Bonneval, the pastcur of Portarlington, when she was left a widow for the second time. The will of Judith Julia Dumont de Bonneval of Portarlington, widow, was dated 6th July, and proved 4th Oct. 1758. She mentions a daughter by her first husband, Susanna Courtiers [Coutières ?], whose daughter Jane Susanna is appointed sole executrix. Witness, Gaspar Caillard, Samuell Beauch. The preservation of Dumont de Bostaquet’s manuscript we probably owe to this daughter.
(2.) Marie Madeleine.
Chapter III.
MAJOR-GENERAL CAVALIER.
Major-General John Cavalier is a name that may be seen in the British Army List in the reign of George II. This is no other than the valiant Camisard chief, and renowned self-taught officer.
Jean Cavalier was born in the year 1681 in the village of Ribaute, near Anduze, in Languedoc. His father outwardly conformed- to Romanism, but, because his wife refused to abjure Protestantism, had to pay a share of the salary of the Romish Missionary Teacher, on the pain of being sent to prison or having soldiers quartered upon him, and also had to send his sons to the mission school. Jean Cavalier thus became well-versed in their catechisms and doctrinal books, and in due course he was confirmed and went to mass. His mother, however, filled his memory with Bible truth, and with proofs of the errors and follies of Papal Rome. The Romanists themselves, by their barbarities, alienated his heart from the priests and emissaries of their communion. In his early youth his indignation was called forth. One of the congregations in the desert, with which his mother frequently worshipped, was broken up by the soldiery, some of the men then apprehended were hanged, others were sent to the galleys, the women had their heads shaved, and were sent either to convents or to the dreadful Tower of Constance. His agitated mother told him all this; the boy was filled with abhorrence, wished he could take revenge on the persecutors, and thenceforth (though without making an open vow) ceased to attend mass. After this, when he was thirteen years of age, he heard Mr Claude Brousson preach, and his convictions on the side of Protestantism grew stronger and more intelligent. A long time passed before any notice was taken of his absence from mass, and when his father was informed and officially admonished as to the grave omission, the son had courage to declare to him that he could go to prison but not to mass. Yet he prudently kept himself retired from observation, and while the great Williamite war lasted, no inquisitorial search was made for him. The Peace of Ryswick gave the authorities more leisure. In 1698 a stringent Edict came out; and (says our young hero) “my father was one of the first that was fined, because his wife and children did not go to mass, a crown for the first time, and double for every time afterwards; if he did not oblige us to go they threatened to confiscate his land and chattels,[1] and banish him out of the kingdom.” Young Cavalier went out of the way, and paid a long visit to some relations. In September 1699 he was deeply affected by the martyrdom of Brousson. At the end of that year the lads began to meet and sing psalms in the open air before the parish churches. The priests raised a militia against them. This provoked the boys to destroy crucifixes and images. A party of them took up arms to fight their way into Switzerland and Cavalier joined the party; they (thirty in number) passed the frontier unopposed and arrived safely in Geneva; he thus succeeded in escaping from France.
It is said that he worked as a journeyman baker at Geneva and also at Lausanne; he does not himself say so in his book. When he heard that his parents had been imprisoned because he had gone out of France, he rushed home to organize a party to rescue them. Partly to his joy, and partly to his sorrow, he found that they had procured their own liberty by consenting to go to mass. This was in the end of June 1701. He meant to retrace his steps to Geneva forthwith, but being invited and prevailed on to stay at home till the harvest was over, he became involved in
- ↑ The French give to any man’s possessions (however small) the sounding name of “his estates.” This is Cavalier’s phrase as to his father’s little property and stock, but in case of mistakes I have translated the phrase into more sober English.
