oving one of the chief grievances of the Norman, Breton
and Vendean peasants, who had risen as much for their religion as for
their king, he determined to crush their revolts. The north-west, and
indeed parts of the south of France, were still simmering with
rebellions and brigandage. In Normandy a daring and able leader named
Frotte headed a considerable band of malcontents, and still more
formidable were the Breton "Chouans" that followed the peasant leader
Georges Cadoudal. This man was a born leader. Though but thirty years
of age, his fierce courage had long marked him out as the first
fighter of his race and creed. His features bespoke a bold, hearty
spirit, and his massive frame defied fatigue and hardship. He
struggled on; and in the autumn of 1799 fortune seemed about to favour
the "whites": the revolt was spreading; and had a Bourbon prince
landed in Brittany before Bonaparte returned from Egypt, the royalists
might quite possibly have overthrown the Directory. But Bonaparte's
daring changed the whole aspect of affairs. The news of the stroke of
Brumaire gave the royalists pause. At first they believed that the
First Consul would soon call back the king, and Bonaparte skilfully
favoured this notion: he offered a pacification, of which some of the
harassed peasants availed themselves. Georges himself for a time
advised a reconciliation, and a meeting of the royalist leaders voted
to a man that they desired "to have the king and you" (Bonaparte). One
of them, Hyde de Neuville, had an interview with the First Consul at
Paris, and has left on record his surprise at seeing the slight form
of the man whose name was ringing through France. At the first glance
he took him for a rather poorly dressed lackey; but when the general
raised his eyes and searched him through and through with their eager
fire, the royalist saw his error and fell under the spell of a gaze
which few could endure unmoved. The interview brought no definite
result.

Other overtures made by Bonaparte were more effective. True to his
plan of dividing his enemies, he appealed to the clergy to end the
civil strife. The appeal struck home to the heart or the ambitions of
a cleric named Bernier. This man was but a village priest of La
Vendee: yet his natural abilities gained him an ascendancy in the
councils of the insurgents, which the First Consul was now
victoriously to exploit. Whatever may have been Bernier's motives, he
certainly acted with some