430,
444, 459, 538. Against them--A Short and Faithful Account of the late
Commotions &c., with some reflections on Mr. Stouppe's Collected Papers,
1655; Morland, 387-404; Siri, xv. 827-843, and Thurloe, iii. 413, 464, 475,
490, 502, 535, 535, 617, 626, 656.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. April 7.]

Accounts of these transactions, but accounts teeming with exaggeration and
improbabilities, were transmitted to the different Protestant states by the
ministers at Geneva. They represented the duke of Savoy as a bigoted and
intolerant prince; the Vaudois as an innocent race, whose only crime was
their attachment to the reformed faith. They implored the Protestant
powers to assume the defence of their persecuted brethren, and called for
pecuniary contributions to save from destruction by famine the remnant
which had escaped the edge of the sword.[1] In England the cause was
advocated[a] by the press and from the pulpit; a solemn fast was kept, and
the passions of the people were roused to enthusiasm. The ministers in a
body waited on Cromwell to recommend the Vaudois to his protection; the
armies in Scotland and Ireland presented addresses, expressive of their
readiness to shed their blood in so sacred a cause; and all classes of men,
from the highest to

[Footnote 1: The infidelity of these reports is acknowledged by Morland,
the protector's agent, in a confidential letter to secretary Thurloe. "The
greatest difficulty I meet with is in relation to the matter of fact in the
beginning of these troubles, and during the time of the war. For I find,
upon diligent search, that many papers and books which have been put out in
print on this subject, even by some ministers of the valleys, are lame in
many particulars, and in many things not conformable to truth."--Thurloe,
iv. 417.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. May.]

the lowest, hastened to contribute their money towards the support of the
Piedmontese Protestants. It was observed that, among those who laboured to
inflame the prejudices of the people, none were more active than the two
ambassadors from Spain, and Stouppe, the minister of the French church in
London.[1] Both had long laboured to prevent the conclusion of the treaty
with France; and they now hoped to effect their purpose, because Savoy was
the ally of France, and the principal barbarities were said to have been
perpetrated by troops detached from the French army.[2]

These events opened a flattering prospect to the va