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Stephen Leacock - "The Dawn of Canadian History: A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada"

Charlotte M. Yonge - "THE CLEVER WOMAN OF THE FAMILY"

Edmund Burke - "Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America"

Homer, translated by Alexander Pope - "The Odyssey of Homer"

A Book of Golden Deeds

C >> Charlotte M. Yonge >> A Book of Golden Deeds




He now resolved to cross the Loire, and return to his native Bocage,
where the well-known woods would afford a better protection to his
followers. It was at Craon, on their route to the river, that Madame de
Lescure saw him for the last time, as he rallied his men, who had been
terrified by a false alarm.

She did not return to La Vendee, but, with her mother, was sheltered by
the peasants of Brittany throughout the winter and spring until they
found means to leave the country.

The Vendeans reached the Loire at Ancenis, but they were only able to
find two small boats to carry them over. On the other side, however,
were four great ferry boats loaded with hay; and Henri, with Stofflet,
three other officers, and eighteen soldiers crossed the river in their
two boats, intending to take possession of them, send them back for the
rest of the army, and in the meantime protect the passage from the Blues
on the Vendean side. Unfortunately, however, he had scarcely crossed
before the pursuers came down upon his troops, drove them back from
Ancenis, and entirely prevented them from attempting the passage, while
at the same time Henri and his companions were attacked and forced from
the river by a body of Republicans on their side. A last resistance was
attempted by the retreating Vendeans at Savenay, where they fought nobly
but in vain; four thousand were shot on the field of battle, the chiefs
were made prisoners and carried to Nantes or Angers, where they were
guillotined, and a few who succeeded in escaping found shelter among the
Bretons, or one by one found their way back to La Vendee. M. de
Donnissan was amongst those who were guillotined, and M. d'Elbee, who
was seized shortly after, was shot with his wife.

Henri, with his few companions, when driven from the banks of the Loire,
dismissed the eighteen soldiers, whose number would only have attracted
attention without being sufficient for protection; but the five chiefs
crossed the fields and wandered through the country without meeting a
single inhabitant--all the houses were burnt down, and the few remaining
peasants hidden in the woods. At last, after four-and-twenty hours,
walking, they came to an inhabited farm, where they lay down to sleep on
the straw. The next moment the farmer came to tell them the Blues were
coming; but they were so worn out with fatigue, that they would not
move. The Blues were happily, also, very tired, and, without making any
search, laid down on the other side of the heap of straw, and also fell
asleep. Before daylight the Vendeans rose and set out again, walking
miles and miles in the midst of desolation, until, after several days,
they came to Henri's own village of St. Aubin, where he sought out his
aunt, who was in concealment there, and remained with her for three
days, utterly overwhelmed with grief at his fatal separation from his
army, and only longing for an opportunity of giving his life in the good
cause.

Beyond all his hopes, the peasants no sooner heard his name, than once
more they rallied round the white standard, as determined as ever not to
yield to the Revolutionary government; and the beginning of the year
1794 found him once more at the head of a considerable force, encamped
in the forests of Vesins, guarding the villages around from the
cruelties of the Blues. He was now doubly beloved and trusted by the
followers who had proved his worth, and who even yet looked forward to
triumphs beneath his brave guidance; but it was not so with him, he had
learnt the lesson of disappointment, and though always active and
cheerful, his mind was made up, and the only hope he cherished was of
meeting the death of a soldier. His headquarters were in the midst of a
forest, where one of the Republican officers, who was made prisoner, was
much surprised to find the much-dreaded chieftain of the Royalists
living in a hut formed of boughs of trees, dressed almost like a
peasant, and with his arm still in a sling. This person was shot,
because he was found to be commissioned to promise pardon to the
peasants, and afterwards to massacre them; but Henri had not learnt
cruelty from his persecutors, and his last words were of forgiveness.

It was on Ash Wednesday that he had repulsed an attack of the enemy, and
had almost driven them out of the wood, when, perceiving two soldiers
hiding behind a hedge, he stopped, crying out, 'Surrender, I spare you.'
As he spoke one of them leveled his musket, fired, and stretched him
dead on the ground without a groan. Stofflet, coming up the next moment,
killed the murderer with one stroke of his sword; but the remaining
soldier was spared out of regard to the last words of the general. The
Vendeans wept bitterly, but there was no time to indulge their sorrow,
for the enemy were returning upon them; and, to save their chieftain's
corpse from insult, they hastily dug a grave, in which they placed both
bodies, and retreated as the Blues came up to occupy the ground. The
Republicans sought for the spot, but it was preserved from their
knowledge; and the high-spirited, pure-hearted Henri de la
Rochejaquelein sleeps beside his enemy in the midst of the woodlands
where be won for himself eternal honor. His name is still loved beyond
all others; the Vendeans seldom pronounce it without touching their
hats, and it is the highest glory of many a family that one of their
number has served under Monsieur Henri.

Stofflet succeeded to the command, and carried on the war with great
skill and courage for another year, though with barbarities such as had
never been permitted by the gentle men; but his career was stained by
the death of Marigny, whom, by false accusations, he was induced to
sentence to be shot. Marigny showed great courage and resignation,
himself giving the word to fire--perhaps at that moment remembering the
warning of M. de Lescure. Stofflet repented bitterly, and never ceased
to lament his death. He was at length made prisoner, and shot, with his
last words declaring his devotion to his king and his faith.

Thus ends the tale of the Vendean war, undertaken in the best of causes,
for the honor of God and His Church, and the rescue of one of the most
innocent of kings, by men whose saintly characters and dauntless courage
have seldom been surpassed by martyrs or heroes of any age. It closed
with blood, with fire, with miseries almost unequalled; yet who would
dare to say that the lives of Cathelineau, Bonchamp, Lescure, La
Rochejaquelein, with their hundreds of brave and pious followers, were
devoted in vain? Who could wish to see their brightness dimmed with
earthly rewards?

And though the powers of evil were permitted to prevail on earth, yet
what could their utmost triumph effect against the faithful, but to make
for them, in the words of the child king for whom they fought, one of
those thorny paths that lead to glory!


THE END.

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