the archpriest from the window. On their refusing, the guards fired, and killed one of the assailants. Procuring the trunk of a large tree, the peasants broke open the gate, and entering the house, ran to the dungeons in which the prisoners were confined, and set them free. They then set fire to the house. Some of the ecclesiastics escaped, others were killed in the attempt. Du Chayla, in trying to descend from a window, fell and broke his thigh. The peasants seized him, and despatched him with fiftytwo wounds. All night they remained kneeling round the burning ruins, and returning thanks to God; in the morning they departed to their mountains, singing as they had come.

For a week Séguier and his companions wandered through the country in the neighbourhood of Pont de Montvert, executing what, in their wild and bloody enthusiasm, they called the judgment of God; putting priests to death, setting their imprisoned friends at liberty, and burning the houses in which they had been confined. The whole province was alarmed. Bâville despatched Broglie to the spot. After a short pursuit, the peasants were overtaken and dispersed by twenty men under one of Broglie's officers named Poul; the prophet himself, with two others named Nouvel and Bonnet, were taken, and conducted in chains to Florac, where they were condemned and executed.

The other peasants who had been concerned in the archpriest's death remained concealed in caves and woods, so that few of them were taken. It was concluded at last that they had escaped from the country; and Broglie, believing the disturbances over, retired to Alais, leaving Poul, with some companies of fusiliers, among the mountains. Scarcely was he gone, when the peasants left their hiding-places, reassembled, and seeing the impossibility of flight, resolved to continue the insurrection, and chose for their commander Laporte of Massoubeyran, a man of about forty-five years of age, who had served in the army. Laporte forthwith assumed the title of "Colonel of the Children of God;" and named his camp the "Camp of the Eternal." Fresh recruits now came in from the country round, among the rest Laporte's nephew, Roland, and a peasant named Catinat, who had been concerned in an assassination perpetrated a few days before—that of the Baron de Saint Cômes, a military commander noted for his cruelty to the Huguenots. The young stripling Cavalier, too, showed his zeal by descending to his native village of Ribaute, and returning to the "Camp of the Eternal" with eighteen armed youths, whom he had enlisted in the cause. all, the insurgents did not exceed a hundred and fifty. Laporte, they chose for their commanders Roland and a man named Castanet.

In

Under

From the middle of August to the end of October, the "Children of God"-sometimes in one body under the command of Laporte, sometimes divided into several under the command of Roland, Castanet, Catinat, and Cavalier-ranged through the

Cevennes, inflicting vengeance on such persons as had made themselves conspicuous in the work of persecution, expelling the priests from their parishes, and holding field-meetings for prayer and worship among the mountains. Poul and his soldiers exerted their utmost activity to put an end to the insurrection; but for a while the insurgents contrived to elude their search. At length, on the 22d of October, a party of them, among whom was Laporte, were surprised and attacked in the valley of Sainte Croix. Laporte was killed, and his head, along with a number of others, sent in a hamper to Montpellier.

ORGANISATION OF THE CAMISARDS-THEIR CHIEFS-WAR OF 1703-ROMANTIC CAMISARD STORY.

Again Bâville believed that the insurrection was at an end; and again he was mistaken. Roland, Castanet, Catinat, and Cavalier, collected the dispersed troop of peasants, and recommenced the insurrection with fresh vigour. Roland was chosen to succeed his uncle Laporte as commander-in-chief. Of the various arrangements which they made for their own government, and the conduct of the war, M. Peyrat gives the following account:-"The Children of God," he says, "proceeded to organise themselves. Their army had increased considerably; the harvest being over, the young Cévenols took their muskets and hatchets, and flocked to join their friends, so that all at once Roland found himself at the head of a thousand men. The army divided itself into five cantons, as follows-the men of Faus des Armes, those of Upper Cevennes, those of Aigoal, those of Lower Cevennes, and those of Lower Languedoc. Each canton chose its own chiefs, their principle of election being to choose not those who were most conspicuous on account of their birth, their fortune, or even their intelligence, but those who were most largely gifted with what they called the spirit. Thus, Roland was elected commander-in-chief, not as the nephew of the last leader, not for his services in the insurrection, not for his courage or military skill; but solely because he was their greatest prophet. The other chiefs ranked under him according to their degrees of inspiration. The whole hierarchy, for such it was, consisted of a general-in-chief, generals of brigade, chiefs of brigade, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, and privates. The army was divided into five legions; every legion into brigades of a hundred men each; and every brigade into two companies of fifty." Roland, who, as commander-in-chief, assumed the title of "General of the Protestant troops of France assembled in the Cevennes," was also special commander or brigadier-general of his own legion, that of the canton of Lower Cevennes. The legion of the Upper Cevennes chose Abraham and Solomon as joint commanders; that of Aigoal, Andrew Castanet; that of Lower Languedoc, Jean Cavalier; and that of Faus des Armes, Nicolas Soani. Of the five legions, those of

