he trade of an ironworker and
blacksmith. He was a great, brown, brawny man, of vehement piety, a
constant frequenter of the meetings in the Desert, and a mighty
psalm-singer--one of those strong, massive, ardent-natured men who so
powerfully draw others after them, and in times of revolution exercise
a sort of popular royalty amongst the masses. The oppression which had
raged so furiously in the district excited his utmost indignation,
and when he sought out the despairing insurgents in the mountains,
and found that they were contemplating flight, he at once gave
utterance to the few burning words we have cited, and fixed their
determination to strike at least another blow for the liberty of their
country and their religion.

The same evening on which Laporte assumed the leadership (about the
beginning of August, 1702) he made a descent on three Roman Catholic
villages in the neighbourhood of the meeting-place, and obtained
possession of a small stock of powder and balls. When it became known
that the insurgents were again drawing together, others joined them.
Amongst these were Castonet, a forest-ranger of the Aigoal mountain
district in the west, who brought with him some twelve recruits from
the country near Vebron. Shortly after, there arrived from Vauvert the
soldier Catinet, bringing with him twenty more. Next came young
Cavalier, from Ribaute, with another band, armed with muskets which
they had seized from the prior of St. Martin, with whom they had been
deposited.

Meanwhile Laporte's nephew, young Roland, was running from village to
village in the Vaunage, holding assemblies and rousing the people to
come to the help of their distressed brethren in the mountains. Roland
was a young man of bright intelligence, gifted with much of the
preaching power of his family. His eloquence was of a martial sort,
for he had been bred a soldier, and though young, had already fought
in many battles. He was everywhere received with open arms in the
Vaunage.

"My brethren," said he, "the cause of God and the deliverance of
Israel is at stake. Follow us to the mountains. No country is better
suited for war--we have the hill-tops for camps, gorges for
ambuscades, woods to rally in, caves to hide in, and, in case of
flight, secret tracts trodden only by the mountain goat. All the
people there are your brethren, who will throw open their cabins to
you, and share their bread and milk and the flesh of their sheep with
you, whil