schomberg's camp, outside
Dundalk, was situated by the side of a marsh--a most unwholesome
position; but the marsh protected him from the enemy, who were not far
off. The rain and snow continued; the men and the horses were
perpetually drenched; and scouring winds blew across the camp. Ague,
dysentery, and fever everywhere prevailed. Dalrymple has recorded that
of fifteen thousand men who belonged to Schomberg's army, not less
than eight thousand perished. Under these circumstances, the greatly
reduced force broke up from their cantonments and went into winter
quarters. Schomberg's cavalry regiment was stationed at Lurgan, then a
small village, which happily had not been burnt. De Péchels was one of
those who had been sick in camp, and was disabled from pursuing the
campaign further. After remaining for some weeks at Lurgan, he
obtained leave from the Duke of Schomberg to return to London. And
there, after the lapse of four years, he found and embraced his
beloved and noble wife.
De Péchels continued invalided, and was unable to rejoin the army of
King William. "After some stay in London," he says, in the memoir from
which the above extracts are made, "it was the King's pleasure to
exempt from further service certain officers specified by name, and to
assign them a pension. Through a kind Providence I was included in the
number. When I had lived in London on the pension which it had pleased
the king to allow those officers who were no longer in a position to
serve him, until the 1st of August, 1692, I then left that city, in
company with my wife and son, to remove into Ireland, whither my
pension was transferred."
De Péchels accordingly arrived in Dublin, where he spent the rest of
his days in peace and quiet. He lived to experience the truth of the
promise "that every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my
name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit
everlasting life." De Péchels died in 1732, at a ripe old age, in his
eighty-seventh year, and was interred in the Huguenot cemetery in the
neighbourhood of Dublin.
And what of the children left by De Péchels at Montauban? The two
daughters who were torn from their mother's care, and immured in a
convent, were brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. The little boy,
who was also taken from her, died shortly after. The daughters
accordingly secured the possession of the family estates. The eldest
married M. de Cahuzac, and the youngest, who was taken as a babe from
her mother's breast, married M. de St. Sardos; and the descendants of
the latter still possess La Boissonade, which exists as an old château
near Montauban.
It was left for Jacob de Péchels, the only son of Samuel de Péchels
and his wife, the Marquise de Sabonnières, to build up the family
fortunes in England. Following the military instincts of the French,
he entered the English army at an early age. His name was entered
"Pechell" in his War Office commission. Probably this change of name
originated in the disposition of the naturalised Huguenots to adopt
names of an English sound rather than to retain their French names.
Numerous instances of this have already been given.[90] Jacob Pechell
was a gallant officer. He rose in the army, step by step. He fought
through the wars in the Low Countries, under Marlborough and Ligonier,
the latter being a Huguenot like himself. He rose through the various
grades of ensign, lieutenant, captain, and major, until he attained
the rank of colonel of the 16th regiment. Colonel Pechell married an
Irish heiress, Jane Elizabeth Boyd, descended from the Earls of
Kilmarnock. By her he had three sons and a daughter. Samuel, the
eldest, studied law, and became a Master in Chancery. George and Paul
obedient to their military instincts, entered the army, and became
distinguished officers. George was killed at Carthagena, and it was
left for Paul to maintain the fortunes of the family.
[Footnote 90: In "The Huguenots in England and Ireland," 319,
323, last edition.]
In those days the exiled Huguenots and their descendants lived very
much together. They married into each other's families. The richer
helped the poorer. There were distinguished French social circles,
where, though their country was forbidden them, they delighted to
speak in their own language. Like many others, the Pechells
intermarried with Huguenot families. Thus Samuel Pechell married the
daughter of François Gaultier, Esq., and his sister Mary married
Brigadier-General Cailland, of Aston Rowant.
Among the distinguished French nobles in London was the Marquis de
Montandre, descended from the De la Rochefoucaulds, one of the
greatest families in France. De Montandre was a field-marshal in the
English army, having rendered important services in the Spanish war.
His wife was daughter of Baron de Spanheim, Ambassador Extraordinary
for the King of Prussia, and descended from another Protestant
refugee. The field-marshal left his fortune to his wife, and when she
died, she left Samuel Pechell, Master in Chancery, her sole executor
and residuary legatee. The sum of money to which he became entitled on
her decease amounted to upwards of £40,000. But Mr. Pechell, from a
highly sensitive conscience--such as is rarely equalled--did not feel
himself perfectly justified in acquiring so large a fortune until he
knew that there were no relations of the testatrix in existence, whose
claim to inherit the property might be greater than his own. He
therefore collected all her effects, and put them into Chancery, in
order that those who could make good their claims by kindred to the
Marchioness might do so before the Chancellor. Accordingly, one family
from Berlin and another from Geneva appeared, and claimed, and
obtained the inheritance. These relations, in acknowledgment of the
kindness and honesty of Mr. Pechell, resolved on presenting him with a
set of Sèvres china, which was at that time beyond all price in value.
It could only be had as a great favour from the manufactory at Sèvres,
and was only purchased by, or presented to, crowned heads.[91]
[Footnote 91: This china is now at Castle Goring, and, with
the whole of the family documents, is in the possession of
the Dowager Lady Burrell.]
Paul Pechell, who had entered the army, became a distinguished
officer, and rose to the rank of general. In 1797 he was created a
baronet, and married Mary, the only daughter and heiress of Thomas
Brooke, Esq., of Pagglesham, Essex. His eldest son, Sir Thomas, was a
major-general in the army, and was for some time M.P. for Downton. The
second son, Augustus, was appointed Receiver-General of the Post
Office in 1785, and of the Customs in 1790. Many of his descendants
still survive, and the baronetcy reverted to his second son. He was
succeeded by his two sons, one of whom became rear-admiral, and the
other vice-admiral. The latter, Sir George Richard Brooke Pechell,
entered the Royal Navy in 1803, and served with distinction in several
engagements. After the peace, he represented the important borough of
Brighton in Parliament for twenty-four years. He married the daughter
and coheir of Cecil, Lord Zouche, and added Castle Goring to part of
the ancient possessions of the Bisshopp family, which she inherited at
her father's death.
William Cecil Pechell, the only son of Sir George, again following the
military instincts of his race, entered the army, and became captain
of the 77th regiment, with which he served during the Crimean war. He
fell leading on his men to repel an attack made by the Russians on the
advanced trenches before Sebastopol, on the 3rd of September, 1855. He
was beloved and deeply lamented by all who knew him; and sorrow at his
loss was expressed by the Queen, by the Commander-in-Chief, by the
whole of the light division, and by the mayor and principal
inhabitants of Brighton. A statue of Captain Pechell, by Noble, was
erected by public subscription, and now stands in the Pavilion at
Brighton.
II.
CAPTAIN RAPIN,
AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF ENGLAND."
When Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, he expelled from France
nearly all his subjects who would not conform to the Roman Catholic
religion. He drove out the manufacturers, who were for the most part
Protestants, and thus destroyed the manufacturing supremacy of France.
He expelled Protestants of every class--advocates, judges, doctors,
artists, scientists, teachers, and professors. And, last of all, he
expelled the Protestant soldiers and sailors.
According to Vauban, 12,000 tried soldiers, 9,000 sailors, and 600
officers left France, and entered into foreign service. Some went to
England, some to Holland, and some to Prussia. Those who took refuge
in Holland entered the service of William, Prince of Orange. Most of
them accompanied him to Torbay in 1688. They fought against the armies
of Louis XIV. at the Boyne, at Athlone, and at Aughrim, and finally
drove the French out of Ireland.
The sailors also did good service under the flags of England and
Holland. They distinguished themselves at the sea-fight off La Hogue,
where the English and Dutch fleets annihilated the expedition
prepared by Louis XIV. for a descent upon England.
The expatriated French soldiers occasionally revisited the country of
their birth, not as friends, but as enemies. They encountered the
armies of Louis XIV. in all the battles of the Low Countries. They
fought at Ramilies, Blenheim, and Malplacquet. A Huguenot engineer
directed the operations at the siege of Namur, which ended in the
capture of the fortress. Another Huguenot engineer conducted the
operations at Lisle, which was also taken by the allied forces. While
there, a flying party, consisting chiefly of French Huguenots,
penetrated as far as the neighbourhood of Paris, when they nearly
succeeded in carrying off the Dauphin.
The Huguenot officers who took refuge in Prussia entered the service
of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. Some were raised to the
highest offices in his army. Marshal Schomberg was one of the number.
But when he found that William of Orange was assembling a large force
in Holland for the purpose of making a descent upon England, he
requested leave to join him; and his friend Prince Frederick William,
though with great regret, at length granted him permission to leave
the Prussian service.
The subject of the following narrative was a French refugee, who
entered the service of William of Orange. To find the beginning of his
ancestry, we must reach far back into history. The Rapins were
supposed to have been driven from the Campagna of Rome during the
persecutions of Nero. They took refuge in one of the wildest and most
picturesque valleys of the Alps. In 1250 we find the Rapins
established near Saint-Jean de la Maurienne, in Savoy, close upon the
French frontier. Saint-Jean de la Maurienne was so called because of
the supposed relic of the bones of St. John the Baptist, which had
been deposited there by a female pilgrim, Sainte Thècle, who was, it
is supposed, a Rapin by birth. The fief of Chaudane en Valloires was
the patrimony of the Rapins, which they long continued to hold. In
1692 the descendants of the family endeavoured to prove, from the
numerous titles which they possessed, that they had been nobles for
eight or nine hundred years.
The home of the Rapins was situated in the country of the Vaudois. In
1375 the Vaudois descended from their mountains and preached the
gospel in the valleys of Savoy. The Pope appealed to the King of
France, who sent an army into the district. The Vaudois were crushed.
Those who remained fled back to the mountains. Nevertheless the
Reformed religion spread in the district. An Italian priest, Raphaël
Bordeille, even preached the gospel in the cathedral of Saint-Jean de
Maurienne. But he was suddenly arrested. He was seized, tried for the
crime of heresy, and burnt in front of the cathedral on Holy Thursday,
in Passion Week, 1550.
Though the Rapin family held many high offices in Church and State,
several of them attached themselves to the Reformed religion. Three
brothers at length left their home in Savoy, and established
themselves in France during the reign of Francis I. Without entering
into their history during the long-continued religious wars which
devastated the south of France, it may be sufficient to state that two
of the brothers took an active part under Condé. Antoine de Rapin held
important commands at Toulouse, at Montauban, at Castres and
Montpellier. Philibert de Rapin, his younger brother, was one of the
most valiant and trusted officers of the Reformed party. He was
selected by the Prince of Condé to carry into Languedoc the treaty of
peace signed at Longjumeaux on the 20th March, 1568.
Feeling safe under the royal commission, he presented to the
Parliament at Toulouse the edict with which he was intrusted. He then
retired to his country house at Grenade, on the outskirts of Toulouse.
He was there seized like a criminal, brought before the judges, and
sentenced to be beheaded in three days. The treaty was thus annulled.
War went on as before. Two years after, the army of Coligny appeared
before Toulouse. The houses and châteaux of the councillors of
Parliament were burnt, and on their smoking ruins were affixed the
significant words, "_Vengeance de Rapin_."
Philibert de Rapin's son Pierre embraced the career of arms almost
from his boyhood. He served under the Prince of Navarre. He was almost
as poor as the Prince. One day he asked him for some pistoles to
replace a horse which had been killed under him in action. The Prince
replied, "I should like to give you them, but do you see I have only
three shirts!" Pierre at length became Seigneur and Baron of Manvers,
though his château was destroyed and burnt during his absence with the
army. Destructions of the same kind were constantly taking place
throughout the whole of France. But, to the honour of humanity, it
must be told that when his château was last destroyed, the Catholic
gentlemen of the neighbourhood brought their labourers to the place,
and tilled and sowed his abandoned fields. When Rapin arrived eight
months later, he was surprised and gratified to find his estate in
perfect order. This was a touching proof of the esteem with which this
Protestant gentleman was held by his Catholic neighbours.
Pierre de Rapin died in 1647 at the age of eighty-nine. He left
twenty-two children by his second wife. His eldest son Jean succeeded
to the estate of Manvers and to the title of baron. Like his father,
he was a soldier. He first served under the Prince of Orange, who was
then a French prince, head of the principality of Orange. He served
under the King of France in the war with Spain. He was a frank and
loyal soldier, yet firmly attached to the faith of his fathers. He
belonged to the old Huguenot phalanx, who, as the Duke de Mayenne
said, "were always ready for death, from father to son." After the
wars were over, he gave up the sword for the plough. His château was
in ruins, and he had to live in a very humble way until his fortunes
were restored. He used to say that his riches consisted in his four
sons, who were all worthy of the name they bore.
Jacques de Rapin, Seigneur de Thoyras, was the second son of Pierre de
Rapin. Thoyras was a little hamlet near Grenade, adjacent to the
baronial estate of Manvers. Jacques studied the law. He became an
advocate, and practised with success, for about fifty years, at
Castres and other cities and towns in the south of France. When the
Edict of Nantes was revoked, the Protestants were no longer permitted
to practise the law, and he was compelled to resign his profession. He
died shortly after, but the authorities would not even allow his
corpse to be buried in the family vault. They demolished his place of
interment, and threw his body into a ditch by the side of the road.
In the meantime Paul de Rapin, son of Jean, Baron de Manvers, had
married the eldest daughter of Jacques, Seigneur de Thoyras. Paul,
like many of his ancestors, entered the army. He served with
distinction under the Duke of Luxembourg in Holland, Flanders, and
Italy, yet he never rose above the rank of captain. On his death in
1685, his widow and two daughters (being Protestants) were apprehended
in their château at Manvers, and incarcerated in convents at
Montpellier and Toulouse. Her sons were also taken away, and placed in
other convents. They were only liberated after five years'
confinement.
Madame de Rapin then resolved to quit France entirely. She contrived
to reach Holland, and established her family at Utrecht. Her
brother-in-law, Daniel de Rapin, had already escaped from France, and
achieved the position of colonel in the Dutch service.
Raoul de Cazenove, the author of "Rapin-Thoyras, sa Famille, sa Vie,
et ses OEuvres," says, "The women of the house of Rapin distinguished
themselves more than once by like courage. Strengthened and fortified
by persecutions, the Reformed were willing to die in exile, far from
their beloved children who had been violently snatched from them, but
leaving with them a holy heritage of example and of firmness in their
faith. The pious lessons of their mothers, profoundly engraved on the
hearts of their daughters, sufficed more than once to save them from
apostasy, which was rendered all the more easy by the feebleness of
their youth and the perfidious suggestions by which they were
surrounded."
We return to Paul de Rapin-Thoyras, second son of Madame de Rapin. He
was born at Castres in 1661. He received his first lessons at home. He
learnt the Latin rudiments, but his progress was not such as to
please his father. He was then sent to the academy at Puylaurens,
where the Protestant noblesse of the south of France were still
permitted to send their sons. The celebrated Bayle was educated there.
But in 1685 the academy of Puylaurens was suppressed, as that of
Montauban had been a few years before; and then young Rapin was sent
to Saumur, one of the few remaining schools in France where
Protestants were allowed to be educated.
Rapin finished his studies and returned home. He wished to enter the
army, but his father was so much opposed to it, that he at length
acceded to his desires and commenced the study of the law. He was
already prepared for being received to the office of advocate, when
the royal edict was passed which prevented Protestants from practising
before the courts; and, indeed, prevented them from following any
profession whatever. Immediately after the death of his father, Paul
de Rapin, accompanied by his younger brother Solomon, emigrated from
France and proceeded into England.
It was not without a profound feeling of sadness that Rapin-Thoyras
left his native country. He left his widowed mother in profound grief,
arising from the recent death of her husband. She was now exposed to
persecutions which were bitterer by far than the perils of exile. It
was at her express wish that Rapin left his native country and
emigrated to England. And yet it was for France that his fathers had
shed their blood and laid down their lives. But France now repelled
the descendants of her noblest sons from her bosom.
Shortly after his arrival in London, Rapin made the acquaintance of
the Abbé of Denbeck, nephew of the Bishop of Tournay. The Abbé was an
intimate friend of Rapin's uncle, Pélisson, a man notorious in those
times for buying up consciences with money. Louis XIV. consecrated to
this traffic one-third of the benefices which fell to the Crown during
their vacancy. They were left vacant for the purpose of paying for the
abjurations of the heretics. Pélisson had the administration of the
fund. He had been born a Protestant, but he abjured his religion, and
from a convert he became a converter. Voltaire says of him, in his
"Siècle de Louis XIV.," "Much more a courtier than a philosopher,
Pélisson changed his religion and made a fortune."
Pélisson wrote to his friend the Abbé of Denbeck, then in London at
the court of James II., to look after his nephew Rapin-Thoyras, and
endeavour to bring him over to the true faith. It is even said that
Pélisson offered Rapin the priory of Saint-Orens d'Auch if he would
change his religion. The Abbé did his best. He introduced Rapin to M.
de Barillon, then ambassador at the English court. James II. was then
the pensioner of France, and accordingly had many intimate
transactions with the French ambassador. M. de Barillon received the
young refugee with great kindness, and, at the recommendation of the
Abbé and Pélisson, offered to present him to the King. Their object
was to get Rapin appointed to some public office, and thereby help his
conversion.
But Rapin fled from the temptation. Though no great theologian, he
felt it to be wrong to be thus entrapped into a faith which was not
his own; and without much reasoning about his belief, but merely
acting from a sense of duty, he left London at once and embarked for
Holland.
At Utrecht he joined his uncle, Daniel de Rapin, who was in command of
a company of cadets wholly composed of Huguenot gentlemen and nobles.
Daniel had left the service of France on the 25th of October, 1685,
three days after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was then
captain of a French regiment in Picardy, but he could no longer,
without denying his God, serve his country and his King. In fact, he
was compelled, like all other Protestant officers, to leave France
unless he would at once conform to the King's faith.
Rapin was admitted to the company of refugee cadets commanded by his
uncle. He was now twenty-seven years old. His first instincts had been
military, and now he was about to pursue the profession of arms in his
adopted country. His first prospects were not brilliant. He was put
under a course of discipline, his pay amounting to only sixpence a
day. Indeed, the States-General of Holland were at first unwilling to
take so large a number of refugee Frenchmen into their service; but on
the Prince of Orange publicly declaring that he would himself pay the
expenses of maintaining the military refugees, they hesitated no
longer, but voted money enough to enrol them in their service.
The Prince of Orange had now a large body of troops at his command. No
one knew for what purpose they were enrolled. Some thought they were
intended for an attack upon France in revenge for Louis' devastation
of Holland a few years before. James II. never dreamt that they were
intended for a descent upon the coasts of England. Yet he was rapidly
alienating the loyalty of his subjects by hypocrisy, by infidelity to
the laws of England, and by unmitigated persecution of those who
differed from him in religious belief. In this state of affairs
England looked to the Prince of Orange for help.
William III. was doubly related to the royal family of England. He was
nephew of Charles I. and son-in-law of James II. His wife was the
heiress-presumptive to the British throne. Above all, he was a
Protestant, while James II. was a Roman Catholic. "Here," said the
Archbishop of Rheims of the latter, "is a good sort of man who has
lost his three kingdoms for a mass!"
William was at length ready with his troops. Louis XIV. suddenly
withdrew his army from Flanders and poured them into Germany. William
seized the opportunity. A fleet of more than six hundred vessels,
including fifty men-of-war, assembled at Helvoetsluys, near the mouth
of the Maas. The troops were embarked with great celerity. William
hoisted his flag with the words emblazoned on it, "The Protestant
Religion and Liberties of England," and underneath the motto of the
House of Nassau, _Je maintiendra_--"I will maintain."
The fleet set sail on the 19th October, the English Admiral Herbert
leading the van, the Prince of Orange commanding the main body of the
fleet, and the Dutch Vice-Admiral Evertzen bringing up the rear.
The wind was fair. It was the "Protestant wind" that the people of
England had so long been looking for. In a few hours the strong
eastern breeze had driven the fleet half across the sea that divides
the Dutch and English coasts. Then the wind changed. It began to blow
from the west. The wind increased until it blew a violent tempest. The
fleet seemed to be in the midst of a cyclone. The ships were blown
hither and thither, so that in less than two hours the fleet was
completely dispersed. At daybreak next morning scarce two ships could
be seen together.
The several ships returned to their rendez-vous at Goeree, in the
Maas. They returned in a miserable condition--some with their sails
blown away, some without their bulwarks, some without their masts.
Many ships were still missing. The horses had suffered severely. They
had been stowed away in the holds and driven against each other during
the storm. Many had been suffocated, others had their legs broken, and
had to be killed when the vessels reached the shore. The banks at
Goeree were covered with dead horses taken from the ships. Four
hundred had been lost.
Rapin de Thoyras and M. de Chavernay, commanding two companies of
French Huguenots, were on board one of the missing ships. The
frightful tempest had separated them from the fleet. They had been
driven before the wind as far as the coast of Norway. They thought
that each moment might be their last. But the sailors were brave, and
the ship was manageable. After enduring a week's storm the wind at
last abated. The ship was tacked, and winged its way towards the
south. At length, after about eight days' absence, they rejoined the
fleet, which had again assembled in the Maas. There were now only two
vessels missing, containing four companies of the Holstein regiment,
and about sixty French Huguenot officers.
In the meantime the Prince of Orange had caused all the damages in the
combined fleet to be repaired. New horses were embarked, new men were
added to the army, and new ships were hired for the purpose of
accommodating them. The men-of-war were also increased. After eleven
days the fleet was prepared to put to sea again.
On the 1st of November, 1688, the armament started on its second
voyage for the English coast. The fleet at first steered northward,
and it was thought to be the Prince's intention to land at the mouth
of the Humber. But a violent east wind having begun to blow during the
night, the fleet steered towards the south-eastern coast of England;
after which the ships shortened sail for fear of accidents.
The same wind that blew the English and Dutch fleet towards the
Channel, had the effect of keeping King James's fleet in the Thames,
where they remained anchored at Gunfleet, sixty-one men-of-war, under
command of Admiral Lord Dartmouth.
On the 3rd of November, the fleet under the Prince of Orange entered
the English Channel, and lay between Calais and Dover to wait for the
ships that were behind. "It is easy," says Rapin Thoyras, "to imagine
what a glorious show the fleet made. Five or six hundred ships in so
narrow a channel, and both the English and French shores covered with
numberless spectators, are no common sight. For my part, who was then
on board the fleet, I own it struck me extremely."
Sunday, the 4th of November, was the Prince's birthday, and it was
dedicated to devotion. The fleet was then off the Isle of Wight. Sail
was slackened during the performance of divine service. The fleet then
sped on its way down-channel, in order that the troops might be landed
at Dartmouth or Torbay; but during the night the wind freshened, and
the fleet was carried beyond the desired ports. Soon after, however,
the wind changed to the south, when the fleet tacked in splendid
order, and made for the shore in Torbay. The landing was effected with
such diligence and tranquillity that the whole army was on shore
before night.
There was no opposition to the landing. King James's army greatly
outnumbered that of the Prince of Orange. It amounted to about forty
thousand troops, exclusive of the militia. But the King's forces had
been sent northward to resist the anticipated landing of the
delivering army at the mouth of the Humber, so that the south-west of
England was nearly stripped of troops.
Nor could the King depend upon his forces. The King had already
outraged and insulted the gallant noblemen and gentlemen who had
heretofore been the bulwark of his throne. He had imprisoned the
bishops, dismissed Protestant clergymen from their livings, refused to
summon a Parliament, and caused terror and dismay throughout England
and Scotland. He had created discontent throughout the army by his
dismissal of Protestant officers, and the King now began to fear that
the common soldiers themselves would fail to serve him in his time of
need.
His fears proved prophetic. When the army of the Prince of Orange
advanced from Brixton (where it had landed) to Exeter, and afterwards
to Salisbury and London, it was joined by noblemen, gentlemen,
officers, and soldiers. Lord Churchill, afterwards Duke of
Marlborough, Lord Cornbury, with four regiments of dragoons, passed
over to the Prince of Orange. The Prince of Denmark, the King's
son-in-law, deserted him. His councillors abandoned him. His
mistresses left him. The country was up against him. At length the
King saw no remedy before him but a precipitate flight.
The account given by Rapin of James's departure from England is
somewhat ludicrous. The Queen went first. On the night between the 9th
and 10th of December she crossed the Thames in disguise. She waited
under the walls of a church at Lambeth until a coach could be got
ready for her at the nearest inn. She went from thence to Gravesend,
where she embarked with the Prince of Wales on a small vessel, which
conveyed them safely to France. The King set out on the following
night. He entered a small boat at Whitehall, dressed in a plain suit
and a bob wig, accompanied by a few friends. He threw the Great Seal
into the water, from whence it was afterwards dragged up by a
fisherman's net. Before he left, he gave the Earl of Feversham orders
to disband the army without pay, in order, probably, to create anarchy
after his flight.
James reached the south shore of the Thames. He travelled, with relays
of horses, to Emley Ferry, near the Island of Sheppey. He went on
board the little vessel that was to convey him to a French frigate
lying in the mouth of the Thames ready to transport him to France. The
wind blew strong, and the vessel was unable to sail.
The fishermen of the neighbourhood boarded the vessel in which the
King was. They took him for the chaplain of Sir Edward Hales, one of
his attendants. They searched the King, and found upon him four
hundred guineas and several valuable seals and jewels, which they
seized. A constable was present who knew the King, and he ordered
restitution of the valuables which had been taken from him. The King
wished to be gone, but the people by a sort of violence conducted him
to a public inn in the town of Feversham. He then sent for the Earl of
Winchelsea, Lord-Lieutenant of the county, who prevailed upon him not
to leave the kingdom, but to return to London.
And to London he went. The Prince of Orange was by this time at
Windsor. On the King's arrival in London he was received with
acclamations, as if he had returned from victory. He resumed
possession of his palace. He published a proclamation, announcing that
having been given to understand that divers outrages had been
committed in various parts of the kingdom, by burning, pulling down,
and defacing of houses, he commanded all lord-lieutenants, &c., to
prevent such outrages for the future, and suppress all riotous
assemblies.
This was his last public act. He was without an army. He had few
friends. The Dutch Guards arrived in London, and took possession of
St. James's and Whitehall. The Prince of Orange sent three lords to
the King to desire his Majesty's departure for Ham--a house belonging
to the Duchess of Lauderdale; but the King desired them to tell the
Prince that he wished rather to go to Rochester. The Prince gave his
consent.
Next morning the King entered his barge, accompanied by four earls,
six of the Yeomen of his Guard, and about a hundred of the Dutch
Guard, commanded by a colonel of the regiment. They arrived at
Gravesend, where the King entered his coach, and proceeded across the
country to Rochester.
In the meantime, Barillon, the French ambassador, was requested to
leave England. St. Ledger, a French refugee, was requested to attend
him and see him embark. While they were on the road St. Ledger could
not forbear saying to the ambassador, "Sir, had any one told you a
year ago that a French refugee should be commissioned to see you out
of England, would you have believed it?" To which the ambassador
answered, "Sir, cross over with me to Calais, and I will give you an
answer."
Shortly after, James embarked in a small French ship, which landed him
safely at Ambleteuse, a few miles north of Boulogne; while the army of
William marched into London amidst loud congratulations, and William
himself took possession of the Palace of St. James's, which the
recreant King had left for his occupation.
James II. fled from England at the end of December, 1688. Louis XIV.
received him courteously, and entertained him and his family at St.
Germain and Versailles. But he could scarcely entertain much regard
for the abdicated monarch. James had left his kingdom in an
ignominious manner. Though he was at the head of a great fleet and
army, he had not struck a single blow in defence of his kingly rights
And now he had come to the court of Louis XIV. to beg for the
assistance of a French fleet and army to recover his throne.
Though England had rejected James, Ireland was still in his favour.
The Lord-Deputy Tyrconnel was devoted to him; and the Irish people,
excepting those of the north, were ready to fight for him. About a
hundred thousand Irishmen were in arms. Half were soldiers; the rest
were undrilled Rapparees. James was urged by messengers from Ireland
to take advantage of this state of affairs. He accordingly begged
Louis XIV. to send a French army with him into Ireland to help him to
recover his kingdom.
But the French monarch, who saw before him the prospect of a
continental war, was unwilling to send a large body of troops out of
his kingdom. But he did what he could.
He ordered the Brest fleet to be ready. He put on board arms and
ammunition for ten thousand men. He selected four hundred French
officers for the purpose of disciplining the Irish levies. Count
Rosen, a veteran warrior, was placed in command. Over a hundred
thousand pounds of money was also put on board. When the fleet was
ready to sail, James took leave of his patron, Louis XIV. "The best
thing that I can wish you," said the French king, "is that I may never
see you again in this world."
The fleet sailed from Brest on the 7th of March, 1689, and reached
Kinsale, in the south of Ireland, four days later. James II. was
received with the greatest rejoicing. Next day he went on to Cork; he
was received by the Earl of Tyrconnel, who caused one of the
magistrates to be executed because he had declared for the Prince of
Orange.
The news went abroad that the King had landed. He entered Dublin on
the 24th of March, and was received in a triumphant manner. All Roman
Catholic Ireland was at his feet. The Protestants in the south were
disarmed. There was some show of resistance in the north; but no doubt
was entertained that Enniskillen and Derry, where the Protestants had
taken refuge, would soon be captured and Protestantism crushed.
The Prince of Orange, who had now been proclaimed King at Westminster,
found that he must fight for his throne, and that Ireland was to be
the battle-field. Londonderry was crowded with Protestants, who held
out for William III. James believed that the place would fall without
a blow. Count Rosen was of the same opinion. The Irish army proceeded
northwards without resistance. The country, as far as the walls of
Derry, was found abandoned by the population. Everything valuable had
been destroyed by bands of Rapparees. There was great want of food for
the army.
Nevertheless, James proceeded as far as Derry. Confident of success,
he approached within a hundred yards of the southern gate, when he was
received with a shout of "No surrender!" The cannon were fired from
the nearest bastion. One of James's officers was killed by his side.
Then he fled. A few days later he was on his way to Dublin,
accompanied by Count Rosen.
Londonderry, after an heroic contest, was at length relieved. A fleet
from England, laden with food, broke the boom which had been thrown by
the Irish army across the entrance to the harbour. The ships reached
the quay at ten o'clock at night. The whole population were there to
receive them. The food was unloaded, and the famished people were at
length fed. Three days after, the Irish army burnt their huts, and
left the long-beleaguered city. They retreated along the left bunk of
the Boyne to Strabane.
While the Irish forces were lying there, the news of another disaster
reached them. The Duke of Berwick lay with a strong detachment of
Irish troops before Enniskillen. He had already gained some advantage
over the Protestant colonists, and the command reached him from Dublin
that he was immediately to attack them. The Irish were five thousand
in number; the Enniskilleners under three thousand.
An engagement took place at Newton Butler. The Enniskillen horse swept
the Irish troops before them. Fifteen hundred were put to the sword,
and four hundred prisoners were taken. Seven pieces of cannon,
fourteen barrels of powder, and all the drums and colours were left in
the hands of the victors. The Irish army were then at Strabane, on
their retreat from Londonderry. They at once struck their tents, threw
their military stores into the river, and set out in full retreat for
the south.
In the meantime a French fleet had landed at Bantry Bay, with three
thousand men on board, and a large convoy of ammunition and
provisions. William III., on his part, determined, with the consent of
the English Parliament, to send a force into Ireland to encounter the
French and Irish forces under King James.
William's troops consisted of English, Scotch, Dutch, and Danes, with
a large admixture of French Huguenots. There were a regiment of
Huguenot horse, of eight companies, commanded by the Duke of
Schomberg, and three regiments of Huguenot foot, commanded by La
Mellonière, Du Cambon, and La Caillemotte. Schomberg, the old Huguenot
chief, was put in command of the entire force.
Rapin accompanied the expedition as a cadet. The army assembled at
Highlake, about sixteen miles from Chester. About ninety vessels of
all sorts were assembled near the mouth of the Dee. Part of the army
was embarked on the 12th of August, and set sail for Ireland. About
ten thousand men, horse and foot, were landed at Bangor, near the
southern entrance to Belfast Lough. Parties were sent out to scour the
adjacent country, and to feel for the enemy. This done, the army set
out for Belfast.
James's forces had abandoned the place, and retired to Carrickfergus,
some ten miles from Belfast, on the north coast of the Lough.
Carrickfergus was a fortified town. The castle occupies a strong
position on a rock overlooking the Lough. The place formed a depôt for
James's troops, and Schomberg therefore determined to besiege the
fortress.
Rapin has written an account of William's campaigns in England and
Ireland; but with becoming modesty he says nothing about his own
achievements. We must therefore supply the deficiency. Before the
siege of Carrickfergus, he had been appointed ensign in Lord
Kingston's regiment. He was helped to this office by his uncle Daniel,
who accompanied the expedition. Several regiments of Schomberg's army
were detached from Belfast to Carrickfergus, to commence the siege.
Among these was Lord Kingston's regiment.
On their approach, the enemy beat a parley. They desired to march out
with arms and baggage. Schomberg refused, and the siege began. The
trenches were opened, the batteries were raised, and the cannon
thundered against the walls of the old town. Several breaches were
made. The attacks were pursued with great vigour for four days, when a
general assault was made. The besieged hoisted the white flag. After a
parley, it was arranged that the Irish should surrender the place, and
march out with their arms, and as much baggage as they could carry on
their backs.
Carrickfergus was not taken without considerable loss to the
besiegers. Lieutenant Briset, of the Flemish Guards, was killed by the
first shot fired from the castle. The Marquis de Venours was also
killed while leading the Huguenot regiments to the breach. Rapin
distinguished himself so much during the siege that he was promoted
to the rank of lieutenant. He was at the same time transferred to
another regiment, and served under Lieutenant-General Douglas during
the rest of the campaign.
More troops having arrived from England, Schomberg marched with his
augmented army to Lisburn, Drummore, and Loughbrickland. Here the
Enniskillen Horse joined them, and offered to be the advanced guard of
the army. The Enniskilleners were a body of irregular horsemen, of
singularly wild and uncouth appearance. They rode together in a
confused body, each man being attended by a mounted servant, bearing
his baggage. The horsemen were each mounted and accoutred after their
own fashion, without any regular dress, or arms, or mode of attack.
They only assumed a hasty and confused line when about to rush into
action. They fell on pell-mell. Yet they were the bravest of the
brave, and were never deterred from attacking by inequality of
numbers. They were attended by their favourite preachers, who urged
them on to deeds of valour, and encouraged them "to purge the land of
idolatry."
Thus reinforced, Schomberg pushed on to Newry. The Irish were in force
there, under command of the Duke of Berwick. But although it was a
very strong place, the Irish abandoned the town, first setting fire to
it. This news having been brought to Schomberg, he sent a trumpet to
the Duke of Berwick, acquainting him that if they went on to burn
towns in that barbarous manner, he would give no quarter. This notice
seems to have had a good effect, for on quitting Dundalk the
retreating army did no harm to the town. Schomberg encamped about a
mile north of Dundalk, in a low, moist ground, where he entrenched his
army. Count Rosen was then at Drogheda with about twenty thousand
men, far outnumbering the forces under Schomberg.
About the end of September, King James's army approached the lines of
Dundalk. They drew up in order of battle. The English officers were
for attacking the enemy, but Schomberg advised them to refrain. A
large party of horse appeared within cannon shot, but they made no
further attempt. In a day or two after James drew off his army to
Ardee, Count Rosen indignantly exclaiming, "If your Majesty had ten
kingdoms, you would lose them all." In the meantime, Schomberg
remained entrenched in his camp. The Enniskilleners nevertheless made
various excursions, and routed a body of James's troops marching
towards Sligo.
Great distress fell upon Schomberg's army. The marshy land on which
they were encamped, the wet and drizzly weather, the scarcity and
badness of the food, caused a raging sickness to break out. Great
numbers were swept away by disease. Among the officers who died were
Sir Edward Deering, of Kent; Colonel Wharton, son of Lord Wharton; Sir
Thomas Gower and Colonel Hungerford, two young gentlemen of
distinguished merit. Two thousand soldiers died in the camp. Many
afterwards perished from cold and hunger. Schomberg at length left the
camp at Dundalk, and the remains of his army went into winter
quarters.
Rapin shared all the suffering of the campaign. When the army
retreated northward, Rapin was sent with a party of soldiers to occupy
a fortified place between Stranorlar and Donegal. It commanded the
Pass of Barnes Gap. This is perhaps the most magnificent defile in
Ireland. It is about four miles long. Huge mountains rise on either
side. The fortalice occupied by Rapin is now in ruins. It stands on a
height overlooking the northern end of the pass. It is now called
Barrack Hill. The Rapparees who lived at the lower end of the Gap were
accustomed to come down upon the farming population of the lowland
country on the banks of the rivers Finn and Mourne, and carry off all
the cattle that they could seize; Rapin was accordingly sent with a
body of troops to defend the lowland farmers from the Rapparees.
Besides, it was found necessary to defend the pass against the forces
of King James, who then occupied Sligo and the neighbouring towns,
under the command of General Sarsfield.
Schomberg was very much blamed by the English Parliament for having
effected nothing decisive in Ireland. But what could he do? He had to
oppose an army more than three times stronger in numbers than his own.
King William, Rapin says, wrote twice to him, "pressing him to put
somewhat to the venture." But his army was wasted by disease, and had
he volunteered an encounter and been defeated, his whole army, and
consequently all Ireland, would have been lost, for he could not have
made a regular retreat. "His sure way," says Rapin, "was to preserve
his army, and that would save Ulster and keep matters entire for
another year. And therefore, though this conduct of his was blamed by
some, yet better judges thought that the managing of this campaign as
he did was one of the greatest parts of his life."
Winter passed. Nothing decisive had been accomplished on either side.
Part of Ulster was in the hands of William; the remainder of Ireland
was in the hands of James. Schomberg's army was wasted by famine and
disease. James made no use of his opportunity to convert his athletic
peasants into good soldiers. On the contrary, Schomberg recruited his
old regiments, drilled them constantly, and was ready to take the
field at the approach of spring.
His first achievement was the capture of Charlemont, midway between
Armagh and Dungannon. It was one of the strongest forts in the north
of Ireland. It overlooked the Blackwater, and commanded an important
pass. It was surrounded by a morass, and approachable only by two
narrow causeways. When Teague O'Regan, who commanded the fort, was
summoned to surrender, he replied, "Schomberg is an old rogue, and
shall not have this castle!" But Caillemotte, with his Huguenot
regiments, sat down before the fortress, and starved the garrison into
submission. Captain Francis Rapin, cousin of our hero, was killed
during the siege.
