Appearance
Excerpt
Excerpt from Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Not only was life made intolerable in Languedoc, but flight was rigidly
forbidden. One Massip, a muleteer, and well acquainted with the mountain-
paths, had already guided several troops of fugitives in safety to
Geneva; and on him, with another convoy, consisting mostly of women
dressed as men, Du Chayla, in an evil hour for himself, laid his hands.
The Sunday following, there was a conventicle of Protestants in the woods
of Altefage upon Mount Bouges; where there stood up one Seguier--Spirit
Seguier, as his companions called him--a wool-carder, tall, black-faced,
and toothless, but a man full of prophecy. He declared, in the name of
God, that the time for submission had gone by, and they must betake
themselves to arms for the deliverance of their brethren and the
destruction of the priests.
The next night, 24th July 1702, a sound disturbed the Inspector of
Missions as he sat in his prison-house at Pont de Montvert: the voices of
many men upraised in psalmody drew nearer and nearer through the town. It
was ten at night; he had his court about him, priests, soldiers, and
servants, to the number of twelve or fifteen; and now dreading the
insolence of a conventicle below his very windows, he ordered forth his
soldiers to report. But the psalm-singers were already at his door,
fifty strong, led by the inspired Seguier, and breathing death. To their
summons, the archpriest made answer like a stout old persecutor, and bade
his garrison fire upon the mob. One Camisard (for, according to some, it
was in this night's work that they came by the name) fell at this
discharge: his comrades burst in the door with hatchets and a beam of
wood, overran the lower story of the house, set free the prisoners, and
finding one of them in the vine, a sort of Scavenger's Daughter of the
place and period, redoubled in fury against Du Chayla, and sought by
repeated assaults to carry the upper floors. But he, on his side, had
given absolution to his men, and they bravely held the staircase.
'Children of God,' cried the prophet, 'hold your hands. Let us burn the
house, with the priest and the satellites of Baal.'
Explanation
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879) is a travel memoir recounting his journey through the rugged Cévennes region of southern France, interspersed with historical and cultural reflections. The excerpt provided delves into a pivotal moment in the Camisard Rebellion (1702–1704), a violent uprising of French Protestants (Huguenots) against Catholic persecution following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). Stevenson, a Scottish writer with Protestant sympathies, frames this episode as a dramatic clash between oppressed dissenters and the Catholic establishment, emphasizing themes of religious persecution, resistance, and divine justice.
Context of the Excerpt
The passage describes the assassination of Abbé François Langlade du Chayla, the Inspecteur des Missions, a zealous Catholic enforcer tasked with suppressing Protestantism in the Cévennes. The Huguenots, stripped of legal protections, faced imprisonment, forced conversions, and executions. The excerpt captures the boiling point of their despair, when a charismatic lay preacher, Spirit Seguier, incites a band of rebels (later called Camisards, possibly from the Occitan camisa, meaning "shirt," referring to their peasant attire) to storm du Chayla’s residence.
Key historical notes:
- Massip the muleteer: A guide helping Protestants flee to Geneva, symbolizing the underground resistance network.
- Conventicles: Secret Protestant gatherings banned under Louis XIV. Seguier’s sermon at Altefage marks the shift from passive suffering to armed revolt.
- Du Chayla’s absolution: A Catholic ritual freeing his men from sin before battle, contrasting with the Camisards’ belief in direct divine mandate.
Themes
Religious Persecution and Resistance
- The Huguenots are trapped: "Life was made intolerable… flight was rigidly forbidden." The state’s brutality (e.g., the vine, a torture device) justifies their violent response.
- Divine sanction: Seguier’s prophecy ("the time for submission had gone by") frames the rebellion as holy war, echoing Old Testament narratives (e.g., the Maccabees). The psalm-singing mob evokes biblical righteousness against "the priests" and "satellites of Baal" (a pagan deity, here symbolizing Catholic idolatry).
Prophecy and Fanaticism
- Seguier is a charismatic, apocalyptic figure: "tall, black-faced, and toothless" suggests a rugged, almost supernatural presence. His nickname, "Spirit," implies divine possession.
- His call to arms is uncompromising: "destruction of the priests" reflects the millenarian belief that the Camisards were God’s instruments. Stevenson neither glorifies nor condemns this fanaticism but presents it as a desperate response to tyranny.
