Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew vol 2.djvu/167

see that he was virtually laying down his arms. For if his treaty were ratified, the Camisards would gain the blessings of peace and liberty, which would be a good finishing stroke. But if his treaty were not ratified, the circumstance would simply and inevitably make him a prisoner of war.

Mr Kemble brings a mild charge of provincialism and narrow-mindedness against Cavalier on account of one of the articles in his treaty, “Liberty of Conscience through all the Province of Languedoc (which ought to have been liberty of conscience over the whole kingdom of France). The answer to this is, that there had been no declaration of war, except in Languedoc, and the formal treaty could extend no farther. But that Cavalier’s aspirations were confined within one province we can safely deny. I have read, in one of the numbers of the Bulletin of the French Protestant Historical Society, an account of a conversation between him and a Romish priest, who asked him on what terms he and his troops would lay down their arms. Cavalier’s reply was, “La liberté de prier Dieu en esprit et en verité. Le repos de tout le monde. L’elargissement des captifs.”

The friendly Swiss in the vicinity of France could shew Cavalier and his men a ready hospitality, but could not venture to consent to their taking up their quarters with them. The exiles, therefore, moved cautiously onward, in separate detachments, till they halted at Lausanne. From this place of safety Cavalier sent a letter offering his services to the Duke of Savoy:—

“May it please your Royal Highness, —

“Providence having saved me from the snares the French had laid for me, I am safely arrived in this country. I think I cannot do better than to address myself to so great a prince as you are, and to offer you my most humble services. The honour of serving under your Royal Highness’s banner will be to me the greatest felicity I could wish for, looking upon your Royal Highness as the protector of the poor oppressed people in France, and I hope by your valour the neighbouring people of France will be secure from being molested by the most ambitious of monarchs. For my part, I shall embrace all opportunities of shewing your Royal Highness my inviolable attachment for your service. I have about 250 men come out of France along with me, and willing to follow me whithersoever I shall go. As soon as I have received the honour of your Royal Highness’s orders, I shall repair to whatsoever place you shall command me. I shall leave officers here to raise recruits, in order speedily to form a regiment, if your Royal Highness thinks proper. I am, with the profoundest respect, Sec,

“Lausanne, August 31st, 1704.”

“Cavallier.”

The Right Honourable Richard Hill, the British Ambassador to the Duke, and the Duke himself also, had been watching with anxiety and dismay the negotiation between Marshal Villars and Cavalier. Their plan was to foster the war in the Cevennes by sending auxiliary troops by sea, and thus to keep the French monarch so busy at home that he might send no reinforcements abroad. Mr. Hill wrote to the Farl of Nottingham from Turin, 12-23 May 1764, “The two last posts assure us that the Camisards have laid down their arms. We do not want zeal or mettle; but I am not willing to play off the Queen’s ships and 500 good Protestants if the game is already lost.” To Lord Godolphin he wrote, on 16-27 May:—

“What does affect and mortify me most sensibly is, the loss of our Allies in the Cevennes who have submitted to the tyrant and have laid down their arms.” May 30th. “All our advices from France continue to affirm that Cavallier had accepted the amnesty offered by the Mareschal de Villars, and made his peace with the French King; but the conditions cannot be known till the return of the courier whom the Mareschal sent to Versailles. . . . Letters from Nismes, of the 17th inst., say that day M. Cavallier came thither to meet the Mareschal de Villars, with whom he had a long conference; he had left his troop at Lusary, about a league from Nismes, and was conducted into the town by M. de Linde, Lieut.-General, who was sent out to meet him with a small guard. In the evening he returned to his troop, very well satisfied with his reception and the civilities he received from the Mareschal. People of all sorts crowded to see Cavallier, and were so well satisfied with his person and his modest behaviour, that some of the most considerable of Nismes accompanied him to his troop. It is impossible to express the joy that country has on this account, in hopes that now they may stir out without being in danger of being murdered. The same letters give an account that Messrs Roland and Castanet, two captains of the Cevennes, had, the very same day on which Cavallier had offered to submit, defeated the battalion of Tiurnon, killed about 200 soldiers, eight or ten officers, and the Lieut.-Colonel. This action makes us believe and hope that Roland may still hold out, and not come into the resolutions which Cavallier seems to have taken, and we are still willing to hope that something may break off the negotiation with Cavallier himself.” 19-30 June. “I embarked last week at Nice about 450 men, officers, and soldiers, with money, with arms, and ammunition, for the relief of the Camisards.” 1st July. “They are gone upon a desperate errand, and I am in pain for them; but it was not reason able to expect the Cevennois should hold out any longer, if nobody would endeavour at least