ings 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 t