lle. He enjoyed great popularity during his life, and
was known throughout his province as "King of the Mountains." But he
did not continue staunch either to his party or his faith. As in the
case of many of the aristocratic leaders of those times, Lesdiguieres'
religion was only skin deep. It was but a party emblem--a flag to
fight under, not a faith to live by. So, when ambition tempted him,
and the Constable's baton dangled before his eyes, it cost the old
soldier but little compunction to abandon the cause which he had so
brilliantly served in his youth. To secure the prize which he so
coveted, he made public abjuration of his faith in the church, of St.
Andrew's at Grenoble in 1622, in the presence of the Marquis de
Crequi, the minister of Louis XIII., who, immediately after
Lesdiguieres' first mass, presented him with the Constable's baton.

But the Lesdiguieres family has long since passed away, and left no
traces. At the Revolution, the Constable's tomb was burst open, and
his coffin torn up. His monument was afterwards removed to Gap, which,
when a Huguenot, he had stormed and ravaged. His chateau at Vizille
passed through different hands, until in 1775 it came into the
possession of the Perier family, to which the celebrated Casimir
Perier belonged. The great Gothic hall of the chateau has witnessed
many strange scenes. In 1623, shortly after his investment as
Constable, Lesdiguieres entertained Louis XIII. and his court there,
while on his journey into Italy, in the course of which he so
grievously ravaged the Vaudois villages. In 1788, the Estates of
Dauphiny met there, and prepared the first bold remonstrance against
aristocratic privileges, and in favour of popular representation,
which, in a measure, proved the commencement of the great Revolution.
And there too, in 1822, Felix Neff preached to large congregations,
who were so anxious and attentive that he always after spoke of the
place as his "dear Vizille;" and now, to wind up the vicissitudes of
the great hall, it is used as a place for the printing of Bandana
handkerchiefs!

* * * * *

When Neff made his flying visits to Vizille, he was temporarily
stationed at Mens, which was the scene of his first labours in
Dauphiny. The place lies not far from Vizille, away among the
mountains towards the south. During the wars of religion, and more
especially after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Mens became a
place of r