Spirit had revealed to him that the arm of the Lord, which had always
come to their aid, was still stretched out over them.

Cavalier undertook these movements in the hope of interrupting the work
of destruction going on in Upper Cevennes; and partly obtained the
desired result; for M. de Julien received orders to come down into the
open country and disperse the Camisards.

The troops tried to fulfil this task, but, thanks to the knowledge that
the rebels had of the country, it was impossible to come up with them, so
that Fleshier, who was in the thick of the executions, conflagrations,
and massacres, but who still found time to write Latin verse and gallant
letters, said, in speaking of them, "They were never caught, and did all
the damage they wished to do without let or hindrance. We laid their
mountains waste, and they laid waste our plain. There are no more
churches left in our dioceses, and not being able either to plough or sow
our lands, we have no revenues. We dread serious revolt, and desire to
avoid a religious civil war; so all our efforts are relaxing, we let our
arms fall without knowing why, and we are told, 'You must have patience;
it is not possible to fight against phantoms.'" Nevertheless, from time
to time, these phantoms became visible. Towards the end of October,
Cavalier came down to Uzes, carried off two sentinels who were guarding
the gates, and hearing the call to arms within, shouted that he would
await the governor of the city, M. de Vergetot, near Lussan.

And indeed Cavalier, accompanied by his two lieutenants, Ravanel and
Catinat, took his way towards this little town, between Uzes and Bargeac,
which stands upon an eminence surrounded upon all sides by cliffs, which
serve it as ramparts and render it very difficult of access. Having
arrived within three gun-shots of Lussan, Cavalier sent Ravanel to demand