Roland and Cavalier were the largest; a circumstance which made their power preponderate. The principle of equality and fraternity, however, was recognised among them; and all, whether officers or men, addressed each other by the name of brother. This, however, did not interfere with the exercise of due authority. Roland had a supreme council, composed of the brigadiergenerals and the chiefs of brigade; and each brigadier-general had a council, composed in like manner of his inferior officers. "As prophet-king, Roland, and, under him, his lieutenants, exercised religious and military power in all its functions and rights -the rights of life and death, of taxation, of worship, of celebrating the Lord's Supper, baptism, marriage, and funerals." Such was the singular republican organisation set up by a few persecuted peasants in the year 1702, in a corner of the kingdom of the absolute monarch, Louis Quatorze.

Of the personal appearance and character of the two principal Camisard chiefs, the following is M. Peyrat's description. Roland was about twenty-seven years of age, and had served in the army down to the peace of Ryswick. He was of middle stature, of robust constitution; his face was round, and marked with small-pox, but with a fine complexion; his eyes large, and full of fire; his hair long, and of a light brown; he was naturally grave, silent, imperious, and ardent under an impassive aspect. Cavalier was scarcely seventeen, having been born in the famous year of the revocation at Ribaute, near Anduze. A poor peasant's son, and the eldest of three children, he had been first a shepherd boy, and afterwards a baker's apprentice at Anduze. To escape the persecutions of the curé of Ribaute, on account of his Protestantism, he fled in March 1701 to Geneva, where he lived for some time in the employment of a master baker; but, moved by the promptings of the Spirit, he returned to Languedoc, and plunged, as we have seen, into the insurrection. The Camisards delighted to trace in this youth a resemblance to the Hebrew David, while he was yet a shepherd feeding the flocks of his father Jesse. He was fair, well made, of small stature, but robust; his neck was short, his face wore the colour of health, his eyes were blue and quick, his head was large, and from it an abundance of flowing locks descended on his shoulders.

After having completed their arrangements, the army of the Children of God separated, each of the five legions going to its own canton, and there continuing its violent work-putting obnoxious persons to death, expelling priests, and occasionally coming into conflict with parties of Broglie's troops. In these engagements the Camisards were almost always victorious. It is impossible to follow the movements of all the various bands as they roamed through eastern Languedoc, during the months of November and December 1702, fighting and singing psalms; the traditions of the adventures of the Camisards during these two months would fill a volume.

Before Christmas 1702, Languedoc was almost at the disposal of the Camisards; the noblesse had deserted their châteaux, the priests their parishes, the rich Catholic bourgeoisie their villages— all going to seek safety in the fortified towns, and leaving the general Catholic population to protect themselves, as they best could, against the Camisards; who, however, did not, except in rare cases, seek to do them any injury. Had the Camisards at this time received assistance from any foreign Protestant state, it is probable that Louis XIV. would have been obliged to make concessions; unfortunately, however, for them, William III. of England, from whom alone they could have expected efficient assistance, was now no more, having died in April 1702. They were left, therefore, to fight out their own cause as they best could-a few thousands of enthusiastic, and, in consequence of their persecutions, almost insane peasants, bidding defiance to the power of the most despotic monarch in Christendom. If, indeed, the politically-discontented Catholics of France had combined with the Camisards, and demanded civil, while they demanded religious liberty, the coalition might have proved formidable. But, in the circumstances, such a coalition was impossible; the Camisards being animated by a spirit too peculiar either to co-operate with any other party, or to invite co-operation.