The armies on both sides were now receiving reinforcements. Louis XIV.
sent seven thousand two hundred and ninety men of all ranks to the
help of James, under the command of Count Lauzun. They landed at Cork
in March, 1689, and marched at once to Dublin. Lauzun described the
country as a chaos such as he had read of in the Book of Genesis. On
his arrival at Dublin, Lauzun was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the
Irish army, and took up his residence in the castle.
On the other hand, Schomberg's forces were recruited by seven thousand
Danes, under a treaty which William III. had entered into with the
King of Denmark. New detachments of English and Scotch, of Huguenots,
Dutch, Flemings, and Brandenburgers, were also added to the allied
army.
William landed at Carrickfergus on the 14th of June. He passed on to
Belfast, where he met Schomberg, the Prince of Wurtemberg,
Major-General Kirk, and other general officers. He then pushed on to
Lisburn, the head-quarters of his army. He there declared that he
would not let the grass grow under his feet, but would pursue the war
with the utmost vigour. He ordered the whole army to assemble at
Loughbrickland. He found them to consist of sixty-two squadrons of
cavalry and fifty-two battalions of infantry--in all, thirty-six
thousand English, Dutch, French, Danes, and Germans, well appointed in
every respect. Lieutenant-General Douglas commanded the
advance-guard--to which Rapin belonged--and William III., Schomberg,
and St. Gravenmore commanded the main body.
William III. had no hesitation in entering at once on the campaign. He
had been kept too long in London by parliamentary turmoil, by
intrigues between Whigs and Tories, and sometimes by treachery on both
sides. But now that he was in the field his spirits returned, and he
determined to lose not a day in measuring swords with his enemy. He
had very little time to spare. He must lose or win his crown; though
his determination was to win. Accordingly he marched southward without
delay.
William had been in Ireland six days before James knew of his arrival.
The passes between Newry and Dundalk had been left unguarded--passes
where a small body of well-disciplined troops might easily have
checked the advance of William's army. Dundalk was abandoned. Ardee
was abandoned. The Irish army were drawn up in a strong position on
the south of the Boyne to arrest the progress of the invading army.
James had all the advantages that nature could give him. He had a deep
river in front, a morass on his left, and the narrow bridge of Slane
on his right. Behind was a rising ground stretching along the whole of
the field. In the rear lay the church and village of Donore, and the
Pass of Duleek. Drogheda lay towards the mouth of the river, where the
green and white flags of Ireland and France were flying, emblazoned
with the harp and the lilies.
William never halted until he reached the summit of a rising ground
overlooking the beautiful valley of the Boyne. It is about the most
fertile ground in Ireland. As he looked from east to west, William
said to one of his staff, "Behold a land worth fighting for!" Rapin
was there, and has told the story of the crossing of the Boyne. He
says that the forces of King James, lying on the other side of the
river, amounted to about the same number as those under King William.
They included more than seven thousand veteran French soldiers. There
was a splendid body of Irish horse, and about twenty thousand Irish
foot.
James's officers were opposed to a battle; they wished to wait for the
large fleet and the additional forces promised by Louis XIV. But James
resolved to maintain his position, and thought that he might have one
fair battle for his crown. "But," says Rapin, "notwithstanding all his
advantages--the deep river in front, the morass on his right, and the
rising ground behind him--he ordered a ship to be prepared for him at
Waterford, that in case of a defeat he might secure his retreat to
France."
On the morning of the 30th of June, William ordered his whole army to
move by break of day by three lines towards the river, about three
miles distant. The King marched in front. By nine o'clock they were
within two miles of Drogheda. Observing a hill east of the enemy, the
King rode up to view the enemy's camp. He found it to lie all along
the river in two lines. Here he had a long consultation with his
leading officers. He then rode to the pass at Old Bridge, within
musket-shot of the ford; next he rode westward, so as to take a full
view of the enemy's camp. He fixed the place where his batteries were
to be planted, and decided upon the spot where his army was to cross
the river on the following day.
The Irish on the other side of the river had not been unobservant of
the King's movements. They could see him riding up and down the banks,
for they were not sixty yards apart. The Duke of Berwick, the Viceroy
Tyrconnel, General Sarsfield, and other officers were carefully
watching his movements. While the army was marching up the river-side,
William dismounted and sat down upon a rising ground to partake of
some refreshments, for he had been on horseback since early dawn.
During this time a party of Irish horse on the other side brought
forward two field-pieces through a ploughed field, and planted them
behind a hedge. They took their sight and fired. The first shot killed
a man and two horses close by the King. William immediately mounted
his horse. The second gun was not so well aimed. The shot struck the
water, but rising _en ricochet_, it slanted on the King's right
shoulder, took a piece out of his coat, and tore the skin and the
flesh. William rode away stooping in his saddle. The Earl of Coningsby
put a handkerchief over the wound, but William said "there was no
necessity, the bullet should have come nearer."
The enemy, seeing the discomfiture of the King's party, and that he
rode away wounded, spread abroad the news that he was killed. "They
immediately," says Rapin, "set up a shout all over their camp, and
drew down several squadrons of their horse upon a plain towards the
river, as if they meant to pass and pursue the English army. Nay, the
report of the King's death flew presently to Dublin, and from thence
spread as far as Paris, where the people were encouraged to express
their joy by bonfires and illuminations." In the meantime William
returned to his tent, where he had his wound dressed, and again
mounted and showed himself to the whole army, in order to dissipate
their apprehensions. He remained on horseback until nine at night,
though he had been up since one o'clock in the morning.
William then called a council of war, and declared his resolution of
forcing the river next day. Schomberg opposed this, but finding the
King determined, he urged that a strong body of horse and foot should
be sent to Slane bridge that night, so as to be able to cross the
bridge and get between the enemy and the Pass of Duleek, which lay
behind King James's army. This advice, if followed, might perhaps have
ended the war in one campaign. Such is Rapin's opinion. The proposal
was, however, rejected; and it was determined to cross the river in
force on the following morning. William inspected the troops at
midnight. He rode along the whole army by torchlight, and after giving
out the password "Westminster," he returned to his tent for a few
hours' sleep.
The shades of night lay still over that sleeping host. The stars
looked down in peace on these sixty thousand brethren of the same
human family, ready to rise with the sun and imbrue their hands in
each other's blood. Tyrannical factions and warring creeds had set
them at enmity with each other, and turned the sweetness and joy of
their nature into gall and bitterness. The night was quiet. The murmur
of the river fell faintly on the ear. A few trembling lights gleamed
through the dark from the distant watchtowers of Drogheda. The only
sounds that rose from the vast host that lay encamped in the valley of
the Boyne were the challenges of the sentinels to each other as they
paced their midnight rounds.
The sun rose clear and beautiful. It was the first day of July--a day
for ever memorable in the history of Ireland as well as England. The
_générale_ was beat in the camp of William before daybreak, and as
soon as the sun was up the battle began. Lieutenant-General Douglas
marched towards the right with six battalions of foot, accompanied by
Count Schomberg (son of the Marshal) with twenty-four squadrons of
horse. They crossed the river below the bridge of Slane, and though
opposed by the Irish, they drove them back and pressed them on towards
Duleek.
When it was supposed that the left wing had crossed the Boyne, the
Dutch Blue Guards, beating a march till they reached the river's edge,
went in eight or ten abreast, the water reaching above their girdles.
When they had gained the centre of the stream they were saluted with a
tremendous fire from the Irish foot, protected by the breastworks,
lanes, and hedges on the farther side of the river. Nevertheless they
pushed on, formed in two lines, and drove the Irish before them.
Several Irish battalions were brought to bear upon them, but without
effect. Then a body of Irish cavalry assailed them, but still they
held their ground.
William, seeing his troops hardly pressed, sent across two Huguenot
regiments and one English regiment to their assistance. But a regiment
of Irish dragoons, at the moment of their reaching the shore, fell
upon their flank, broke their ranks, and put many of them to the
sword. Colonel Caillemotte, leader of the Huguenots, received a mortal
wound. He was laid on a litter and carried to the rear. As he met his
men coming up to the help of their comrades, he called out, "A la
gloire, mes enfants! à la gloire!" A squadron of Danish horse forded
the river, but the Irish dragoons, in one of their dashing charges,
broke and defeated them, and drove them across the river in great
confusion.
Duke Schomberg, who was in command of the centre, seeing that the day
was going against King William, and that the French Huguenots were
fighting without their leader, crossed the river and put himself at
their head. Pointing to the Frenchmen in James's ranks, he cried out
to his men, "Allons, messieurs, voilà vos persécuteurs!" The words
were scarcely out of his mouth when a troop of James's guards,
returning full speed to their main body, fell furiously upon the Duke
and inflicted two sword cuts upon his head. The regiment of Cambon
began at once to fire upon the enemy, but by a miss shot they hit the
Duke. "They shot the Duke," says Rapin, "through the neck, of which he
instantly died, and M. Foubert, alighting to receive him, was shot in
the arm."
The critical moment had arrived. The centre of William's army was in
confusion. Their leaders, Schomberg and Caillemotte, were killed. The
men were waiting for orders. They were exposed to the galling fire of
the Irish infantry and cavalry. King James was in the rear on the hill
of Dunmore surrounded by his French body-guard. He was looking down
upon the field of battle, viewing now here, now there. It is even said
that when he saw the Irish dragoons routing the cavalry and riding
down the broken infantry of William, he exclaimed, "Spare! oh, spare
my English subjects!"
The firing had now lasted uninterruptedly for more than an hour, when
William seized the opportunity of turning the tide of battle against
his spiritless adversary. Putting himself at the head of the left
wing, he crossed the Boyne by a dangerous and difficult ford a little
lower down the river; his cavalry for the most part swimming across
the tide. The ford had been left unguarded, and the whole soon reached
the opposite bank in safety. But even there the horse which William
rode sank in a bog, and he was forced to alight until the horse was
got out. He was helped to remount, for the wound in his shoulder was
very painful. So soon as the troops were got into sufficient order,
William drew his sword, though his wound made it uneasy for him to
wield it. He then marched on towards the enemy.
When the Irish saw themselves menaced by William's left wing, they
halted, and retired towards Dunmore. But gaining courage, they faced
about and fell upon the English horse. They gave way. The King then
rode up to the Enniskilleners, and asked, "What they would do for
him?" Not knowing him, the men were about to shoot him, thinking him
to be one of the enemy. But when their chief officer told them that it
was the King who wanted their help, they at once declared their
intention of following him. They marched forward and received the
enemy's fire. The Dutch troops came up, at the head of whom William
placed himself. "In this place," says Rapin, "Duke Schomberg's
regiment of horse, composed of French Protestants, and strengthened by
an unusual number of officers, behaved with undaunted resolution, like
men who fought for a nation amongst whom themselves and their friends
had found shelter against the persecution of France."
Ginckel's troops now arrived on the scene; but they were overpowered
by the Irish horse, and forced to give way. Sir Albert Cunningham's
and Colonel Levison's dragoons then came up, and enabled Ginckel's
troops to rally; and the Irish were driven up the hill, after an
hour's hard fighting. James's lieutenant-general, Hamilton, was taken
prisoner and brought before the King. He was asked "Whether the Irish
would fight any more?" "Yes," he answered; "upon my honour I believe
they will." The Irish slowly gave way, their dragoons charging again
and again, to cover the retreat of the foot. At Dunmore they made a
gallant stand, driving back the troops of William several times. The
farmstead of Sheephouse was taken and retaken again and again.
At last the Irish troops slowly retreated up the hill. The French
troops had scarcely been engaged. Sarsfield implored James to put
himself at their head, and make a last fight for his crown. Six
thousand fresh men coming into action, when the army of William was
exhausted by fatigue, might have changed the fortune of the day. But
James would not face the enemy. He put himself at the head of the
French troops and Sarsfield's regiment--the first occasion on which he
had led during the day--and set out for Dublin, leaving the rest of
his army to shift for themselves.
The Irish army now poured through the Pass of Duleek. They were
pursued by Count Schomberg at the head of the left wing of William's
army. The pursuit lasted several miles beyond the village of Duleek,
when the Count was recalled by express orders of the King. The Irish
army retreated in good order, and they reached Dublin in safety. James
was the first to carry thither the news of his defeat. On reaching
Dublin Castle, he was received by Lady Tyrconnel, the wife of the
Viceroy. "Madam," said he, "your countrymen can run well." "Not quite
so well as your Majesty," was her retort, "for I see that you have won
the race."
The opinion of the Irish soldiers may be understood from their saying,
after their defeat, "Change generals, and we will fight the battle
over again." "James had no royal quality about him," says an able
Catholic historian; "nature had made him a coward, a monk, and a
gourmand; and, in spite of the freak of fortune that had placed him on
a throne, and seemed inclined to keep him there, she vindicated her
authority, and dropped him ultimately in the niche that suited him--
'The meanest slave of France's despot lord.'"
William halted on the field that James had occupied in the morning.
The troops remained under arms all night. The loss of life was not so
great as was expected. On William's side not more than four hundred
men were killed; but amongst them were Duke Schomberg, Colonel
Caillemotte, and Dr. George Walker, the defender of Derry. "King
James's whole loss in this battle," says Rapin, "was generally
computed at fifteen hundred men, amongst whom were the Lord Dungan,
the Lord Carlingford, Sir Neil O'Neil, Colonel Fitzgerald, the Marquis
d'Hocquincourt, and several prisoners, the chief of whom was
Lieutenant-General Hamilton, who, to do him justice, behaved with
great courage, and kept the victory doubtful, until he was taken
prisoner."
On the following day Drogheda surrendered without resistance. The
garrison laid down their arms, and departed for Athlone. James stayed
at Dublin for a night, and on the following morning he started for
Waterford, causing the bridges to be broken down behind him, for fear
of being pursued by the allied forces. He then embarked on a
ship-of-war, and was again conveyed to France.
William's army proceeded slowly to Dublin. The Duke of Ormond entered
the city two days after the battle of the Boyne, at the head of nine
troops of horse. On the next day the King, with his whole army,
marched to Finglas, in the neighbourhood of Dublin; and on the 6th of
July he entered the city, and proceeded to St. Patrick's Church, to
return thanks for his victory.
The whole of the Irish army proceeded towards Athlone and Limerick,
intending to carry on the war behind the Shannon. William sent a body
of his troops, under Lieutenant-General Douglas, to Athlone, while he
himself proceeded to reduce and occupy the towns of the South. Rapin
followed his leader, and hence his next appearance at the siege of
Athlone.
Rapin conducted himself throughout the Irish campaign as a true soldier.
He was attentive, accurate, skilful, and brave. He did the work he had
to do without any fuss; but he _did_ it. Lieutenant-General Douglas,
under whom he served, soon ascertained his merits, saw through his
character, and became much attached to him. He promoted him to the rank
of aide-de-camp, so that he might have this able Frenchman continually
about his person.
Douglas proceeded westward, with six regiments of horse and ten of
foot, to reduce Athlone. But the place was by far too strong for so
small a force to besiege, and still less to take it. Athlone had
always been a stronghold. For centuries the bridge and castle had
formed the great highway into Connaught. The Irish town is defended on
the eastern side by the Shannon, a deep and wide river, almost
impossible to pass in the face of a hostile army.
Douglas summoned the Irish garrison to surrender. Colonel Richard
Grace, the gallant old governor, returned a passionate defiance.
"These are my terms," he said, discharging a pistol at the messenger:
"when my provisions are consumed, I will defend my trust until I have
eaten my boots."
Abandoning as indefensible the English part of the town, situated on
the east side of the Shannon, Grace set fire to it, and retired with
all his forces to the western side, blowing up an arch of the bridge
behind him. The English then brought up the few cannon they had with
them, and commenced battering the walls. The Irish had more cannon,
and defended themselves with vigour. The besiegers made a breach in
the castle, but it was too high and too small for an assault.
"Notwithstanding this," says Rapin, "the firing continued very brisk
on both sides; but the besiegers having lost Mr. Neilson, their best
gunner, and the cavalry suffering very much for want of forage; and at
the same time it being reported that Sarsfield was advancing with
fifteen thousand men to relieve the place, Douglas held a council of
war, wherein it was thought fit to raise the siege, which he
accordingly did on the 25th, having lost near four hundred men before
the town, the greatest part of whom died of sickness."
Thus, after a week's ineffectual siege, Douglas left Athlone, and made
all haste to rejoin the army of William, which had already reduced the
most important towns in the south of Ireland. On the 7th of August he
rejoined William at Cahirconlish, a few miles west of Limerick. The
flower of the Irish army was assembled at Limerick. The Duke of
Berwick and General Sarsfield occupied the city with their forces. The
French general, Boileau, commanded the garrison. The besieged were
almost as numerous as the besiegers. William, by garrisoning the towns
of which he took possession, had reduced his forces to about twenty
thousand men.
Limerick was fortified by walls, batteries, and ramparts. It was also
defended by a castle and citadel. It had always been a place of great
strength. The chivalry of the Anglo-Norman monarch, the Ironsides of
Cromwell, had been defeated under its walls; and now the victorious
army of William III. was destined to meet with a similar repulse.
Limerick is situated in an extensive plain, watered by the noble
Shannon. The river surrounds the town on three sides. Like Athlone,
the city is divided into the English and Irish towns, connected
together by a bridge. The English town was much the strongest. It was
built upon an island, surrounded by morasses, which could at any time
be flooded on the approach of an enemy. The town was well supplied
with provisions--all Clare and Galway being open to it, from whence
it could draw supplies.
Notwithstanding the strength of the fortress, William resolved to
besiege it. He was ill supplied with cannon, having left his heavy
artillery at Dublin. He had only a field train with him, which was
quite insufficient for his purpose. William's advance-guards drove the
Irish outposts before them; the pioneers cutting down the hedges and
filling up the ditches, until they came to a narrow pass between two
bogs, where a considerable body of Irish horse and foot were assembled
to dispute the pass.
Two field-pieces were brought up, which played with such effect upon
the Irish horse that they soon quitted their post. At the same time
Colonel Earle, at the head of the English foot, attacked the Irish who
were firing through the hedges, so that they also retired after two
hours' fighting. The Irish were driven to the town walls, and
William's forces took possession of two important positions,
Cromwell's fort and the old Chapel. The Danes also occupied an old
Danish fort, built by their ancestors, of which they were not a little
proud.
The army being thus posted, a trumpeter was sent, on the 9th of
August, to summon the garrison to surrender. General Boileau answered,
that he intended to make a vigorous defence of the town with which his
Majesty had intrusted him. In the meantime, William had ordered up his
train of artillery from Dublin. They were on their way to join him,
when a spy from William's camp went over to the enemy, and informed
them of the route, the motions, and the strength of the convoy.
Sarsfield at once set out with a strong body of horse. He passed the
Shannon in the night, nine miles above Limerick, lurked all day in
the mountains near Ballyneety, and waited for the approach of the
convoy.
The men of William's artillery, seeing no enemy, turned out their
horses to graze, and went to sleep in the full sense of security.
Sarsfield's body of horse came down upon them, slew or dispersed the
convoy, and took possession of the cannon. Sarsfield could not,
however, take the prizes into Limerick. He therefore endeavoured to
destroy them. Cramming the guns with powder up to their muzzles, and
burying their mouths deep in the earth, then piling the stores,
waggons, carriages, and baggage over them, he laid a train and fired
it, just as Sir John Lanier, with a body of cavalry, was arriving to
rescue the convoy. The explosion was tremendous, and was heard at the
camp of William, more than seven miles off. Sarsfield's troops
returned to Limerick in triumph.
Notwithstanding these grievous discouragements, William resolved to
persevere. He recovered two of the guns, which remained uninjured. He
obtained others from Waterford. The trenches were opened on the 17th
of August. A battery was raised below the fort to the right of the
trenches. Firing went on on both sides. Several redoubts were taken.
By the 25th, the trenches were advanced to within thirty paces of the
ditch near St. John's Gate, and a breach was made in the walls about
twelve yards wide.
The assault was ordered to take place on the 27th. The English
grenadiers took the lead, supported by a hundred French officers and
volunteers. The enemy were dislodged from the covered way and the two
forts which guarded the breach on each side. The assailants entered
the breach, but they were not sufficiently supported. The Irish
rallied. They returned to the charge, helped by the women, who pelted
the besiegers with stones, broken bottles, and such other missiles as
came readily to hand. A Brandenburg regiment having assailed and taken
the Black Battery, it was blown up by an explosion, which killed many
of the men. In fine, the assault was vigorously repulsed; and
William's troops retreated to the main body, with a loss of six
hundred men killed on the spot and as many mortally wounded.
Rapin was severely wounded. A musket shot hit him in the shoulder, and
completely disabled him. His brother Solomon was also wounded. His
younger brother fell dead by his side. They belonged to the "forlorn
hope," and were volunteers in the assault on the breach. Rapin was
raised to the rank of captain.
The siege of Limerick was at once raised. The heavy baggage and cannon
were sent away on the 30th of August, and the next day the army
decamped and marched towards Clonmel. The King intrusted the command
of his army to Lieutenant-General Ginckel, and set sail for England
from Duncannon Fort, near Waterford, on the 5th of September.
The campaign was not yet over. The Earl of Marlborough landed near
Cork with four thousand men. Reinforced by four thousand Danes and
French Huguenots, he shortly succeeded in taking the fortified towns
of Cork and Kinsale. After garrisoning these places the Earl returned
to England.
General Ginckel went into winter quarters at Mullingar, in Westmeath.
The French troops, under command of Count Lauzun, went into Galway.
Lauzun shortly after returned to France, and St. Ruth was sent over to
take command of the French and Irish army. But they hung about Galway
doing nothing. In the meantime Ginckel was carefully preparing for the
renewal of the campaign. He was reinforced by an excellent body of
troops from Scotland, commanded by General Mackay. He was also well
supplied, through the vigilance of William, with all the necessaries
of war.
Rapin's friend, Colonel Lord Douglas, pressed him to accompany him to
Flanders as his aide-de-camp; but the wound in his shoulder still
caused him great pain, and he was forced to decline the appointment.
Strange to say, his uncle Pélisson--the converter, or rather the
buyer, of so many Romish converts in France--sent him a present of
fifty pistoles through his cousin M. de la Bastide, which consoled him
greatly during his recovery.
General Ginckel broke up his camp at Mullingar at the beginning of
June, and marched towards Athlone. The Irish had assembled a
considerable army at Ballymore, about midway between Mullingar and
Athlone. They had also built a fort there, and intended to dispute the
passage of Ginckel's army. A sharp engagement took place when his
forces came up. The Irish were defeated, with the loss of over a
thousand prisoners and all their baggage.
Ginckel then appeared before Athlone, but the second resistance of the
besieged was much less successful than the first. St. Ruth, the French
general, treated the Irish officers and soldiers under his command
with supercilious contempt. He admitted none of their officers into
his councils. He was as ignorant of the army which he commanded as of
the country which he occupied. Nor was he a great general. He had been
principally occupied in France in hunting and hanging the poor
Protestants of Dauphiny and the Cevennes. He had never fought a
pitched battle; and his incapacity led to the defeat of the Irish at
Athlone, and afterwards at Aughrim.
St. Ruth treated his English adversaries with as much contempt as he
did his Irish followers. When he heard that the English were about to
cross the Shannon, he said "it was impossible for them to take the
town, and be so near with an army to succour it." He added that he
would give a thousand louis if they _durst_ attempt it. To which
Sarsfield retorted, "Spare your money and mind your business; for I
know that no enterprise is too difficult for British courage to
attempt."
Ginckel took possession of the English town after some resistance,
when the Irish army retreated to the other side of the Shannon.
Batteries were planted, pontoons were brought up, and the siege began
with vigour. Ginckel attempted to get possession of the bridge. One of
the arches was broken down, on the Connaught side of the river. Under
cover of a heavy fire, a party of Ginckel's men succeeded in raising a
plank-work for the purpose of spanning the broken arch. The work was
nearly completed, when a sergeant and ten bold Scots belonging to
Maxwell's Brigade on the Irish side, pushed on to the bridge; but they
were all slain. A second brave party was more successful than the
first. They succeeded in throwing all the planks and beams into the
river, only two men escaping with their lives.
Ginckel then attempted to repair the broken arch by carrying a close
gallery on the bridge, in order to fill up the gap with heavy planks.
All was ready, and an assault was ordered for next day. It was
resolved to cross the Shannon in three places--one body to cross by
the narrow ford below the bridge, another by the pontoons above it,
while the main body was to force the bridge itself. On the morning of
the intended crossing, the Irish sent a volley of grenades among the
wooden work of the bridge, when some of the fascines took fire, and
the whole fabric was soon in a blaze. The smoke blew into the faces of
the English, and it was found impossible to cross the river that day.
A council of war was held, to debate whether it was advisable to renew
the attack or to raise the siege and retreat. The cannonade had now
continued for eight days, and nothing had been gained. Some of the
officers were for withdrawing, but the majority were in favour of
making a general assault on the following day--seeing more danger in
retreating than in advancing. The Duke of Wurtemberg, Major-Generals
Mackay, Talmash, Ruvigny, Tetleau, and Colonel Cambon urged "that no
brave action could be performed without hazard; and that the attempt
was like to be attended with success." Moreover, they proffered
themselves to be the first to pass the river and attack the enemy.
The assault was therefore agreed upon. The river was then at the
lowest state at which it had been for years. Next morning, at six
o'clock--the usual hour for relieving guards--the detachments were led
down to the river. Captain Sands led the first party of sixty
grenadiers. They were supported by another strong detachment of
grenadiers and six battalions of foot. They went into the water twenty
abreast, clad in armour, and pushed across the ford a little below the
bridge. The stream was very rapid, and the passage difficult, by
reason of the great stones which lay at the bottom of the river. The
guns played over them from the batteries and covered their passage.
The grenadiers reached the other side amidst the fire and smoke of
their enemies. They held their ground and made for the bridge. Some of
them laid planks over the broken arch, and others helped at preparing
the pontoons. Thus the whole of the English army were able to cross to
the Irish side of the river. In less than half an hour they were
masters of the town. The Irish were entirely surprised. They fled in
all directions, and lost many men. The besiegers did not lose above
fifty.
St. Ruth, the Irish commander-in-chief, seemed completely idle during
the assault. It is true he ordered several detachments to drive the
English from the town after it had been taken; but, remembering that
the fortifications of Athlone, nearest to his camp, had not been
razed, and that they were now in possession of the enemy, he recalled
his troops, and decamped from before Athlone that very night. In a few
days Ginckel followed him, and inflicted on his army a terrible defeat
at the battle of Aughrim. With that, however, we have nothing to do at
present, but proceed to follow the fortunes of Rapin.
Rapin entered Athlone with his regiment, and conducted himself with
his usual valour. Ginckel remained only a few days in the place, in
order to repair the fortifications. That done, he set out in pursuit
of the enemy. He left two regiments in the castle, one of which was
that to which Rapin belonged. The soldiers, who belonged to different
nationalities, had many contentions with each other. The officers
stood upon their order of precedence. The men were disposed to
quarrel. Aided by a friend, a captain like himself, Rapin endeavoured
to pacify the men, and to bring the officers to reason. By his kind,
gentle, and conciliatory manner, he soon succeeded in restoring quiet
and mutual confidence; and during his stay at Athlone no further
disturbance occurred among the garrison.
Rapin was ordered to Kilkenny, where he had a similar opportunity of
displaying his qualities of conciliation. A quarrel had sprung up
between the chief magistrate of the town and the officers of the
garrison. Rapin interceded, and by his firmness and moderation he
reconciled all differences; and, at the same time, he gained the
respect and admiration of both the disputing parties.
By this time the second siege of Limerick had occurred. Ginckel
surrounded the city, and battered the walls and fortresses for six
weeks. The French and Irish armies at length surrendered. Fourteen
thousand Irish marched out with the honours of war. A large proportion
of them joined the army of Louis XIV., and were long after known as
"The Irish Brigade." Although they fought valiantly and honourably in
many well-known battles, they were first employed in Louis'
persecution of the Protestants in the Vaudois and Cevennes mountains.
Their first encounter was with the Camisards, under Cavalier, their
peasant leader. They gained no glory in that campaign, but a good deal
of discredit.
In the meantime Ireland had been restored to peace. After the
surrender of Limerick no further resistance was offered to the arms of
William III. A considerable body of English troops remained in Ireland
to garrison the fortresses. Rapin's regiment was stationed at Kinsale,
and there he rejoined it in 1693. He made the intimate friendship of
Sir James Waller, the governor of the town. Sir James was a man of
much intelligence, a keen observer, and an ardent student. By his
knowledge of political history, he inspired Rapin with a like taste,
and determined him at a later period in his life to undertake what was
a real want at the time, an intelligent and readable history of
England.
Rapin was suddenly recalled to England. He was required to leave his
regiment and report himself to King William. No reason was given; but
with his usual obedience to orders he at once set out. He did not
leave Ireland without regret. He was attached to his numerous Huguenot
comrades, and he hoped yet to rise to higher guides in the King's
service. By special favour he was allowed to hand over his company to
his brother Solomon, who had been wounded at the first siege of
Limerick. His brother received the promotion which he himself had
deserved, and afterwards became lieutenant-colonel of dragoons.
Rapin's fortune led him in quite another direction.
It turned out that, by the recommendation of the Earl of Galway
(formerly the Marquis de Ruvigny, another French Huguenot), he had
been recalled to London for the purpose of being appointed governor
and tutor to Lord Woodstock, son of Bentinck, Earl of Portland, one of
King William's most devoted servants. Lord Galway was consulted by the
King as to the best tutor for the son of his friend. He knew of
Rapin's valour and courage during his campaigns in Ireland; he also
knew of his discretion, his firmness, and his conciliatory manners, in
reconciling the men under his charge at Athlone and Kilkenny; and he
was also satisfied about his thoughtfulness, his delicacy of spirit,
his grace and his nobleness--for he had been bred a noble, though he
had first served as a common soldier in the army of William.
The King immediately approved the recommendation of Lord Galway. He
knew of Rapin's courage at the battle of the Boyne; and he
remembered--as every true captain does remember--the serious wound he
had received while accompanying the forlorn hope at the first siege of
Limerick. Hence the sudden recall of Rapin from Ireland. On his
arrival in London he was presented to the King, and immediately after
he entered upon his new function of conducting the education of the
future Duke of Portland.
Henry, Lord Woodstock, was then about fifteen. Being of delicate
health, he had hitherto been the object of his father's tender care,
and it was not without considerable regret that Lord Portland yielded
to the request of the King and handed over his son to the government
of M. Rapin. Though of considerable intelligence, the powers of his
heart were greater than those of his head. Thus Rapin had no
difficulty in acquiring the esteem and affection of his pupil.
Portland House was then the resort of the most eminent men of the Whig
party, through whose patriotic assistance the constitution of England
was placed in the position which it now occupies. Rapin was introduced
by Lord Woodstock to his friends. Having already mastered the English
language, he had no difficulty in understanding the conflicting
opinions of the times. He saw history developing itself before his
eyes. He heard with his ears the discussions which eventuated in Acts
of Parliament, confirming the liberties of the English people, the
liberty of speech, the liberty of writing, the liberty of doing,
within the limits of the common law.
All this was of great importance to Rapin. It prepared him for writing
his afterwards famous works, his "History of England," and his
Dissertation on the Whigs and Tories. Rapin was not only a man of
great accomplishments, but he had a remarkable aptitude for
languages. He knew French and English, as well as Italian, Spanish,
and German. He had an extraordinary memory, and a continuous
application and perseverance, which enabled him to suck the contents
of many volumes, and to bring out the facts in future years during the
preparation of his works. His memory seems to have been of the same
order as that of Lord Macaulay, who afterwards made use of his works,
and complimented his predecessor as to their value.
According to the custom of those days, the time arrived when Rapin was
required to make "the grand tour" with his pupil and friend, Lord
Woodstock. This was considered the complement of English education
amongst the highest classes. It was thought necessary that young
noblemen should come in contact with foreigners, and observe the
manners and customs of other countries besides their own; and that
thus they might acquire a sort of cosmopolitan education. Archbishop
Leighton even considered a journey of this sort as a condition of
moral perfection. He quoted the words of the Latin poet: "Homo sum, et
nihil hominem à me alienum puto."
No one could be better fitted than Rapin to accompany the young lord
on his foreign travels. They went to Holland, Germany, France, Spain,
and Italy. Rapin diligently improved himself, while instructing his
friend. He taught him the languages of the countries through which
they passed; he rendered him familiar with Greek and Latin; he
rendered him familiar with the principles of mathematics. He also
studied with him the destinies of peoples and of kings, and pointed
out to him the Divine will accomplishing itself amidst the destruction
of empires. Withal he sought to penetrate the young soul of the friend
committed to his charge with that firmness of belief and piety of
sentiment which pervaded his own.
It was while in Italy that the Earl of Portland, at the instigation of
Rapin, requested copies to be made for him of the rarest and most
precious medals in point of historic interest; and also to purchase
for him objects of ancient workmanship. Hence Rapin was able to secure
for him the _Portland Vase_, now in the British Museum, one of the
most exquisite products of Roman and Etruscan ceramic art.
In 1699, the Earl of Portland was sent by William III. as ambassador
to the court of Louis XIV., in connection with the negotiations as to
the Spanish succession. Lord Woodstock attended the embassy, and Rapin
accompanied him. They were entertained at Versailles. Persecution was
still going on in France, although about eight hundred thousand
persons had already left the country. Rapin at one time thought of
leaving Lord Woodstock for a few days, and making a rapid journey
south to visit his friends near Toulouse. But the thought of being
made a prisoner and sent to the galleys for life stayed him, and he
remained at Versailles until the return of the embassy.
Rapin remained with Lord Woodstock for thirteen years. In the meantime
he had married, at the Hague, Marie Anne Testart, a refugee from
Saint-Quentin. Jean Rou describes her as a true helpmeet for him,
young, beautiful, rich, and withal virtuous, and of the most pleasing
and gentle temper in the world. Her riches, however, were not great.
She had merely, like Rapin, rescued some portion of her heritage from
the devouring claws of her persecutors. Rapin accumulated very little
capital during his tutorship of Lord Woodstock; but to compensate him,
the King granted him a pension of £100 a year, payable by the States
of Holland, until he could secure some better income.
Rapin lived for some time at the Hague. While there he joined a
society of learned French refugees. Among them were Rotolf de la
Denèse, Basnage de Beauval, and Jean Rou, secretary to the
States-General. One of the objects of the little academy was to
translate the Psalms anew into French verse; but before the version
was completed, Rapin was under the necessity of leaving the Hague.
William III., his patron, died in 1701, when his pension was stopped.
He was promised some remunerative employment, but he was forgotten
amidst the press of applicants.
At length he removed to the little town of Wesel, on the Lower Rhine,
in the beginning of May, 1707. He had a wife and four children to
maintain, and living was much more reasonable at Wesel than at the
Hague. His wife's modest fortune enabled him to live there to the end
of his days. Wesel was also a resort of the French refugees--persons
of learning and taste, though of small means. It was at his modest
retreat at Wesel that Rapin began to arrange the immense mass of
documents which he had been accumulating during so many years,
relating to the history of England. The first work which he published
was "A Dissertation on the Origin and Nature of the English
Constitution." It met with great success, and went through many
editions, besides being translated into nearly all the continental
languages.
He next proceeded with his great work, "The History of England."
During his residence in Ireland and England, he had read with great
interest all books relating to the early history of the Government of
England. He began with, the history of England after the Norman
Conquest; but he found that he must begin at the beginning. He studied
the history of the Anglo-Saxons, but found it "like a vast forest,
where the traveller, with great difficulty, finds a few narrow paths
to guide his wandering steps. It was this, however, that inspired him
with the design of clearing this part of the English history, by
removing the rubbish, and carrying on the thread so as to give, at
least, a general knowledge of the earlier history." Then he went back
to Julius Cæsar's account of his invasion of Britain, for the purpose
of showing how the Saxons came to send troops into this country, and
now the conquest which had cost them so much was at last abandoned by
the Romans. He then proceeded, during his residence in England, with
his work of reading and writing; but when he came to the reign of
Henry II. he was about to relinquish his undertaking, when an
unexpected assistance not only induced him to continue it, but to
project a much larger history of England than he had at first
intended.
This unexpected assistance was the publication of Rymer's "Foedera,"
at the expense of the British Government. The volumes as they came out
were sent to Rapin by Le Clerc (another refugee), a friend of Lord
Halifax, who was one of the principal promoters of the publication.
This book was of infinite value to Rapin in enabling him to proceed
with his history. He prepared abstracts of seventeen volumes (now in
the Cottonian collection), to show the relation of the acts narrated
in Rymer's "Foedera" to the history of England. He was also able to
compare the facts stated by English historians with, those of the
neighbouring states, whether they were written in Latin, French,
Italian, or Spanish.
The work was accomplished with great labour. It occupied seventeen
years of Rapin's life. The work was published at intervals. The first
two volumes appeared in November, 1723. During the following year six
more volumes were published. The ninth and tenth volumes were left in
manuscript ready for the press. They ended with the coronation of
William and Mary at Westminster. Besides, he left a large number of
MSS., which were made use of by the editor of the continuation of
Rapin's history.
Rapin died at Wesel in 1725, at the age of sixty-four. His work, the
cause of his fatal illness, was almost his only pleasure. He was worn
out by hard study and sedentary confinement, and at last death came to
his rescue. He had struggled all his life against persecution; against
the difficulties of exile; against the enemy; and though he did not
die on the field of battle, he died on the breach pen in hand, in work
and duty, striving to commemorate the independence through which a
noble people had worked their way to ultimate freedom and liberty. The
following epitaph was inscribed over his grave:--
"Ici le casque et la science,
L'esprit vif, la solidité,
La politesse et la sincérité
Ont fait une heureuse alliance,
Dont le public a profité."
The first edition of Rapin's history, consisting of ten volumes, was
published at the Hague by Rogessart. The Rev. David Durand added two
more volumes to the second edition, principally compiled from the
memoranda left by Rapin at his death. The twelfth volume concluded the
reign of William III.
The fourth edition appeared in 1733. Being originally composed and
published in French, the work was translated into English by Mr. N.
Tindal, who added numerous notes. Two editions wore published
simultaneously in London, and a third translation was published some
sixty years later. The book was attacked by the Jacobite authors, who
defended the Stuart party against the statements of the author. In
those fanatical times impartiality was nothing to them. A man must be
emphatically for the Stuarts, or against them. Yet the work of Rapin
held its ground, and it long continued to be regarded as the best
history that had up to that time been written.
