on the help of the Duc d'Angouleme, who in the course of a tour through
the South was almost immediately expected at Nimes.

On the 5th of November the prince made his entry into the city, and
having read the reports of the general to the King Louis XVIII, and
having received positive injunctions from his uncle to pacify the unhappy
provinces which he was about to visit, he arrived full of the desire to
displays whether he felt it or not, a perfect impartiality; so when the
delegates from the Consistory were presented to him, not only did he
receive them most graciously, but he was the first to speak of the
interests of their faith, assuring them that it was only a few days since
he had learned with much regret that their religious services had been;
suspended since the 16th of July. The delegates replied that in such a
time of agitation the closing of their places of worship was, a measure
of prudence which they had felt ought to be borne, and which had been
borne, with resignation. The prince expressed his approval of this
attitude with regard to the past, but said that his presence was a
guarantee for the future, and that on Thursday the 9th inst. the two
meeting-houses should be reopened and restored to their proper use. The
Protestants were alarmed at, having a favour accorded to them which was
much more than they would have dared to ask and for which they were
hardly prepared. But the prince reassured them by saying that all
needful measures would be taken to provide against any breach of the
public peace, and at the same time invited M. Desmonts, president, and M.
Roland-Lacoste, member of the Consistory, to dine with him.

The next deputation to arrive was a Catholic one, and its object was to
ask that Trestaillons might be set at liberty. The prince was so
indignant at this request that his only answer was to turn his back on
those who proffered it.