o 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
k