The Rapin family are now scattered over the world. Some remain in
Holland, some have settled in Switzerland, some have returned to
France, but the greater number are Prussian subjects. James, the only
son of Rapin, studied at Cleves, then at Antwerp, and at thirty-one he
was appointed to the important office of Director of the French
Colonies at Stettin and Stargardt. Charles, Rapin's eldest brother,
was a captain of infantry in the service of Prussia. Two sons of Louis
de Rapin were killed in the battles of Smolensko and Leipsic.
Many of the Rapins attained high positions in the military service of
Prussia. Colonel Philip de Rapin-Thoyras was the head of the family in
Prussia. He was with the Allied Army in their war of deliverance
against France in the years 1813, 1814, and 1815. He was consequently
decorated with the Cross and the Military Medal for his long and
valued services to the country of his adoption.
The handsome volume by Raoul de Cazenove, entitled "Rapin-Thoyras, sa
Famille, sa Vie, et ses OEuvres," to which we are indebted for much of
the above information, is dedicated to this distinguished military
chief.
III.
CAPTAIN RIOU, R.N.
"Brave hearts! to Britain's pride
Once so faithful and so true,
On the deck of fame that died,
With the gallant good Riou:
Soft sigh the winds of heaven o'er their grave!"
CAMPBELL'S _Battle of the Baltic_.
The words in which Campbell describes Captain Riou in his noble ode
are nearly identical with those used by Lord Nelson himself when
alluding to his death in the famous despatch relative to the battle of
Copenhagen. These few but pregnant words, "the gallant and the good,"
constitute nearly all the record that exists of the character of this
distinguished officer, though it is no slight glory to have them
embalmed in the poetry of Campbell and the despatches of Nelson.
Having had the good fortune, in the course of recent inquiries as to
the descendants of illustrious Huguenots in England, to become
acquainted with the principal events in Captain Riou's life, drawn
from family papers, I now propose to supplement Lord Nelson's brief
epitome of his character by the following memoir of this distinguished
seaman.
Captain Riou was descended from the ancient Riou family of Vernoux, in
Languedoc, of whom early mention is made in French history, several
members of it having specially distinguished themselves as generals in
the wars in Spain. Like many other noble families of Languedoc in the
seventeenth century, the Rious were staunch Huguenots; and when, in
1685, Louis XIV. determined to stamp out Protestantism in France, and
revoked the Edict of Nantes, the principal members of the family,
refusing to conform, left the country, and their estates were
confiscated by the Crown.
Estienne Riou, heir to the estate at Vernoux, was born after the death
of his father, who was a man of eminent repute in his neighbourhood;
and he did not leave France until his eleventh year, when he fled with
his paternal uncle, Matthew Labrune, across the frontier, and took
refuge with him at Berne, in Switzerland. There the uncle engaged in
business as a merchant, while the nephew, when of sufficient age,
desirous of following the usual career of his family, went into
Piedmont to join the little Huguenot army from England, then engaged
in assisting the Duke of Savoy against the armies of the French king.
Estienne was admitted a cadet in Lord Galway's regiment, then engaged
in the siege of Casale; and he remained with it for two years, when,
on the army returning to England, he received an honourable discharge,
and went back to reside for a time with his bachelor uncle at Berne.
In 1698 both uncle and nephew left Switzerland to settle in London as
merchants, bringing with them a considerable capital. They exported
English manufactured goods to the East Indies, Holland, Germany, and
Italy; and imported large quantities of raw silk, principally from
Spain and Italy, carrying on their business with uniform probity and
credit. In course of time Estienne married Magdalen Baudoin, the
daughter of a refugee gentleman from Touraine,--the members of
refugee families usually intermarrying for several generations after
their settlement in England. The issue of this marriage was an only
son, Stephen Riou, who, like his ancestors, embraced the profession of
arms, rising to be captain in the Horse Grenadier Guards. He
afterwards attended the Confederate forces in Flanders as an engineer,
and on the conclusion of peace, he travelled for nearly four years
through the principal countries of Europe, accompanying Sir P. Ker
Porter on his embassy to Constantinople. He afterwards settled,
married, and had two sons,--Philip, the elder, who entered the Royal
Artillery, and died senior colonel at Woolwich in 1817; and Edward,
the second son, who entered the navy--the subject of the present
memoir.
Edward Riou was born at Mount Ephraim, near Faversham, on the 20th
November, 1762. The family afterwards removed to London, where Edward
received his education, partly at the Marylebone Grammar School and
partly at home, where his father superintended his instruction in
fortification, and navigation. Though of peculiarly sweet and amiable
disposition, young Riou displayed remarkable firmness and even
fearlessness as a boy. He rejoiced at all deeds of noble daring, and
it was perhaps his love of adventure that early determined his choice
of a profession; for, even when a very little fellow, he was usually
styled by the servants and by his playmates, "the noble captain."
Accordingly, when only twelve years old, he went to sea as midshipman
on board Admiral Pye's ship, the _Harfleur_; from whence, in the
following year, he was removed to the _Romney_, Captain Keith
Elphinstone, on the Newfoundland station; and on the return of the
ship to England in 1776, he had the good fortune to be appointed
midshipman on board the _Discovery_, Captain Charles Clarke, which
accompanied Captain Cook in the _Resolution_ in his last voyage round
the world. Nothing could have been more to the mind of our sailor-boy
than this voyage of adventure and discovery, in company with the
greatest navigator of the age.
The _Discovery_ sailed from the Downs on the 18th of June, but had no
sooner entered the Channel than a storm arose which did considerable
damage to the ship, which was driven into Portland Roads. At Plymouth,
the _Discovery_ was joined by the _Resolution_; but as the former had
to go into harbour for repairs, Captain Cook set sail for the Cape
alone, leaving orders for Captain Clarke to follow him there. The
_Discovery_ at length put to sea, and after a stormy voyage joined
Captain Cook in Table Bay on the 11th of August. Before setting sail
on the longer voyage, Riou had the felicity of being transferred to
the _Resolution_, under the command of Captain Cook himself.
It is not necessary that we should describe this celebrated voyage,
with which every boy is familiar--its storms and hurricanes; the
landings on islands where the white man's face had never been seen
before; the visits to the simple natives of Huahine and Otaheite, then
a little Eden; the perilous coasting along the North American seaboard
to Behring's Straits, in search of the North-Western passage; and
finally, the wintering of the ships at Owyhee, where Captain Cook met
his cruel death, of which young Riou was a horror-struck spectator
from the deck of the _Resolution_, on the morning of the 14th of
February, 1779.
After about four years' absence on this voyage, so full of adventure
and peril, Riou returned to England with the _Resolution_, and was
shortly after appointed lieutenant of the sloop _Scourge_, Captain
Knatchbull, Commander, which took part, under Lord Rodney, in the
bombardment and capture of St. Eustatia. Here Riou was so severely
wounded in the eye by a splinter that he lost his sight for many
months. In March, 1782, he was removed to the _Mediator_, forty-four
guns, commanded by Captain Luttrell, and shared in the glory which
attached to the officers and crew of that ship through its almost
unparalleled achievement of the 12th of December of that year.
It was at daybreak that the _Mediator_ sighted five sail of the enemy,
consisting of the _Ménagère_, thirty-six guns _en flûte_; the
_Eugène_, thirty-six; and the _Dauphin Royal_, twenty-eight (French);
in company with the _Alexander_, twenty-eight guns, and another brig,
fourteen (American), formed in line of battle to receive the
_Mediator_, which singly bore down upon them. The skilful seamanship
and dashing gallantry of the English disconcerted the combinations of
the enemy, and after several hours' fighting two of their vessels fell
out of the line, and went away, badly crippled, to leeward. About an
hour later the _Alexander_ was cut off, the _Mediator_ wearing between
her and her consorts, and in ten minutes she struck. A chase then
ensued after the larger vessels, and late in the evening the
_Ménagère_, being raked within pistol shot, hailed for quarter. The
rest of the squadron escaped, and the gallant _Mediator_, having taken
possession of her two prizes, set sail with them for England, arriving
in Cawsand Bay on the 17th of December.
In the year following, Captain Luttrell, having been appointed to the
_Ganges_, took with him Mr. Riou as second lieutenant. He served in
this ship until the following summer, when he retired for a time on
half-pay, devoting himself to study and continental travel until
March, 1786, when we find him serving under Admiral Elliot as second
lieutenant of the _Salisbury_. It was about this time that he
submitted to the Admiralty a plan, doubtless suggested by his voyage
with Captain Cook, "for the discovery and preservation of a passage
through the continent of North America, and for the increase of
commerce to this kingdom." The plan was very favourably received, but
as war seemed imminent, no steps were then taken to carry it into
effect.
The young officer had, however, by this time recommended himself for
promotion by his admirable conduct and his good service; and in the
spring of 1789 he was appointed to the command of the _Guardian_,
forty-four guns, armed _en flûte_, which was under orders to take out
stores and convicts to New South Wales. In a chatty, affectionate letter
written to his widowed mother, from on shipboard at the Cape while on
the voyage out, he says,--"I have no expectation, after the promotion
that took place before I left England, of finding myself master and
commander on my return." After speculating as to what might happen in
the meantime while he was so far from home, and expressing an anxiety
which was but natural on the part of an enterprising young officer eager
for advancement in his profession, he proceeded,--"Politics must take a
great turn, I think, by the time of my return. War will likely be begun;
in that case we may bring a prize in with us. But our foresight is
short--and mine particularly so. I hardly ever look forward to beyond
three months. 'Tis in vain to be otherwise, for Providence, which
directs all things, is inscrutable." And he concluded his letter
thus,--"Now for Port Jackson. I shall sail to-night if the wind is fair.
God for ever bless you."
But neither Riou nor the ill-fated _Guardian_ ever reached Port
Jackson! A fortnight after setting sail from the Cape, while the ship
was driving through a thick fog (in lat. 44·5, long. 41) a severe
shock suddenly called Riou to the deck, where an appalling spectacle
presented itself. The ship had struck upon an iceberg. A body of
floating ice twice as high as the masthead was on the lee beam, and
the ship appeared to be entering a sort of cavern in its side. In a
few minutes the rudder was torn away, a severe leak was sprung, and
all hands worked for bare life at the pumps. The ship became
comparatively unmanageable, and masses of overhanging ice threatened
every moment to overwhelm her. At length, by dint of incessant
efforts, the ship was extricated from the ice, but the leak gained
fearfully, and stores, cattle, guns, booms, everything that could be
cut away, was thrown overboard.
It was all in vain. The ship seemed to be sinking; and despair sat on
every countenance save that of the young commander. He continued to
hope even against hope. At length, after forty-eight hours of
incessant pumping, a cry arose for "the boats," as presenting the only
chance of safety. Riou pleaded with the men to persevere, and they
went on bravely again at the pumps. But the dawn of another day
revealed so fearful a position of affairs that the inevitable
foundering of the ship seemed to be a matter of minutes rather than
of hours. The boats were hoisted out, discipline being preserved to
the last. Riou's servant hastened to him to ask what boat he would
select to go in, that he himself might take a place beside him. His
answer was that "he would stay by the ship, save her if he could, and
if needs be sink with her, but that the people were at liberty to
consult their own safety." He then sat down and wrote the following
letter to the Admiralty, giving it in charge to Mr. Clements, the
master, whose boat was the only one that ever reached land:--
"Her Majesty's Ship _Guardian_,
"_December, 1789._
"If any part of the officers or crew of the _Guardian_ should
ever survive to reach home, I have only to say that their
conduct, after the fatal stroke against an island of ice, was
admirable and wonderful in everything that relates to their
duties, considered either as private men or in his Majesty's
service. As there seems no possibility of my remaining many hours
in this world, I beg leave to recommend to the consideration of
the Admiralty a sister, to whom, if my conduct or services should
be found deserving any memory, favour might be shown, together
with a widowed mother.
"I am, sir, with great respect,
"Your ever obedient servant,
"EDWARD RIOU.
"PHILIP STEPHENS, ESQ.,
"Admiralty."
About half the crew remained with Riou, some because they determined
to stand by their commander, and others because they could not get
away in the boats, which, to avoid being overcrowded, had put off in
haste, for the most part insufficiently stored and provided. The sea,
still high, continued to make breaches over the ship, and many were
drowned in their attempts to reach the boats. Those who remained were
exhausted by fatigue; and, without the most distant hope of life, some
were mad with despair. A party of these last contrived to break open
the spirit-room, and found a temporary oblivion in intoxication. "It
is hardly a time to be a disciplinarian," wrote Riou in his log, which
continues a valued treasury in his family, "when only a few more hours
of life seem to present themselves; but this behaviour greatly hurts
me." This log gives a detailed account, day by day, of the eight
weeks' heroic fortitude and scientific seamanship which preserved the
_Guardian_ afloat until she got into the track of ships, and was
finally towed by Dutch whalers into Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope.
The master's boat, in which were also the purser and chaplain, had by
a miracle been picked up, and those officers, on their return to
England, reported to the Admiralty "the total loss of the _Guardian_".
They also at the same time spoke of Riou's noble conduct in terms of
such enthusiasm as to awaken general admiration, and occasion the
greatest regret at his loss. Accordingly, when the Admiralty received
from his own hand the unexpected intelligence of his safety, his
widowed mother and only sister had the affectionate sympathy of all
England. Lord Hood himself, before unknown to the family, hastened to
their house with the news, calling to the servants as he ran up the
stairs to "throw off their mourning!" The following was Riou's brief
letter to his mother, which he found time to scrawl and send off by a
ship just leaving Table Bay for England as the poor helpless
_Guardian_ was being towed in:--
"Cape of Good Hope,
"_February, 22, 1790_.
"DEAREST,--God has been merciful. I hope you have no fatal
accounts of the _Guardian_. I am safe; I am well, notwithstanding
you may hear otherwise. Join with me in prayer to that blessed
Saviour who hath hung over my ship for two months, and kept thy
dear son safe, to be, I hope, thankful for almost a miracle. I
can say no more because I am hurried, and the ship sails for
England this afternoon.
"Yours ever and ever,
"EDWARD RIOU."
Riou remained many months at the Cape trying to patch up the
_Guardian_, and repair it so as to bring it back to port; but all his
exertions were fruitless, and in October the Admiralty despatched the
_Sphinx_ ship-of-war to bring him and the survivors of his crew to
England, where they landed shortly after. There was, of course, the
usual court-martial held upon him for the loss of his ship, but it was
merely a matter of form. At its conclusion he was complimented by the
Court in the warmest terms; and "as a mark of the high consideration
in which the magnanimity of his conduct was held, in remaining by his
ship from an exalted sense of duty when all reasonable prospects of
saving her were at an end," he received the special thanks of the
Admiralty, was made commander, and at the same time promoted to the
rank of post captain.
No record exists of the services of Captain Riou from the date of his
promotion until 1794, when we find him in command of his Majesty's
ship _Rose_, assisting in the reduction of Martinique. He was then
transferred to the _Beaulieu_, and remained cruising in the West
Indian seas till his health became so injured by the climate that he
found himself compelled to solicit his recall, and he consequently
returned to England in the _Theseus_ in the following year. Shortly
after, in recognition of his distinguished services, he was appointed
to the command of the royal yacht, the _Princess Augusta_, in which he
remained until the spring of 1790. So soon as his health was
sufficiently re-established, he earnestly solicited active employment,
and he was accordingly appointed to the command of the fine frigate,
the _Amazon_, thirty-eight guns, whose name afterwards figured so
prominently in Nelson's famous battle before Copenhagen.
After cruising about in her on various stations, and picking up a few
prizes, the _Amazon_, early in 1801, was attached to Sir Hyde Parker's
fleet, destined for the Baltic. The last letter which Riou wrote home
to his mother was dated Sunday, the 29th March, "at the entrance to
the Sound;" and in it he said:--"It yet remains in doubt whether we
are to fight the Danes, or whether they will be our friends." Already,
however, Nelson was arranging his plan of attack, and on the following
day, the 30th, the Admiral and all the artillery officers were on
board the _Amazon_, which proceeded to examine the northern channel
outside Copenhagen Harbour. It was on this occasion that Riou first
became known to Nelson, who was struck with admiration at the superior
discipline and seamanship which were observable on board the frigate
during the proceedings of that day.
Early in the evening of the 1st of April the signal to prepare for
action was made; and Lord Nelson, with Riou and Foley, on board the
_Elephant_--all the other officers having returned to their
respective ships--arranged the order of battle on the following day.
What remains to be told of Riou is matter of history. The science and
skill in navigation which made Nelson intrust to him the last
soundings, and place under his command the fire-ships which were to
lead the way on the following morning,--the gallantry with which the
captain of the _Amazon_ throw himself, _impar congressus_, under the
fearful fire of the Trekroner battery, to redeem the failure
threatened by the grounding of the ships of the line,--have all been
told with a skilful pen, and forms a picture of a great sailor's last
hours, which is cherished with equal pride in the affections of his
family and the annals of his country.
Sir Hyde Parker's signal to "leave off action," which Nelson, putting
his telescope to his blind eye, refused to see, was seen, by Riou and
reluctantly obeyed. Indeed, nothing but that signal for retreat saved
the _Amazon_ from destruction, though it did not save its heroic
commander. As he unwillingly drew off from the destructive fire of the
battery he mournfully exclaimed, "What will Nelson think of us!" His
clerk had been killed by his side. He himself had been wounded in the
head by a splinter, but continued to sit on a gun encouraging his men,
who were falling in numbers around him. "Come then, my boys," he
cried, "let us all die together." Scarcely had he uttered the words,
when a raking shot cut him in two. And thus, in an instant, perished
the "gallant good Riou," at the early age of thirty-nine.
Riou was a man of the truest and tenderest feelings, yet the bravest
of the brave. His private correspondence revealed the most endearing
qualities of mind and heart, while the nobility of his actions was
heightened by lofty Christian sentiment, and a firm reliance on the
power and mercy of God. His chivalrous devotion to duty in the face of
difficulty and danger heightened the affectionate admiration with
which he was regarded, and his death before Copenhagen was mourned
almost as a national bereavement. The monument erected to his memory
in St. Paul's Cathedral represented, however inadequately, the widely
felt sorrow which pervaded all classes at the early death of this
heroic officer. "Except it had been Nelson himself," says Southey,
"the British navy could not have suffered a severer loss."
Captain Riou's only sister married Colonel Lyde Browne, who closed his
honourable career of twenty-three years' active service in Dublin, on
July 23rd, 1803. Within two years of her bitter mourning for the death
of her brother, she had also to mourn for the loss of her husband. He
was colonel of the 21st Fusiliers. He was hastening to the assistance
of Lord Kilwarden on the fatal night of Emmett's rebellion, when he
was basely assassinated. He was buried in the churchyard of St.
Paul's, Dublin, where his brother officers erected a marble tablet to
his memory. He left an only daughter, who was married, in 1826, to M.
G. Benson, Esq., of Lulwyche Hall, Salop. It is through this lady that
we have been permitted to inspect the family papers relating to the
life and death of Captain Riou.
A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY OF THE VAUDOIS.
[Illustration: "The country of Felix Neff." (Dauphiny.)]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Dauphiny is one of the least visited of all the provinces of France.
It occupies a remote corner of the empire, lying completely out of the
track of ordinary tourists. No great road passes through it into
Italy, the Piedmontese frontier of which it adjoins; and the annual
streams of English and American travellers accordingly enter that
kingdom by other routes. Even to Frenchmen, who travel little in their
own country and still less in others, Dauphiny is very little known;
and M. Joanne, who has written an excellent Itinerary of the South of
France, almost takes the credit of having discovered it.
Yet Dauphiny is a province full of interest. Its scenery almost vies
with that of Switzerland in grandeur, beauty, and wildness. The great
mountain masses of the Alps do not end in Savoy, but extend through
the south-eastern parts of France, almost to the mouths of the Rhône.
Packed closer together than in most parts of Switzerland, the
mountains of Dauphiny are furrowed by deep valleys, each with its
rapid stream or torrent at bottom, in some places overhung by
precipitous rocks, in others hemmed in by green hills, over which are
seen the distant snowy peaks and glaciers of the loftier mountain
ranges. Of these, Mont Pelvoux--whose double pyramid can be seen from
Lyons on a clear day, a hundred miles off--and the Aiguille du Midi,
are among the larger masses, rising to a height little short of Mont
Blanc itself.
From the ramparts of Grenoble the panoramic view is of wonderful
beauty and grandeur, extending along the valleys of the Isère and the
Drac, and across that of the Romanche. The massive heads of the Grand
Chartreuse mountains bound the prospect to the north; and the summits
of the snow-clad Dauphiny Alps on the south and east present a
combination of bold valley and mountain scenery, the like of which is
not to be seen in France, if in Europe.
But it is not the scenery, or the geology, or the flora of the
province, however marvellous these may be, that constitutes the chief
interest for the traveller through these Dauphiny valleys, so much as
the human endurance, suffering, and faithfulness of the people who
have lived in them in past times, and of which so many interesting
remnants still survive. For Dauphiny forms a principal part of the
country of the ancient Vaudois or Waldenses--literally, the people
inhabiting the _Vaux_, or valleys--who for nearly seven hundred years
bore the heavy brunt of Papal persecution, and are now, after all
their sufferings, free to worship God according to the dictates of
their conscience.
The country of the Vaudois is not confined, as is generally supposed,
to the valleys of Piedmont, but extends over the greater part of
Dauphiny and Provence. From the main ridge of the Cottian Alps, which,
divide France from Italy, great mountain spurs are thrown out, which
run westward as well as eastward, and enclose narrow strips of
pasturage, cultivable land, and green shelves on the mountain sides,
where a poor, virtuous, and hard-working race have long contrived to
earn a scanty subsistence, amidst trials and difficulties of no
ordinary kind,--the greatest of which, strange to say, have arisen
from the pure and simple character of the religion they professed.
The tradition which exists among them is, that the early Christian
missionaries, when travelling from Italy into Gaul by the Roman road
passing over Mont Genèvre, taught the Gospel in its primitive form to
the people of the adjoining districts. It is even surmised that St.
Paul journeyed from Rome into Spain by that route, and may himself
have imparted to the people of the valleys their first Christian
instruction. The Italian and Gallic provinces in that quarter were
certainly Christianized in the second century at the latest, and it is
known that the early missionaries were in the habit of making frequent
journeys from the provinces to Rome. Wherefore it is reasonable to
suppose that the people of the valleys would receive occasional visits
from the wayfaring teachers who travelled by the mountain passes in
the immediate neighbourhood of their dwellings.
As years rolled on, and the Church at Rome became rich and allied
itself with the secular power, it gradually departed more and more
from its primitive condition,[92] until at length it was scarcely to
be recognised from the Paganism which it had superseded. The heathen
gods were replaced by canonised mortals; Venus and Cupid by the Virgin
and Child; Lares and Penates by images and crucifixes; while incense,
flowers, tapers, and showy dresses came to be regarded as essential
parts of the ceremonial of the new religion as they had been of the
old. Madonnas winked and bled again, as the statues of Juno and Pompey
had done before; and stones and relics worked miracles as in the time
of the Augurs.
[Footnote 92: The ancient Vaudois had a saying, known in
other countries--"Religion brought forth wealth, and the
daughter devoured the mother;" and another of like meaning,
but less known--"When the bishops' croziers became golden,
the bishops themselves became Wooden."]
Attempts were made by some of the early bishops to stem this tide of
innovation. Thus, in the fourth, century, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan,
and Philastrius, Bishop of Brescia, acknowledging no authority on
earth as superior to that of the Bible, protested against the
introduction of images in churches, which they held to be a return to
Paganism. Four centuries later, Claude, Bishop of Turin, advanced like
views, and opposed with energy the worship of images, which he
regarded as absolute idolatry. In the meanwhile, the simple Vaudois,
shut up in their almost inaccessible valleys, and knowing nothing of
these innovations, continued to adhere to their original primitive
form of worship; and it clearly appears, from a passage in the
writings of St. Ambrose, that, in his time, the superstitions which
prevailed elsewhere had not at all extended into the mountainous
regions of his diocese.
The Vaudois Church was never, in the ordinary sense of the word, a
"Reformed" Church, simply because it had not become corrupted, and did
not stand in need of "reformation." It was not the Vaudois who left
the Church, but the Roman Church that left them in search of idols.
Adhering to their primitive faith, they never recognised the paramount
authority of the Pope; they never worshipped images, nor used incense,
nor observed Mass; and when, in the course of time, these corruptions
became known to them, and they found that the Western Church had
ceased to be Catholic, and become merely Roman; they openly separated
from it, as being no longer in conformity with the principles of the
Gospel as inculcated in the Bible and delivered to them by their
fathers. Their ancient manuscripts, still extant, attest to the purity
of their doctrines. They are written, like the Nobla Leyçon, in the
Romance or Provençal--the earliest of the modern classical languages,
the language of the troubadours--though now only spoken as a _patois_
in Dauphiny, Piedmont, Sardinia, the north of Spain, and the Balearic
Isles.[93]
[Footnote 93: Sismondi, "Littérature du Midi de l'Europe," i.
159.]
If the age counts for anything, the Vaudois are justified in their
claim to be considered one of the oldest churches in Europe. Long
before the conquest of England by the Normans, before the time of
Wallace and Bruce in Scotland, before England had planted its foot in
Ireland, the Vaudois Church existed. Their remoteness, their poverty,
and their comparative unimportance as a people, for a long time
protected them from interference; and for centuries they remained
unnoticed by Rome. But as the Western Church extended its power, it
became insatiable for uniformity. It would not tolerate the
independence which characterized the early churches, but aimed at
subjecting them to the exclusive authority of Rome.
The Vaudois, however, persisted in repudiating the doctrines and
formularies of the Pope. When argument failed, the Church called the
secular arm to its aid, and then began a series of persecutions,
extending over several centuries, which, for brutality and ferocity,
are probably unexampled in history. To crush this unoffending but
faithful people, Rome employed her most irrefragable arguments--the
curses of Lucius and the horrible cruelties of Innocent--and the
"Vicar of Christ" bathed the banner of the Cross in a carnage from
which the wolves of Romulus and the eagles of Cæsar would have turned
with loathing.
Long before the period of the Reformation, the Vaudois valleys were
ravaged by fire and sword because of the alleged heresy of the people.
Luther was not born until 1483; whereas nearly four centuries before,
the Vaudois were stigmatized as heretics by Rome. As early as 1096, we
find Pope Urban II. describing Val Louise, one of the Dauphiny
valleys--then called Vallis Gyrontana, from the torrent of Gyr, which
flows through it--as "infested with heresy." In 1179, hot persecution
raged all over Dauphiny, extending to the Albigeois of the South of
France, as far as Lyons and Toulouse; one of the first martyrs being
Pierre Waldo, or Waldensis,[94] of Lyons, who was executed for heresy
by the Archbishop of Lyons in 1180.
[Footnote 94: It has been surmised by some writers that the
Waldenses derived their name from this martyr; but being
known as "heretics" long before his time, it is more probable
that they gave the name to him than that he did to them.]
Of one of the early persecutions, an ancient writer says: "In the year
1243, Pope Innocent II. ordered the Bishop of Metz rigorously to
prosecute the Vaudois, especially because they read the sacred books
in the vulgar tongue."[95] From time to time, new persecutions were
ordered, and conducted with ever-increasing ferocity--the scourge, the
brand, and the sword being employed by turns. In 1486, while Luther
was still in his cradle, Pope Innocent VIII. issued a bull of
extermination against the Vaudois, summoning all true Catholics to the
holy crusade, promising free pardon to all manner of criminals who
should take part in it, and concluding with the promise of the
remission of sins to every one who should slay a heretic.[96] The
consequence was, the assemblage of an immense horde of brigands, who
were let loose on the valleys of Dauphiny and Piedmont, which they
ravaged and pillaged, in company with eighteen thousand regular
troops, jointly furnished by the French king and the Duke of Savoy.
[Footnote 95: Jean Leger, "Histoire Générale des Églises
Évangéliques des Vallées de Piedmont, ou Vaudoises." Leyde,
1669. Part ii. 330.]
[Footnote 96: Leger, ii. 8-20.]
Sometimes the valleys were under the authority of the kings of France,
sometimes under that of the dukes of Savoy, whose armies alternately
overran them; but change of masters and change of popes made little
difference to the Vaudois. It sometimes, however, happened, that the
persecution waxed hotter on one side of the Cottian Alps, while it
temporarily relaxed on the other; and on such occasions the French and
Italian Vaudois were accustomed to cross the mountain passes, and take
refuge in each others' valleys. But when, as in the above case, the
kings, soldiers, and brigands, on both sides, simultaneously plied the
brand and the sword, the times were very troublous indeed for these
poor hunted people. They had then no alternative but to climb up the
mountains into the least accessible places, or hide themselves away
in dens and caverns with their families, until their enemies had
departed. But they were often, tracked to their hiding-places by their
persecutors, and suffocated, strangled, or shot--men, women, and
children. Hence there is scarcely a hiding-place along the
mountain-sides of Dauphiny but has some tradition connected with it
relating to those dreadful times. In one, so many women and children
were suffocated; in another, so many perished of cold and hunger; in a
third, so many were ruthlessly put to the sword. If these caves of
Dauphiny had voices, what deeds of horror they could tell!
* * * * *
What is known as the Easter massacre of 1655 made an unusual sensation
in Europe, but especially in England, principally through the attitude
which Oliver Cromwell assumed in the matter. Persecution had followed
persecution for nearly four hundred years, and still the Vaudois were
neither converted nor extirpated. The dukes of Savoy during all that
time pursued a uniform course of treachery and cruelty towards this
portion of their subjects. Sometimes the Vaudois, pressed by their
persecutors, turned upon them, and drove them ignominiously out of
their valleys. Then the reigning dukes would refrain for a time; and,
probably needing their help in one or other of the wars in which they
were constantly engaged, would promise them protection and privileges.
But such promises were invariably broken; and at some moment when the
Vaudois were thrown off their guard by his pretended graciousness, the
duke for the time being would suddenly pounce upon them and carry fire
and sword through their valleys.
Indeed, the dukes of Savoy seem to have been about the most
wrong-headed line of despots that ever cursed a people by their rule.
Their mania was soldiering, though they were oftener beaten than
victorious. They were thrashed out of Dauphiny by France, thrashed out
of Geneva by the citizens, thrashed out of the valleys by their own
peasantry; and still they went on raising armies, making war, and
massacring their Vaudois subjects. Being devoted servants of the Pope,
in 1655 they concurred with him in the establishment of a branch of
the society _De Propaganda Fide_ at Turin, which extended over the
whole of Piedmont, for the avowed purpose of extirpating the heretics.
On Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, the society commenced
active proceedings. The army of Savoy advanced suddenly upon La Tour,
and were let loose upon the people. A general massacre began,
accompanied with shocking brutalities, and continued for more than a
week. In many hamlets not a cottage was left standing, and such of the
people as had not been able to fly into the upper valleys were
indiscriminately put to the sword. And thus was Easter celebrated.
The noise of this dreadful deed rang through Europe, and excited a
general feeling of horror, especially in England. Cromwell, then at
the height of his power, offered the fugitive Vaudois an asylum in
Ireland; but the distance which lay between was too great, and the
Vaudois asked him to help them in some other way. Forthwith, he
addressed letters, written by his secretary, John Milton,[97] to the
principal European powers, calling upon them to join him in putting a
stop to these horrid barbarities committed upon an unoffending
people. Cromwell did more. He sent the exiles £2,000 out of his own
purse; appointed a day of humiliation and a general collection all
over England, by which some £38,000 were raised; and dispatched Sir
Samuel Morland as his plenipotentiary to expostulate in person with
the Duke of Savoy. Moreover, a treaty was on the eve of being signed
with France; and Cromwell refused to complete it until Cardinal
Mazarin had undertaken to assist him in getting right done to the
people of the valleys.
[Footnote 97: It was at this time that Milton wrote his noble
sonnet, beginning--
"Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold," &c.]
These energetic measures had their effect. The Vaudois who survived
the massacre were permitted to return to their devastated homes, under
the terms of the treaty known as the "Patents of Grace," which was
only observed, however, so long as Cromwell lived. At the Restoration,
Charles II. seized the public fund collected for the relief of the
Vaudois, and refused to remit the annuity arising from the interest
thereon which Cromwell had assigned to them, declaring that he would
not pay the debts of a usurper!
After that time, the interest felt in the Vaudois was very much of a
traditional character. Little was known as to their actual condition,
or whether the descendants of the primitive Vaudois Church continued
to exist or not. Though English travellers--amongst others, Addison,
Smollett, and Sterne--passed through the country in the course of last
century, they took no note of the people of the valleys. And this
state of general ignorance as to the district continued down to within
about the last fifty years, when quite a new interest was imparted to
the subject through the labours and researches of the late Dr. Gilly,
Prebendary of Durham.
It happened that that gentleman was present at a meeting of the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in the year 1820, when a
very touching letter was read to the board, signed "Frederick Peyrani,
minister of Pramol," requesting the assistance of the society in
supplying books to the Vaudois churches of Piedmont, who were
described as maintaining a very hard struggle with poverty and
oppression. Dr. Gilly was greatly interested by the reading of this
letter. Indeed, the subject of it so strongly arrested his attention,
that he says it "took complete possession of him." He proceeded to
make search for information about the Vaudois, but could find very
little that was definite or satisfactory respecting them. Then it was
that he formed the determination of visiting the valleys and
ascertaining the actual condition of the people in person.
His visit was made in 1823, and in the course of the following year
Dr. Gilly published the result in his "Narrative of an Excursion to
the Mountains of Piedmont." The book excited much interest, not only
in England, but in other countries; and a movement was shortly after
set on foot for the relief and assistance of the Vaudois. A committee
was formed, and a fund was raised--to which the Emperor of Russia and
the Kings of Prussia and Holland contributed--with the object, in the
first place, of erecting a hospital for the sick and infirm Vaudois at
La Tour, in the valley of Luzern. It turned out that the money raised
was not only sufficient for this purpose, but also to provide schools
and a college for the education of pastors, which were shortly after
erected at the same place.
In 1829, Dr. Gilly made a second visit to the Piedmontese valleys,
partly in order to ascertain how far the aid thus rendered to the poor
Vaudois had proved effectual, and also to judge in what way certain
further sums placed at his disposal might best be employed for their
benefit.[98] It was in the course of his second visit that Dr. Gilly
became aware of the fact that the Vaudois were not confined to the
valleys of Piedmont, but that numerous traces of them were also to be
found on the French side of the Alps, in Dauphiny and Provence. He
accordingly extended his journey across the Col de la Croix into
France, and cursorily visited the old Vaudois district of Val
Fressinières and Val Queyras, of which an account will be given in the
following chapters. It was while on this journey that Dr. Gilly became
acquainted with the self-denying labours of the good Felix Neff among
those poor outlying Christians, with whose life and character he was
so fascinated that he afterwards wrote and published the memoir of
Neff, so well known to English readers.
[Footnote 98: Dr. Gilly's narrative of his second visit to
the valleys was published in 1831, under the title of
"Waldensian Researches."]
Since that time occasional efforts have been made in aid of the French
Vaudois, though those on the Italian side have heretofore commanded by
far the larger share of interest. There have been several reasons for
this. In the first place, the French valleys are much less accessible;
the roads through some of the most interesting valleys are so bad that
they can only be travelled on foot, being scarcely practicable even
for mules. There is no good hotel accommodation in the district, only
_auberges_, and these of an indifferent character. The people are also
more scattered, and even poorer than they are on the Italian side of
the Alps. Then the climate is much more severe, from the greater
elevation of the sites of most of the Vaudois villages; so that when
pastors were induced to settle there, the cold, and sterility, and
want of domestic accommodation, soon drove them away. It was to the
rigour of the climate that Felix Neff was eventually compelled to
succumb.
Yet much has been done of late years for the amelioration of the
French Vaudois; and among the most zealous workers in their behalf
have been the Rev. Mr. Freemantle, rector of Claydon, Bucks, and Mr.
Edward Milsom, the well-known merchant of Lyons. It was in the year
1851 that the Rev. Mr. Freemantle first visited the Vaudois of
Dauphiny. His attention was drawn to the subject while editing the
memoir of a young English clergyman, the Rev. Spencer Thornton, who
had taken Felix Neff for his model; and he was thereby induced to
visit the scene of Neff's labours, and to institute a movement on
behalf of the people of the French valleys, which has issued in the
erection of schools, churches, and pastors' dwellings in several of
the most destitute places.
It is curious and interesting to trace the influence of personal
example on human life and action. As the example of Oberlin in the Ban
de la Roche inspired Felix Neff to action, so the life of Felix Neff
inspired that of Spencer Thornton, and eventually led Mr. Freemantle
to enter upon the work of extending evangelization among the Vaudois.
In like manner, a young French pastor, M. Bost, also influenced by the
life and labours of Neff, visited the valleys some years since, and
wrote a book on the subject, the perusal of which induced Mr. Milsom
to lend a hand to the work which the young Genevese missionary had
begun. And thus good example goes on ever propagating itself; and
though the tombstone may record "Hic jacet" over the crumbling dust of
the departed, his spirit still lives and works through other
minds--stimulates them to action, and inspires them with
hope--"allures to brighter worlds, and leads the way."
* * * * *
A few words as to the origin of these fragmentary papers. In chalking
out a summer holiday trip, one likes to get quite away from the
ordinary round of daily life and business. Half the benefits of such a
trip consists in getting out of the old ruts, and breathing fresh air
amidst new surroundings. But this is very difficult if you follow the
ordinary tourist's track. London goes with you and elbows you on your
way, accompanied by swarms of commissionaires, guides, and beggars.
You encounter London people on the Righi, on the Wengern Alp, and
especially at Chamouni. Think of being asked, as I once was on
entering the Pavilion at Montanvert, after crossing the Mer de Glace
from the Mauvais Pas, "Pray, can you tell me what was the price of
Brighton stock when you left town?"
There is no risk of such rencontres in Dauphiny, whose valleys remain
in almost as primitive a state as they were hundreds of years ago.
Accordingly, when my friend Mr. Milsom, above mentioned, invited me to
accompany him in one of his periodical visits to the country of the
Vaudois, I embraced the opportunity with pleasure. I was cautioned
beforehand as to the inferior accommodation provided for travellers
through the district. Tourists being unknown there, the route is not
padded and cushioned as it is on all the beaten continental rounds.
English is not spoken; Bass's pale ale has not yet penetrated into
Dauphiny; nor do you encounter London tourists carrying their tin
baths about with them as you do in Switzerland. Only an occasional
negotiant comes up from Gap or Grenoble, seeking orders in the
villages, for whom the ordinary auberges suffice.
