re is the door; and if you do not retire, I will throw you
out of the window." Gilly hesitated; the peasant insisted; the general
wished to explain, but he was seized by the collar. "Suppose I should be
general Gilly," said the fugitive. The soldier paused. "And it is even
so," continued he, "denounce me, and the 10,000 francs are yours." The
soldier threw himself on his neck; the family were dissolved in tears;
they kissed his hands, his clothes, protested they would never let him
leave them, and that they would die rather than he should be arrested.
In their kindness he was more secure than ever; but their cottage was
more suspected, and he was ultimately obliged to seek another asylum.
The family refused any indemnity for the expense he had occasioned them,
and it was not till long after that he could prevail upon them to accept
an acknowledgement of their hospitality and fidelity. In 1820, when the
course of justice was more free, general Gilly demanded a trial; there
was nothing against him; and the duke d'Angouleme conveyed to Madame
Gilly the permission of the king for the return of her husband to the
bosom of his country.

But, even when the French government was resolved to bring the factions
of the department of the Gard, under the laws, the same men continued to
exercise the public functions. The society, called _Royale_, and its
secret committee, maintained a power superior to the laws. It was
impossible to procure the condemnation of an assassin though the
evidence against him was incontestible, and for whom, in other times,
there would have been no hope. The Truphemys, and others of his stamp,
appeared in public, wearing immense mustachios, and white cockades
embroidered with green. Like the brigands of Calabria, they had two
pistols and a poignard at their waists. Their appearance diffused an air
of melancholy mixed with indignation. Even amidst the bustle of the day
there was the silence of fear, and the night was disturbed by atrocious
songs, or vociferations like the sudden cry of ferocious wild beasts.

_Ultimate resolution of the Protestants at Nismes._

With respect to the conduct of the protestants, these highly outraged
citizens, pushed to extremities by their persecutors, felt at length
that they had only to choose the manner in which they were to perish.
They unanimously determined that they would die fighting in their own
defence. This firm attitude apprised their butchers that they could no