he unhappy Protestants.

In the affair of La Rochelle alone Bassompierre informs us that "there
died upon the field, killed in cold blood, and without resistance, more
than fifteen hundred men, while more than as many prisoners were taken
who were sent to the galleys: the rest were put to death by the
followers of M. de la Rochefoucauld and by the peasantry. So that M. de
Soubise re-entered La Rochelle with thirty horsemen out of the seven
hundred whom he had with him, and not four hundred infantry of the seven
thousand who comprised his army on the preceding day." [74]

The leaders of the Protestants, some alarmed for their personal safety,
and others gained over by the offers of the Court, began to desert the
cause for which they had so long contended, and to make terms with the
sovereign. The Due de la Force sold himself for two hundred thousand
crowns and the _baton_ of a marshal; the Duc de Sully, after repeated
delays, surrendered his fortress of Cadenac; the veteran De Lesdiguieres
abandoned not only his friends, but also his faith, for the sword of
Connetable de France; and finally the Marquis de Chatillon, the grandson
of the brave and murdered Coligni, delivered himself up together with
the stronghold of Aigues Mortes; thus leaving no men of mark among the
reformers, save the two brothers MM. de Soubise and de Rohan; the former
of whom was then in England soliciting the assistance of James I.,
while the latter was endeavouring to raise troops in the Cevennes for
the protection of Montpellier and Nimes, both which cities were
threatened with siege.[75]

The favours accorded to the renegade Protestant leaders having caused
great dissatisfaction among the Catholic nobles of Louis XIII, the King
found himself compelled to gratify these also by honours and emolument.
The Duc d'Epernon was made Governor of Guienne, a province which had
never hitherto been bestowed save on a Prince of the Blood; while
Bassompierre succeeded to the marshal's _baton_ vacated by Lesdiguieres
on his promotion; and M. de Schomberg was invested with the governments
of Angoumois and Limousin.

Towards the close of August the troops marched upon Montpellier, but the
arrival of the new Connetable excited the jealousy of Conde, who refused
to submit to his authority. Lesdiguieres, who, although he had abandoned
his faith, had not yet ceased to feel a lively interest in the cause of
his co-religionists, was eager to effect a peace, and for t