Where the roads are practicable, an old-fashioned diligence may
occasionally be seen plodding along, freighted with villagers bound
for some local market; but the roads are, for the most part, as silent
as the desert.
Such being the case, the traveller in the valleys must be prepared to
"rough it" a little. I was directed to bring with me only a light
knapsack, a pair of stout hob-nailed shoes, a large stock of patience,
and a small parcel of insect powder. The knapsack and the shoes I
found exceedingly useful, indeed indispensable; but I had very little
occasion to draw upon either my stock of patience or insect powder.
The French are a tidy people, and though their beds, stuffed with
maize chaff, may be hard, they are tolerably clean. The food provided
in the auberges is doubtless very different from what one is
accustomed to at home; but with the help of cheerfulness and a good
digestion that difficulty too may be got over.
Indeed, among the things that most strikes a traveller through France,
as characteristic of the people, is the skill with which persons of
even the poorest classes prepare and serve up food. The French women
are careful economists and excellent cooks. Nothing is wasted. The
_pot au feu_ is always kept simmering on the hob, and, with the help
of a hunch of bread, a good meal may at any time be made from it. Even
in the humblest auberge, in the least frequented district, the dinner
served up is of a quality such as can very rarely be had in any
English public-house, or even in most of our country inns. Cooking
seems to be one of the lost arts of England, if indeed it ever
possessed it; and our people are in the habit, through want of
knowledge, of probably _wasting_ more food than would sustain many
another nation. But in the great system of National Education that is
to be, no one dreams of including as a branch of it skill in the
preparation and economy in the use of human food.
There is another thing that the traveller through France may always
depend upon, and that is civility. The politeness of even the French
poor to each other is charming. They respect themselves, and they
respect each other. I have seen in France what I have not yet seen in
England--young working men walking out their aged mothers arm in arm
in the evening, to hear the band play in the "Place," or to take a
turn on the public promenade. But the French are equally polite to
strangers. A stranger lady may travel all through the rural districts
of France, and never encounter a rude look; a stranger gentleman, and
never receive a rude word. That the French are a self-respecting
people is also evinced by the fact that they are a sober people.
Drunkenness is scarcely known in France; and one may travel all
through it and never witness the degrading sight of a drunken man.
The French are also honest and thrifty, and exceedingly hard-working.
The industry of the people is unceasing. Indeed it is excessive; for
they work Sunday and Saturday. Sunday has long ceased to be a Sabbath
in France. There is no day of rest there. Before the Revolution, the
saints' days which the Church ordered to be observed so encroached
upon the hours required for labour, that in course of time Sunday
became an ordinary working day. And when the Revolution abolished
saints' days and Sabbath days alike, Sunday work became an established
practice.
What the so-called friends of the working classes are aiming at in
England, has already been effected in France. The public museums and
picture-galleries are open on Sunday. But you look for the working
people there in vain. They are at work in the factories, whose
chimneys are smoking as usual; or building houses, or working in the
fields, or they are engaged in the various departments of labour. The
government works all go on as usual on Sundays. The railway trains run
precisely as on week days. In short, the Sunday is secularised, or
regarded but as a partial holiday.[99]
[Footnote 99: I find the following under the signature of "An
Operative Bricklayer," in the _Times_ of the 30th July, 1867:
"I found there were a great number of men in Paris that
worked on the buildings who were not residents of the city.
The bricklayers are called _limousins_; they come from the
old province Le Limousin, where they keep their home, and
many of them are landowners. They work in Paris in the summer
time; they come up in large numbers, hire a place in Paris,
and live together, and by so doing they live cheap. In the
winter time, when they cannot work on the buildings, they go
back home again and take their savings, and stop there until
the spring, which is far better than it is in London; when
the men cannot work they are hanging about the streets. It
was with regret that I saw so many working on the Sunday
desecrating the Sabbath. I inquired why they worked on
Sunday; they told me it was to make up the time they lose
through wet and other causes. I saw some working with only
their trousers and shoes on, with a belt round their waist to
keep their trousers up. Their naked back was exposed to the
sun, and was as brown as if it had been dyed, and shone as if
it had been varnished. I asked if they had any hard-working
hearty old men. They answered me "No; the men were completely
worn out by the time they reached forty years." That was a
clear proof that they work against the laws of nature. I
thought to myself--Glory be to you, O Englishmen, you know
the Fourth Commandment; you know the value of the seventh
day, the day of rest!"]
As you pass through the country on Sundays, as on week-days, you see
the people toiling in the fields. And as dusk draws on, the dark
figures may be seen moving about so long as there is light to see by.
It is the peasants working the land, and it is _their own_. Such is
the "magical influence of property," said Arthur Young, when he
observed the same thing.
It is to be feared, however, that the French peasantry are afflicted
with the disease which Sir Walter Scott called the "earth-hunger;" and
there is danger of the gravel getting into their souls. Anyhow, their
continuous devotion to bodily labour, without a seventh day's rest,
cannot fail to exercise a deteriorating effect upon their physical as
well as their moral condition; and this we believe it is which gives
to the men, and especially to the women of the country, the look of a
prematurely old and overworked race.
CHAPTER II.
THE VALLEY OF THE ROMANCHE--BRIANÇON.
The route from Grenoble to the frontier fortress of Briançon lies for
the most part up the valley of the Romanche, which presents a variety
of wild and beautiful scenery. In summer the river is confined within
comparatively narrow limits; but in autumn and spring it is often a
furious torrent, flooding the low-lying lands, and forcing for itself
new channels. The mountain heights which bound it, being composed for
the most part of schist, mica slate, and talcose slate, large masses
become detached in winter--split off by the freezing of the water
behind them--when they descend, on the coming of thaw, in terrible
avalanches of stone and mud. Sometimes the masses are such as to dam
up the river and form temporary lakes, until the accumulation of force
behind bursts the barrier, and a furious flood rushes down the valley.
By one of such floods, which occurred a few centuries since, through
the bursting of the hike of St. Laurent in the valley of the Romanche,
a large part of Grenoble was swept away, and many of the inhabitants
were drowned.
The valley of the Romanche is no sooner entered, a few miles above
Grenoble, than the mountains begin to close, the scenery becomes
wilder, and the fury of the torrent is evinced by the masses of débris
strewed along its bed. Shortly after passing the picturesque defile
called L'Étroit, where the river rushes through a deep cleft in the
rocks, the valley opens out again, and we shortly come in sight of the
ancient town of Vizille--the most prominent building in which is the
château of the famous Duc de Lesdiguières, governor of the province in
the reign of Henry IV., and Constable of France in that of Louis XIII.
* * * * *
Wherever you go in Dauphiny, you come upon the footmarks of this great
soldier. At Grenoble there is the Constable's palace, now the
Prefecture; and the beautiful grounds adjoining it, laid out by
himself, are now the public gardens of the town. Between Grenoble and
Vizille there is the old road constructed by him, still known as "Le
chemin du Connétable." At St. Bonnet, in the valley of the Drac,
formerly an almost exclusively Protestant town, known as "the Geneva
of the High Alps," you are shown the house in which the Constable was
born; and a little lower down the same valley, in the commune of
Glaizil, on a hill overlooking the Drac, stand the ruins of the family
castle; where the Constable was buried. The people of the commune were
in the practice of carrying away the bones from the family vault,
believing them to possess some virtue as relics, until the prefect of
the High Alps ordered it to be walled up to prevent the entire removal
of the skeletons.
In the early part of his career, Lesdiguières was one of the most
trusted chiefs of Henry of Navarre, often leading his Huguenot
soldiers to victory; capturing town after town, and eventually
securing possession of the entire province of Dauphiny, of which
Henry appointed him governor. In that capacity he carried out many
important public works--made roads, built bridges, erected fourteen
fortresses, and enlarged and beautified his palace at Grenoble and his
château at Vizille. He enjoyed great popularity during his life, and
was known throughout his province as "King of the Mountains." But he
did not continue staunch either to his party or his faith. As in the
case of many of the aristocratic leaders of those times, Lesdiguières'
religion was only skin deep. It was but a party emblem--a flag to
fight under, not a faith to live by. So, when ambition tempted him,
and the Constable's baton dangled before his eyes, it cost the old
soldier but little compunction to abandon the cause which he had so
brilliantly served in his youth. To secure the prize which he so
coveted, he made public abjuration of his faith in the church, of St.
Andrew's at Grenoble in 1622, in the presence of the Marquis de
Crequi, the minister of Louis XIII., who, immediately after
Lesdiguières' first mass, presented him with the Constable's baton.
But the Lesdiguières family has long since passed away, and left no
traces. At the Revolution, the Constable's tomb was burst open, and
his coffin torn up. His monument was afterwards removed to Gap, which,
when a Huguenot, he had stormed and ravaged. His château at Vizille
passed through different hands, until in 1775 it came into the
possession of the Périer family, to which the celebrated Casimir
Périer belonged. The great Gothic hall of the château has witnessed
many strange scenes. In 1623, shortly after his investment as
Constable, Lesdiguières entertained Louis XIII. and his court there,
while on his journey into Italy, in the course of which he so
grievously ravaged the Vaudois villages. In 1788, the Estates of
Dauphiny met there, and prepared the first bold remonstrance against
aristocratic privileges, and in favour of popular representation,
which, in a measure, proved the commencement of the great Revolution.
And there too, in 1822, Felix Neff preached to large congregations,
who were so anxious and attentive that he always after spoke of the
place as his "dear Vizille;" and now, to wind up the vicissitudes of
the great hall, it is used as a place for the printing of Bandana
handkerchiefs!
* * * * *
When Neff made his flying visits to Vizille, he was temporarily
stationed at Mens, which was the scene of his first labours in
Dauphiny. The place lies not far from Vizille, away among the
mountains towards the south. During the wars of religion, and more
especially after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Mens became a
place of refuge for the Protestants, who still form about one-half of
its population. Although, during the long dark period of religious
persecution which followed the Revocation, the Protestants of Mens and
the neighbouring villages did not dare to show themselves, and
worshipped, if at all, only in their dwellings, in secret, or in "the
Desert," no sooner did the Revolution set them at liberty than they
formed themselves again into churches, and appointed pastors; and it
was to serve them temporarily in that capacity that Felix Neff first
went amongst them, and laboured there and at Vizille with such good
effect.
* * * * *
Not far from Mens is a place which has made much more noise in the
world--no other than La Salette, the scene of the latest Roman
"miracle." La Salette is one of the side-valleys of the large valley
of the Drac, which joins the Romanche a few miles above Grenoble.
There is no village of La Salette, but a commune, which is somewhat
appropriately called La Salette-Fallavaux, the latter word being from
_fallax vallis_, or "the lying valley."
About twenty-seven years ago, on the 19th of September, 1846, two
children belonging to the hamlet of Abladens--the one a girl of
fourteen, the other a boy of twelve years old--came down from the
lofty pasturage of Mont Gargas, where they had been herding cattle,
and told the following strange story. They had seen the Virgin Mary
descend from heaven with a crucifix suspended from her neck by a gold
chain, and a hammer and pincers suspended from the chain, but without
any visible support. The figure sat down upon a large stone, and wept
so piteously as shortly to fill a large pool with her tears.
When the story was noised abroad, people came from all quarters, and
went up the mountain to see where the Virgin had sat. The stone was
soon broken off in chips and carried away as relics, but the fountain
filled with the tears is still there, tasting very much, like ordinary
spring water.
Two priests of Grenoble, disgusted at what they believed to be an
imposition, accused a young person of the neighbourhood, one Mdlle. de
Lamerlière, as being the real author of the pretended miracle, on
which she commenced an action against them for defamation of
character. She brought the celebrated advocate Jules Favre from Paris
to plead her cause, but the verdict was given in favour of the two
priests. The "miracle" was an imposture!
Notwithstanding this circumstance, the miracle came to be generally
believed in the neighbourhood. The number of persons who resorted to
the place with money in their pockets steadily increased. The question
was then taken up by the local priests, who vouched for the
authenticity of the miracle seen by the two children. The miracle was
next accepted by Rome.[100] A church was built on the spot by means of
the contributions of the visitors--L'Église de la Salette--and thither
pilgrims annually resort in great numbers, the more devout climbing
the hill, from station to station, on their knees. As many as four
thousand persons of both sexes, and of various ages, have been known
to climb the hill in one day--on the anniversary of the appearance of
the apparition--notwithstanding the extreme steepness and difficulties
of the ascent.
[Footnote 100: An authorised account was prepared by Cardinal
Wiseman for English readers, entitled "Manual of the
Association of our Lady of Reconciliation of La Salette," and
published as a tract by Burns, 17, Portman Street, in 1853.
Since I passed through the country in 1869, the Germans have
invaded France, the surrender has occurred at Sedan, the
Commune has been defeated at Paris, but Our Lady of La
Salette is greater than ever. A temple of enormous dimensions
has risen in her honour; the pilgrims number over 100,000
yearly, and the sale of the water from the Holy Well, said to
have sprung from the Virgin's tears, realises more than
£12,000. Since the success of La Salette, the Virgin has been
making repeated appearances in France. Her last appearance
was in a part of Alsace which is strictly Catholic. The
Virgin appeared, as usual, to a boy of the mature age of six,
"dressed in black, floating in the air, her hands bound with
chains,"--a pretty strong religio-political hint. When a
party of the 5th Bavarian Cavalry was posted in Bettweiler,
the Virgin ceased to make her appearance.]
* * * * *
As a pendant to this story, another may be given of an entirely
different character, relating to the inhabitants of another commune in
the same valley, about midway between La Salette and Grenoble. In
1860, while the discussion about the miracle at La Salette was still
in progress, the inhabitants of Notre-Dame-de-Comiers, dissatisfied
with the conduct of their curé, invited M. Fermaud, pastor of the
Protestant church at Grenoble, to come over and preach to them, as
they were desirous of embracing Protestantism. The pastor, supposing
that they were influenced by merely temporary irritation against their
curé, cautioned the deputation that waited upon him as to the gravity
of their decision in such a matter, and asked them to reflect further
upon it.
For several years M. Fermaud continued to maintain the same attitude,
until, in 1865, a formal petition was delivered to him by the mayor of
the place, signed by forty-three heads of families, and by nine out of
the ten members of the council of the commune, urging him to send them
over a minister of the evangelical religion. Even then he hesitated,
and recommended the memorialists to appeal to the bishop of the
diocese for redress of the wrongs of which he knew they complained,
but in vain, until at length, in the beginning of 1868, with the
sanction of the consistory of Grenoble a minister was sent over to
Comiers to perform the first acts of Protestant worship, including
baptism and marriage; and it was not until October in the same year
that Pastor Fermaud himself went thither to administer the sacrament
to the new church.
The service was conducted in the public hall of the commune, and was
attended by a large number of persons belonging to the town and
neighbourhood. The local clergy tried in vain to check the movement.
Quite recently, when the curé entered one of the schools to inscribe
the names of the children who were to attend their first mass, out of
fifteen of the proper age eleven answered to the interrogatory of the
priest, "Monsieur, nous sommes Protestantes." The movement has also
extended into the neighbouring communes, helped by the zeal of the new
converts, one of whom is known in the neighbourhood as "Père la
Bible," and it is possible that before long it may even extend to La
Salette itself.
* * * * *
The route from Vizille up the valley of the Romanche continues hemmed
in by rugged mountains, in some places almost overhanging the river.
At Séchilienne it opens out sufficiently to afford space for a
terraced garden, amidst which stands a handsome château, flanked by
two massive towers, commanding a beautiful prospect down the valley.
The abundant water which rushes down from the mountain behind is
partly collected in a reservoir, and employed to feed a _jet d'eau_
which rises in a lofty column under the castle windows. Further up,
the valley again contracts, until the Gorge de Loiret is passed. The
road then crosses to the left bank, and used to be continued along it,
but the terrible torrent of 1868 washed it away for miles, and it has
not yet been reconstructed. Temporary bridges enable the route to be
pursued by the old road on the right bank, and after passing through
several hamlets of little interest, we arrive at length at the
cultivated plain hemmed in by lofty mountains, in the midst of which
Bourg d'Oisans lies seated.
This little plain was formerly occupied by the lake of St. Laurent,
formed by the barrier of rocks and débris which had tumbled down from
the flank of the Petite Voudène, a precipitous mountain escarpment
overhanging the river. At this place, the strata are laid completely
bare, and may be read like a book. For some distance along the valley
they exhibit the most extraordinary contortions and dislocations,
impressing the mind with the enormous natural forces that must have
been at work to occasion such tremendous upheavings and disruptions.
Elie de Beaumont, the French geologist, who has carefully examined the
district, says that at the Montagne d'Oisans he found the granite in
some places resting upon the limestone, cutting through the Calcareous
beds, rising like a wall and lapping over them.
On arriving at Bourg d'Oisans, we put up at the Hôtel de Milan close
by the bridge; but though dignified with the name of hotel, it is only
a common roadside inn. Still, it is tolerably clean, and in summer the
want of carpets is not missed. The people were civil and attentive,
their bread wholesome, their pottage and bouilli good--being such fare
as the people of the locality contrive to live and thrive upon. The
accommodation of the place is, indeed, quite equal to the demand; for
very few travellers accustomed to a better style of living pass that
way. When the landlady was asked if many tourists had passed this
year, she replied, "Tourists! We rarely see such travellers here. You
are the first this season, and perhaps you may be the last."
Yet these valleys are well worthy of a visit, and an influx of
tourists would doubtless have the same effect that it has already had
in Switzerland and elsewhere, of greatly improving the hotel
accommodation throughout the district. There are many domestic
arrangements, costing very little money, but greatly ministering to
cleanliness and comfort, which might very readily be provided. But the
people themselves are indifferent to them, and they need the requisite
stimulus of "pressure from without." One of the most prominent
defects--common to all the inns of Dauphiny--having been brought
under the notice of the landlady, she replied, "C'est vrai, monsieur;
mais--il laisse quelque chose à desirer!" How neatly evaded! The very
defect was itself an advantage! What would life be--what would hotels
be--if there were not "something left to be desired!"
The view from the inn at the bridge is really charming. The little
river which runs down the valley, and becomes lost in the distance, is
finally fringed with trees--alder, birch, and chestnut. Ridge upon
ridge of mountain rises up behind on the right hand and the left, the
lower clothed with patches of green larch, and the upper with dark
pine. Above all are ranges of jagged and grey rocks, shooting up in
many places into lofty peaks. The setting sun, shining across the face
of the mountain opposite, brings out the prominent masses in bold
relief, while the valley beneath hovers between light and shadow,
changing almost from one second to another as the sun goes down. In
the cool of the evening, we walked through the fields across the
plain, to see the torrent, visible from the village, which rushes from
the rocky gorge on the mountain-side to join its waters to the
Romanche. All along the valleys, water abounds--sometimes bounding
from the heights, in jets, in rivulets, in masses, leaping from rock
to rock, and reaching the ground only in white clouds of spray, or, as
in the case of the little river which flows alongside the inn at the
bridge, bursting directly from the ground in a continuous spring;
these waterfalls, and streams, and springs being fed all the year
through by the immense glaciers that fill the hollows of the mountains
on either side the valley.
Though the scenery of Bourg d'Oisans is not, as its eulogists allege,
equal to that of Switzerland, it will at least stand a comparison
with that of Savoy. Its mountains are more precipitous and abrupt, its
peaks more jagged, and its aspect more savage and wild. The scenery of
Mont Pelvoux, which is best approached from Bourg d'Oisans, is
especially grand and sublime, though of a wild and desolate character.
The road from Bourg d'Oisans to Briançon also presents some
magnificent scenery; and there is one part of it that is not perhaps
surpassed even by the famous Via Mala leading up to the Splügen. It is
about three miles above Bourg d'Oisans, from which we started early
next morning. There the road leaves the plain and enters the wild
gorge of Freney, climbing by a steep road up the Rampe des Commières.
The view from the height when gained is really superb, commanding an
extremely bold and picturesque valley, hemmed in by mountains. The
ledges on the hillsides spread out in some places so as to afford
sufficient breadths for cultivation; occasional hamlets appear amidst
the fields and pine-woods; and far up, between you and the sky, an
occasional church spire peeps up, indicating still loftier
settlements, though how the people contrive to climb up to those
heights is a wonder to the spectator who views them from below.
The route follows the profile of the mountain, winding in and out
along its rugged face, scarped and blasted so as to form the road. At
one place it passes along a gallery about six hundred feet in length,
cut through a precipitous rock overhanging the river, which dashes,
roaring and foaming, more than a thousand feet below, through the
rocky abyss of the Gorge de l'Infernet. Perhaps there is nothing to be
seen in Switzerland finer of its kind than the succession of charming
landscapes which meet the eye in descending this pass.
Beyond the village of Freney we enter another defile, so narrow that
in places there is room only for the river and the road; and in winter
the river sometimes plays sad havoc with the engineer's constructions.
Above this gorge, the Romanche is joined by the Ferrand, an impetuous
torrent which comes down from the glaciers of the Grand Rousses.
Immediately over their point of confluence, seated on a lofty
promontory, is the village of Mizoën--a place which, because of the
outlook it commands, as well as because of its natural strength, was
one of the places in which the Vaudois were accustomed to take refuge
in the times of the persecutions. Further on, we pass through another
gallery in the rock, then across the little green valley of Chambon to
Le Dauphin, after which the scenery becomes wilder, the valley--here
called the Combe de Malaval (the "Cursed Valley")--rocky and sterile,
the only feature to enliven it being the Cascade de la Pisse, which
falls from a height of over six hundred feet, first in one jet, then
becomes split by a projecting rock into two, and finally reaches the
ground in a shower of spray. Shortly after we pass another cascade,
that of the Riftort, which also joins the Romanche, and marks the
boundary between the department of the Isère and that of the Hautes
Alpes, which we now enter.
More waterfalls--the Sau de la Pucelle, which falls from a height of
some two hundred and fifty feet, resembling the Staubbach--besides
rivulets without number, running down the mountain-sides like silver
threads; until we arrive at La Grave, a village about five thousand
feet above the sea-level, directly opposite the grand glaciers of
Tabuchet, Pacave, and Vallon, which almost overhang the Romanche,
descending from the steep slopes of the gigantic Aiguille du Midi, the
highest mountain in the French Alps,--being over 13,200 feet above
the level of the sea.
After resting some two hours at La Grave, we proceeded by the two
tunnels under the hamlet of Ventelong--one of which is 650 and the
other 1,800 feet long--to the village of Villard d'Arene, which,
though some five thousand feet above the level of the sea, is so
surrounded by lofty mountains that for months together the sun never
shines on it. From thence a gradual ascent leads up to the summit of
the Col de Lauteret, which divides the valley of the Romanche from
that of the Guisanne. The pastures along the mountain-side are of the
richest verdure; and so many rare and beautiful plants are found
growing there that M. Rousillon has described it as a "very botanical
Eden." Here Jean Jacques Rousseau delighted to herborize, and here the
celebrated botanist Mathonnet, originally a customs officer, born at
the haggard village of Villard d'Arene, which we have just passed,
cultivated his taste for natural history, and laid the foundations of
his European reputation. The variety of temperature which exists along
the mountain-side, from the bottom to the summit, its exposure to the
full rays of the sun in some places, and its sheltered aspect in
others, facilitate the growth of an extraordinary variety of beautiful
plants and wild flowers. In the low grounds meridional plants
flourish; on the middle slopes those of genial climates; while on the
summit are found specimens of the flora of Lapland and Greenland. Thus
almost every variety of flowers is represented in this brilliant
natural garden--orchids, cruciferæ, leguminæ, rosaceæ, caryophyllæ,
lilies of various kinds, saxifrages, anemones, ranunculuses, swertia,
primula, varieties of the sedum, some of which are peculiar to this
mountain, and are elsewhere unknown.
After passing the Hospice near the summit of the Col, the valley of
the Guisanne comes in sight, showing a line of bare and rugged
mountains on the right hand and on the left, with a narrow strip of
land in the bottom, in many parts strewn with stones carried down by
the avalanches from the cliffs above. Shortly we come in sight of the
distant ramparts of Briançon, apparently closing in the valley, the
snow-clad peak of Monte Viso rising in the distance. Halfway between
the Col and Briançon we pass through the village of Monestier, where,
being a saint's day, the bulk of the population are in the street,
holding festival. The place was originally a Roman station, and the
people still give indications of their origin, being extremely
swarthy, black-haired, and large-eyed, evidently much more Italian
than French.
But though the villagers of Monestier were taking holiday, no one can
reproach them with idleness. Never was there a more hard-working
people than the peasantry of these valleys. Every little patch of
ground that the plough or spade can be got into is turned to account.
The piles of stone and rock collected by the sides of the fields
testify to the industry of the people in clearing the soil for
culture. And their farming is carried on in the face of difficulties
and discouragements of no ordinary character, for sometimes the soil
of many of the little farms will be swept away in a night by an
avalanche of snow in winter or of stones in spring. The wrecks of
fields are visible all along the valley, especially at its upper part.
Lower down it widens, and affords greater room for culture; the sides
of the mountains become better wooded; and, as we approach the
fortress of Briançon, with its battlements seemingly piled one over
the other up the mountain-sides, the landscape becomes exceedingly
bold and picturesque.
When passing the village of Villeneuve la Salle, a few miles from
Briançon, we were pointed to a spot on the opposite mountain-side,
over the pathway leading to the Col de l'Echuada, where a cavern was
discovered a few years since, which, upon examination, was found to
contain a considerable quantity of human bones. It was one of the
caves in which the hunted Vaudois were accustomed to take refuge
during the persecutions; and it continued to be called by the
peasantry "La Roche armée"--the name being thus perpetuated, though
the circumstances in which it originated had been forgotten.
The fortress of Briançon, which we entered by a narrow winding roadway
round the western rampart, is the frontier fortress which guards the
pass from Italy into France by the road over Mont Genèvre. It must
always have been a strong place by nature, overlooking as it does the
valley of the Durance on the one hand, and the mountain road from
Italy on the other, while the river Clairée, running in a deep defile,
cuts it off from the high ground to the south and east. The highest
part of the town is the citadel, or Fort du Château, built upon a peak
of rock on the site of the ancient castle. It was doubtless the
nucleus round which the early town became clustered, until it filled
the lower plateau to the verge of the walls and battlements. There
being no room for the town to expand, the houses are closely packed
together and squeezed up, as it were, so as to occupy the smallest
possible space. The streets are narrow, dark, gloomy, and steep, being
altogether impassable for carriages. The liveliest sight in the place
is a stream of pure water, that rushes down an open conduit in the
middle of the principal street, which is exceedingly steep and narrow.
The town is sacrificed to the fortifications, which dominate
everywhere. With the increasing range and power of cannon, they have
been extended in all directions, until they occupy the flanks of the
adjoining mountains and many of their summits, so that the original
castle now forms but a comparatively insignificant part of the
fortress. The most important part of the population is the
soldiery--the red-trousered missionaries of "civilisation," according
to the gospel of Louis Napoleon, published a short time before our
visit.
Other missionaries, are, however, at work in the town and
neighbourhood; and both at Briançon and Villeneuve Protestant stations
have been recently established, under the auspices of the Protestant
Society of Lyons. In former times, the population of Briançon included
a large number of Protestants. In the year 1575, three years after the
massacre of St. Bartholomew, they were so numerous and wealthy as to
be able to build a handsome temple, almost alongside the cathedral,
and it still stands there in the street called Rue du Temple, with the
motto over the entrance, in old French, "Cerches et vos troveres." But
at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the temple was seized by the
King and converted into a granary, and the Protestants of the place
were either executed, banished, or forced to conform to the Papal
religion. Since then the voice of Protestantism has been mute in
Briançon until within the last few years, during which a mission has
been in operation. Some of the leading persons in the town have
embraced the Reform faith, amongst others the professor of literature
in the public college; but he had no sooner acknowledged to the
authorities the fact of his conversion, than he was dismissed from his
office, though he has since been appointed to a more important
profession at Nice. The number of members is, however, as yet very
small, and the mission has to contend with limited means, and to carry
on its operations in the face of many obstructions and difficulties.
* * * * *
What are the prospects of the extension of Protestantism in France?
Various answers have been given to the question. Some think that the
prevailing dissensions among French Protestants interpose a serious
barrier in the way of progress. Others, more hopeful, think, that
these divisions are only the indications of renewed life and vigour,
of the friction of mind with mind, which evinces earnestness, and
cannot fail to lead to increased activity and effort. The observations
of a young Protestant pastor on this point are worth repeating.
"Protestantism," said he, "is based on individualism: it recognises
the free action of the human mind; and so long as the mind acts freely
there will be controversy. The end of controversy is death. True,
there is much incredulity abroad; but the incredulity is occasioned by
the incredibilities of Popery. Let the ground once be cleared by free
inquiry, and our Church will rise up amidst the ruins of superstition
and unbelief, for man _must_ have religion; only it must be consistent
with reason on the one hand, and with Divine revelation on the other.
I for one do not fear the fullest and freest inquiry, having the most
perfect confidence in the triumph of the truth."
It is alleged by others that the bald form in which Protestantism is
for the most part presented abroad, is not conformable with the
"genius" of the men of Celtic and Latin race. However this may be, it
is too generally the case that where Frenchmen, like Italians and
Spaniards, throw off Roman Catholicism, they do not stop at rejecting
its superstitions, but reject religion itself. They find no
intermediate standpoint in Protestantism, but fly off into the void of
utter unbelief. The same tendency characterizes them in politics. They
seem to oscillate between Cæsarism and Red Republicanism; aiming not
at reform so much as revolution. They are averse to any _via media_.
When they have tried constitutionalism, they have broken down. So it
has been with Protestantism, the constitutionalism of Christianity.
The Huguenots at one time constituted a great power in France; but
despotism in politics and religion proved too strong for them, and
they were persecuted, banished, and stamped for a time out of
existence, or at least out of sight.
Protestantism was more successful in Germany. Was it because it was
more conformable to the "genius" of its people? When the Germans
"protested" against the prevailing corruptions in the Church, they did
not seek to destroy it, but to reform it. They "stood upon the old
ways," and sought to make them broader, straighter, and purer. They
have pursued the same course in politics. Cooler and less impulsive
than their Gallican neighbours, they have avoided revolutions, but are
constantly seeking reforms. Of this course England itself furnishes a
notable example.
It is certainly a remarkable fact, that the stronghold of
Protestantism in France was recently to be found among the population
of Germanic origin seated along the valley of the Rhine; whereas in
the western districts Protestantism is split up by the two
irreconcilable parties of Evangelicals and Rationalists. At the same
time it should be borne in mind that Alsace did not become part of
France until the year 1715, and that the Lutherans of that province
were never exposed to the ferocious persecutions to which the
Evangelical Protestants of Old France were subjected, before as well
as after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
In Languedoc, in Dauphiny, and in the southern provinces generally,
men and women who professed Protestantism were liable to be hanged or
sent to the galleys, down to nearly the end of the last century. A
Protestant pastor who exercised his vocation did so at the daily peril
of his life. Nothing in the shape of a Protestant congregation was
permitted to exist, and if Protestants worshipped together, it was in
secret, in caves, in woods, among the hills, or in the "Desert." Yet
Protestantism nevertheless contrived to exist through this long dark
period of persecution, and even to increase. And when at length it
became tolerated, towards the close of the last century, the numbers
of its adherents appeared surprising to those who had imagined it to
be altogether extinct.
Indeed, looking at the persistent efforts made by Louis XIV. to
exterminate the Huguenots, and to the fact that many hundred thousand
of the best of them emigrated into foreign countries, while an equal
number are supposed to have perished in prison, on the scaffold, at
the galleys, and in their attempts to escape, it may almost be
regarded as matter of wonder that the Église Reformée--the Church of
the old Huguenots--should at the present day number about a thousand
congregations, besides the five hundred Lutheran congregations of
Alsatia, and that the Protestants of France should amount, in the
whole, to about two millions of souls.
CHAPTER III.
VAL LOUISE--HISTORY OF FELIX NEFF.
Some eight miles south of Briançon, on the road to Fort Dauphin, a
little river called the Gyronde comes down from the glaciers of Mont
Pelvoux, and falls into the Durance nearly opposite the village of La
Bessie. This river flows through Val Louise, the entrance into which
can be discerned towards the northwest. Near the junction of the
rivers, the ruins of an embattled wall, with entrenchments, are
observed extending across the valley of the Durance, a little below
the narrow pass called the "Pertuis-Rostan," evidently designed to
close it against an army advancing from the south. The country people
still call those ruins the "Walls of the Vaudois;"[101] and according
to tradition a great Vaudois battle was fought there; but of any such
battle history makes no mention.
[Footnote 101: A gap in the mountain-wall to the left, nearly
over La Bessie, is still known as "La Porte de Hannibal,"
through which, it is conjectured, that general led his army.
But opinion, which is much divided as to the route he took,
is more generally in favour of his marching up the Isère, and
passing into Italy by the Little St. Bernard.]
Indeed, so far as can be ascertained, the Vaudois of Dauphiny rarely
if ever fought battles. They were too few in number, too much
scattered among the mountains, and too poor and ill-armed, to be able
to contend against the masses of disciplined soldiery that were
occasionally sent into the valleys. All that they did was to watch,
from their mountain look-outs, their enemies' approach, and hide
themselves in caves; or flee up to the foot of the glaciers till they
had passed by. The attitude of the French Vaudois was thus for the
most part passive; and they very rarely, like the Italian Vaudois,
offered any determined or organized resistance to persecution. Hence
they have no such heroic story to tell of battles and sieges and
victories. Their heroism was displayed in patience, steadfastness, and
long-suffering, rather than in resisting force by force; and they were
usually ready to endure death in its most frightful forms rather than
prove false to their faith.
The ancient people of these valleys formed part of the flock of the
Archbishop of Embrun. But history exhibits him as a very cruel
shepherd. Thus, in 1335, there appears this remarkable entry in the
accounts current of the bailli of Embrun: "Item, for persecuting the
Vaudois, eight sols and thirty deniers of gold," as if the persecution
of the Vaudois had become a regular department of the public service.
What was done with the Vaudois when they were seized and tried at
Embrun further appears from the records of the diocese. In 1348,
twelve of the inhabitants of Val Louise were strangled at Embrun by
the public executioner; and in 1393, a hundred and fifty inhabitants
of the same valley were burned alive at the same place by order of the
Inquisitor Borelli. But the most fatal of all the events that befell
the inhabitants of Val Louise was that which occurred about a century
later, in 1488, when nearly the whole of the remaining population of
the valley were destroyed in a cavern near the foot of Mont Pelvoux.
This dreadful massacre was perpetrated by a French army, under the
direction of Albert Catanée, the papal legate. The army had been sent
into Piedmont with the object of subjugating or destroying the Vaudois
on the Italian side of the Alps, but had returned discomfited to
Briançon, unable to effect their object. The legate then determined to
take his revenge by an assault upon the helpless and unarmed French
Vaudois, and suddenly directed his soldiers upon the valleys of
Fressinières and Louise. The inhabitants of the latter valley,
surprised, and unable to resist an army of some twenty thousand men,
abandoned their dwellings, and made for the mountains with all haste,
accompanied by their families, and driving their flocks before them.
On the slope of Mont Pelvoux, about a third of the way up, there was
formerly a great cavern, on the combe of Capescure, called La
Balme-Chapelle--though now nearly worn away by the disintegration of
the mountain-side--in which the poor hunted people contrived to find
shelter. They built up the approaches to the cavern, filled the
entrance with rocks, and considered themselves to be safe. But their
confidence proved fatal to them. The Count La Palud, who was in
command of the troops, seeing that it was impossible to force the
entrance, sent his men up the mountain provided with ropes; and fixing
them so that they should hang over the mouth of the cavern, a number
of the soldiers slid down in full equipment, landing on the ledge
right in front of the concealed Vaudois. Seized with a sudden panic,
and being unarmed, many of them precipitated themselves over the rocks
and were killed. The soldiers slaughtered all whom they could reach,
after which they proceeded to heap up wood at the cavern mouth which
they set on fire, and thus suffocated the remainder. Perrin says four
hundred children were afterwards found in the cavern, stifled, in the
arms of their dead mothers, and that not fewer than three thousand
persons were thus ruthlessly destroyed. The little property of the
slaughtered peasants was ordered by the Pope's legate to be divided
amongst the vagabonds who had carried out his savage orders. The
population having been thus exterminated, the district was settled
anew some years later, in the reign of Louis XII., who gave his name
to the valley; and a number of "good and true Catholics," including
many goitres and idiots,[102] occupied the dwellings and possessed the
lands of the slaughtered Vaudois. There is an old saying that "the
blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," but assuredly it does
not apply to Val Louise, where the primitive Christian Church has been
completely extinguished.
[Footnote 102: It has been noted that these unfortunates
abound most in the villages occupied by the new settlers.
Thus, of the population of the village of St. Crepin, in the
valley of the Durance, not fewer than one-tenth are deaf and
dumb, with a large proportion of idiots.]
There were other valleys in the same neighbourhood, whither we are now
wending, where the persecution, though equally ferocious, proved less
destructive; the inhabitants succeeding in making their escape into
comparatively inaccessible places in the mountains before they could
be put to the sword. For instance, in Val Fressinières--also opening
into the valley of the Durance a little lower down than Val
Louise--the Vaudois Church has never ceased to exist, and to this day
the majority of the inhabitants belong to it. From the earliest times
the people of the valley were distinguished for their "heresy;" and as
early as the fourteenth century eighty persons of Fressinières and
the neighbouring valley of Argentières,--willing to be martyrs rather
than apostates,--were burnt at Embrun because of their religion. In
the following century (1483) we find ninety-nine informations laid
before John Lord Archbishop of Embrun against supposed heretics of Val
Fressinières. The suspected were ordered to wear a cross upon their
dress, before and behind, and not to appear at church without
displaying such crosses. But it further appears from the records,
that, instead of wearing the crosses, most of the persons so informed
against fled into the mountains and hid themselves away in caves for
the space of five years.
The nest steps taken by the Archbishop are described in a Latin
manuscript,[103] of which the following is a translation:--
"Also, that in consequence of the above, the monk Francis
Splireti, of the order of Mendicants, Professor in Theology, was
deputed in the quality of Inquisitor of the said valleys; and
that in the year 1489, on the 1st of January, knowing that those
of Freyssinier had relapsed into infamous heresy, and had not
obeyed their orders, nor carried the cross on their dress, but on
the contrary had received their excommunicated and banished
brethren without delivering them over to the Church, sent to them
new citation, to which not having appeared, an adjournment of
their condemnation as hardened heretics, when their goods would
be confiscated, and themselves handed over the secular power, was
made to the 28th of June; but they remaining more obstinate than
ever, so much so that no hope remains of bringing them back, all
persons were forbidden to hold any communication whatsoever with
them without permission of the Church, and it was ordered by the
Procureur Fiscal that the aforesaid Inquisitor do proceed,
without further notice, to the execution of his office."
