to be employed in Piedmont and the parts adjacent; the said forces are to consist of French refugees.”
Under date 4th August 1704, Luttrell records, “Four hundred French refugees, enlisted by the Marquis De Miremont, appeared in St. James’ Park, being all brisk young men, and were reviewed by her Majesty.” The Royal countenance did good, for by the month of September the number amounted to fifteen hundred. After this, Miremont was in Holland, raising men and forming projects. It appears that, in May 1705, he was ready to take the route for Piedmont, but if he went there he did not remain, as he returned to England in September 1705.
In the Marlborough Despatches there is a letter from the Duke to the Marquis De Miremont, dated from the “Camp of Herenthals, 29th Sept. 1705,” “acknowledging his letter of the 10th inst., as the first after a long interval, which circumstance proves the Marquis to be dissatisfied with him, which he would not have been, if he knew all the truth and the many difficulties which the Duke’s successful solicitations with the States had cost him.”
St. Simon makes the following allusion to the long conflict in the South of France:—
“The fanatics of Laguedoc and of Cevennes gave occupation to the troops, who cut up some of their squadrons from time to time, but without hurting them much in the main. Some Hollanders were surprised in the act of conveying to them both money and weapons with great promises of succour. Geneva also sustained them to the utmost of its power in a secret manner, and supplied them with preachers. What was most annoying was their correspondence with the population. Rochegude, a gentleman with an estate of from ten to twelve thousand livres per annum, was arrested, informed against by a Dutch officer, who was taken, and who, to save his own life, betrayed him, and promised to reveal many other things. It was to Rochegude that he and his comrades had received orders to apply, when in want of money, arms, or provisions. Besides, there were many other distinguished persons in those provinces who were among the most forward in the revolt, and who had been altogether unsuspected." (Vol. vii., p. 167, edit. 1853.)
The Lord of Rochegude here spoken of was not the illustrious refugee, Le Marquis de Rochegude, but a relative who, by conforming to Romanism, had obtained a gift of the forfeited estate. That he was not a convert is evident. It is to the Marquis, however, that we must now turn. He devoted himself to obtain the release of Protestant martyrs from the galleys of France, and obtained hearty help from Miremont.
Jacques de Barjac,[1] Marquis de Rochegude, was the eldest son of Jean (or Charles) Barjac, Seigneur de Rochegude. His mother was Francoise d’Agoult, daughter of Hector, Lord of Montmaur and Bonneval, by Uranie de Calignon. His father died at Vevay in Switzerland, where he had been a refugee for only a few months. His two sisters were immured in a convent, from which they escaped to Switzerland after fourteen years’ detention. For the same period he and his younger brother were under the tutelage of the Jesuits. He also suffered imprisonment, but was at length released and joined the rest of the family. He was soon the only surviving son of a widowed mother, who had made an earlier escape from proselytizing tormentors, but not early enough to find her husband in life. On reaching Switzerland, the Marquis de Rochegude was immediately employed as a negotiator with foreign governments on behalf of the refugees in the cantons. At a later period he took up the case of the galley slaves.
One of his letters, in defence of the moral principles of the sufferers, alludes to his own life, and I therefore quote it here, although it is his last paper in order of time, being dated March 1713:—
“I should think myself wanting in due respect to the Potentates who have charged me with letters to the Queen in favour of the Confessors in the French Prisons and Galleys, if I should not make it appear that it is with injustice some people endeavour to brand as criminals and villains those very persons whom the Potentates are pleased to call their brethren, good and commendable Christians, and Confessors of the Faith.
“Every one knows that the violent persecutions against the Protestants of France has been attended with banishments, imprisonments, confinement on board of the galleys, tortures, and the most exquisite torments that were ever invented. Is there any occasion for proofs? About two hundred thousand witnesses, both without and within the kingdom of France, testify this truth. Let anybody enquire why the Protestant refugees left their country, their estates, their employments, and their relations? It was on no other score but to avoid persecutions, and obey God who commands us when we are persecuted in one place to fly to another. This is the- ↑ This corrected account of the antecedents of the Marquis de Rochegude is chiefly obtained from Haag (Articles Barjac and Montmaur, and Errata of volume 1st, given in volume 9th, page 502.)