Louis XIV. was not aware of the whole extent of the insurrection in Languedoc; and if he had been, he would not have understood it. Information, however, reached the court sufficient to injure Bâville in the monarch's eyes; and in the middle of January 1703, M. de Julien-a distinguished officer, a native of Orange, who had served first under King William, then under Schomberg, and had at last entered the French army, turned Catholic, and received high promotion-was sent ostensibly to co-operate with Broglie, but really to supervise Bâville. Julien's advice for suppressing the insurrection was as follows:—“ It is not sufficient," he said, "to kill only those who carry arms; the masses are infected; it is necessary to put to the sword all the Protestants of the country, and to burn up their villages. By these means the insurrection will not be able to recruit itself, and its extirpation will not cost the life of a single Catholic." This horrid proposal revolted Bâville; and, by his influence, a more humane plan of procedure was reluctantly adopted. Ordinary military operations were recommenced against the Camisards, particularly against the legion commanded by Cavalier; and the month of January was passed pretty much in the same way as the months of November and December. Still, the Camisards had the advantage. In two or three engagements, Broglie's troops sustained severe defeats; and the insurrection seemed to be approaching no nearer to its termination. The secret despatches of Julien to Versailles informed the court of the real state of matters in Languedoc; and the whole blame of the bad success

falling on Broglie, he was recalled in the beginning of February, and Maréchal de Montrevel was sent to fill his place. He was about fifty-seven years of age, a brave enough soldier, but deficient in all the higher qualities necessary for the post to which he was appointed that of military chief of a revolted province. Montrevel brought large reinforcements with him into Languedoc; and the royal army quartered in the province amounted now to an effective force of 60,000 men.

It was a common belief at the period, that there existed in France a secret consistory or organisation, whose object was the re-establishment of Protestantism. This belief was adopted by Montrevel; and consequently he was inclined to favour the project of devastation which had been proposed by Julien, as the only means of suppressing the Camisard insurrection-a mere symptom, as he conceived, of the deeper disease which existed throughout the commonwealth. His plan was to make the whole Protestant population of Languedoc responsible for the crimes of the Camisards; and held them punishable for these crimes in their persons, or at all events in their property. Bâville still opposed such an indiscriminate mode of retaliation; but Montrevel, enjoying the confidence of the court, was able to some extent to put it into execution. Accordingly, during the spring of 1703, the war changed its character. It was no longer a war against the culpable individuals; it was a course of military executions upon whole towns and districts, whose only fault was secret attachment to Protestantism. Massacres and butcheries, the ruin by exorbitant fines of whole families, not one member of which was among the Camisards, the devastation of villages, the transportation of their inhabitants to another part of the country these, and such-like, were the measures adopted by Montrevel during the months of March, April, and May 1703. In this last month, too, a stimulus was given to the persecution in the Cevennes by a bull from the Vatican, couched in these words :"Clement XI., the servant of servants; salvation and apostolic blessing: We cannot express with what grief we have been penetrated on learning, through the ambassador of the most Christian king, that the heretics of the Cevennes, sprung from the execrable race of the ancient Albigenses, have taken up arms against the church and their sovereign. With the design of arresting, as far as lies in our power, the progress and constant reappearance of heresy, to which it seemed that the piety of Louis the Great had given a finishing blow in his dominions, we have thought it our duty to conform to the conduct of our predecessors in like cases. Wherefore, and in order to engage the faithful in the work of exterminating the accursed race of those heretics and those evil-doers, in all ages enemies both of God and Cæsar, we, in virtue of the power to bind and to loose accorded by the Saviour of men to the chief of the apostles and to his successors, declare and award, of our full power and authority, the absolute