[Footnote 103: This was one of the MSS deposited by Samuel
Morland (Oliver Cromwell's ambassador to Piedmont) at
Cambridge in 1658, and is quoted by Jean Leger in his History
of the Vaudois Churches.]
What the execution of the Inquisitor's office meant, is, alas! but too
well known. Bonds and imprisonment, scourgings and burnings at Embrun.
The poor people appealed to the King of France for help against their
persecutors, but in vain. In 1498 the inhabitants of Fressinières
appeared by a procurator at Paris, on the occasion of the new
sovereign, Louis XII., ascending the throne. But as the King was then
seeking the favour of a divorce from his wife, Anne of Brittany, from
Pope Alexander VI., he turned a deaf ear to their petition for mercy.
On the contrary, Louis confirmed all the decisions of the clergy, and
in return for the divorce which he obtained, he granted to the Pope's
son, the infamous Cæsar Borgia, that very part of Dauphiny inhabited
by the Vaudois, together with the title of Duke of Valentinois. They
had appealed, as it were, to the tiger for mercy, and they were
referred to the vulture.
The persecution of the people of the valleys thus suffered no
relaxation, and all that remained for them was flight into the
mountains, to places where they were most likely to remain unmolested.
Hence they fled up to the very edge of the glaciers, and formed their
settlements at almost the farthest limits of vegetation. There the
barrenness of the soil, the inhospitality of the climate, and the
comparative inaccessibility of their villages, proved their security.
Of them it might be truly said, that they "wandered about in
sheepskins and goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of
whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Yet the character of
these poor peasants was altogether irreproachable. Even Louis XII.
said of them, "Would to God that I were as good a Christian as the
worst of these people!" The wonder is that, in the face of their
long-continued persecutions, extending over so many centuries, any
remnant of the original population of the valleys should have been
preserved. Long after the time of Louis XII. and Cæsar Borgia, the
French historian, De Thou (writing in 1556), thus describes the people
of Val Fressinières: "Notwithstanding their squalidness, it is
surprising that they are very far from being uncultivated in their
morals. They almost all understand Latin; and are able to write fairly
enough. They understand also as much of French as will enable them to
read the Bible and to sing psalms; nor would you easily find a boy
among them who, if he were questioned as to the religious opinions
which they hold in common with the Waldenses, would not be able to
give from memory a reasonable account of them."[104]
[Footnote 104: De Thou's History, book xxvii.]
After the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes, the Vaudois enjoyed a
brief respite from their sufferings. They then erected temples,
appointed ministers, and worshipped openly. This, however, only lasted
for a short time, and when the Edict was revoked, and persecution
began again, in the reign of Louis XIV., their worship was suppressed
wherever practicable. But though the Vaudois temples were pulled down
and their ministers banished, the Roman Catholics failed to obtain a
footing in the valley. Some of the pastors continued to brave the fury
of the persecutors, and wandered about from place to place among the
scattered flocks, ministering to them at the peril of their lives.
Rewards were offered for their apprehension, and a sort of "Hue and
Cry" was issued by the police, describing their age, and height, and
features, as if they had been veritable criminals. And when they were
apprehended they were invariably hanged. As late as 1767 the
parliament of Grenoble condemned their pastor Berenger to death for
continuing to preach to congregations in the "Desert."
This religious destitution of the Vaudois continued to exist until a
comparatively recent period. The people were without either pastors or
teachers, and religion had become a tradition with them rather than an
active living faith. Still, though poor and destitute, they held to
their traditional belief, and refused to conform to the dominant
religion. And so they continued until within the last forty years,
when the fact of the existence of these remnants of the ancient
Vaudois in the valleys of the High Alps came to the knowledge of Felix
Neff, and he determined to go to their help and devote himself to
their service.
* * * * *
One would scarcely expect to find the apostle of the High Alps in the
person of a young Swiss soldier of artillery. Yet so it was. In his
boyhood, Neff read Plutarch, which filled his mind with admiration of
the deeds of the great men of old. While passing through the soldier
phase of his career the "Memoirs of Oberlin" accidentally came under
his notice, the perusal of which gave quite a new direction to his
life. Becoming impressed by religion, his ambition now was to be a
missionary. Leaving the army, in which he had reached the rank of
sergeant at nineteen, he proceeded to prepare himself for the
ministry, and after studying for a time, and passing his preliminary
examinations, he was, in conformity with the custom of the Geneva
Church, employed on probation as a lay helper in parochial work. In
this capacity Neff first went to Mens, in the department of Isère,
where he officiated in the absence of the regular pastor, as well as
occasionally at Vizille, for a period of about two years.
It was while residing at Mens that the young missionary first heard of
the existence of the scattered communities of primitive Christians on
the High Alps, descendants of the ancient Vaudois; and his mind became
inflamed with the desire of doing for them what Oberlin had done for
the poor Protestants of the Ban de la Roche. "I am always dreaming of
the High Alps," he wrote to a friend, "and I would rather be stationed
there than under the beautiful sky of Languedoc."
But it was first necessary that he should receive ordination for the
ministry; and accordingly in 1823, when in his twenty-fifth year, he
left Mens with that object. He did not, however, seek ordination by
the National Church of Geneva, which, in his opinion, had in a great
measure ceased to hold Evangelical truth; but he came over to London,
at the invitation of Mr. Cook and Mr. Wilks, two Congregational
ministers, by whom he was duly ordained a minister in the Independent
Chapel, Poultry.
Shortly after his return to France, Neff, much to his own
satisfaction, was invited as pastor to the very district in which he
so much desired to minister--the most destitute in the High Alps.
Before setting out he wrote in his journal, "To-morrow, with the
blessing of God, I mean to push for the Alps by the sombre and
picturesque valley of L'Oisan." After a few days, the young pastor was
in the scene of his future labours; and he proceeded to explore hamlet
after hamlet in search of the widely-scattered flock committed to his
charge, and to arrange his plans for the working of his extensive
parish.
But it was more than a parish, for it embraced several of the most
extensive, rugged, and mountainous arrondissements of the High Alps.
Though the whole number of people in his charge did not amount to more
than six or seven hundred, they lived at great distances from each
other, the churches to which he ministered being in some cases as much
as eighty miles apart, separated by gorges and mountain-passes, for
the most part impassable in winter. Neff's district extended in one
direction from Vars to Briançon, and in another from Champsaur in the
valley of the Drac to San Veran on the slope of Monte Viso, close to
the Italian frontier. His residence was fixed at La Chalp, above
Queyras, but as he rarely slept more than three nights in one place,
he very seldom enjoyed its seclusion.
The labour which Neff imposed upon himself was immense; and it was
especially in the poorest and most destitute districts that he worked
the hardest. He disregarded alike the summer's heat and the winter's
cold. His first visit to Dormilhouse, in Val Fressinières, was made in
January, when the mountain-paths were blocked with ice and snow; but,
assembling the young men of the village, he went out with them armed
with hatchets, and cut steps in the ice to enable the worshippers from
the lower hamlets to climb up to service in the village church. The
people who first came to hear him preach at Violens brought wisps of
straw with them, which they lighted to guide them through the snow,
while others, who had a greater distance to walk, brought pine
torches.
Nothing daunted, the valiant soldier, furnished with a stout staff and
shod with heavy-nailed shoes, covered with linen socks to prevent
slipping on the snow, would set out with his wallet on his back across
the Col d'Orcières in winter, in the track of the lynx and the
chamois, with the snow and sleet beating against his face, to visit
his people on the other side of the mountain. His patience, his
perseverance, his sweetness of temper, were unfailing. "Ah!" said one
unbelieving Thomas of Val Fressinières in his mountain patois, "you
have come among us like a woman who attempts to kindle a fire with
green wood; she exhausts her breath in blowing it to keep the little
flame alive, but the moment she quits it, it is instantly
extinguished."
Neff nevertheless laboured on with hope, and neither discouragement
nor obstruction slackened his efforts. And such labours could not fail
of their effect. He succeeded in inspiring the simple mountaineers
with his own zeal, he evoked their love, and excited their
enthusiastic admiration. When he returned to Dormilhouse after a brief
absence, the whole village would turn out and come down the mountain
to meet and embrace him. "The rocks, the cascades, nay, the very
glaciers," he wrote to a friend, "all seemed animated, and presented a
smiling aspect; the savage country became agreeable and dear to me
from the moment its inhabitants were my brethren."
Unresting and indefatigable, Neff was always at work. He exhorted the
people in hovels, held schools in barns in which he taught the
children, and catechised them in stables. His hand was in every good
work. He taught the people to sing, he taught them to read, he taught
them to pray. To be able to speak to them familiarly, he learnt their
native patois, and laboured at it like a schoolboy. He worked as a
missionary among savages. The poor mountaineers had been so long
destitute of instruction, that everything had as it were to be begun
with them from the beginning. Sharing in their hovels and stables,
with their squalor and smoke, he taught them how to improve them by
adding chimneys and windows, and showed how warmth might be obtained
more healthfully than by huddling together in winter-time with the
cattle. He taught them manners, and especially greater respect for
women, inculcating the lesson by his own gentleness and tender
deference. Out of doors, he showed how they might till the ground to
greater advantage, and introduced an improved culture of the potato,
which more than doubled the production. Observing how the pastures of
Dormilhouse were scorched by the summer sun, he urged the adoption of
a system of irrigation. The villagers were at first most obstinate in
their opposition to his plans; but he persevered, laid out a canal,
and succeeded at last in enlisting a body of workmen, whom he led out,
pickaxe in hand, himself taking a foremost part in the work; and at
last the waters were let into the canal amidst joy and triumph. At
Violens he helped to build and finish the chapel, himself doing
mason-work, smith-work, and carpenter-work by turns. At Dormilhouse a
school was needed, and he showed the villagers how to build one;
preparing the design, and taking part in the erection, until it was
finished and ready for use. In short, he turned his hand to
everything--nothing was too high or too low for this noble citizen of
two worlds. At length, a serious accident almost entirely disabled
him. While on one of his mountain journeys, he was making a détour
amongst a mass of rocky débris, to avoid the dangers of an avalanche,
when he had the misfortune to fall and severely sprain his knee. He
became laid up for a time, and when able to move, he set out for his
mother's home at Geneva, in the hope of recovering health and
strength; for his digestive powers were also by this time seriously
injured. When he went away, the people of the valleys felt as if they
should never see him more; and their sorrow at his departure was
heart-rending. After trying the baths of Plombiéres without effect, he
proceeded onwards to Geneva, which he reached only to die; and thus
this good and noble soldier--one of the bravest of earth's
heroes--passed away to his eternal reward at the early age of
thirty-one.
* * * * *
The valley of Fressinières--the principle scene of Neff's
labours--joins the valley of the Durance nearly opposite the little
hamlet of La Roche. There we leave the high road from Briançon to Fort
Dauphin, and crossing the river by a timber bridge, ascend the steep
mountain-side by a mule path, in order to reach the entrance to the
valley of Fressinières, the level of which is high above that of the
Durance. Not many years since, the higher valley could only be
approached from this point by a very difficult mountain-path amidst
rocks and stones, called the Ladder, or Pas de l'Échelle. It was
dangerous at all times, and quite impassable in winter. The mule-path
which has lately been made, though steep, is comparatively easy.
What the old path was, and what were the discomforts of travelling
through this district in Neff's time, may be appreciated on a perusal
of the narrative of the young pastor Bost, who in 1840 determined to
make a sort of pilgrimage to the scenes of his friend's labours some
seventeen years before. M. Bost, however, rather exaggerates the
difficulties and discomforts of the valleys than otherwise. He saw no
beauty nor grandeur in the scenery, only "horrible mountains in a
state of dissolution" and constantly ready to fall upon the heads of
massing travellers. He had no eyes for the picturesque though gloomy
lake of La Roche, but saw only the miserable hamlet itself. He slept
in the dismal little inn, as doubtless Neff had often done before, and
was horrified by the multitudinous companions that shared his bed;
and, tumbling out, he spent the rest of the night on the floor. The
food was still worse--cold _café noir_, and bread eighteen months old,
soaked in water before it could be eaten. His breakfast that morning
made him ill for a week. Then his mounting up the Pas de l'Échelle,
which he did not climb "without profound emotion," was a great trouble
to him. Of all this we find not a word in the journals or letters of
Neff, whose early life as a soldier had perhaps better inured him to
"roughing it" than the more tender bringing-up of Pastor Bost.
As we rounded the shoulder of the hill, almost directly overlooking
the ancient Roman town of Rama in the valley of the Durance
underneath, we shortly came in sight of the little hamlet of Palons, a
group of "peasants' nests," overhung by rocks, with the one good house
in it, the comfortable parsonage of the Protestant pastor, situated at
the very entrance to the valley. Although the peasants' houses which
constitute the hamlet of Palons are still very poor and miserable, the
place has been greatly improved since Neff's time, by the erection of
the parsonage. It was found that the pastors who were successively
appointed to minister to the poor congregations in the valley very
soon became unfitted for their work by the hardships to which they
were exposed; and being without any suitable domestic accommodation,
one after another of them resigned their charge.
To remedy this defect, a movement was begun in 1852 by the Rev. Mr.
Freemantle, rector of Claydon, Bucks, assisted by the Foreign Aid
Society and a few private friends, with the object of providing
pastors' dwellings, as well as chapels when required, in the more
destitute places. The movement has already been attended with
considerable success; and among its first results was the erection in
1857 of the comfortable parsonage of Palons, the large lower room of
which also serves the purpose of a chapel. The present incumbent is M.
Charpiot, of venerable and patriarchal aspect, whose white hairs are a
crown of glory--a man beloved by his extensive flock, for his parish
embraces the whole valley, about twelve miles in extent, including the
four villages of Ribes, Violens, Minsals, and Dormilhouse; other
pastors having been appointed of late years to the more distant
stations included in the original widely-scattered charge of Felix
Neff.
The situation of the parsonage and adjoining grounds at Palons is
charmingly picturesque. It stands at the entrance to the defile which
leads into Val Fressinières, having a background of bold rocks
enclosing a mountain plateau known as the "Camp of Catinat," a
notorious persecutor of the Vaudois. In front of the parsonage extends
a green field planted with walnut and other trees, part of which is
walled off as the burying-ground of the hamlet. Alongside, in a deep
rocky gully, runs the torrent of the Biasse, leaping from rock to rock
on its way to the valley of the Durance, far below. This fall, or
cataract, is not inappropriately named the "Gouffouran," or roaring
gulf; and its sullen roar is heard all through the night in the
adjoining parsonage. The whole height of the fall, as it tumbles from
rock to rock, is about four hundred and fifty feet; and about halfway
down, the water shoots into a deep, dark cavern, where it becomes
completely lost to sight.
The inhabitants of the hamlet are a poor hard-working people, pursuing
their industry after very primitive methods. Part of the Biasse, as it
issues from the defile, is turned aside here and there to drive little
fulling-mills of the rudest construction, where the people "waulk" the
cloth of their own making. In the adjoining narrow fields overhanging
the Gouffouran, where the ploughs are at work, the oxen are yoked to
them in the old Roman fashion, the pull being by a bar fixed across
the animals' foreheads.
In the neighbourhood of Palons, as at various other places in the
valley, there are numerous caverns which served by turns in early
times as hiding-places and as churches, and which were not
unfrequently consecrated by the Vaudois with their blood. One of these
is still known as the "Glesia," or "Église." Its opening is on the
crest of a frightful precipice, but its diameter has of late years
been considerably reduced by the disintegration of the adjoining rock.
Neff once took Captain Cotton up to see it, and chanted the _Te Deum_
in the rude temple with great emotion.
Palons is, perhaps, the most genial and fertile spot in the valley; it
looks like a little oasis in the desert. Indeed, Neff thought the soil
of the place too rich for the growth of piety. "Palons," said he in
his journal, "is more fertile than the rest of the valley, and even
produces wine: the consequence is, that there is less piety here."
Neff even entertained the theory that the poorer the people the
greater was their humility and fervour, and the less their selfishness
and spiritual pride. Thus, he considered "the fertility of the commune
of Champsaur, and its proximity to the high road and to Gap, great
stumbling-blocks." The loftiest, coldest, and most barren spots--such
as San Veran and Dormilhouse--were, in his opinion, by far the most
promising. Of the former he said, "It is the highest, and consequently
the most pious, village in the valley of Queyras;" and of the
inhabitants of the latter he said, "From the first moment of my
arrival I took them to my heart, and I ardently desired to be unto
them even as another Oberlin."
CHAPTER IV.
THE VAUDOIS MOUNTAIN-REFUGE OF DORMILHOUSE.
The valley of Fressinières could never have maintained a large
population. Though about twelve miles in extent, it contains a very
small proportion of arable land--only a narrow strip, of varying
width, lying in the bottom, with occasional little patches of
cultivated ground along the mountain-sides, where the soil has settled
on the ledges, the fields seeming in many cases to hang over
precipices. At the upper end of the valley, the mountains come down so
close to the river Biasse that no space is left for cultivation, and
the slopes are so rocky and abrupt as to be unavailable even for
pasturage, excepting of goats.
Yet the valley seems never to have been without a population, more or
less numerous according to the rigour of the religious persecutions
which prevailed in the neighbourhood. Its comparative inaccessibility,
its inhospitable climate, and its sterility, combined to render it one
of the most secure refuges of the Vaudois in the Middle Ages. It could
neither be easily entered by an armed force, nor permanently occupied
by them. The scouts on the hills overlooking the Durance could always
see their enemies approach, and the inhabitants were enabled to take
refuge in caves in the mountain-sides, or flee to the upper parts of
the valley, before the soldiers could clamber up the steep Pas de
l'Échelle, and reach the barricaded defile through which the Biasse
rushes down the rocky gorge of the Gouffouran. When the invaders
succeeded in penetrating this barrier, they usually found the hamlets
deserted and the people fled. They could then only wreak their
vengeance on the fields, which they laid waste, and on the dwellings,
which they burned; and when the "brigands" had at length done their
worst and departed, the poor people crept back to their ruined homes
to pray, amidst their ashes, for strength to enable them to bear the
heavy afflictions which they were thus called upon to suffer for
conscience' sake.
The villages in the lower part of the valley were thus repeatedly
ravaged and destroyed. But far up, at its extremest point, a difficult
footpath led, across the face almost of a precipice, which the
persecutors never ventured to scale, to the hamlet of Dormilhouse,
seated on a few ledges of rock on a lofty mountain-side, five thousand
feet above the level of the sea; and this place, which was for
centuries a mountain fastness of the persecuted, remains a Vaudois
settlement to this day.
An excursion to this interesting mountain hamlet having been arranged,
our little party of five persons set out for the place on the morning
of the 1st of July, under the guidance of Pastor Charpiot. Though the
morning was fine and warm, yet, as the place of our destination was
situated well up amongst the clouds, we were warned to provide
ourselves with umbrellas and waterproofs, nor did the provision prove
in vain. We were also warned that there was an utter want of
accommodation for visitors at Dormilhouse, for which we must be
prepared. The words scratched on the window of the Norwegian inn
might indeed apply to it: "Here the stranger may find very good
entertainment--_provided he bring it with him_!" We accordingly
carried our entertainment with us, in the form of a store of blankets,
bread, chocolate, and other articles, which, with the traveller's
knapsacks, were slung across the back of a donkey.
After entering the defile, an open part of the valley was passed,
amidst which the little river, at present occupying very narrow
limits, meandered; but it was obvious from the width of the channel
and the débris widely strewn about, that in winter it is a roaring
torrent. A little way up we met an old man coming down driving a
loaded donkey, with whom one of our party, recognising him as an old
acquaintance, entered into conversation. In answer to an inquiry made
as to the progress of the good cause in the valley, the old man
replied very despondingly. "There was," he said, "a great lack of
faith, of zeal, of earnestness, amongst the rising generation. They
were too fond of pleasures, too apt to be led away by the fleeting
vanities of this world." It was only the old story--the complaint of
the aged against the young. When this old peasant was a boy, his
elders doubtless thought and said the same of him. The generation
growing old always think the generation still young in a state of
degeneracy. So it was forty years since, when Felix Neff was amongst
them, and so it will be forty years hence. One day Neff met an old man
near Mens, who recounted to him the story of the persecutions which
his parents and himself had endured, and he added: "In those times
there was more zeal than there is now; my father and mother used to
cross mountains and forests by night, in the worst weather, at the
risk of their lives, to be present at divine service performed in
secret; but now we are grown lazy: religious freedom is the deathblow
to piety."
An hour's walking brought us to the principal hamlet of the commune,
formerly called Fressinières, but now known as Les Ribes, occupying a
wooded height on the left bank of the river. The population is partly
Roman Catholic and partly Protestant. The Roman Catholics have a
church here, the last in the valley, the two other places of worship
higher up being Protestant. The principal person of Les Ribes is M.
Baridon, son of the Joseph Baridon, receiver of the commune, so often
mentioned with such affection in the journal of Neff. He is the only
person in the valley whose position and education give him a claim to
the title of "Monsieur;" and his house contains the only decent
apartment in the Val Fressinières where pastors and visitors could be
lodged previous to the erection, by Mr. Freemantle, of the pleasant
little parsonage at Palons. This apartment in the Baridons' house Neff
used to call the "Prophet's Chamber."
Half an hour higher up the valley we reached the hamlet of Violens,
where all the inhabitants are Protestants. It was at this place that
Neff helped to build and finish the church, for which he designed the
seats and pulpit, and which he opened and dedicated on the 29th of
August, 1824, the year before he finally left the neighbourhood.
Violens is a poor hamlet situated at the bottom of a deep glen, or
rocky abyss, called La Combe; the narrow valleys of Dauphiny, like
those of Devon, being usually called combes, doubtless from the same
original Celtic word _cwm_, signifying a hollow or dingle.
A little above Violens the valley contracts almost to a ravine, until
we reach the miserable hamlet of Minsals, so shut in by steep crags
that for nine months of the year it never sees the sun, and during
several months in winter it lies buried in snow. The hamlet consists
for the most part of hovels of mud and stone, without windows or
chimneys, being little better than stables; indeed, in winter time,
for the sake of warmth, the poor people share them with their cattle.
How they contrive to scrape a living out of the patches of soil
rescued from the rocks, or hung upon the precipices on the
mountain-side, is a wonder.
One of the horrors of this valley consists in the constant state of
disintegration of the adjoining rocks, which, being of a slaty
formation, frequently break away in large masses, and are hurled into
the lower grounds. This, together with the fall of avalanches in
winter, makes the valley a most perilous place to live in. A little
above Minsals, only a few years since, a tremendous fall of rock and
mud swept over nearly the whole of the cultivated ground, since which
many of the peasantry have had to remove elsewhere. What before was a
well-tilled meadow, is now only a desolate waste, covered with rocks
and débris.
Another of the horrors of the place is its liability to floods, which
come rushing down, from the mountains, and often work sad havoc.
Sometimes a fall of rocks from the cliffs above dams up the bed of the
river, when a lake accumulates behind the barrier until it bursts, and
the torrent swoops down the valley, washing away fields, and bridges,
and mills, and hovels.
Even the stouter-built dwelling of M. Baridon at Les Ribes was nearly
carried away by one of such inundations twelve years ago. It stands
about a hundred yards from the mountain-stream which comes down from
the Pic de la Séa. One day in summer a storm burst over the mountain,
and the stream at once became swollen to a torrent. The inmates of the
dwelling thought the house must eventually be washed away, and gave
themselves up to prayer. The flood, bearing with it rolling rocks,
came nearer and nearer, until it reached a few old walnut trees on a
line with the torrent. A rock of some thirty feet square tumbled
against one of the trees, which staggered and bent, but held fast and
stopped the rock. The débris at once rolled upon it into a bank, the
course of the torrent was turned, and the dwelling and its inmates
were saved.
Another incident, illustrative of the perils of daily life in Val
Fressinières, was related to me by Mr. Milsom while passing the scene
of one of the mud and rock avalanches so common in the valley. Etienne
Baridon, a member of the same Les Ribes family, an intelligent young
man, disabled for ordinary work by lameness and deformity, occupied
himself in teaching the children in the Protestant school at Violens,
whither he walked daily, accompanied by the pupils from Les Ribes. One
day, a heavy thunderstorm burst over the valley, and sent down an
avalanche of mud, débris, and boulders, which rolled quite across the
valley and extended to the river. The news of the circumstance reached
Etienne when in school at Violens; the road to Les Ribes was closed;
and he was accordingly urged to stay over the night with the children.
But thinking of the anxiety of their parents, he determined to guide
them back over the fall of rocks if possible. Arrived at the place, he
found the mass still on the move, rolling slowly down in a ridge of
from ten to twenty feet high, towards the river. Supported by a stout
staff; the lame Baridon took first one child and then another upon
his hump-back; and contrived to carry them across in safety; but while
making his last journey with the last child, his foot slipped and his
leg got badly crushed among the still-rolling stones. He was, however,
able to extricate himself, and reached Les Ribes in safety with all
the children. "This Etienne," concluded Mr. Milsom, "was really a
noble fellow, and his poor deformed body covered the soul of a hero."
At length, after a journey of about ten miles up this valley of the
shadow of death, along which the poor persecuted Vaudois were so often
hunted, we reached an apparent _cul-de-sac_ amongst the mountains,
beyond which further progress seemed impracticable. Precipitous rocks,
with their slopes of débris at foot, closed in the valley all round,
excepting only the narrow gullet by which we had come; but, following
the footpath, a way up the mountain-side gradually disclosed itself--a
zigzag up the face of what seemed to be a sheer precipice--and this we
were told was the road to Dormilhouse. The zigzag path is known as the
Tourniquet. The ascent is long, steep, and fatiguing. As we passed up,
we observed that the precipice contained many narrow ledges upon which
soil has settled, or to which it has been carried. Some of these are
very narrow, only a few yards in extent, but wherever there is room
for a spade to turn, the little patches bear marks of cultivation; and
these are the fields of the people of Dormilhouse!
Far up the mountain, the footpath crosses in front of a lofty
cascade--La Pisse du Dormilhouse--which leaps from the summit of the
precipice, and sometimes dashes over the roadway itself. Looking down
into the valley from this point, we see the Biasse meandering like a
thread in the hollow of the mountains, becoming lost to sight in the
ravine near Minsals. We have now ascended to a great height, and the
air feels cold and raw. When we left Palons, the sun was shining
brightly, and its heat was almost oppressive, but now the temperature
feels wintry. On our way up, rain began to fall; as we ascended the
Tourniquet the rain became changed to sleet; and at length, on
reaching the summit of the rising ground from which we first discerned
the hamlet of Dormilhouse, on the first day of July, the snow was
falling heavily, and all the neighbouring mountains were clothed in
the garb of winter.
This, then, is the famous mountain fastness of the Vaudois--their last
and loftiest and least accessible retreat when hunted from their
settlements in the lower valleys hundreds of years ago. Driven from
rock to rock, from Alp to Alp, they clambered up on to this lofty
mountain-ledge, five thousand feet high, and made good their
settlement, though at the daily peril of their lives. It was a place
of refuge, a fortress and citadel of the faithful, where they
continued to worship God according to conscience during the long dark
ages of persecution and tyranny. The dangers and terrors of the
situation are indeed so great, that it never could have been chosen
even for a hiding-place, much less for a permanent abode, but from the
direst necessity. What the poor people suffered while establishing
themselves on these barren mountain heights no one can tell, but they
contrived at length to make the place their home, and to become inured
to their hard life, until it became almost a second nature to them.
The hamlet of Dormilhouse is said to have existed for nearly six
hundred years, during which the religion of its inhabitants has
remained the same. It has been alleged that the people are the
descendants of a colony of refugee Lombards; but M. Muston, and others
well able to judge, after careful inquiry on the spot, have come to
the conclusion that they bear all the marks of being genuine
descendants of the ancient Vaudois. In features, dress, habits, names,
language, and religious doctrine, they have an almost perfect identity
with the Vaudois of Piedmont at the present day.
Dormilhouse consists of about forty cottages, inhabited by some two
hundred persons. The cottages are perched "like eagles' nests," one
tier ranging over another on the rocky ledges of a steep
mountain-side. There is very little soil capable of cultivation in the
neighbourhood, but the villagers seek out little patches in the valley
below and on the mountain shelves, from which they contrive to grow a
little grain for home use. The place is so elevated and so exposed,
that in some seasons even rye will not ripen at Dormilhouse, while the
pasturages are in many places inaccessible to cattle, and scarcely
safe for sheep.
The principal food of the people is goats' milk and unsifted rye,
which they bake into cakes in the autumn, and these cakes last them
the whole year--the grain, if left unbaked, being apt to grow mouldy
and spoil in so damp an atmosphere. Besides, fuel is so scarce that it
is necessary to exercise the greatest economy in its use, every stick
burnt in the village having to be brought from a distance of some
twelve miles, on the backs of donkeys, by the steep mountain-path
leading up to the hamlet. Hence, also, the unsavoury means which they
are under the necessity of adopting to economize warmth in the winter,
by stabling the cattle with themselves in the cottages. The huts are
for the most part wretched constructions of stone and mud, from which
fresh air, comfort, and cleanliness seem to be entirely excluded.
Excepting that the people are for the most part comfortably dressed,
in clothing of coarse wool, which they dress and weave themselves,
their domestic accommodation and manner of living are centuries behind
the age; and were a stranger suddenly to be set down in the village,
he could with difficulty be made to believe that he was in the land of
civilised Frenchmen.
The place is dreary, stern, and desolate-looking even in summer. Thus,
we entered it with the snow falling on the 1st of July! Few of the
balmy airs of the sweet South of France breathe here. In the hollow of
the mountains the heat may be like that of an oven; but here, far up
on the heights, though the air may be fresh and invigorating at times,
when the wind blows it often rises to a hurricane. Here the summer
comes late and departs early. While flowers are blooming in the
valleys, not a bud or blade of corn is to be seen at Dormilhouse. At
the season when vegetation is elsewhere at its richest, the dominant
features of the landscape are barrenness and desolation. The very
shapes of the mountains are rugged, harsh, and repulsive. Right over
against the hamlet, separated from it by a deep gully, rises up the
grim, bare Gramusac, as black as a wall, but along the ledges of
which, the hunters of Dormilhouse, who are very daring and skilful, do
not fear to stalk the chamois.
But if the place is thus stern and even appalling in summer, what must
it be in winter? There is scarcely a habitation in the village that is
not exposed to the danger of being carried away by avalanches or
falling rocks. The approach to the mountain is closed by ice and
snow, while the rocks are all tapestried with icicles. The
_tourmente_, or snow whirlwind, occasionally swoops up the valley,
tears the roofs from the huts, and scatters them in destruction.
Here is a passage from Neff's journal, vividly descriptive of winter
life at Dormilhouse:--
"The weather has been rigorous in the extreme; the falls of snow
are very frequent, and when it becomes a little milder, a general
thaw takes place, and our hymns are often sung amid the roar of
the avalanches, which, gliding along the smooth face of the
glacier, hurl themselves from precipice to precipice, like vast
cataracts of silver."
Writing in January, he says:--
"We have been buried in four feet of snow since of 1st of
November. At this very moment a terrible blast is whirling the
snow in thick blinding clouds. Travelling is exceedingly
difficult and even dangerous among these valleys, particularly in
the neighbourhood of Dormilhouse, by reason of the numerous
avalanches falling everywhere.... One Sunday evening our scholars
and many of the Dormilhouse people, when returning home after the
sermon at Violens, narrowly escaped an avalanche. It rolled
through a narrow defile between two groups of persons: a few
seconds sooner or later, and it would have plunged the flower of
our youth into the depths of an unfathomable gorge.... In fact,
there are very few habitations in these parts which are not
liable to be swept away, for there is not a spot in the narrow
corner of the valley which can be considered absolutely safe. But
terrible as their situation is, they owe to it their religion,
and perhaps their physical existence. If their country had been
more secure and more accessible, they would have been
exterminated like the inhabitants of Val Louise."
Such is the interesting though desolate mountain hamlet to the service
of whose hardy inhabitants the brave Felix Neff devoted himself during
the greater part of his brief missionary career. It was characteristic
of him to prefer to serve them because their destitution was greater
than that which existed in any other quarter of his extensive parish;
and he turned from the grand mountain scenery of Arvieux and his
comfortable cottage at La Chalp, to spend his winters in the dismal
hovels and amidst the barren wastes of Dormilhouse.
When Neff first went amongst them, the people were in a state of
almost total spiritual destitution. They had not had any pastor
stationed amongst them for nearly a hundred and fifty years. During
all that time they had been without schools of any kind, and
generation after generation had grown up and passed away in ignorance.
Yet with all the inborn tenacity of their race, they had throughout
refused to conform to the dominant religion. They belonged to the
Vaudois Church, and repudiated Romanism.
There was probably a Protestant church existing at Dormilhouse
previous to the Revocation, as is shown by the existence of an ancient
Vaudois church-bell, which was hid away until of late years, when it
was dug up and hung in the belfry of the present church. In 1745, the
Roman Catholics endeavoured to effect a settlement in the place, and
then erected the existing church, with a residence for the curé. But
the people, though they were on the best of terms with the curé,
refused to enter his church. During the twenty years that he
ministered there, it is said the sole congregation consisted of his
domestic servant, who assisted him at mass.
The story is still told of the curé bringing up from Les Ribes a large
bag of apples--an impossible crop at Dormilhouse--by way of tempting
the children to come to him and receive instruction. But they went
only so long as the apples lasted, and when they were gone the
children disappeared. The curé complained that during the whole time
he had been in the place he had not been able to get a single person
to cross himself. So, finding he was not likely to be of any use
there, he petitioned his bishop to be allowed to leave; on which, his
request being complied with, the church was closed.
This continued until the period of the French Revolution, when
religious toleration became recognised. The Dormilhouse people then
took possession of the church. They found in it several dusty images,
the basin for the holy water, the altar candlesticks, and other
furniture, just as the curé had left them many years before; and they
are still preserved as curiosities. The new occupants of the church
whitewashed the pictures, took down the crosses, dug up the old
Vaudois bell and hung it up in the belfry, and rang the villagers
together to celebrate the old worship again. But they were still in
want of a regular minister until the period when Felix Neff settled
amongst them. A zealous young preacher, Henry Laget, had before then
paid them a few visits, and been warmly welcomed; and when, in his
last address, he told them they would see his face no more, "it
seemed," said a peasant who related the incident to Neff, "as if a
gust of wind had extinguished the torch which was to light us in our
passage by night across the precipice." And even Neff's ministry, as
we have above seen, only lasted for the short space of about three
years.
Some years after the death of Neff, another attempt was made by the
Roman Catholics to establish a mission at Dormilhouse. A priest went
up from Les Ribes accompanied by a sister of mercy from Gap--"the
pearl of the diocese," she was called--who hired a room for the
purpose of commencing a school. To give _éclat_ to their enterprise,
the Archbishop of Embrun himself went up, clothed in a purple dress,
riding a white horse, and accompanied by a party of men bearing a
great red cross, which he caused to be set up at the entrance to the
village. But when the archbishop appeared, not a single inhabitant
went out to meet him; they had all assembled in the church to hold a
prayer-meeting, and it lasted during the whole period of his visit.
All that he accomplished was to set up the great red cross, after
which he went down the Tourniquet again; and shortly after, the priest
and the sister of mercy, finding they could not obtain a footing, also
left the village. Somehow or other, the red cross which had been set
up mysteriously disappeared, but how it had been disposed of no one
would ever reveal. It was lately proposed to commemorate the event of
the archbishop's visit by the erection of an obelisk on the spot where
he had set up the red cross; and a tablet, with a suitable
inscription, was provided for it by the Rev. Mr. Freemantle, of
Claydon. But when he was told that the site was exposed to the full
force of the avalanches descending from the upper part of the mountain
in winter, and would speedily be swept away, the project of the
memorial pillar was abandoned, and the tablet was inserted, instead,
in the front wall of the village church, where it reads as follows:--
À LA GLOIRE DE DIEU
DONT DE LES TEMPS ANCIENS
ET À TRAVERS LE MARTYR DE LEURS PÈRES
A MAINTENU
À DORMILHOUSE
LA FOI DONNE AUX SAINTS
ET LA CONNAISSANCE DE LA PAROLE
LES HABITANTS ONT ÉLEVÉ
CETTE PIERRE
MDCCCLXIV.
Having thus described the village and its history, a few words remain
to be added as to the visit of our little party of travellers from
Palons. On reaching the elevated point at which the archbishop had set
up the red cross, the whole of the huts lay before us, and a little
way down the mountain-side we discerned the village church,
distinguished by its little belfry. Leaving on our right the
Swiss-looking châlet with overhanging roof, in which Neff used to
lodge with the Baridon-Verdure family while at Dormilhouse, and now
known as "Felix Neff's house," we made our way down a steep and stony
footpath towards the school-house adjoining the church, in front of
which we found the large ash trees, shading both church and school,
which Neff himself had planted. Arrived at the school-house, we there
found shelter and accommodation for the night. The schoolroom, fitted
with its forms and desks, was our parlour, and our bedrooms, furnished
with the blankets we had brought with us, were in the little chambers
adjoining.
At eight in the evening the church bell rang for service--the
summoning bell. The people had been expecting the visit, and turned
out in full force, so that at nine o'clock, when the last bell rang,
the church was found filled to the door. Every seat was occupied--by
men on one side, and by women on the other. The service was conducted
by Mr. Milsom, the missionary visitor from Lyons, who opened with
prayer, then gave out the twenty-third Psalm, which was sung to an
accompaniment on the harmonium; then another prayer, followed by the
reading of a chapter in the New Testament, was wound up by an address,
in which the speaker urged the people to their continuance in
well-doing. In the course of his remarks he said: "Be not discouraged
because the results of your Labours may appear but small. Work on and
faint not, and God will give the spiritual increase. Pastors,
teachers, and colporteurs are too often ready to despond, because the
fruit does not seem to ripen while they are watching it. But the best
fruit grows slowly. Think how the Apostles laboured. They were all
poor men, but men of brave hearts; and they passed away to their rest
long before the seed which they planted grew up and ripened to
perfection. Work on then in patience and hope, and be assured that God
will at length help you."
Mr. Milsom's address was followed by another from the pastor, and then
by a final prayer and hymn, after which the service was concluded, and
the villagers dispersed to their respective homes a little after ten
o'clock. The snow had ceased falling, but the sky was still overcast,
and the night felt cold and raw, like February rather than July.