Violence as Catharsis
- The attack is ritualistic: Psalm-singing (a Protestant tradition) accompanies the assault, blending worship with vengeance.
- The burning of the house symbolizes purification—cleansing the land of Catholic corruption. Fire, a recurrent motif in Stevenson’s work (e.g., Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), here represents divine judgment.
Class and Power
- The rebels are peasants and artisans (e.g., Seguier, a wool-carder) against the aristocratic clergy (du Chayla’s "court" of priests and soldiers). The "Scavenger’s Daughter" (a torture device) underscores the dehumanization of Protestants.
- The hatchets and wood beam used to break in contrast with the garrison’s firearms, highlighting the asymmetry of power and the rebels’ reliance on brute force.
Literary Devices
Dramatic Irony
- Du Chayla’s absolution of his men is ironic: he prepares them for death, unaware that his own is imminent. His "stout old persecutor" demeanor blind him to the inevitability of revolt.
Biblical Allusion
- "Satellites of Baal": Baal was a Canaanite god whose worshippers were enemies of the Israelites (1 Kings 18). Stevenson casts the Catholics as idolaters, aligning the Camisards with Old Testament prophets.
- The psalm-singing mob evokes the Israelites’ conquest of Jericho (Joshua 6), where music precedes divine victory.
Sensory Imagery
- Sound: The "voices of many men upraised in psalmody" growing "nearer and nearer" creates tension, like an approaching storm.
- Violence: The "hatchets and a beam of wood" convey raw, improvised fury, contrasting with the ordered gunfire of du Chayla’s soldiers.
Symbolism
- Fire: The proposal to burn the house suggests both destruction and rebirth—a cleansing of oppression.
- The vine (torture device): Represents the institutionalized cruelty of the Catholic regime.
Foreshadowing
- The mention of Massip’s earlier escapes hints at the rebels’ resourcefulness, while du Chayla’s capture of a "convoy… mostly of women dressed as men" foreshadows the desperation and gender-fluidity of resistance.
Significance of the Passage
Historical Record Stevenson’s account, while dramatized, preserves the oral history of the Camisards, a movement often overshadowed by larger European conflicts. His Protestant heritage (his family were Scottish Covenanters) lends sympathy to the rebels.
Moral Ambiguity The excerpt does not romanticize violence but presents it as a tragic necessity. Seguier’s fanaticism is both inspiring and terrifying, reflecting Stevenson’s interest in duality (later explored in Jekyll and Hyde).
Travel Writing as Political Commentary By embedding this history in his travelogue, Stevenson links landscape to memory. The Cévennes’ rugged terrain becomes a metaphor for resistance—both physical and spiritual.
Influence on Later Works The themes of persecution, prophecy, and violent retribution reappear in Stevenson’s fiction, e.g., Kidnapped (religious conflict in Scotland) and The Master of Ballantrae (fraternal betrayal amid political strife).
Close Reading of Key Lines
"the time for submission had gone by"
- A turning point: The Huguenots, long suffering, now embrace active defiance. The phrase echoes revolutionary manifestos (e.g., the American Declaration of Independence’s "patient sufferance").
"Children of God, hold your hands. Let us burn the house"
- Seguier’s rhetorical shift from direct combat to symbolic destruction suggests a strategic, almost theatrical approach to rebellion. Fire is purifying, not just destructive.
"they bravely held the staircase"
- The staircase as a battleground symbolizes the hierarchical struggle—the rebels (below) vs. the clergy (above). The verticality reinforces the power dynamics.
Conclusion
Stevenson’s excerpt is a microcosm of religious war, blending historical reportage with literary flair. The Camisards’ revolt is portrayed as a clash of absolutes—faith vs. persecution, prophecy vs. authority—where violence becomes both a sin and a sacrament. The passage’s power lies in its unflinching depiction of fanaticism, neither glorifying nor condemning, but presenting it as the inevitable outcome of oppression. Through vivid imagery and biblical resonance, Stevenson transforms a local uprising into a universal story of resistance, relevant to any struggle against tyranny.
In the broader context of Travels with a Donkey, this history haunts the landscape, reminding Stevenson (and the reader) that the Cévennes’ beauty is steeped in blood and faith. The donkey trek becomes a pilgrimage through memory, where the past is as alive as the mountains themselves.