This continued resistance to the re-establishment of public worship on
the part of those who most eagerly desired it enabled the general at last
to realise the extent of the danger which would be incurred by the
carrying out of this measure, and he at once took all possible
precautions. Under the pretext that he was going to-have a general
review, he brought the entire civil and military forces of Nimes under
his authority, determined, if necessary, to use the one to suppress the
other. As early as eight o'clock in the morning a guard of gens d'armes
was stationed at the doors of the meeting-house, while other members of
the same force took up their positions in the adjacent streets. On the
other hand, the Consistory had decided that the doors were to be opened
an hour sooner than usual, that the bells were not to be rung, and that
the organ should be silent.

These precautions had both a good and a bad side. The gens d'armes at
the door of the meetinghouse gave if not a promise of security at least a
promise of support, but they showed to the citizens of the other party
what was about to be done; so before nine o'clock groups of Catholics
began to form, and as it happened to be Sunday the inhabitants of the
neighbouring villages arriving constantly by twos and threes soon united
these groups into a little army. Thus the streets leading to the church
being thronged, the Protestants who pushed their way through were greeted
with insulting remarks, and even the president of the Consistory, whose
white, hair and dignified expression had no effect upon the mob, heard
the people round him saying, "These brigands of Protestants are going
again to their temple, but we shall soon give them enough of it."

The anger of the populace soon grows hot; between the first bubble and
the boiling-point the interval is short. Threats spoken in a low voice
were soon succeeded by noisy objurgations. Women, children, and men