The wonder is, that this community of Dormilhouse should cling to
their mountain eyrie so long after the necessity for their living
above the clouds has ceased; but it is their home, and they have come
to love it, and are satisfied to live and die there. Rather than live
elsewhere, they will walk, as some of them do, twelve miles in the
early morning, to their work down in the valley of the Durance, and
twelve miles home again, in the evenings, to their perch on the rocks
at Dormilhouse.
They are even proud of their mountain home, and would not change it
for the most smiling vineyard of the plains. They are like a little
mountain clan--all Baridons, or Michels, or Orcieres, or Bertholons,
or Arnouds--proud of their descent from the ancient Vaudois. It is
their boast that a Roman Catholic does not live among them. Once, when
a young shepherd came up from the valley to pasture his flock in the
mountains, he fell in love with a maiden of the village, and proposed
to marry her. "Yes," was the answer, with this condition, that he
joined the Vaudois Church. And he assented, married the girl, and
settled for life at Dormilhouse.[105]
[Footnote 105: Since the date of our visit, we learn that a
sad accident--strikingly illustrative of the perils of
village life at Dormilhouse--has befallen this young
shepherd, by name Jean Joseph Lagier. One day in October,
1869, while engaged in gathering wood near the brink of the
precipice overhanging Minsals, he accidently fell over and
was killed on the spot, leaving behind him a widow and a
large family. He was a person of such excellent character and
conduct, that he had been selected as colporteur for the
neighbourhood.]
* * * * *
The next morning broke clear and bright overhead. The sun shone along
the rugged face of the Gramusac right over against the hamlet,
bringing out its bolder prominences. Far below, the fleecy clouds were
still rolling themselves up the mountain-sides, or gradually
dispersing as the sun caught them on their emerging from the valley
below. The view was bold and striking, displaying the grandeur of the
scenery of Dormilhouse in one of its best aspects.
Setting out on the return journey to Palons, we descended the face of
the mountain on which Dormilhouse stands, by a steep footpath right in
front of it, down towards the falls of the Biasse. Looking back, the
whole village appeared above us, cottage over cottage, and ledge over
ledge, with its stern background of rocky mountain.
Immediately under the village, in a hollow between two shoulders of
rock, the cascade of the Biasse leaps down into the valley. The
highest leap falls in a jet of about a hundred feet, and the lower,
divided into two by a projecting ledge, breaks into a shower of spray
which falls about a hundred and fifty feet more into the abyss below.
Even in Switzerland this fall would be considered a fine object; but
in this out-of-the-way place, it is rarely seen except by the
villagers, who have water and cascades more than enough.
We were told on the spot, that some eighty years since an avalanche
shot down the mountain immediately on to the plateau on which we
stood, carrying with it nearly half the village of Dormilhouse; and
every year the avalanches shoot down at the same place, which is
strewn with the boulders and débris that extend far down into the
valley.
At the bottom of the Tourniquet we joined M. Charpiot, accompanying
the donkey laden with the blankets and knapsacks, and proceeded with
him on our way down the valley towards his hospitable parsonage at
Palons.
CHAPTER V.
GUILLESTRE AND THE VALLEY OF QUEYRAS.
We left Palons on a sharp, bright morning in July, with the prospect
of a fine day before us, though there had been a fall of snow in the
night, which whitened the tops of the neighbouring hills. Following
the road along the heights on the right bank of the Biasse, and
passing the hamlet of Chancellas, another favourite station of Neff's,
a rapid descent led us down into the valley of the Durance, which we
crossed a little above the village of St. Crepin, with the strong
fortress of Mont Dauphin before us a few miles lower down the valley.
This remote corner in the mountains was the scene of much fighting in
early times between the Roman Catholics and the Huguenots, and
afterwards between the French and the Piedmontese. It was in this
neighbourhood that Lesdiguières first gave evidence of his skill and
valour as a soldier. The massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris in 1572
had been followed by like massacres in various parts of France,
especially in the south. The Roman Catholics of Dauphiny, deeming the
opportunity favourable for the extirpation of the heretical Vaudois,
dispatched the military commandant of Embrun against the inhabitants
of Val Fressinières at the head of an army of twelve hundred men.
Lesdiguières, then scarce twenty-four years old, being informed of
their march, hastily assembled a Huguenot force in the valley of the
Drac, and, crossing the Col d'Orcières from Champsaur into the valley
of the Durance, he suddenly fell upon the enemy at St. Crepin, routed
them, and drove them down the valley to Embrun. Twelve years later,
during the wars of the League, Lesdiguières distinguished himself in
the same neighbourhood, capturing Embrun, Guillestre, and Château
Queyras, in the valley of the Guil, thereby securing the entire
province for his royal master, Henry of Navarre.
The strong fortress of Mont Dauphin, at the junction of the Guil with
the Durance, was not constructed until a century later. Victor-Amadeus
II., when invading the province with a Piedmontese army, at sight of
the plateau commanding the entrance of both valleys, exclaimed, "There
is a pass to fortify." The hint was not neglected by the French
general, Catinat, under whose directions the great engineer, Vauban,
traced the plan of the present fortifications. It is a very strong
place, completely commanding the valley of the Durance, while it is
regarded as the key of the passage into Italy by the Guil and the Col
de la Croix.
Guillestre is a small old-fashioned town, situated on the lowest slope
of the pine-clad mountain, the Tête de Quigoulet, at the junction of
the Rioubel and the Chagne, rivulets in summer but torrents in winter,
which join the Guil a little below the town. Guillestre was in ancient
times a strong place, and had for its lords the Archbishops of Embrun,
the ancient persecutors of the Vaudois. The castle of the archbishop,
flanked by six towers, occupied a commanding site immediately
overlooking the town; but at the French Revolution of 1789, the first
thing which the archbishop's flock did was to pull his castle in
pieces, leaving not one stone upon another; and, strange to say, the
only walled enclosure now within its precincts is the little
burying-ground of the Guillestre Protestants. One memorable stone has,
however, been preserved, the stone trough in which the peasants were
required to measure the tribute of grain payable by them to their
reverend seigneurs. It is still to be seen laid against a wall in an
open space in front of the church.
It happened that the fair of Guillestre, which is held every two
months, was afoot at the time of our visit. It is frequented by the
people of the adjoining valleys, of which Guillestre is the centre, as
well as by Piedmontese from beyond the Italian frontier. On the
principal day of the fair we found the streets filled with peasants
buying and selling beasts. They were apparently of many races. Amongst
them were many well-grown men, some with rings in their
ears--horse-dealers from Piedmont, we were told; but the greater
number were little, dark, thin, and poorly-fed peasants. Some of them,
dark-eyed and tawny-skinned, looked like Arabs, possibly descendants
of the Saracens who once occupied the province. There were one or two
groups of gipsies, differing from all else; but the district is too
poor to be much frequented by people of that race.
The animals brought for sale showed the limited resources of the
neighbourhood. One hill-woman came along dragging two goats in milk;
another led a sheep and a goat; a third a donkey in foal; a fourth a
cow in milk; and so on. The largest lot consisted of about forty
lambs, of various sizes and breeds, which had been driven down from
the cool air of the mountains, and, gasping with heat, were cooling
their heads against the shady side of a stone wall. There were several
lots of pigs, of a bad but probably hardy sort--mostly black,
round-backed, long-legged, and long-eared. In selling the animals,
there was the usual chaffering, in shrill patois, at the top of the
voice--the seller of some poor scraggy beast extolling its merits, the
intending buyer running it down as a "misérable bossu," &c., and
disputing every point raised in its behalf, until the contest of words
rose to such a height--men, women, and even children, on both sides,
taking part in it--that the bystander would have thought it impossible
they could separate without a fight. But matters always came to a
peaceable conclusion, for the French are by no means a quarrelsome
people.
There were also various other sorts of produce offered for sale--wool,
undressed sheepskins, sticks for firewood, onions and vegetable
produce, and considerable quantities of honeycomb; while the sellers
of scythes, whetstones, caps, and articles of dress, seemed to meet
with a ready sale for their wares, arranged on stalls in the open
space in front of the church. Altogether, the queer collection of
beasts and their drivers, who were to be seen drinking together
greedily and promiscuously from the fountains in the market-place; the
steep streets, crowded with lean goats and cows and pigs, and their
buyers and sellers; the braying of donkeys and the shrieking of
chafferers, with here and there a goitred dwarf of hideous aspect,
presented a picture of an Alpine mountain fair, which, once seen, is
not readily forgotten.
There is a similar fair held at the village of La Bessie, before
mentioned, a little higher up the Durance, on the road to Briançon;
but it is held only once a year, at the end of October, when the
inhabitants of Dormilhouse come down in a body to lay in their stock
of necessaries for the winter. "There then arrives," says M. Albert,
"a caravan of about the most singular character that can be imagined.
It consists of nearly the whole population of the mountain hamlet, who
resort thither to supply themselves with the articles required for
family use during the winter, such as leather, lint, salt, and oil.
These poor mountaineers are provided with very little money, and, to
procure the necessary commodities, they have recourse to barter, the
most ancient and primitive method of conducting trade. Hence they
bring with them rye, barley, pigs, lambs, chamois skins and horns, and
the produce of their knitting during the past year, to exchange for
the required articles, with which they set out homeward, laden as they
had come."
* * * * *
The same circumstances which have concurred in making Guillestre the
seat of the principal fair of the valleys, led Felix Neff to regard it
as an important centre of missionary operations amongst the Vaudois.
In nearly all the mountain villages in its neighbourhood descendants
of the ancient Vaudois are to be found, sometimes in the most remote
and inaccessible places, whither they had fled in the times of the
persecutions. Thus at Vars, a mountain hamlet up the torrent Rioubel,
about nine miles from Guillestre, there is a little Christian
community, which, though under the necessity of long concealing their
faith, never ceased to be Vaudois in spirit.[106] Then, up the valley
of the Guil, and in the lateral valleys which join it, there are, in
some places close to the mountain barrier which divides France from
Italy, other villages and hamlets, such as Arvieux, San Veran,
Fongilarde, &c., the inhabitants of which, though they concealed their
faith subsequent to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, never
conformed to Roman Catholicism, but took the earliest opportunity of
declaring themselves openly so soon as the dark period of persecution
had passed by.
[Footnote 106: The well-known Alpine missionary, J. L.
Rostan, of whom an interesting biography has recently been
published by the Rev. A. J. French, for the Wesleyan
Conference, was a native of Vars. He was one of the favourite
pupils of Felix Neff, with whom he resided at Dormilhouse in
1825-7; Neff saying of him: "Among the best of my pupils, as
regards spiritual things and secular too, is Jean Rostan, of
Vars: he is probably destined for the ministry; such at least
is my hope." Neff bequeathed to him the charge of his parish
during his temporary absence, but he never returned; and
shortly after, Rostan left, to pursue his studies at
Montauban. He joined the Methodist Church, settled and
ministered for a time in La Vaunage and the Cevennes,
afterwards labouring as a missionary in the High Alps, and
eventually settled as minister of the church at Lisieux,
Jersey, in charge of which he died, July, 1859.]
The people of these scattered and distant hamlets were, however, too
poor to supply themselves with religious instructors, and they long
remained in a state of spiritual destitution. Felix Neff's labours
were too short, and scattered over too extensive a field, to produce
much permanent effect. Besides, they were principally confined to the
village of Dormilhouse, which, as being the most destitute, had, he
thought, the greatest claim upon his help; and at his death
comparatively little had been done or attempted in the Guillestre
district. But he left behind him what was worth more than any
endowment of money, a noble example, which still lives, and inspires
the labourers who have come after him.
It was not until within the last twenty years that a few Vaudois
families of Guillestre began to meet together for religious purposes,
which they did at first in the upper chamber of an inn. There the Rev.
Mr. Freemantle found them when paying his first visit to the valleys
in 1851. He was rejoiced to see the zeal of the people, holding to
their faith in the face of considerable opposition and opprobrium; and
he exerted himself to raise the requisite funds amongst his friends in
England to provide the Guillestre Vaudois with a place of worship of
their own. His efforts were attended with success; and in 1854 a
comfortable parsonage, with a commodious room for public worship, was
purchased for their use. A fund was also provided for the maintenance
of a settled ministry; a pastor was appointed; and in 1857 a
congregation of from forty to seventy persons attended worship every
Sunday. Mr. Freemantle, in a communication with which he has favoured
us, says: "Our object has not been to make an aggression upon the
Roman Catholics, but to strengthen the hands and establish the faith
of the Vaudois. And in so doing we have found, not unfrequently, that
when an interest has been excited among the Roman Catholic population
of the district, there has been some family or hereditary connection
with ancestors who were independent of the see of Rome, and such have
again joined themselves to the faith of their fathers."
The new movement was not, however, allowed to proceed without great
opposition. The "Momiers," or mummers--the modern nickname of the
Vaudois--were denounced by the curé of the place, and the people were
cautioned, as they valued their souls' safety, against giving any
countenance to their proceedings. The curé was doubtless seriously
impressed by the gravity of the situation; and to protect the parish
against the assaults of the evil one, he had a large number of crosses
erected upon the heights overlooking the town. On one occasion he had
a bad dream, in which he beheld the valley filled with a vast assembly
come to be judged; and on the site of the judgment-seat which he saw
in his dream, he set up, on the summit of the Come Chauve, a large tin
cross hearted with wood. We were standing in the garden in front of
the parsonage at Guillestre late in the evening, when M. Schell, the
pastor, pointing up to the height, said, "There you see it now; that
is the curé's erection." The valley below lay in deep shadow, while
the cross upon the summit brightly reflected the last rays of the
setting sun.
The curé, finding that the "Momiers" did not cease to exist, next
adopted the expedient of preaching them down. On the occasion of the
Fête Napoleon, 1862, when the Rev. Mr. Freemantle visited Guillestre
for the purpose of being present at the Vaudois services on Sunday,
the 10th of August, the curé preached a special sermon to his
congregation at early morning mass, telling them that an Englishman
had come into the town with millions of francs to buy up the souls of
Guillestre, and warning them to abstain from such men.
The people were immediately filled with curiosity to know what it was
that this stranger had come all the way from England to do, backed by
"millions of francs." Many of them did not as yet know that there was
such a thing as a Vaudois church in Guillestre; but now that they did
know, they were desirous of ascertaining something about the doctrines
taught there. The consequence was, that a crowd of people--amongst
whom were some of the highest authorities in the town, the registrar,
the douaniers, the chief of a neighbouring commune, and persons of all
classes--assembled at noon to hear M. de Faye, the Protestant pastor,
who preached to them an excellent sermon under the trees of the
parsonage orchard, while a still larger number attended in the
afternoon.
When the curé heard of the conduct of his flock he was greatly
annoyed. "What did you hear from the heretics?" he asked of one of the
delinquents. "I heard _your_ sermon in the morning, and a sermon _upon
charity_ in the afternoon," was the reply.
Great were the surprise and excitement in Guillestre when it became
known that the principal sergeant of gendarmerie--the very embodiment
of law and order in the place--had gone over and joined the "Momiers"
with his wife and family. M. Laugier was quite a model gendarme. He
was a man of excellent character, steady, sensible, and patient, a
diligent self-improver, a reader of books, a botanist, and a bit of a
geologist. He knew all the rare mountain plants, and had a collection
of those that would bear transplantation, in his garden at the back of
the town. No man was more respected in Guillestre than the sergeant.
His long and faithful service entitled him to the _médaille
militaire_, and it would have been awarded to him, but for the
circumstance which came to light, and which he did not seek to
conceal, that he had joined the Protestant connexion. Not only was the
medal withheld, but influence was used to get him sent away from the
place; and he was packed off to a station in the mountains at Château
Queyras.
Though this banishment from Guillestre was intended as a punishment,
it only served to bring out the sterling qualities of the sergeant,
and to ensure his eventual reward. It so happened that the station at
Château Queyras commanded the approaches into an extensive range of
mountain pasturage. Although not required specially to attend to their
safety, our sergeant had nevertheless carefully noted the flocks and
herds as they went up the valleys in the spring. When winter
approached, they were all brought down again from the mountains for
safety.
The winter of that year set in early and severely. The sergeant,
making his observations on the flocks as they passed down the valley,
noted that one large flock of about three thousand sheep had not yet
made its appearance. The mountains were now covered with snow, and he
apprehended that the sheep and their shepherds had been storm-stayed.
Summoning to his assistance a body of men, he set out at their head in
search of the lost flock. After a long, laborious, and dangerous
journey--for the snow by this time lay deep in the hollows of the
hills--he succeeded in discovering the shepherds and the sheep, almost
reduced to their last gasp--the sheep, for want of food, actually
gnawing each other's tails. With great difficulty the whole were
extricated from their perilous position, and brought down the
mountains in safety.
No representation was made to head-quarters by the authorities of
Guillestre of the conduct of the Protestant sergeant in the matter;
but when the shepherds got down to Gap, they were so full of the
sergeant's praises, and of his bravery in rescuing them and their
flock from certain death, that a paragraph descriptive of the affair
was inserted in the local papers, and was eventually copied into the
Parisian journals. Then it was that an inquiry was made into his
conduct, and the result was so satisfactory that the sergeant was at
once decorated not only with the _médaille militaire_, but with the
_médaille de sauvetage_--a still higher honour; and, shortly after, he
was allowed to retire from the service on full pay. He then returned
to his home and family at Guillestre, where he now officiates as
_Regent_ of the Vaudois church, reading the prayers and conducting the
service in the absence of the stated minister.
* * * * *
We spent a Sunday in the comfortable parsonage at Guillestre. There
was divine service in the temple at half-past ten A.M., conducted by
the regular pastor, M. Schell, and instruction and catechizing of the
children in the afternoon. The pastor's regular work consists of two
services at Guillestre and Vars on alternate Sundays, with
Sunday-school and singing lesson; and on week days he gives religious
instruction in the Guillestre school. The missionary's wife is a true
"helpmeet," and having been trained as a deaconess at Strasbourg, she
regularly visits the poor, occasionally assisting them with medical
advice.
Another important part of the work at Guillestre is the girls' school,
for which suitable premises have been taken; and it is conducted by an
excellent female teacher. Here not only the usual branches of
education are taught, but domestic industry of different kinds.
Through the instrumentality of Mr. Milsom, glove-sewing has been
taught to the girls, and it is hoped that by this and similar efforts
this branch of home manufacture may become introduced in the High
Alps, and furnish profitable employment to many poor persons during
their long and dreary winter.
By the aid of a special fund, a few girl boarders, belonging to
scattered Protestant families who have no other means for the
education of their children, are also received at the school. The
girls seem to be extremely well taken care of, and the house, which we
went over, is a very pattern of cleanliness and comfort.
* * * * *
The route from Guillestre into Italy lies up the valley of the Guil,
through one of the wildest and deepest gorges, or rather chasms, to be
found in Europe. Brockedon says it is "one of the finest in the Alps."
M. Bost compares it to the Moutier-Grand-Val, in the canton of Berne,
but says it is much wilder. He even calls it frightful, which it is
not, except in rainy weather, when the rocks occasionally fall from
overhead. At such times people avoid travelling through the gorge. M.
Bost also likens it to the Via Mala, though here the road, at the
narrowest and most precipitous parts, runs in the _bottom_ of the
gorge, in a ledge cut in the rock, there being room only for the river
and the road. It is only of late years that the road has been
completed, and it is often partly washed away in winter, or covered
with rock and stones brought down by the torrent. When Neff travelled
the gorge, it was passable only on foot, or on mule-back. Yet
light-footed armies have passed into Italy by this route. Lesdiguières
clambered over the mountains and along the Guil to reach Château
Queyras, which he assaulted and took. Louis XIII. once accompanied a
French army about a league up the gorge, but he turned back, afraid to
go farther; and the hamlet at which his progress was arrested is still
called Maison du Roi. About three leagues higher up, after crossing
the Guil from bank to bank several times, in order to make use of such
ledges of the rock as are suitable for the road, the gorge opens into
the Combe du Queyras, and very shortly the picturesque-looking Castle
of Queyras comes in sight, occupying the summit of a lofty conical
rock in the middle of the valley.
As we approached Château Queyras the ruins of a building were pointed
out by Mr. Milsom in the bottom of the valley, close by the
river-side. "That," said he, "was once the Protestant temple of the
place. It was burnt to the ground at the Revocation. You see that old
elm-tree growing near it. That tree was at the same time burnt to a
black stump. It became a saying in the valley that Protestantism was
as dead as that stump, and that it would only reappear when that dead
stump came to life! And, strange to say, since Felix Neff has been
here, the stump _has_ come to life--you see how green it is--and again
Protestantism is like the elm-tree, sending out its vigorous
offshoots, in the valley."
Château Queyras stands in the centre of the valley of the Guil, which
is joined near this point by two other valleys, the Combe of Arvieux
joining it on the right bank, and that of San Veran on the left. The
heads of the streams which traverse these valleys have their origin in
the snowy range of the Cottian Alps, which form the boundary between
France and Italy. As in the case of the descendants of the ancient
Vaudois at Dormilhouse, they are here also found at the farthest limit
of vegetation, penetrating almost to the edge of the glacier, where
they were least likely to be molested. The inhabitants of Arvieux were
formerly almost entirely Protestant, and had a temple there, which was
pulled down at the Revocation. From that time down to the Revolution
they worshipped only in secret, occasionally ministered to by Vaudois
pastors, who made precarious visits to them from the Italian valleys
at the risk of their lives.
Above Arvieux is the hamlet of La Chalp, containing a considerable
number of Protestants, and where Neff had his home--a small, low
cottage undistinguishable from the others save by its whitewashed
front. Its situation is cheerful, facing the south, and commanding a
pleasant mountain prospect, contrasting strongly with the barren
outlook and dismal hovels of Dormilhouse. But Neff never could regard
the place as his home. "The inhabitants," he observed in his journal,
"have more traffic, and the mildness of the climate appears somehow or
other not favourable to the growth of piety. They are zealous
Protestants, and show me a thousand attentions, but they are at
present absolutely impenetrable." The members of the congregation at
Arvieux, indeed, complained of his spending so little of his time
among them; but the comfort of his cottage at La Chalp, and the
comparative mildness of the climate of Arvieux, were insufficient to
attract him from the barren crags but warm hearts of Dormilhouse.
The village of San Veran, which lies up among the mountains some
twelve miles to the east of Arvieux, on the opposite side of the Val
Queyras, was another of the refuges of the ancient Vaudois. It is at
the foot of the snowy ridge which divides France from Italy. Dr. Gilly
says, "There is nothing fit for mortal to take refuge in between San
Veran and the eternal snows which mantle the pinnacles of Monte Viso."
The village is 6,692 feet above the level of the sea, and there is a
provincial saying that San Veran is the highest spot in Europe where
bread is eaten. Felix Neff said, "It is the highest, and consequently
the most pious, in the valley of Queyras." Dr. Gilly was the second
Englishman who had ever found his way to the place, and he was
accompanied on the occasion by Mrs. Gilly. "The sight of a female,"
he says, "dressed entirely in linen, was a phenomenon so new to those
simple peasants, whose garments are never anything but woollen, that
Pizarro and his mail-clad companions were not greater objects of
curiosity to the Peruvians than we were to these mountaineers."
Not far distant from San Veran are the mountain hamlets of Pierre
Grosse and Fongillarde, also ancient retreats of the persecuted
Vaudois, and now for the most part inhabited by Protestants. The
remoteness and comparative inaccessibility of these mountain hamlets
may be inferred from the fact that in 1786, when the Protestants of
France were for the first time since the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes permitted to worship in public without molestation, four years
elapsed before the intelligence reached San Veran.
We have now reached almost the extreme limits of France; Italy lying
on the other side of the snowy peaks which shut in the upper valleys
of the Alps. In Neff's time the parish of which he had charge extended
from San Veran, on the frontier, to Champsaur, in the valley of the
Drac, a distance of nearly eighty miles. His charge consisted of the
scattered population of many mountain hamlets, to visit which in
succession involved his travelling a total distance of not less than
one hundred and eighty miles. It was, of course, impossible that any
single man, no matter how inspired by zeal and devotion, could do
justice to a charge so extensive. The difficulties of passing through
a country so wild and rugged were also very great, especially in
winter. Neff records that on one occasion he took six hours to make
the journey, in the midst of a snow-storm which completely hid the
footpath, from his cottage at La Chalp to San Veran, a distance of
only twelve miles.
The pastors who succeeded Neff had the same difficulties to encounter,
and there were few to be found who could brave them. The want of proper
domestic accommodation for the pastors was also felt to be a great
hindrance. Accordingly, one of the first things to which the Rev. Mr.
Freemantle directed his attention, when he entered upon his noble work
of supplying the spiritual destitution of the French Vaudois, was to
take steps not only to supply the poor people with more commodious
temples, but also to provide dwelling-houses for the pastors. And in the
course of a few years, helped by friends in England, he has been enabled
really to accomplish a very great deal. The extensive parish of Neff is
now divided into five sub-parishes--that of Fressinières, which includes
Palons, Violins, and Dormilhouse, provided with three temples, a
parsonage, and schools; Arvieux, with the hamlets of Brunissard (where
worship was formerly conducted in a stable) and La Chalp, provided with
two temples, a parsonage, and schools; San Veran, with Fongillarde and
Pierre Grosse, provided with three temples, a parsonage, and a school;
St. Laurent du Cros and Champsaur, in the valley of the Drac, provided
with a temple, school, &c., principally through the liberality of Lord
Monson; and Guillestre and Vars, provided with two temples, a parsonage,
and a girls' school. A temple, with a residence for a pastor, has also
of late years been provided at Briançon, with a meeting-place also at
the village of Villeneuve.
Such are the agencies now at work in the district of the High Alps,
helped on by a few zealous workers in England and abroad. While the
object of the pastors, in the words of Mr. Freemantle, is "not to
regard themselves as missionaries to proselytize Roman Catholics, but
as ministers residing among their own people, whose faith, and love,
and holiness they have to promote," they also endeavour to institute
measures with the object of improving the social and domestic
condition of the Vaudois. Thus, in one district--that of St. Laurent
du Cros--a _banque de prévoyance_, or savings-bank, has been
established; and though it was at first regarded with suspicion, it
has gradually made its way and proved of great value, being made use
of by the indigent Roman Catholics as well as Protestant families of
the district. Such efforts and such agencies as these cannot fail to
be followed by blessings, and to be greatly instrumental for good.
Our last night in France was spent in the miserable little town of
Abries, situated immediately at the foot of the Alpine ridge which
separates France from Italy. On reaching the principal hotel, or
rather auberge, we found every bed taken; but a peep into the dark and
dirty kitchen, which forms the entrance-hall of the place, made us
almost glad that there was no room for us in that inn. We turned out
into the wet streets to find a better; but though we succeeded in
finding beds in a poor house in a back lane, little can be said in
their praise. We were, however, supplied with a tolerable dinner, and
contrived to pass the night in rest, and to start refreshed early on
the following morning on our way to the Vaudois valleys of Piedmont.
[Illustration: Valley of Luserne.]
CHAPTER VI.
THE VALLEY OF THE PELICE--LA TOUR--ANGROGNA--THE PRA DU TOUR.
The village of Abries is situated close to the Alpine ridge, the
summit of which marks the boundary between France and Italy. On the
other side lie the valleys of Piedmont, in which the French Vaudois
were accustomed to take refuge when persecution ravaged their own
valleys, passing by the mountain-road we were now about to travel, as
far as La Tour, in the valley of the Pelice.
Although there are occasional villages along the route, there is no
good resting-place for travellers short of La Tour, some twenty-six
miles distant from Abries; and as it was necessary that we should walk
the distance, the greater part of the road being merely a track,
scarcely practicable for mules, we were up betimes in the morning, and
on our way. The sun had scarcely risen above the horizon. The mist
was still hanging along the mountain-sides, and the stillness of the
scene was only broken by the murmur of the Guil running in its rocky
bed below. Passing through the hamlet of Monta, where the French
douane has its last frontier station, we began the ascent; and soon,
as the sun rose and the mists cleared away, we saw the profile of the
mountain up which we were climbing cast boldly upon the range behind
us on the further side of the valley. A little beyond the ravine of
the Combe de la Croix, along the summit of which the road winds, we
reached the last house within the French frontier--a hospice, not very
inviting in appearance, for the accommodation of travellers. A little
further is the Col, and passing a stone block carved with the
fleur-de-lis and cross of Savoy, we crossed the frontier of France and
entered Italy.
On turning a shoulder of the mountain, we looked down upon the head of
the valley of the Pelice, a grand and savage scene. The majestic,
snow-capped Monte Viso towers up on the right, at the head of the
valley, amidst an assemblage of other great mountain masses. From its
foot seems to steal the river Pelice, now a quiet rivulet, though in
winter a raging torrent. Right in front, lower down the valley, is the
rocky defile of Mirabouc, a singularly savage gorge, seemingly rent
asunder by some tremendous convulsion of nature; beyond and over which
extends the valley of the Pelice, expanding into that of the Po, and
in the remote distance the plains of Piedmont; while immediately
beneath our feet, as it were, but far below, lies a considerable
breadth of green pasture, the Bergerie of Pra, enclosed on all sides
by the mountains over which we look.
The descent from the Col down into the Pra is very difficult, in some
places almost precipitous--far more abrupt than on the French side,
where the incline up to the summit is comparatively easy.
The zigzag descends from one rock to another, along the face of a
shelving slope, by a succession of notches (from which the footpath is
not inappropriately termed _La Coche_) affording a very insecure
footing for the few mules which occasionally cross the pass. Dr. Gilly
crossed here from La Tour with Mrs. Gilly in 1829, when about to visit
the French valleys; but he found the path so difficult and dangerous,
that the lady had to walk nearly the whole way.
As we descended the mountain almost by a succession of leaps, we
overtook M. Gariod, deputy judge of Gap, engaged in botanizing among
the rocks; and he informed us that among the rarer specimens he had
collected in the course of his journey on the summit were the
_Polygonum alpinum_ and _Silene vallesia_, above Monta; the
_Leucanthemum alpinum_, near the Hospice; the _Linaria alpina_ and
_Cirsium spinosissimus_ on the Col; while the _Lloydia serotina_,
_Arabis alpina_, _Phyteuma hemisphericum_, and _Rhododendrum
ferrugineum_, were found all over the face of the rocky descent to the
Pra.
At the foot of the _Coche_ we arrived at the first house in Italy, the
little auberge of the Pra, a great resort of sportsmen, who come to
hunt the chamois in the adjoining mountains during the season. Here is
also the usual customs station, with a few officers of the Italian
douane, to watch the passage of merchandise across the frontier.
The road from hence to la Tour is along the river Pelice, which is
kept in sight nearly the whole way. A little below the Pra, where it
enters the defile of Mirabouc, the path merely follows what is the
bed of the torrent in winter. The descent is down ledges and notches,
from rock to rock, with rugged precipices overhanging the ravine for
nearly a mile. At its narrowest part stand the ruins of the ancient
fort of Mirabouc, built against the steep escarpments of the mountain,
which, in ancient times, completely commanded and closed the defile
against the passage of an enemy from that quarter. And difficult
though the Col de la Croix is for the passage of an army, it has on
more than one occasion been passed by French detachments in their
invasion of Italy.
It is not until we reach Bobi, or Bobbio, several miles lower down the
Pelice, that we at last feel we are in Italy. Here the valley opens
out, the scenery is soft and inviting, the fields are well tilled, the
vegetation is rich, and the clusters of chestnut-trees in magnificent
foliage. We now begin to see the striking difference between the
French and the Italian valleys. The former are precipitous and
sterile, constant falls of slaty rock blocking up the defiles; while
here the mountains lay aside their savage aspects, and are softened
down into picturesquely wooded hills, green pastures, and fertile
fields stretching along the river-sides, yielding a rich territory for
the plough.
Yet, beautiful and peaceful though this valley of the Pelice now
appears, there is scarcely a spot in it but has been consecrated by
the blood of martyrs to the cause of liberty and religion. In the
rugged defile of the Mirabouc, which we have just passed, is the site
of a battle fought between the Piedmontese troops and the Vaudois
peasants, at a place called the Pian-del-Mort, where the persecuted,
turning upon the persecutors, drove them back, and made good their
retreat to their mountain fastnesses. Bobi itself was the scene of
many deadly struggles. A little above the village, on a rocky plateau,
are the remains of an ancient fort, near the hamlet of Sibaud, where
the Vaudois performed one of their bravest exploits under Henri
Arnaud, after their "Glorious Return" from exile,--near which, on a
stone still pointed out, they swore fidelity to each other, and that
they would die to the last man rather than abandon their country and
their religion.
Near Bobi is still to be seen a remarkable illustration of English
interest long ago felt in the people of these valleys. This is the
long embankment or breakwater, built by a grant from Oliver Cromwell,
for the purpose of protecting the village against the inundations of
the Pelice, by one of which it was nearly destroyed in the time of the
Protectorate. It seems strange indeed that England should then have
stretched out its hand so far, to help a people so poor and
uninfluential as the Vaudois; but their sufferings had excited the
sympathies of all Europe, and of Protestant England in particular,
which not only sent them sympathy, but substantial succour. Cromwell
also, through the influence of Cardinal Mazarin, compelled the Duke of
Savoy to suspend for a time the persecution of his subjects,--though
shortly after the Protector's death it waxed hotter than ever.
All down the valley of the Pelice, we come upon village after
village--La Piante, Villar, and Cabriol--which have been the scenes
sometimes of heroic combats, and sometimes of treacherous massacres.
Yet all the cruelty of Grand Dukes and Popes during centuries did not
avail in turning the people of the valley from their faith. For they
continue to worship after the same primitive forms as they did a
thousand years ago; and in the principal villages and hamlets, though
Romanism has long been supported by the power of the State and the
patronage of the Church, the Protestant Vaudois continue to constitute
the majority of the population.
Rising up on the left of the road, between Villar and La Tour, are
seen the bold and almost perpendicular rocks of Castelluzzo,
terminating in the tower-like summit which has given to them their
name. On the face of these rocks is one of the caverns in which the
Vaudois were accustomed to hide their women and children when they
themselves were forced to take the field. When Dr. Gilly first
endeavoured to discover this famous cavern in 1829, he could not find
any one who could guide him to it. Tradition said it was half way down
the perpendicular face of the rock, and it was known to be very
difficult to reach; but the doctor could not find any traces of it.
Determined, however, not to be baffled, he made a second attempt a
month later, and succeeded. He had to descend some fifty feet from the
top of the cliff by a rope ladder, until a platform of rock was
reached, from which the cavern was entered. It was found to consist of
an irregular, rugged, sloping gallery in the face of the rock, of
considerable extent, roofed in by a projecting crag. It is quite open
to the south, but on all other sides it is secure; and it can only be
entered from above. Such were the places to which the people of the
valleys were driven for shelter in the dark days so happily passed
away.
One of the best indications of the improved _régime_ that now
prevails, shortly presented itself in the handsome Vaudois church,
situated at the western entrance of the town of La Tour, near to which
is the college for the education of Vaudois pastors, together with
residences for the clergy and professors. The founding of this
establishment, as well as of the hospital for the poor and infirm
Vaudois, is in a great measure due to the energetic zeal of the Dr.
Gilly so often quoted above, whose writings on behalf of the faithful
but destitute Protestants of the Piedmontese valleys, about forty
years since, awakened an interest in their behalf in England, as well
as in foreign countries, which has not yet subsided.
More enthusiastic, if possible, even than Dr. Gilly, was the late
General Beckwith, who followed up, with extraordinary energy, the work
which the other had so well begun. The general was an old Peninsular
veteran, who had followed the late Duke of Wellington through most of
his campaigns, and lost a leg while serving under him at the battle of
Waterloo. Hence the designation of him by a Roman Catholic bishop in
an article published by him in one of the Italian journals, as "the
adventurer with the wooden leg."
The general's attention was first attracted to the subject of the
Vaudois in the following curiously accidental way. Being a regular
visitor at Apsley House, he called on the Duke one morning, and,
finding him engaged, he strolled into the library to spend an idle
half-hour among the books. The first he took up was Dr. Gilly's
"Narrative," and what he read excited so lively an interest in his
mind that he went direct to his bookseller and ordered all the
publications relative to the Vaudois Church that could be procured.
The general's zeal being thus fired, he set out shortly after on a
visit to the Piedmontese valleys. He returned to them again and again,
and at length settled at La Tour, where he devoted the remainder of
his life and a large portion of his fortune to the service of the
Vaudois Church and people. He organized a movement for the erection
of schools, of which not fewer than one hundred and twenty were
provided mainly through his instrumentality in different parts of the
valleys, besides restoring and enlarging the college at La Tour,
erecting the present commodious dwellings for the professors,
providing a superior school for the education of pastors' daughters,
and contributing towards the erection of churches wherever churches
were needed.
The general was so zealous a missionary, so eager for the propagation
of the Gospel, that some of his friends asked him why he did not
preach to the people. "No," said he; "men have their special gifts,
and mine is _a brick-and-mortar gift_." The general was satisfied to
go on as he had begun, helping to build schools, colleges, and
churches for the Vaudois, wherever most needed. His crowning work was
the erection of the grand block of buildings on the Viale del Ré at
Turin, which not only includes a handsome and commodious Vaudois
church, but an English church, and a Vaudois hospital and schools,
erected at a cost of about fourteen thousand pounds, principally at
the cost of the general himself, generously aided by Mr. Brewin and
other English contributors.
Nor were the people ungrateful to their benefactor. "Let the name of
General Beckwith be blessed by all who pass this way," says an
inscription placed upon one of the many schools opened through his
efforts and generosity; and the whole country responds to the
sentiment.
To return to La Tour. The style of the buildings at its western
end--the church, college, residences, and adjoining cottages, with
their pretty gardens in front, designed, as they have been, by English
architects--give one the idea of the best part of an English town.
But this disappears as you enter the town itself, and proceed through
the principal street, which is long, narrow, and thoroughly Italian.
The situation of the town is exceedingly fine, at the foot of the
Vandalin Mountain, near the confluence of the river Angrogna with the
Pelice. The surrounding scenery is charming; and from the high
grounds, north and south of the town, extensive views may be had in
all directions--especially up the valley of the Pelice, and eastward
over the plains of Piedmont--the whole country being, as it were,
embroidered with vineyards, corn-fields, and meadows, here and there
shaded with groves and thickets, spread over a surface varied by
hills, and knolls, and undulating slopes.
The size, importance, industry, and central situation of La Tour have
always caused it to be regarded as the capital of the valleys.
