Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/272

260 and against the centre of the insurgent forces, he attempted to drive them from t lieir barricades, with doubtful success for some time, as every inch of ground was disputed, and the Government troops were frequently repulsed, till, fresh regiments arriving, he forced his way to the Place de la Bastille, and crushed the insurrection in its headquarters. The contest, which raged from the 23d to the morning of the 26th of June, was, without doubt, the bloodiest and most resolute the streets of Paris have ever seen. It is calculated that more Frenchmen fell in it than in the bloodiest battles of the first empire. Cavaignac was severely censured by some for having, by his delay, allowed the insurrection to gather head ; but he was declared by an immense majority to have deserved well of his country, and continued to be president of the Executive Committee till the election of a regular president of the republic. It was expected that the suffrages of France would raise Cavaignac to that position. But the mass of the people, and especially the rural population, sick of revolution, and weary even of the moderate republicanism of Cavaignac, were anxious for a stable government. Against the five and a half million votes recorded for Louis Napoleon, Cavaignac received only a million and a half. Not without chagrin at his defeat, he withdrew into the ranks of the opposition. At the coup d etat of the 2d December 1851, he was arrested along with the other mem bers of the opposition ; but after a short imprisonment at Ham he was released, and, with his newly-married wife, lived in retirement till his death in 1 857. Cavaignac was no statesman, but was a loyal, skilful, and courageous soldier, a zealous republican, and in every way an honourable man.  CAVAILLON, a town of France and important railway junction in the department of Vaucluse, on the right bank of the Durance, about 13 miles south-east of Avignon. The town is ill-built and dirty, and carries on a considerable trade in dried fruits, madder, and other productions of the fertile district in which it is situated. It has a fine town- house, an old church of the 12th century, dedicated to the Virgin and St Veran, and the mutilated remains of a triumphal arch which probably belongs to the time of Constantine. Numerous minor relics of the I?oman period have been found to the south of the present town, on the site of the ancient Cabellio, a place of some note in the territory of the Cavares. In mediaeval and modern history the town has for the most part followed the fortunes of the Comtat Venaissin, in which it was included ; and down to the Revolution it was the see of a bishop, and had a large number of monastic establishments. Population in 1872, 3906 in the town, and 8034 in the commune.  CAVALCANTI,, an Italian poet and philosopher of the 13th century, who died in 1300. He was the son of a philosopher whom Dante, in the Inferno, condemns to torment among the Epicureans and Atheists ; but he himself was a friend of the great poet. By marriage with the daughter of Farinata Uberti, he became head of the Ghibellines; and when the people, weary of continual brawls, aroused themselves, and sought peace by banishing the leaders of the rival parties, he was sent to Sarzana, where he caught a fever, of which he died, Cavalcanti has left a number of love sonnets and canzoni, which were honoured by the praise of Dante. Some are simple and graceful, but many are spoiled by a mixture of metaphysics borrowed from Plato, Aristotle, and the Christian Fathers. They are mostly in honour of a French lady, whom he calls Mandetta. His Canzone d Amore was extremely popular, and was frequently published ; and his complete poetical works are contained in Giunti s collection, Florence, 1527, Venice, 1531-2. He also wrote in prose on philosophy and oratory.  CAVALIER, (c. 1680-1740), the famous chief of the Camisards, was born at Ribaute, near Anduse, in Lower Languedoc. The date of his birth is variously given between 1679 and 1685. It could hardly be so late as the last-named year, and may probably be assigned to the period between 1679 and 1681. He was the son of a peasant, and in boyhood was employed first in keeping sheep, and afterwards as a baker s apprentice. A pious mother trained him in the Reformed faith. The persecu tion of Protestants, which began after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and which was carried on with pitiless cruelty in the Cevennes, drove him from his native land in 1701, and he took refuge at Geneva. By the dragonnades of Louis XIV. the Protestants of the Cevennes were at last driven to revolt ; and Cavalier, inspired with the hope of being their deliverer, a hope which was raised to the pitch of enthusiasm, it is said, by certain prophecies, returned to his own country in 1702. The insurrection broke out in July of that year, and Cavalier was one of the chosen leaders. Roland was named generalissimo, but Cavalier soon rose to share the chief command with him. Untrained in arms, he displayed not only a fiery courage, but extra ordinary military skill. This must have been owing to some extent to the eager attention which he had paid, while keeping his sheep, to the manoeuvres of the troops which w T ere stationed in his native district. Although the enfants de Dieu, as the insurgents were called, numbered at the most only 3000 men in arms, they coped successfully again and again with the much more numerous forces of the king, and were never entirely conquered, After several affairs Cavalier changed the theatre of war to the Vivarais ; and on the 10th of February 1703 he defeated the royalist troops on the Ardeche. A few days later he was completely defeated on the same ground and was supposed to have fallen. But he reappeared, was again defeated at Tour-de-Bellot (April 30), and again recovered himself, recruits flocking to him to fill up the places of the slain. By a long series of successes he raised his reputation to the highest pitch, and gained the full confidence of the people. It was in vain that more and more rigorous measures were adopted against the Camisards ; in vain that their mountain district was ravaged, sacked, and burned by the Catholics. Cavalier boldly carried the war into the plain, made terrible reprisals, and threatened even Nimes itself. On April 16, 1704, he encountered Mar shal Montrevel himself at the bridge of Nages, with 1000 men against 5000 ; and though defeated after a desperate conflict, he made a successful retreat with two thirds of his men. Marshal Villars was next sent against him, and instead of fighting proposed negotiation. Roland reso lutely turned a deaf ear to him ; but Cavalier agreed to treat. A conference was held at Nimes, hostages being given to Cavalier ; and he appeared with an armed and mounted escort, which was drawn up facing the guard of the marshal. The terms proposed were deferred to the decision of the king, Cavalier in the meanwhile retiring to Calvisson. In this place for some days the Camisardi held their meetings openly, and thousands eagerly flocked to them. The result of the negotiation was that Cavalier received for himself a commission with a pension of 1200 livres, and for his brother a captain s commission. He was authorized to form a regiment of Camisards to be sent to Spain ; and liberty was restored to his father and other Protestant prisoners. The treaty, which did not include any provision for general liberty of conscience, excited great indignation among the companions of Cavalier. They called him traitor and coward, and deserted him. Dis heartened, and with little confidence in the promises of the court, Cavalier afterwards visited Paris for the purpose of an interview with Louis XIV. He was presented privately to the king at Versailles, but was ill received. His dis- 