One-half of the Vaudois population occupies the valley of the Pelice
and the lateral valley of Angrogna; the remainder, more widely
scattered, occupying the valleys of Pérouse and Pragela, and the
lateral valley of St. Martin--the entire number of the Protestant
population in the several valleys amounting to about twenty thousand.
Although, as we have already said, there is scarcely a hamlet in the
valleys but has been made famous by the resistance of its inhabitants
in past times to the combined tyranny of the Popes of Rome and the
Dukes of Savoy, perhaps the most interesting events of all have
occurred in the neighbourhood of La Tour, but more especially in the
valley of Angrogna, at whose entrance it stands.
The wonder is, that a scattered community of half-armed peasantry,
without resources, without magazines, without fortresses, should have
been able for any length of time to resist large bodies of regular
troops--Italian, French, Spanish, and even Irish!--led by the most
experienced commanders of the day, and abundantly supplied with arms,
cannon, ammunition, and stores of all kinds. All that the people had
on their side--and it compensated for much--was a good cause, great
bravery, and a perfect knowledge of the country in which, and for
which, they fought.
Though the Vaudois had no walled towns, their district was a natural
fortress, every foot of which was known to them--every pass, every
defile, every barricade, and every defensible position. Resistance in
the open country, they knew, would be fatal to them. Accordingly,
whenever assailed by their persecutors, they fled to their mountain
strongholds, and there waited the attack of the enemy.
One of the strongest of such places--the Thermopylæ of the
Vaudois--was the valley of Angrogna, up which the inhabitants of La
Tour were accustomed to retreat on any sudden invasion by the army of
Savoy. The valley is one of exquisite beauty, presenting a combination
of mingled picturesqueness and sublimity, the like of which is rarely
to be seen. It is hemmed in by mountains, in some places rounded and
majestic, in others jagged and abrupt. The sides of the valley are in
many places finely wooded, while in others well-tilled fields,
pastures, and vineyards slope down to the river-side. Orchards are
succeeded by pine-woods, and these again by farms and gardens.
Sometimes a little cascade leaps from a rock on its way to the valley
below; and little is heard around, save the rippling of water, and the
occasional lowing of cattle in the pastures, mingled with the music of
their bells.
Shortly after entering the valley, we passed the scene of several
terrible struggles between the Vaudois and their persecutors. One of
the most famous spots is the plateau of Rochemalan, where the heights
of St. John abut upon the mountains of Angrogna. It was shortly after
the fulmination of a bull of extermination against the Vaudois by Pope
Innocent VIII., in 1486, that an army of eighteen thousand regular
French and Piedmontese troops, accompanied by a horde of brigands to
whom the remission of sins was promised on condition of their helping
to slay the heretics, encircled the valleys and proceeded to assail
the Vaudois in their fastnesses. The Papal legate, Albert Catanée,
Archdeacon of Cremona, had his head-quarters at Pignerol, from whence
he superintended the execution of the Pope's orders. First, he sent
preaching monks up the valleys to attempt the conversion of the
Vaudois before attacking them with arms. But the peasantry refused to
be converted, and fled to their strongholds in the mountains.
Then Catanée took the field at the head of his army, advancing upon
Angrogna. He extended his lines so as to enclose the entire body of
heretics, with the object of cutting them off to a man. The Vaudois,
however, defended themselves resolutely, though armed only with pikes,
swords, and bows and arrows, and everywhere beat back the assailants.
The severest struggle occurred at Rochemalan, which the crusaders
attacked with great courage. But the Vaudois had the advantage of the
higher ground, and, encouraged by the cries and prayers of the women,
children, and old men whom they were defending, they impetuously
rushed forward and drove the Papal troops downhill in disorder,
pursuing them into the very plain.
The next day the Papalini renewed the attack, ascending by the bottom
of the valley, instead of by the plateau on which they had been
defeated. But one of those dense mists, so common in the Alps, having
settled down upon the valley, the troops became confused, broken up,
and entangled in difficult paths; and in this state, marching
apprehensively, they were fallen upon by the Vaudois and again
completely defeated. Many of the soldiers slid over the rocks and were
drowned in the torrent,--the chasm into which the captain of the
detachment (Saquet de Planghère) fell, being still known as _Toumpi de
Saquet_, or Saquet's Hole.
The resistance of the mountaineers at other points, in the valleys of
Pragela and St. Martin, having been almost equally successful, Catanée
withdrew the Papal army in disgust, and marched it back into France,
to wreak his vengeance on the defenceless Vaudois of the Val Louise,
in the manner described in a preceding chapter.
Less than a century later, a like attempt was made to force the
entrance to the valley of Angrogna, by an army of Italians and
Spaniards, under the command of the Count de la Trinité. A
proclamation had been published, and put up in the villages of
Angrogna, to the effect that all would be destroyed by fire and sword
who did not forthwith return to the Church of Rome. And as the
peasantry did not return, on the 2nd November, 1560, the Count
advanced at the head of his army to extirpate the heretics. The
Vaudois were provided with the rudest sort of weapons; many of them
had only slings and cross-bows. But they felt strong in the goodness
of their cause, and prepared to defend themselves to the death.
As the Count's army advanced, the Vaudois retired until they reached
the high ground near Rochemalan, where they took their stand. The
enemy followed, and halted in the valley beneath, lighting their
bivouac fires, and intending to pass the night there. Before darkness
fell, however, an accidental circumstance led to an engagement. A
Vaudois boy, who had got hold of a drum, began beating it in a ravine
close by. The soldiers, thinking a hostile troop had arrived, sprang
up in disorder and seized their arms. The Vaudois, on their part,
seeing the movement, and imagining that an attack was about to be made
on them, rushed forward to repel it. The soldiers, surprised and
confused, for the most part threw away their arms, and fled down the
valley. Irritated by this disgraceful retreat of some twelve hundred
soldiers before two hundred peasants, the Count advanced a second
time, and was again, repulsed by the little band of heroes, who
charged his troops with loud shouts of "Viva Jesu Christo!" driving
the invaders in confusion down the valley.
It may be mentioned that the object of the Savoy general, in making
this attack, was to force the valley, and capture the strong position
of the Pra du Tour, the celebrated stronghold of the Vaudois, from
whence we shall afterwards find them, again driven back, baffled and
defeated.
A hundred years passed, and still the Vaudois remained unconverted and
unexterminated. The Marquis of Pianesse now advanced upon
Angrogna--always with the same object, "ad extirpandos hereticos," in
obedience to the order of the Propaganda. On this occasion not only
Italian and Spanish but Irish troops were engaged in a combined effort
to exterminate the Vaudois. The Irish were known as "the assassins"
by the people of the valleys, because of their almost exceptional
ferocity; and the hatred they excited by their outrages on women and
children was so great, that on the assault and capture of St. Legont
by the Vaudois peasantry, an Irish regiment surprised in barracks was
completely destroyed.
A combined attack was made on Angrogna on the 15th of June, 1655. On
that day four separate bodies of troops advanced up the heights from
different directions, thereby enclosing the little Vaudois army of
three hundred men assembled there, and led by the heroic Javanel. This
leader first threw himself upon the head of the column which advanced
from Rocheplate, and drove it downhill. Then he drew off his little
body towards Rochemalan, when he suddenly found himself opposed by the
two bodies which had come up from St. John and La Tour. Retiring
before them, he next found himself face to face with the fourth
detachment, which had come up from Pramol. With the quick instinct of
military genius, Javanel threw himself upon it before the beaten
Rocheplate detachment were able to rally and assail him in flank; and
he succeeded in cutting the Pramol force in two and passing through
it, rushing up to the summit of the hill, on which he posted himself.
And there he stood at bay.
This hill is precipitous on one side, but of comparatively easy ascent
on the side up which the little band of heroes had ascended. At the
foot of the slope the four detachments, three thousand against three
hundred, drew up and attacked him; but firing from a distance, their
aim was not very deadly. For five hours Javanel resisted them as he
best could, and then, seeing signs of impatience and hesitation in the
enemy's ranks, he called out to his men, "Forward, my friends!" and
they rushed downhill like an avalanche. The three thousand men
recoiled, broke, and fled before the three hundred; and Javanel
returned victorious to his entrenchments before Angrogna.
Yet, again, some eight years later, in 1663, was this neighbourhood
the scene of another contest, and again was Javanel the hero. On this
occasion, the Marquis de Fleury led the troops of the Duke of Savoy,
whose object, as before, was to advance up the valley, and assail the
Vaudois stronghold of Pra du Tour; and again the peasantry resisted
them successfully, and drove them back into the plains. Javanel then
went to rejoin a party of the men whom he had posted at the "Gates of
Angrogna" to defend the pass up the valley; and again he fell upon the
enemy engaged in attempting to force a passage there, and defeated
them with heavy loss.
Such are among the exciting events which have occurred in this one
locality in connection with the Vaudois struggle for country and
liberty.
Let us now proceed up the valley of Angrogna, towards the famous
stronghold of the Pra du Tour, the object of those repeated attacks of
the enemy in the neighbourhood of Rochemalan. As we advance, the
mountains gradually close in upon the valley, leaving a comparatively
small width of pasture land by the river-side. At the hamlet of Serre
the carriage road ends; and from thence the valley grows narrower, the
mountains which enclose it become more rugged and abrupt, until there
is room enough only for a footpath along a rocky ledge, and the
torrent running in its deep bed alongside. This continues for a
considerable distance, the path in some places being overhung by
precipices, or encroached upon by rocks and boulders fallen from the
heights, until at length we emerge from the defile, and find ourselves
in a comparatively open space, the famous Pra du Tour; the defile we
have passed, alongside the torrent and overhung by the rocks, being
known as the Barricade.
The Pra du Tour, or Meadow of the Tower, is a little amphitheatre
surrounded by rugged and almost inaccessible mountains, situated at
the head of the valley of Angrogna. The steep slopes bring down into
this deep dell the headwaters of the torrent, which escape among the
rocks down the defile we have just ascended. The path up the defile
forms the only approach to the Pra from the valley, but it is so
narrow, tortuous, and difficult, that the labours of only a few men in
blocking up the pathway with rocks and stones that lie ready at hand,
might at any time so barricade the approach as to render it
impracticable. The extremely secluded position of the place, its
natural strength and inaccessibility, and its proximity to the
principal Vaudois towns and villages, caused it to be regarded from
the earliest times as their principal refuge. It was their fastness,
their fortress, and often their home. It was more--it was their school
and college; for in the depths of the Pra du Tour the pastors, or
_barbas_,[107] educated young men for the ministry, and provided for
the religious instruction of the Vaudois population.
[Footnote 107: _Barba_--a title of respect; in the Vaudois
dialect literally signifying an _uncle_.]
It was the importance of the Pra du Tour as a stronghold that rendered
it so often the object of attack through the valley of Angrogna. When
the hostile troops of Savoy advanced upon La Tour, the inhabitants of
the neighbouring valleys at once fled to the Pra, into which they
drove their cattle, and carried what provisions they could; there
constructing mills, ovens, houses, and all that was requisite for
subsistence, as in a fort. The men capable of bearing arms stood on
their guard to defend the passes of the Vachére and Roussine, at the
extreme heads of the valley, as well as the defile of the Barricade,
while other bodies, stationed lower down, below the Barricade,
prepared to resist the troops seeking to force an entrance up the
valley; and hence the repeated battles in the neighbourhood of
Rochemalan above described.
On the occasion of the defeat of the Count de la Trinité by the little
Vaudois band near the village of Angrogna, in November, 1560, the
general drew off, and waited the arrival of reinforcements. A large
body of Spanish veterans having joined him, in the course of the
following spring he again proceeded up the valley, determined, if
possible, to force the Barricade--the royal forces now numbering some
seven thousand men, all disciplined troops. The peasants, finding
their first position no longer tenable in the face of such numbers,
abandoned Angrogna and the lower villages, and retired, with the whole
population, to the Pra du Tour. The Count followed them with his main
army, at the same time directing two other bodies of troops to advance
upon the place round by the mountains, one by the heights of the
Vachére, and another by Les Fourests. The defenders of the Pra would
thus be assailed from three sides at once, their forces divided, and
victory rendered certain.
But the Count did not calculate upon the desperate bravery of the
defenders. All three bodies were beaten back in succession. For four
days the Count made every effort to force the defile, and failed. Two
colonels, eight captains, and four hundred men fell in these desperate
assaults, without gaining an inch of ground. On the fifth day a
combined attack was made with the reserve, composed of Spanish
companies, but this, too, failed; and the troops, when ordered to
return to the charge, refused to obey. The Count, who commanded, is
said to have wept as he sat on a rock and looked upon so many of his
dead--the soldiers themselves exclaiming, "God fights for these
people, and we do them wrong!"
About a hundred years later, the Marquis de Pianesse, who, like the
Count de la Trinité, had been defeated at Rochemalan, made a similar
attempt to surprise the Vaudois stronghold, with a like result. The
peasants were commanded on this occasion by John Leger, the pastor and
historian. Those who were unarmed hurled rocks and stones on the
assailants from the heights; and the troops being thus thrown into
confusion, the Vaudois rushed from behind their ramparts, and drove
them in a state of total rout down the valley.
On entering the Pra du Tour, one of the most prominent objects that
meets the eye is the Roman Catholic chapel recently erected there,
though the few inhabitants of the district are still almost entirely
Protestant. The Roman Catholic Church has, however, now done what the
Roman Catholic armies failed to do--established itself in the midst of
the Vaudois stronghold, though by no means in the hearts of the
people.
Desirous of ascertaining, if possible, the site of the ancient
college, we proceeded up the Pra, and hailed a young woman whom we
observed crossing the rustic bridge over the Pêle, one of the mountain
rivulets running into the torrent of Angrogna. Inquiring of her as to
the site of the college, she told us we had already passed it, and led
us back to the place--up the rocky side of the hill leading to the
Vachére--past the cottage where she herself lived, and pointed to the
site: "There," she said, "is where the ancient college of the Vaudois
stood." The old building has, however, long since been removed, the
present structure being merely part of a small farmsteading. Higher up
the steep hill-side, on successive ledges of rock, are the ruins of
various buildings, some of which may have been dwellings, and one,
larger than the rest, on a broader plateau, with an elder-tree growing
in the centre, may possibly have been the temple.
From the higher shelves on this mountain-side the view is extremely
wild and grand. The acclivities which surround the head of the Pra
seem as if battlemented walls; the mountain opposite throws its sombre
shadow over the ravine in which the torrent runs; whilst, down the
valley, rock seems piled on rock, and mountain on mountain. All is
perfectly still, and the silence is only audible by the occasional
tinkling of a sheep-bell, or the humming of a bee in search of flowers
on the mountain-side. So peaceful and quiet is the place, that it is
difficult to believe it could ever have been the scene of such deadly
strife, and rung with the shouts of men thirsting for each other's
blood.
After lingering about the place until the sun was far on his way
towards the horizon, we returned, by the road we had come, the valley
seeming more beautiful than ever under the glow of evening, and
arrived at our destination about dusk, to find the fireflies darting
about the streets of La Tour.
The next day saw us at Turin, and our summer excursion at an end. Mr.
Milsom, who had so pleasantly accompanied me through the valleys, had
been summoned to attend the death-bed of a friend at Antibes, and he
set out on the journey forthwith. While still there, he received a
telegram intimating the death of his daughter at Allevard, near
Grenoble, and he arrived only in time to attend her funeral. Two
months later, he lost another dear daughter; shortly after, his
mother-in-law died; and in the following December he himself died
suddenly of heart disease, and followed them to the grave.
One could not but conceive a hearty liking for Edward Milsom--he was
such a thoroughly good man. He was a native of London, but spent the
greater part of his life at Lyons, in France, where he long since
settled and married. He there carried on a large business as a silk
merchant, but was always ready to give a portion of his time and money
to help forward any good work. He was an "ancien," or elder, of the
Evangelical church at Lyons, originally founded by Adolphe Monod, to
whom he was also related by marriage.
Some years since he was very much interested by the perusal of Pastor
Bost's account of his visit to the scene of Felix Neff's labours in
the High Alps. He felt touched by the simple, faithful character of
the people, and keenly sympathised with their destitute condition.
"Here," said he, "is a field in which I may possibly be of some use."
And he at once went to their help. He visited the district of
Fressinières, including the hamlet of Dormilhouse, as well as the more
distant villages of Arvieux and Sans Veran, up the vale of Queyras;
and nearly every year thereafter he devoted a certain portion of his
time in visiting the poorer congregations of the district, giving them
such help and succour as lay in his power.
His repeated visits made him well known to the people of the valleys,
who valued him as a friend, if they did not even love him as a
brother. His visits were also greatly esteemed by the pastors, who
stood much in need of encouragement and help. He cheered the wavering,
strengthened the feeble-hearted, and stimulated all to renewed life
and action. Wherever he went, a light seemed to shine in his path; and
when he departed, he was followed by many blessings.
In one place he would arrange for the opening of a new place of
worship; in another, for the opening of a boys' school; in a third,
for the industrial employment of girls; and wherever there was any
little heartburning or jealousy to be allayed, he would set himself to
remove it. His admirable tact, his unfailing temper, and excellent
good sense, rendered him a wise counsellor and a most successful
conciliator.
The last time Mr. Milsom visited England, towards the end of 1869, he
was occupied, as usual, in collecting subscriptions for the poor
Vaudois of the High Alps. Now that the good "merchant missionary" has
rested from his labours, they will indeed feel the loss of their
friend. Who is to assume his mantle?
CHAPTER VII
THE GLORIOUS RETURN:
AN EPISODE IN THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN VAUDOIS.
What is known as The Glorious Return, or re-entry of the exiled
Vaudois in 1689 to resume possession of the valleys from which they
had been banished, will always stand out as one of the most remarkable
events in history.
If ever a people fairly established their right to live in their own
country, and to worship God after their own methods, the Vaudois had
surely done so. They had held conscientiously and consistently to
their religion for nearly five hundred years, during which they
laboured under many disabilities and suffered much persecution. But
the successive Dukes of Savoy were no better satisfied with them as
subjects than before. They could not brook that any part of their
people should be of a different form of religion from that professed
by themselves; and they continued, at the instance of successive
popes, to let slip the dogs of war upon the valleys, in the hopes of
eventually compelling the Vaudois to "come in" and make their peace
with the Church.
The result of these invasions was almost uniform. At the first sudden
inroad of the troops, the people, taken by surprise, usually took to
flight; on which their dwellings were burnt and their fields laid
waste. But when they had time to rally and collect their forces, the
almost invariable result was that the Piedmontese were driven out of
the valleys again with ignominy and loss. The Duke's invasion of 1655
was, however, attended with greater success than usual. His armies
occupied the greater part of the valleys, though the Vaudois still
held out, and made occasional successful sallies from their mountain
fastnesses. At length, the Protestants of the Swiss Confederation,
taking compassion on their co-religionists in Piedmont, sent
ambassadors to the Duke of Savoy at Turin to intercede for their
relief; and the result was the amnesty granted to them in that year
under the title of the "Patents of Grace." The terms were very hard,
but they were agreed to. The Vaudois were to be permitted to re-occupy
their valleys, conditional on their rebuilding all the Catholic
churches which had been destroyed, paying to the Duke an indemnity of
fifty thousand francs, and ceding to him the richest lands in the
valley of Luzerna--the last relics of their fortunes being thus taken
from them to remunerate the barbarity of their persecutors.
It was also stipulated by this treaty, that the pastors of the Vaudois
churches were to be natives of the district only, and that they were
to be at liberty to administer religious instruction in their own
manner in all the Vaudois parishes, excepting that of St. John, near
La Tour, where their worship was interdicted. The only persons
excepted from the terms of the amnesty were Javanel, the heroic old
captain, and Jean Leger, the pastor-historian, the most prominent
leaders of the Vaudois in the recent war, both of whom were declared
to be banished the ducal dominions.
Under this treaty the Vaudois enjoyed peace for about thirty years,
during which they restored the cultivation of the valleys, rebuilt the
villages, and were acknowledged to be among the most loyal, peaceable,
and industrious of the subjects of Savoy.
There were, however, certain parts of the valleys to which the amnesty
granted by the Duke did not apply. Thus, it did not apply to the
valleys of Pérouse and Pragela, which did not then form part of the
dominions of Savoy, but were included within the French frontier. It
was out of this circumstance that a difficulty arose with the French
monarch, which issued in the revival of the persecution in the
valleys, the banishment of the Vaudois into Switzerland, and their
eventual "Glorious Return" in the manner we are about briefly to
narrate.
When Louis XIV. of France revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and
interdicted all Protestant worship throughout his dominions, the law
of course applied to the valleys of Pérouse and Pragela as to the
other parts of France. The Vaudois pastors were banished, and the
people were forbidden to profess any other religion than that
prescribed by the King, under penalty of confiscation of their goods,
imprisonment, or banishment. The Vaudois who desired to avoid these
penalties while they still remained staunch to their faith, did what
so many Frenchmen then did--they fled across the frontier and took
refuge in foreign lands. Some of the inhabitants of the French valleys
went northward into Switzerland, while others passed across the
mountains towards the south, and took refuge in the valley of the
Pelice, where the Vaudois religion continued to be tolerated under
the terms of the amnesty above referred to, which had been granted by
the Duke of Savoy.
The French king, when he found his Huguenot subjects flying in all
directions rather than remain in France and be "converted" to Roman
Catholicism, next tried to block up the various avenues of escape, and
to prevent the rulers of the adjoining countries from giving the
fugitives asylum. Great was his displeasure when he heard of the
flight of the Vaudois of Pérouse and Pragela into the adjoining
valleys. He directed the French ambassador at Turin to call upon the
Duke of Savoy, and require him to prevent their settlement within his
dominions. At the same time, he called upon the Duke to take steps to
compel the conversion of his people from the pretended reformed faith,
and offered the aid of his troops to enforce their submission, "at
whatever cost."
The Duke was irritated at the manner in which he was approached. Louis
XIV. was treating him as a vassal of France rather than as an
independent sovereign. But he felt himself to be weak, and
comparatively powerless to resent the insult. So he first temporised,
then vacillated, and being again pressed by the French king, he
eventually yielded. The amnesty was declared to be at an end, and the
Vaudois were ordered forthwith to become members of the Church of
Rome. An edict was issued on the 31st of January, 1686, forbidding the
exercise by the Vaudois of their religion, abolishing their ancient
privileges, and ordering the demolition of all their places of
worship. Pastors and schoolmasters who refused to be converted were
ordered to quit the country within fifteen days, on pain of death and
confiscation of their goods. All refugee Protestants from France were
ordered to leave under the same penalty. All children born of
Protestant parents were to be compulsorily educated as Roman
Catholics. This barbarous measure was merely a repetition by the Duke
of Savoy in Piedmont of what his master Louis XIV. had already done in
France.
The Vaudois expostulated with their sovereign, but in vain. They
petitioned, but there was no reply. They requested the interposition
of the Swiss Government as before, but the Duke took no notice of
their memorial. The question of resistance was then discussed; but the
people were without leaders. Javanel was living in banishment at
Geneva--old and worn out, and unable to lead them. Besides, the
Vaudois, before taking up arms, wished to exhaust every means of
conciliation. Ambassadors next came from Switzerland, who urged them
to submit to the clemency of the Duke, and suggested that they should
petition him for permission to leave the country! The Vaudois were
stupefied by the proposal. They were thus asked, without a contest, to
submit to all the ignominy and punishment of defeat, and to terminate
their very existence as a people! The ambassadors represented that
resistance to the combined armies of Savoy, France, and Spain, without
leaders, and with less than three thousand combatants, was little
short of madness.
Nevertheless, a number of the Vaudois determined not to leave their
valleys without an attempt to hold them, as they had so often
successfully done before. The united armies of France and Savoy then
advanced upon the valleys, and arrangements were made for a general
attack upon the Vaudois position on Easter Monday, 1686, at break of
day,--the Duke of Savoy assailing the valley of Luzerna, while
Catinat, commander of the French troops, advanced on St. Martin.
Catinat made the first attack on the village of St. Germain, and was
beaten back with heavy loss after six hours' fighting. Henry Arnaud,
the Huguenot pastor from Die in Dauphiny, of which he was a native,
particularly distinguished himself by his bravery in this affair, and
from that time began to be regarded as one of the most promising of
the Vaudois leaders.
Catinat renewed the attack on the following day with the assistance of
fresh troops; and he eventually succeeded in overcoming the resistance
of the handful of men who opposed him, and sweeping the valley of St.
Martin. Men, women, and children were indiscriminately put to the
sword. In some of the parishes no resistance was offered, the
inhabitants submitting to the Duke's proclamation; but whether they
submitted or not, made no difference in their treatment, which was
barbarous in all cases.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Savoy's army advanced from the vale of Luzerna
upon the celebrated heights of Angrogna, and assailed the Vaudois
assembled there at all points. The resistance lasted for an entire
day, and when night fell, both forces slept on the ground upon which
they had fought, kindling their bivouac fires on both sides. On the
following day the attack was renewed, and again the battle raged until
night. Then Don Gabriel of Savoy, who was in command, resolved to
employ the means which Catinat had found so successful: he sent
forward messengers to inform the Vaudois that their brethren of the
Val St. Martin had laid down their arms and been pardoned, inviting
them to follow their example. The result of further parley was, that
on the express promise of his Royal Highness that they should receive
pardon, and that neither their persons nor those of their wives or
children should be touched, the credulous Vaudois, still hoping for
fair treatment, laid down their arms, and permitted the ducal troops
to take possession of their entrenchments!
The same treacherous strategy proved equally successful against the
defenders of the Pra du Tour. After beating back their assailants and
firmly holding their ground for an entire day, they were told of the
surrender of their compatriots, promised a full pardon, and assured of
life and liberty, on condition of immediately ceasing further
hostilities. They accordingly consented to lay down their arms, and
the impregnable fastness of the Pra du Tour, which had never been
taken by force, thus fell before falsehood and perfidy. "The defenders
of this ancient sanctuary of the Church," says Dr. Huston, "were
loaded with irons; their children were carried off and scattered
through the Roman Catholic districts; their wives and daughters were
violated, massacred, or made captives. As for those that still
remained, all whom the enemy could seize became a prey devoted to
carnage, spoliation, fire, excesses which cannot be told, and outrages
which it would be impossible to describe."[108]
[Footnote 108: Huston's "Israel of the Alps," translated by
Montgomery; Glasgow, 1857; vol. i. p. 446.]
"All the valleys are now exterminated," wrote a French officer to his
friends; "the people are all killed, hanged, or massacred." The Duke,
Victor Amadeus, issued a decree, declaring the Vaudois to be guilty of
high treason, and confiscating all their property. Arnaud says as many
as eleven thousand persons were killed, or perished in prison, or died
of want, in consequence of this horrible Easter festival of blood.
Six thousand were taken prisoners, and the greater number of these
died in gaol of hunger and disease. When the prisons were opened, and
the wretched survivors were ordered to quit the country, forbidden to
return to it on pain of death, only about two thousand six hundred
contrived to struggle across the frontier into Switzerland.
And thus at last the Vaudois Church seemed utterly uprooted and
destroyed. What the Dukes of Savoy had so often attempted in vain was
now accomplished. A second St. Bartholomew had been achieved, and Rome
rang with _Te Deums_ in praise of the final dispersion of the Vaudois.
The Pope sent to Victor Amadeus II. a special brief, congratulating
him on the extirpation of heresy in his dominions; and Piedmontese and
Savoyards, good Catholics, were presented with the lands from which
the Vaudois had been driven. Those of them who remained in the country
"unconverted" were as so many scattered fugitives in the
mountains--sheep wandering about without a shepherd. Some of the
Vaudois, for the sake of their families and homes, pretended
conversion; but these are admitted to have been comparatively few in
number. In short, the "Israel of the Alps" seemed to be no more, and
its people utterly and for ever dispersed. Pierre Allix, the Huguenot
refugee pastor in England, in his "History of the Ancient Churches of
Piedmont," dedicated to William III., regarded the Vaudois Church as
obliterated--"their present desolation seeming so universal, that the
world looks upon them no otherwise than as irrecoverably lost, and
finally destroyed."
Three years passed. The expelled Vaudois reached Switzerland in
greatly reduced numbers, many women and children having perished on
their mountain journey. The inhabitants of Geneva received them with
great hospitality, clothing and feeding them until they were able to
proceed on their way northward. Some went into Brandenburg, some into
Holland, while others settled to various branches of industry in
different parts of Switzerland. Many of them, however, experienced
great difficulty in obtaining a settlement. Those who had entered the
Palatinate were driven thence by war, and those who had entered
Wurtemburg were expelled by the Grand Duke, who feared incurring the
ire of Louis XIV. by giving them shelter and protection. Hence many
little bands of the Vaudois refugees long continued to wander along
the valley of the Rhine, unable to find rest for their weary feet.
There were others trying to earn, a precarious living in Geneva and
Lausanne, and along the shores of Lake Leman. Some of these were men
who had fought under Javanel in his heroic combats with the
Piedmontese; and they thought with bitter grief of the manner in which
they had fallen into the trap of Catinat and the Duke of Savoy, and
abandoned their country almost without a struggle.
Then it was that the thought occurred to them whether they might not
yet strike a blow for the recovery of their valleys! The idea seemed
chimerical in the extreme. A few hundred destitute men, however
valiant, to think of recovering a country defended by the combined
armies of France and Savoy! Javanel, the old Vaudois hero, disabled by
age and wounds, was still alive--an exile at Geneva--and he was
consulted on the subject. Javanel embraced the project with,
enthusiasm; and the invasion of the valleys was resolved upon! A more
daring, and apparently more desperate enterprise, was never planned.
Who was to be their leader? Javanel himself was disabled. Though his
mind was clear, and his patriotic ardour unquenched, his body was
weak; and all that he could do was to encourage and advise. But he
found a noble substitute in Henry Arnaud, the Huguenot refugee, who
had already distinguished himself in his resistance to the troops of
Savoy. And Arnaud was now ready to offer up his life for the recovery
of the valleys.
The enterprise was kept as secret as possible, yet not so close as to
prevent the authorities of Berne obtaining some inkling of their
intentions. Three confidential messengers were first dispatched to the
valleys to ascertain the disposition of the population, and more
particularly to examine the best route by which an invasion might be
made. On their return with the necessary information, the plan was
settled by Javanel, as it was to be carried out by Arnaud. In the
meantime, the magistrates of Geneva, having obtained information as to
the intended movement, desirous of averting the hostility of France
and Savoy, required Javanel to leave their city, and he at once
retired to Ouchy, a little farther up the lake.
The greatest difficulty experienced by the Vaudois in carrying out
their enterprise was the want of means. They were poor, destitute
refugees, without arms, ammunition, or money to buy them. To obtain
the requisite means, Arnaud made a journey into Holland, for the
purpose of communicating the intended project to William of Orange.
William entered cordially into the proposed plan, recommended Arnaud
to several Huguenot officers, who afterwards took part in the
expedition, supplied him with assistance in money, and encouraged him
to carry out the design. Several private persons in Holland--amongst
others the post-master-general at Leyden--also largely contributed to
the enterprise.
At length all was ready. The men who intended to take part in the
expedition came together from various quarters. Some came from
Brandenburg, others from Bavaria and distant parts of Switzerland; and
among those who joined them was a body of French Huguenots, willing to
share in their dangers and their glory. One of their number, Captain
Turrel, like Arnaud, a native of Die in Dauphiny, was even elected as
the general of the expedition. Their rendez-vous was in the forest of
Prangins, near Nyon, on the north bank of the Lake of Geneva; and
there, on the night of the 16th of August, 1689, they met in the
hollow recesses of the wood. Fifteen boats had been got together, and
lay off the shore. After a fervent prayer by the pastor-general
Arnaud, imploring a blessing upon the enterprise, as many of the men
as could embark got into the boats. As the lake is there at its
narrowest, they soon rowed across to the other side, near the town of
Yvoire, and disembarked on the shore of Savoy. Arnaud had posted
sentinels in all directions, and the little body waited the arrival of
the remainder of their comrades from the opposite shore. They had all
crossed the lake by two o'clock in the morning; and about eight
hundred men, divided into nineteen companies,[109] each provided with
its captain, were now ready to march.
[Footnote 109: Of the nineteen companies three were composed
of the Vaudois of Angrogna; those of Bobi and St. John
furnished two each; and those of La Tour, Villar, Prarustin,
Prali, Macel, St. Germain, and Pramol, furnished one each.
The remaining six companies were composed of French Huguenot
refugees from Dauphiny and Languedoc under their respective
officers. Besides these, there were different smaller parties
who constituted a volunteer company. The entire force of
about eight hundred men was marshalled in three
divisions--vanguard, main body, and rearguard--and this
arrangement was strictly observed in the order of march.]
At the very commencement, however, they met with a misfortune. One of
the pastors, having gone to seek a guide in the village near at hand,
was seized as a prisoner by the local authorities, and carried off. On
this, the Vaudois, seeing that they were treated as enemies, sent a
party to summon Yvoire to open its gates, and it obeyed. The lord of
the manor and the receiver of taxes were taken as hostages, and made
to accompany the troop until they reached the next commune, when they
were set at liberty, and replaced by other hostages.
When it became known that the little army of Vaudois had set out on
their march, troops were dispatched from all quarters to intercept
them and cut them off; and it was believed that their destruction was
inevitable. "What possible chance is there," asked the _Historic
Mercury_ of the day, "of this small body of men penetrating to their
native country through the masses of French and Piedmontese troops
accumulating from all sides, without being crushed and exterminated?"
"It is impossible," wrote the _Leyden Gazette_, "notwithstanding
whatever precautions they may take, that the Vaudois can extricate
themselves without certain death, and the Court of Savoy may therefore
regard itself safe so far as they are concerned."
No sooner had the boats left the shore at Nyon for the further side of
the lake than the young seigneur of Prangins, who had been watching
their movements, rode off at full speed to inform the French resident
at Geneva of the departure of the Vaudois; and orders were at once
dispatched to Lyons for a strong body of cavalry to march immediately
towards Savoy to cut them off. But the Vaudois had well matured their
plans, and took care to keep out of reach of the advancing enemy.
Their route at first lay up the valleys towards the mountains, whose
crests they followed, from glacier to glacier, in places almost
inaccessible to regular troops, and thus they eluded the combined
forces of France and Savoy, which, vainly endeavoured to bar their
passage.
The first day's march led them into the valley of the Arve, by the Col
de Voirons, from which they took their last view of the peaceful Lake
of Geneva; thence they proceeded by the pyramidal mountain called the
Mole to the little town of Viu, where they rested for two hours,
starting again by moonlight, and passing through St. Joire, where the
magistrates brought out a great cask of wine, and placed it in the
middle of the street for their refreshment. The little army, however,
did not halt there, but marched on to the bare hill of Carman, where,
after solemn prayer, they encamped about midnight, sleeping on the
bare ground. Next day found them in front of the small walled town of
Cluse, in the rocky gorge of the Arve. The authorities shut the gates,
on which the Vaudois threatened to storm the place, when the gates
were opened, and they marched through the town, the inhabitants
standing under arms along both sides of the street. Here the Vaudois
purchased a store of food and wine, which they duly paid for.
They then proceeded on to Sallanches, where resistance was threatened.
They found a body of men posted on the wooden bridge which there
separated the village of St. Martin from Sallanches; but rushing
forward, the defenders of the bridge fled, and the little army passed
over and proceeded to range themselves in order of battle over against
the town, which was defended by six hundred troops. The Vaudois having
threatened to burn the town, and kill the hostages whom they had taken
on the slightest show of resistance, the threat had its effect, and
they were permitted to pass without further opposition, encamping for
the night at a little village about a league further on. And thus
closed the second day's march.
The third day they passed over the mountains of Lez Pras and Haute
Luce, seven thousand feet above the sea-level, a long and fatiguing
march. At one place the guide lost his way, and rain fell heavily,
soaking the men to the skin. They spent a wretched night in some empty
stables at the hamlet of St. Nicholas de Verose; and started earlier
than usual on the following morning, addressing themselves to the
formidable work of climbing the Col Bonhomme, which they passed with
the snow up to their knees. They were now upon the crest of the Alps,
looking down upon the valley of the Isère, into which they next
descended. They traversed the valley without resistance, passing
through St. Germain and Scez, turning aside at the last-mentioned
place up the valley of Tignes, thereby avoiding the French troops
lying in wait for them in the neighbourhood of Moutiers, lower down
the valley of the Isère. Later in the evening they reached Laval, at
the foot of Mont Iseran; and here Arnaud, for the first time during
eight days, snatched a few hours' sleep on a bed in the village.
The sixth day saw the little army climbing the steep slopes of Mont
Iseran, where the shepherds gave them milk and wished them God-speed;
but they warned them that a body of troops lay in their way at Mont
Cenis. On they went--over the mountain, and along the crest of the
chain, until they saw Bonneval in the valley beneath them, and there
they descended, passing on to Bessant in the valley of the Arc, where
they encamped for the night.
Next day they marched on Mont Cenis, which they ascended. As they were
crossing the mountain a strange incident occurred. The Vaudois saw
before them a large convoy of mules loaded with baggage. And shortly
after there came up the carriage and equipage of some grand personage.
It proved to be Cardinal Ranuzzi, on his way to Rome to take part in
the election of Pope Alexander VIII. The Vaudois seized the mules
carrying the baggage, which contained important documents compromising
Louis XIV. with Victor Amadeus; and it is said that in consequence of
their loss, the Cardinal, who himself aspired to the tiara, afterwards
died of chagrin, crying in his last moments, "My papers! oh, my
papers!"
The passage of the Great and Little Cenis was effected with great
difficulty. The snow lay thick on the ground, though it was the month
of August, and the travellers descended the mountain of Tourliers by a
precipice rather than a road. When night fell, they were still
scattered on the mountain, and lay down to snatch a brief sleep,
overcome with hunger and fatigue. Next morning they gathered together
again, and descended into the sterile valley of the Gaillon, and
shortly after proceeded to ascend the mountain opposite.
They were now close upon the large towns. Susa lay a little to the
east, and Exilles was directly in their way. The garrison of the
latter place came out to meet them, and from the crest of the mountain
rolled large stones and flung grenades down upon the invaders. Here
the Vaudois lost some men and prisoners, and finding the further
ascent impracticable, they retreated into the valley from which they
had come, and again ascended the steep slope of Tourliers in order to
turn the heights on which the French troops were posted. At last,
after great fatigue and peril, unable to proceed further, they gained
the crest of the mountain, and sounded their clarions to summon the
scattered body.
After a halt of two hours they proceeded along the ridge, and
perceived through the mist a body of soldiers marching along with
drums beating; it was the garrison of Exilles. The Vaudois were
recognised and followed by the soldiers at a distance. Proceeding a
little further, they came in sight of the long valley of the Doire,
and looking down into it, not far from the bridge of Salabertrans,
they discerned some thirty-six bivouac fires burning on the plain,
indicating the presence of a large force. These were their enemies--a
well-appointed army of some two thousand five hundred men--whom they
were at last to meet in battle. Nothing discouraged, they descended
into the valley, and the advanced guard shortly came in contact with
the enemy's outposts. Firing between them went on for an hour and a
half, and then night fell.
The Vaudois leaders held a council to determine what they should do;
and the result was, that an immediate attack was resolved upon, in
three bodies. The principal attack was made on the bridge, the passage
of which was defended by a strong body of French soldiers, under the
command of Colonel de Larrey. On the advance of the Vaudois in the
darkness, they were summoned to stand, but continued to advance, when
the enemy fired a volley on them, killing three men. Then the Vaudois
brigade rushed to the bridge, but seeing a strong body on the other
side preparing to fire again, Arnaud called upon his men to lie down,
and the volley went over their heads. Then Turrel, the Vaudois
captain, calling out "Forward! the bridge is won!" the Vaudois jumped
to their feet and rushed on. The two wings at the same time
concentrated their fire on the defenders, who broke and retired, and
the bridge was won. But at the further side, where the French were in
overpowering numbers, they refused to give way, and poured down their
fire on their assailants. The Vaudois boldly pressed on. They burst
through the French, force, cutting it in two; and fresh men pouring
over, the battle was soon won. The French, commander was especially
chagrined at having been beaten by a parcel of cowherds. "Is it
possible," he exclaimed, "that I have lost both the battle and my
honour?"
The rising moon showed the ground strewed with about seven hundred
dead; the Vaudois having lost only twenty-two killed and eight
wounded. The victors filled their pouches with ammunition picked up on
the field, took possession of as many arms and as much provisions as
they could carry, and placing the remainder in a heap over some
barrels of powder, they affixed a lighted match and withdrew. A
tremendous explosion shook the mountains, and echoed along the valley,
and the remains of the French camp were blown to atoms. The Vaudois
then proceeded at once to climb the mountain of Sci, which had to be
crossed in order to enter the valley of Pragelas.
It was early on a Sabbath morning, the ninth day of their march, that
the Vaudois reached the crest of the mountain overlooking
Fenestrelles, and saw spread out before them the beloved country which
they had come to win. They halted for the stragglers, and when these
had come up, Arnaud made them kneel down and thank God for permitting
them again to see their native land; himself offering up an eloquent
prayer, which cheered and strengthened them for further effort. And
then they descended into the valley of Pragelas, passing the river
Clusone, and halting to rest at the little village of La Traverse.
They were now close to the Vaudois strongholds, and in a country every
foot of which was familiar to most of them. But their danger was by no
means over; for the valleys were swarming with dragoons and
foot-soldiers; and when they had shaken off those of France, they had
still to encounter the troops of Savoy.
Late in the afternoon the little army again set out for the valley of
St. Martin, passing the night in the mountain hamlet of Jussand, the
highest on the Col du Pis. Next day they descended the Col near Seras,
and first came in contact with the troops of Savoy; but these having
taken to flight, no collision occurred; and on the following day the
Vaudois arrived, without further molestation, at the famous Balsille.
This celebrated stronghold is situated in front of the narrow defile
of Macel, which leads into the valley of St. Martin. It is a rampart
of rock, standing at the entrance to the pass, and is of such natural
strength, that but little art was needed to make it secure against any
force that could be brought against it. There is only one approach to
it from the valley of St. Martin, which is very difficult; a portion
of the way being in a deep wooded gorge, where a few men could easily
arrest the progress of an army. The rock itself consists of three
natural stages or terraces, the highest part rising steep as a wall,
being surmounted by a natural platform. The mountain was well supplied
with water, which gushed forth in several places. Caverns had been
hollowed out in the sides of the rocks, which served as hiding-places
during the persecutions which so often ravaged the valleys; and these
were now available for storehouses and barracks.
The place was, indeed, so intimately identified with the past
sufferings and triumphs of the Vaudois, and it was, besides, so
centrally situated, and so secure, that they came to regard its
possession as essential to the success of their enterprise. The aged
Javanel, who drew up the plan of the invasion before the eight hundred
set out on their march, attached the greatest importance to its early
occupation. "Spare no labour nor pains," he said, in the memorandum of
directions which he drew up, "in fortifying this post, which will be
your most secure fortress. Do not quit it unless in the utmost
extremity.... You will, of course, be told that you cannot hold it
always, and that rather than not succeed in their object, all France
and Italy will gather together against you.... But were it the whole
world, and only yourselves against all, fear ye the Almighty alone,
who is your protection."
On the arrival of the Vaudois at the Balsille, they discerned a small
body of troops advancing towards them by the Col du Pis, higher up the
valley. They proved to be Piedmontese, forty-six in number, sent to
occupy the pass. They were surrounded, disarmed, and put to death, and
their arms were hid away amongst the rocks. No quarter was given on
either side during this war; the Vaudois had no prisons in which to
place their captives; and they themselves, when taken, were treated
not as soldiers, but as bandits, being instantly hung on the nearest
trees. The Vaudois did not, however, yet take up their permanent
position at the Balsille, being desirous of rousing the valleys
towards the south. The day following, accordingly, they marched to
Pralis, in the valley of the Germanasca, when, for the first time
since their exile, they celebrated Divine worship in one of the
temples of their ancestors.
They were now on their way towards the valley of the Pelice, to reach
which it was necessary that they should pass over the Col Julian. An
army of three thousand Piedmontese barred their way, but nothing
daunted by the great disparity of force, the Vaudois, divided into
three bodies, as at Salabertrans, mounted to the assault. As they
advanced, the Piedmontese cried, "Come on, ye devil's Barbets, there
are more than three thousand of us, and we occupy all the posts!" In
less than half an hour the whole of the posts were carried, the pass
was cleared, and the Piedmontese fled down the further side of the
mountain, leaving all their stores behind them. On the following day
the Vaudois reached Bobi, drove out the new settlers, and resumed
possession of the lands of the commune. Thus, after the lapse of only
fourteen days, this little band of heroes had marched from the shores
of the Lake of Geneva, by difficult mountain-passes, through bands of
hostile troops, which they had defeated in two severe fights, and at
length reached the very centre of the Vaudois valleys, and entered
into possession of the "Promised Land."
They resolved to celebrate their return to the country of their
fathers by an act of solemn worship on the Sabbath following. The
whole body assembled on the hill of Silaoud, commanding an extensive
prospect of the valley, and with their arms piled, and resting under
the shade of the chestnut-trees which crown the hill, they listened to
an eloquent sermon from the pastor Montoux, who preached to them
standing on a platform, consisting of a door resting upon two rocks,
after which they chanted the 74th Psalm, to the clash of arms. They
then proceeded to enter into a solemn covenant with each other,
renewing the ancient oath of union of the valleys, and swearing never
to rest from their enterprise, even if they should be reduced to only
three or four in number, until they had "re-established in the valleys
the kingdom of the Gospel." Shortly after, they proceeded to divide
themselves into two bodies, for the purpose of occupying
simultaneously, as recommended by Javanel, the two valleys of the
Pelice and St. Martin.
But the trials and sufferings they had already endured were as nothing
compared with those they were now about to experience. Armies
concentrated on them from all points. They were pressed by the French
on the north and west, and by the Piedmontese on the south and east.
Encouraged by their success at Bobi, the Vaudois rashly attacked
Villar, lower down the valley, and were repulsed with loss. From
thence they retired up the valley of Rora, and laid it waste; the
enemy, in like manner, destroying the town of Bobi and laying waste
the neighbourhood.
The war now became one of reprisals and mutual devastation, the two
parties seeking to deprive each other of shelter and the means of
subsistence. The Vaudois could only obtain food by capturing the
enemy's convoys, levying contributions from the plains, and making
incursions into Dauphiny. The enterprise on which they had entered
seemed to become more hopeless from day to day. This handful of men,
half famished and clothed in rags, had now arrayed against them
twenty-two thousand French and Sardinians, provided with all the
munitions of war. That they should have been able to stand against
them for two whole months, now fighting in one place, and perhaps the
next day some twenty miles across the mountains in another, with
almost invariable success, seems little short of a miracle. But flesh
and blood could not endure such toil and privations much longer. No
wonder that the faint-hearted began to despair. Turrel, the military
commander, seeing no chance of a prosperous issue, withdrew across the
French frontier, followed by the greater number of the Vaudois from
Dauphiny;[110] and there remained only the Italian Vaudois, still
unconquered in spirit, under the leadership of their pastor-general
Arnaud, who never appeared greater than in times of difficulty and
danger.
[Footnote 110: The greater number of them, including Turrel,
were taken prisoners and shot, or sent to the galleys, where
they died. This last was the fate of Turrel.]
With his diminished forces, and the increasing numbers of the enemy,
Arnaud found it impossible to hold both the valleys, as intended;
besides, winter was approaching, and the men must think of shelter and
provisions during that season, if resistance was to be prolonged. It
was accordingly determined to concentrate their little force upon the
Balsille, and all haste was made to reach that stronghold without
further delay. Their knowledge of the mountain heights and passes
enabled them to evade their enemies, who were watching for them along
the valleys, and they passed from the heights of Rodoret to the
summit of the Balsille by night, before it was known that they were in
the neighbourhood. They immediately set to work to throw up
entrenchments and erect barricades, so as to render the place as
secure as possible. Foraging parties were sent out for provisions, to
lay in for the winter, and they returned laden with corn from the
valley of Pragelas. At the little hamlet of Balsille they repaired the
mill, and set it a-going, the rivulet which flowed down from the
mountain supplying abundance of water-power.
It was at the end of October that the little band of heroes took
possession of the Balsille, and they held it firmly all through the
winter. For more than six months they beat back every force that was
sent against them. The first attack was made by the Marquis
d'Ombrailles at the head of a French detachment; but though the enemy
reached the village of Balsille, they were compelled to retire, partly
by the bullets of the defenders, and partly by the snow, which was
falling heavily. The Marquis de Parelles next advanced, and summoned
the Vaudois to surrender; but in vain. "Our storms are still louder
than your cannon," replied Arnaud, "and yet our rocks are not shaken."
Winter having set in, the besiegers refrained for a time from further
attacks, but strictly guarded all the passes leading to the fortress;
while the garrison, availing themselves of their knowledge of the
locality, made frequent sorties into the adjoining valleys, as well as
into those of Dauphiny, for the purpose of collecting provisions, in
which they were usually successful.
When the fine weather arrived, suitable for a mountain campaign, the
French general, Catinat, assembled a strong force, and marched into
the valley, determined to make short work of this little nest of
bandits on the Balsille. On Sunday morning, the 30th of April, 1690,
while Arnaud was preaching to his flock, the sentinels on the look-out
discovered the enemy's forces swarming up the valley. Soon other
bodies were seen approaching by the Col du Pis and the Col du Clapier,
while a French regiment, supported by the Savoyard militia, climbed
Mont Guinevert, and cut off all retreat in that quarter. In short, the
Balsille was completely invested.
A general assault was made on the position on the 2nd of May, under
the direction of General Catinat in person. Three French regiments,
supported by a regiment of dragoons, opened the attack in front;
Colonel de Parat, who commanded the leading regiment, saying to his
soldiers as they advanced, "My friends, we must sleep to-night in that
barrack," pointing to the rude Vaudois fort on the summit of the
Balsille. They advanced with great bravery; but the barricade could
not be surmounted, while they were assailed by a perfect storm of
bullets from the defenders, securely posted above.
Catinat next ordered the troops stationed on the Guinevert to advance
from that direction, so as to carry the position from behind. But the
assailants found unexpected intrenchments in their way, from behind
which the Vaudois maintained a heavy fire, that eventually drove them
back, their retreat being accelerated by a shower of stones and a
blinding fall of snow and hail. In the meantime, the attack on the
bastion in front continued, and the Vaudois, seeing the French troops
falling back in disorder, made a vigorous sortie, and destroyed the
whole remaining force, excepting fifteen men, who fled, bare-headed
and without arms, and carried to the camp the news of their total
defeat.
A Savoyard officer thus briefly described the issue of the disastrous
affair in a letter to a friend: "I have only time to tell you that the
French have failed in their attack on the Balsille, and they have been
obliged to retire after having lost one hundred and fifty soldiers,
three captains, besides subalterns and wounded, including a colonel
and a lieutenant-colonel who have been made prisoners, with the two
sergeants who remained behind to help them. The lieutenant-colonel was
surprised at finding in the fort some nineteen or twenty officers in
gold and silver lace, who treated him as a prisoner of war and very
humanely, even allowing him to go in search of the surgeon-major of
his regiment for the purpose of bringing him into the place, and doing
all that was necessary."
Catinat did not choose again to renew the attack in person, or to
endanger his reputation by a further defeat at the hands of men whom
he had described as a nest of paltry bandits, but entrusted the
direction of further operations to the Marquis de Féuquières, who had
his laurels still to win, while Catinat had his to lose. The Balsille
was again completely invested by the 12th of May, according to the
scheme of operations prepared by Catinat, and the Marquis received by
anticipation the title of "Conqueror of the Barbets." The entire
mountain was surrounded, all the passes were strongly guarded, guns
were planted in positions which commanded the Vaudois fort, more
particularly on the Guinevert; and the capture or extermination of the
Vaudois was now regarded as a matter of certainty. The attacking army
was divided into five corps. Each soldier was accompanied by a pioneer
carrying a fascine, in order to form a cover against the Vaudois
bullets as they advanced.
Several days elapsed before all the preliminaries for the grand attack
were completed, and then the Marquis ordered a white flag to be
hoisted, and a messenger was sent forward, inviting a parley with the
defenders of the Balsille. The envoy was asked what he wanted. "Your
immediate surrender!" was the reply. "You shall each of you receive
five hundred louis d'or, and good passports for your retirement to a
foreign country; but if you resist, you will be infallibly destroyed."
"That is as the Lord shall will," replied the Vaudois messenger.
The defenders refused to capitulate on any terms. The Marquis himself
then wrote to the Vaudois, offering them terms on the above basis, but
threatening, in case of refusal, that every man of them would be hung.
Arnaud's reply was heroic. "We are not subjects," he said, "of the
King of France; and that monarch not being master of this country, we
can enter into no treaty with his servants. We are in the heritage
which our fathers have left to us, and we hope, with the help of the
God of armies, to live and die in it, even though there may remain
only ten of us to defend it." That same night the Vaudois made a
vigorous sortie, and killed a number of the besiegers: this was their
final answer to the summons to surrender.
On the 14th of May the battery on Mont Guinevert was opened, and the
enemy's cannon began to play upon the little fort and bastions, which,
being only of dry stones, were soon dismantled. The assault was then
made simultaneously on three sides; and after a stout resistance, the
Vaudois retired from their lower intrenchments, and retreated to
those on the higher ledges of the mountain. They continued their
resistance until night, and then, taking counsel together, and feeling
that the place was no longer defensible in the face of so overpowering
a force, commanded, as it was, at the same time by the cannon on the
adjoining heights, they determined to evacuate the Balsille, after
holding it for a period of nearly seven months.
A thick mist having risen up from the valley, the Vaudois set out,
late at night, under the guidance of Captain Poulat, a native of the
district, who well knew the paths in the mountains. They climbed up on
to the heights above, over icy slopes, passing across gaping crevices
and along almost perpendicular rocks, admitting of their passage only
in single file, sometimes dragging themselves along on their bellies,
clinging to the rocks or to the tufts of grass, occasionally resting
and praying, but never despairing. At length they succeeded, after a
long détour of the mountain crests, in gaining the northern slope of
Guinevert. Here they came upon and surprised the enemy's outpost,
which fled towards the main body; and the Vaudois passed on, panting
and half dead with fatigue. When the morning broke, and the French
proceeded to penetrate the last redoubt on the Balsille, lo, it was
empty! The defenders had abandoned it, and they could scarcely believe
their eyes when they saw the dangerous mountain escarpment by which
they had escaped in the night. Looking across the valley, far off,
they saw the fugitives, thrown into relief by the snow amidst which
they marched, like a line of ants, apparently making for the mass of
the central Alps.
For three days they wandered from place to place, gradually moving
southwards, their object now being to take up their position at the
Pra du Tour, the ancient fortress of the Barbas in the valley of
Angrogna. Before, however, they could reach this stronghold, and while
they were still at Pramol in the valley of Perosa, news of the most
unexpected kind reached them, which opened up the prospect of their
deliverance. The news was no other than this--Savoy had declared war
against France!
A rupture between the two powers had for some time been imminent.
Louis XIV. had become more and more exacting in his demands on the
Duke of Savoy, until the latter felt himself in a position of
oppressive vassalage. Louis had even intimated his intention of
occupying Verrua and the citadel of Turin; and the Duke, having
previously ascertained through his cousin, Prince Eugène, the
willingness of the Emperor of Austria, pressed by William of Orange,
to assist him in opposing the pretensions of France, he at length took
up his stand and declared war against Louis.
The Vaudois were now a power in the state, and both parties alike
appealed to them for help, promising them great favours. But the
Vaudois, notwithstanding the treachery and cruelty of successive Dukes
of Savoy, were true to their native prince. They pledged themselves to
hold the valleys and defend the mountain passes against France.
In the first engagements which took place between the French and the
Piedmontese, the latter were overpowered, and the Duke became a
fugitive. Where did he find refuge? In the valleys of the Vaudois, in
a secluded spot in the village of Rora, behind the Pelice, he found a
safe asylum amidst the people whose fathers he had hunted, proscribed,
and condemned to death.
But the tide of war turned, and the French were eventually driven out
of Piedmont. Many of the Vaudois, who had settled in Brandenburg,
Holland, and Switzerland, returned and settled in the valleys; and
though the Dukes of Savoy, with their accustomed treachery, more than
once allowed persecution to recommence, their descendants continue to
enjoy the land, and to worship after the manner of their fathers down
to the present day.
The Vaudois long laboured under disabilities, and continued to be
deprived of many social and civil rights. But they patiently bided
their time; and the time at length arrived. In 1848 their emancipation
was one of the great questions of North Italy. It was taken up and
advocated by the most advanced minds of Piedmont. The petition to
Charles Albert in their favour was in a few days covered with the
names of its greatest patriots, including those of Balbo, Cavour, and
D'Azeglio. Their emancipation was at length granted, and the Vaudois
now enjoy the same rights and liberties as the other subjects of
Victor Emanuel.
Nor is the Vaudois Church any longer confined to the valleys, but it
has become extended of late years all over Italy--to Milan, Florence,
Brescia, Verona, Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Palermo, Cataneo, Venice, and
even to Rome itself. In most of these places there are day-schools and
Sunday-schools, besides churches. The new church at Venice, held in
the Cavagnis palace, seems to have proved especially successful, the
Sunday services being regularly attended by from three to four hundred
persons; while the day-schools in connection with the churches at
Turin, Leghorn, Naples, and Cataneo have proved very successful.
Thus, in the course of a few years, thirty-three Vaudois churches and
stations, with about an equal number of schools, have been established
in various parts of Italy. The missionaries report that the greatest
difficulties they have to encounter arise from the incredulity and
indifference which are the natural heritage of the Romish Church; but
that, nevertheless, the work makes satisfactory progress--the good
seed is being planted, and will yet bring forth its increase in God's
due time.
Finally, it cannot but be acknowledged that the people of the valleys,
in so tenaciously and conscientiously adhering to their faith, through
good and through evil, during so many hundred years, have set a
glorious example to Piedmont, and have possibly been in no small
degree instrumental in establishing the reign of right and of liberty
in Italy.
INDEX.
Aiguesmortes, Huguenot prison at, 193, 273, 300.
Albigenses, 75.
Anabaptists of Munster, 282-3.
Anduze, visit to, 125.
Angrogna, valley of, 481;
fighting in, 481-86, 498.
Arnaud, Henry, 215, 512;
leads back the Vaudois, 503-15;
defends the Balsille, 515-19.
Athlone, siege of, 349-50, 355-8.
Balsille, the, 510;
defence of, 515-19;
given up, 519.
Baridon, Etienne, 442-3.
Barillon, M. de, 323, 330-1.
Baville on the Protestants of Languedoc, 77, 86;
occupies the Cevennes, 87;
at Pont-de-Montvert, 92.
Beauval, Basnage de, 364.
Beauvau, Prince de, 273-4.
Beckwith, General, 478.
Berwick, Duke of, 310-11, 333, 351.
Bibles, destruction and scarcity of, 215-16.
Boileau, General, 351-2.
Bonnafoux repulsed by Camisards, 142.
Book-burning, 215, 235-6.
Bordeille, Raphaël, 318.
Bourg d'Oisans, 409-10.
Boyne, battle of the, 341-7.
Briançon, 414-16.
Briset, Lieut., death of, 335.
Broglie, Count, 143-4, 148;
superseded, 149.
Brousson, Claude, 30;
advocate for Protestant church at Nismes, 31;
meeting in house of, 34;
petition by, 35;
escape from Nismes, 42;
at Lausanne, 43, 46;
at Berlin, 44;
in the Cevennes, 50-2, 54;
reward offered for, 56; at Nismes, 57;
preaching of, 58-9;
to Lausanne, England, and Holland, 61-2;
at Sedan, 64;
through France, 66-7;
portraiture of, 68 (note);
to Nismes again, 69;
taken, tried, and executed, 70-3.
Browne, Col. Lyde, 380.
Brueys on fanaticism in Languedoc, 91.
Bull of Clement XI. against Camisards, 160.
Caillemotte, Col., 339;
death of, 345, 348.
Calas, Jean, 257;
executed, 258;
case taken up by Voltaire, 259-62;
reversal of judgment on, 262-3.
Calvinism and race, 100 (note).
Calvinists, French and Scotch, compared, 100.
Cambon, Col., 357.
Camisards, the origin of name, 107;
led by Laporte, 109;
organization of, 112-13;
encounter troops, 113-14, 117;
war-song of, 115;
organized by Roland, 123-4;
successes of, 134-40, 142, 146-50;
spread of insurrection of, 138-9;
measures against, 139, 146-7;
defeat of, at Vagnas, 150;
defeat of, near Pompignan, 152;
success of, at Martinargues, 162-4;
bull against, 160;
success at Salindres, 164-5;
defeated near Nismes, 168-9;
reverses of, 170-1;
success at Font-morte, 176-7;
defeated at Pont-de-Montvert, and end of insurrection, 187-9.
Camisards, White, 160-1.
Carrickfergus, siege of, 335.
Castanet, André, 111, 113, 118, 123, 189.
Cavalier, John, joins insurgents, 108, 111;
family of, 121;
to Geneva, 121;
to the Cevennes, 122;
portrait of, 124;
in Lower Languedoc, 133;
defeats Royalists, 134-5;
takes Château Servas, 136-7;
repulses Bonnafoux, 142;
at Nismes, 144-5;
successes of, 148;
winter campaign, 148-9;
at Vagnas, 150-1, 153;
betrayed at Tower of Belliot, 156-8;
at Martinargues, 162-4;
at Rosni, 169;
his cave magazines, 170-1;
his interview with Lalande, 173-6;
attempts peace, 177;
his interviews with Villars, 177-83;
deserted by followers, 183-5;
to England, and subsequent career, 186.
Caves in the Cevennes, 125, 127-9;
at La Tour, 477.
Cazenove, Raoul de, 321, 367.
Cevennes, the, persecutions in, 39, 52-3, 85;
secret meetings in, 54, 84-8;
executions in, 59, 67-8;
description of, 79-82;
arming of the people, 85-6;
occupied by troops, 88;
prophetic mania in, 88;
encounter at Pont-de-Montvert, 92;
outbreak against Du Chayla, 96-7;
map of, 98;
Protestants of, compared with Covenanters, 100-1;
organization in, 123-5;
caves in, 125, 127-9;
visit to, 125-9;
present inhabitants of, 129, 131-2;
devastation of, 154-5.
Champ Domergue, battle at, 114.
Charlemont, capture of, 339.
Château Queyras, 467.
Chaumont, 271.
Chayla, Du, 93-4, 97.
Chenevix, 15 (note).
Choiseul, Duc de, 268.
Claris, 237.
Colognac, execution of, 59.
Comiers, 407.
Conderc, Salomon, 119, 123.
"Conversions," rapid, 289.
Converts, 19-23, 38-9.
Cook, Captain, last voyage round the world, 371;
cruel death, 371.
Court profligacy, 275 (note).
Court, Antoine, 206-17;
organizes school for preachers, 224;
marriage of, 231;
retires to Switzerland, 232;
results of his work, 233-4;
in Languedoc, 239.
Covenanters compared with Protestants of the Cevennes, 100-2.
Cromwell, 391-2, 476.
D'Aguesseau's opinion of Protestants of Languedoc, 76-7.
Dauphiny, map of, 382;
aspect of, 383-4.
Delada, Mdlle. de, 295.
Denbeck, Abbé of, 322-3.
Denèse, Rotolf de la, 364.
Desert, assemblies in the, 83-8, 218-23.
Desparvés, M., 297.
Dormilhouse, 438, 443-54.
Dortial, 238.
Douglas, Lieut.-General, 349-51, 355.
Dragonnades, 36-7, 42, 54-5, 288;
horrors of, 291.
Drogheda, surrender of, 349.
Dumas, death of, 52.
Dundalk, Schomberg's army at, 337-8.
Durand, Pierre, 236.
Easter massacre of the Vaudois, 390-92.
England attempts to assist the Camisards, 166-7.
Enniskilleners, the, 336.
Evertzen, Vice-Admiral, 325.
Execution of Pastors, 27.
Fabre, Jean, 265;
sent to galleys, 266-9;
obtains leave of absence, 269;
exonerated, 270;
life dramatized, and result, 270.
Fermaud, Pastor, 407.
Freemantle, Rev. Mr., visits of, to the Vaudois, 395, 450, 462.
French labouring classes, present condition of, 397-400.
Freney, gorge of, 411.
Fusiliers, missionary, 293.
Galley, description of, 197-8;
use in war, 200-4.
Galley-slaves, treatment of, 194-204;
liberation of Protestants, 204, 264 (note), 271-3.
Galway, Earl of, 360.
Gilly, Dr., visit to the Vaudois, 393-4, 468, 477.
Ginckel, Lieut.-General, 347, 354 _et seq._
Glorious Return of the Vaudois, 493-5.
Grace, Col. Richard, 351.
Guarrison, Mdlle. de, 294.
Guerin, death of, 67.
Guignon betrays Cavalier, 156;
executed, 159.
Guil, valley of the, 466.
Guillestre, 456-66.
Guion executed, 57.
Herbert, Admiral, 325.
Homel, tortures and death of, 40.
Hood, Lord, 376.
Huguenots, the (see _Camisards_);
emigrations of, 43, 76-8, 83, 287, 316;
persecution of, after Camisard insurrection, 190-204;
as galley-slaves, 194-204;
brought together by Court, 210-17;
reorganization of, 218-228;
outrages on, 228;
great assemblies of, 239-40;
last of the executions, 258;
last of the galley-slaves, 265-273;
character of, 274-5;
later history of, 276-283;
decrees against, 286-6;
in England, 309;
foreign services of, 316-17.
Ireland and James II., 331 _et seq._
Irish Brigade, 140-2, 359.
Iron Boot, the, 102.
James II., flight of, 309, 329;
lands with an army in Ireland, 309, 332;
campaign against William III., 309 _et seq._, 333 _et seq._;
deserted, 328;
taken prisoner, 329;
his last proclamation, 330;
at the French court, 331;
cowardice, 337, 347-8;
Catholic estimate of his character, 348.
Joany, Nicholas, insurgent leader, 120, 123, 151.
Johannot, 269.
Julien, Brigadier, 147, 150-1.
Lagier, Jean, 452, 453 (note).
Lajonquière defeated at Martinargues, 162-4.
Lalande, his interview with Cavalier, 173-6.
Languedoc (see _Cevennes_), early liberty in, 75;
Albigenses in, 75;
Protestants of, 76-7;
industry of, 76;
emigration from, after Revocation, 78, 289;
arming of people of, 85-6;
outbreak of fanaticism in, 88-92;
present inhabitants of, 280-3.
Laporte, leader of Camisards, 109-10;
organizes insurgents, 112;
at Collet, 113;
at Champ Domergue, 114;
killed at Molezon, 117.
La Salette, 404;
miracle of, 405-6.
La Tour, 476-80.
Laugier at Guillestre, 463;
at Château Queyras, 464.
Lausanne, school for preachers at, 224;
Society of Help at, 224-5.
Lauteret, Col de, 413.
Lauzun, Count, 339, 358.
Lesdiguières, Duc de, 402-3, 455.
Limerick, siege of, 351-4, 359.
Lintarde, Marie, imprisonment of, 54.
Locke, John, on Protestants of Nismes, 31 (note).
Londonderry, siege of, 333.
Louis XIV., 2, 10, 146, 205.
Louis XV., 275.
Louis XVI., 276;
maxim of, 285;
his decrees against Protestants, 285-6;
his mode of stopping the emigration of Huguenots, 287-8;
expulsion of Protestants, 316;
assists James II., 332.
Luttrell, Capt., brilliant naval achievement of, 372.
Mackay, Major-General, 355, 357.
Marillac, Michel de, inventor of the dragonnades, 288.
Marion on influence of Camisard prophets, 119.
Marlborough, Earl of, 354.
Marteilhe, autobiography of, 195, 201-4.
Martinargues, battle at, 162-4.
Massillon on Louis XIV., 10.
Mazel, Abraham, 120, 123.
Mialet, visit to, 127-8.
Milsom, Edward, 395, 451, 490-92.
Missionaries, booted, 288.
Montandre, Marquis de, 314.
Montauban, persecutions at, 289-90.
Montpellier, Protestant Church at, 32-3;
the Peyron at, 72;
execution of Brousson at, 73, 300.
Montrevel, Marshal, in Languedoc, 149;
at Pompignan, 152;
adopts extermination, 153;
at Tower of Belliot, 156-8;
character of, 159;
recalled, 167;
defeats Cavalier, 168-9.
Nantes, Revocation of Edict of, and its results, 1-19, 24, 44-5, 78;
contemporary opinion upon, 1-10;
enactments of Edict of Revocation, 12-15, 285-6.
Neff, Felix, 427-32;
life of, 394, 404;
his account of winter at Dormilhouse, 447;
his charge, 469.
Nelson, Lord, eulogium on Capt. Riou, 368;
at the battle of Copenhagen, 378-9.
Ners, visit to, 131.
Newton Butler, engagement at, 333.
Nismes, Protestant Church at, 31;
petition from, 41;
Brousson at, 57, 69;
Guion at, 57;
country about, 81, 130-2;
success of Camisards near, 143;
Cavalier at, 144-5, 177-83;
treaty of, 179-80;
Huguenot meetings at, 265.
Ormond, Duke of, 349.
Palons, 433-6.
Paulet, Mdlle., forgeries in name of, 32-4.
Pechell, Augustus, 315.
Pechell, Capt. William Cecil, 315.
Pechell, Col. Jacob, 313.
Pechell, Paul, 314.
Pechell, Samuel, extraordinary probity of, 314.
Pechell, Sir G. R. Brooke, 315.
Pechell, Sir Thomas, 315.
Péchels de la Boissonade, Samuel de, narrative of his persecutions, 291
_et seq._;
imprisonment, 296, 299-301;
meeting with his wife, 297;
condemned to banishment, 299;
embarkation, 302;
sails for America, 303;
sufferings, 304-5;
reaches the West Indies, 305;
illness and arrival in London, 307;
accepts a commission in the English army, 309;
campaign in Ireland, 310;
return to London, 311;
removal with his wife and son to Dublin, 312;
death of, 312;
his descendants, 313.
Péchels, family of, 290.
Péchels, Madame de, inhumanity towards, 294-5;
touching interview with her husband, 297;
further trials, 297;
escape to Geneva, 298;
in London, 308;
reunited to her husband, 311.
Pelice, Valley of the, 472.
Pélisson, 323.
Pont-de-Montvert, outbreak at, 92-7;
description of, 93-4;
end of Camisard insurrection at, 187-9.
Portland, Earl of, 361, 363.
Portland Vase, 363.
Poul, Captain, in Upper Cevennes, 108;
at Champ Domergue, 114-16;
takes Laporte at Molezon, 117;
defeated and killed near Nismes, 143-4.
Pra du Tour, 486-90, 499.
Preachers, education of, 221-4;
hardships of, 225-9, 236-8.
Project, the, 34.
"Protestant wind," the, 325.
Protestantism in France, present chances of, 417.
Quoite, execution of, 53.
Rapin, Capt. Paul, birth and education, 321-2;
emigrates to England, 322;
embarks for Holland, 323;
a cadet in the Dutch army, 324;
sails for England, 325;
encounters a storm, 326;
with the army of William III., 335 _et seq._;
aide-de-camp, 350;
wounded and promoted, 354;
conciliatory spirit, 358-9;
at Kinsale, 359;
tutor to Lord Woodstock, 360;
presented to the King, 371;
makes the "grand tour" with his pupil, 362-3;
secures the Portland Vase, 363;
marriage, 363;
at the Hague and Wesel, 364;
his "Dissertation on the Origin and Nature of the English
Constitution," 364;
"History of England," 364-7;
death of, 366.
Rapin, Daniel de, 324.
Rapin family, 317-21, 367.
Rapin, Solomon, 354, 360.
Ravanel, insurgent leader, defeats Royalists near Nismes, 143;
near Bouquet, 145;
supplants Cavalier, 182-5;
death of, 189.
Redothière, Isabeau, 53.
Rességuerie, M. de la, 297.
Rey, Fulcran, his preaching and death, 25-7.
Riou, Capt., R.N., Lord Nelson's opinion of, 368;
ancestry, 368-70;
birth and education, 370;
becomes a midshipman, 370;
accompanies Capt. Cook in his last voyage, 371;
witnesses the murder of the captain, 371;
return to England and appointed lieutenant, 372;
a sharer in the glory of Capt. Luttrell's brilliant achievement, 372;
appointed to the command of the _Guardian_, 373;
letters to his mother, 373, 377;
his ship strikes upon an iceberg, 374;
remains with the vessel, 375;
letter to the Admiralty, 375;
extract from his log, 376;
rescued by Dutch whalers, and return to England, 376;
receives the special thanks of the Admiralty, 377;
commander of the royal yacht _Princess Augusta_, 378;
at the battle of Copenhagen, 378-9;
death of, 379;
his character, 379-80;
monument in St. Paul's Cathedral, 380.
Rochemalan, Vaudois struggles at, 482-6.
Roger, Jacques, 213.
Roland, nephew of Laporte, 111;
insurgent leader, 113;
succeeds Laporte, 118;
in Lower Cevennes, 122;
organizes Camisards, 123-5;
takes Sauvé, 137;
at Pompignan, 152;
at Salindres, 164-5;
at Font-Morte, 176-7;
at Pont-de-Montvert, 187;
death of, 188.
Romanche, Valley of the, 401, 408.
Rosen, Count, 332;
indignation against King James, 337.
Rostan, Alpine missionary, 460 (note).
Rou, Jean, 363-4.
Roussel, Alexandre, 232.
Ruvigny, Major-General, 357.
St. Bartholomew, doubt thrown upon massacre of, 27.
Saint-Etienne, Rabout, 276-7.
St. Hypolite, meeting at, 35.
Saint-Ruth, Marshal, 38;
in Ireland, 38 (note), 354 _et seq._
Saint-Simon on the treatment of converts, 23.
Sands, Captain, 357.
San Veran, 468.
Sarsfield, General, 351-3, 356.
Savoy and France, war declared, 520.
Savoy, Duke of, takes refuge with the Vaudois, 520.
Schomberg, Marshal, 309 _et seq._, 317, 344 _et seq._;
death of, 345.
Schomberg, Count, 348.
Sedan, prosperity of, before Revocation, 64-5;
Brousson at, 65-6.
Seguier, Pierre, insurgent leader, 96, 103;
at Frugères, 104;
at Font-Morte, 106;
taken, tried, and executed, 106-7.
Sirven, 263;
case of, taken up by Voltaire, 264.
Society of Friends in Languedoc, 281-2.
Souverain executed, 52.
Squeezers, the, 101 (note).
Synod of French Protestant Church, 283.
Talmash, Major-General, 357.
Telford, anecdote of, 82.
Testart, Marie Anne, 363.
Tetleau, Major-General, 357.
Toleration, Edict of, 276.
"Troopers' Lane," 310.
Tyrconnel, Earl of, 331-2.
Tyrconnel, Lady, retort to King James, 348.
Val Fressinières, 423-5, 432-43.
Val Louise, 420;
massacre at, 422.
Vaudois, the country of, 385;
early Christianity of, 386-6;
early persecutions of, 388;
Easter massacre of, 390-1;
visits of Dr. Gilly to, 393-4, 468, 477;
passiveness of, 420-1;
massacre of, at Val Louise, 422;
persecutions of, 424-6, 455, 481, 495-500, 513-20;
refuges of, 459, 467, 475, 477, 481;
struggles of, at Rochemalan, 482-6;
flight at the Revocation, 495;
apparently exterminated, 500;
in Switzerland, 501;
prepare to return, 502;
Arnaud appointed leader, 502;
assisted by William of Orange, 503;
The Glorious Return of, 504-13;
struggles of, at the Balsille, 515;
assist Duke of Savoy, 520;
emancipation of, 521-2.
Venours, Marquis de, death of, 335.
Vesson, 212, 214.
Vidal, Isaac, preacher, 48.
Villars, Marshal, on prophetic mania in Languedoc, 90;
appointed to command in Languedoc, 167;
at Nismes, 169;
clemency of, 172-86;
treats with Cavalier, 177, 185;
suppresses insurrection of Camisards, 188.
Vincent, Isabel, prophetess, 89, 90.
Vivens, death of, 56.
Voltaire, takes up case of Calas, 259-63;
takes up case of Sirven, 264;
case of Chaumont, 271.
Waldenses, the, 384.
Walker, Dr. George, death of, 348.
Waller, Sir James, 359.
Wheel, punishment of the, 258 (note).
William of Orange lands in England, 308;
proclaimed King, 309;
campaign against James II., 309 _et seq._, 340 _et seq._;
his fleet, 325-7;
wounded, 342;
death of, 364.
Woodstock, Lord, 360-3.
Wurtemberg, Duke of, 340, 357.
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