Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew vol 2.djvu/161

 (via Dieppe) one of his little children, Judith Julie. In the following spring she herself, and the other surviving children, put off to sea at the same port, through the address and courage of Captain Laveine, and landed at Rotterdam, where Dumont met them. They arrived as a refugee family at the Hague on 22d March 1688.

The expedition of the Prince of Orange into England soon interrupted this domestic life. De Bostaquet joined it as a cavalry officer. The Huguenot cavalry were provisionally enrolled in two Regiments of Dragoons, les bleus (Col. Petit), and les rouges (Col. Louvigny). De Bostaquet, who had then nearly completed his 57th year, was made the senior captain of Louvigny’s Red Dragoons. He gives a lively description of the embarkation and the voyage to England, then of the disembarkation and the march towards the British capital. On the arrival of the fleet at Torbay, “the disembarkation was effected with great skill and promptitude,” says the Edinburgh Reviewer, from whom we borrow a translation of De Bostaquet’s account of the arrival of the fleet:—

“We distinctly saw many people gathering upon the hills to watch our coming and enjoy the spectacle. They did not appear alarmed in the least, when the men of war and the entire army made their way into a bay in the vicinity. The place was called Torbay, and here we landed. It seemed as if nature had made it for our reception. The bay like a crescent runs in a long distance; where we cast anchor it was overlooked by cliffs of great height and with rocky points; and it is spacious enough to hold a number of vessels. Our fleet did not nearly fill it; the anchorage was good, and the surrounding heights enabled our ships to ride in safety. It was here, as I said, that our Great Prince and the whole of our army disembarked. Heaven, which had conducted him to the spot in triumph, appeared resolved to continue its favour. The sea was calm, the bay like a lake, and the setting sun shone with such lustre that he seemed to leave our hero with regret; yet at last he sank, for he wished to inform another world of our great adventure. The moon, however, took his place, and shone brightly to illuminate our landing.”

“We may leave our readers,” adds the Reviewer, “to learn from M. De Bostaquet how badly tilled and bleak of aspect were the Devonshire valleys at this period, and how execrable were the roads of Somersetshire; and to imagine how ‘little edified he was by the huge wax candles, the font, and altar-plate, the surpliced canons and the choir of boys, so different from our reformed simplicity,’ which were then the pride and glory of the cathedral of Exeter. He notices particularly that at every place the army were welcomed as deliverers; and he adds that the discipline enforced by William contributed to the success of the enterprise.”

The Huguenot cavalry were conspicuous in the Prince’s army, and also 2250 foot-soldiers of the same communion. The French historian, J. Michelet, estimates the number of French officers at 736, some of them making their debût in the service of the liberator of Britain as privates. Observing that this steadfast and considerable portion of the troops is not alluded to in Lord Macaulay’s word-picture of the march from Exeter, Michelet complains rather bitterly in words like these:—

“In the Homeric enumeration which that historian gives of William’s comrades, he counts (as one who would omit nothing), English, Germans, Dutch, Swedes, Swiss, yes, down to the three hundred negroes, with turbans and white plumes, in attendance on as many rich English or Dutch officers. But he has not an eye for our soldiers. Is it that our band of exiles are clad in costumes incongruous with William’s grandeur? The uniform of many of them must be that of the impoverished refugee — dusty, threadbare, torn.”

De Bostaquet took up his quarters in London under the sign of The Angel on the 15th December. After the Proclamation of William and Mary in January 1689 (new style), he tendered his services to his king, either in the Dutch or English establishment, as his Majesty should appoint; and being accepted for the latter, he went to Holland to bring his family over. Fearing lest the army under Schomberg should embark for Ireland without him, he conveyed Madame and the children across the Channel with as much speed as wind and weather would permit. He and they were put ashore at Greenwich. Here they found a home, and the aged Marquis and Marquise De Ruvigny lavished their kindness upon them as upon all the refugees. On the 2nd July another infant son was born to De Bostaquet; the young Marquis De Ruvigny stood Godfather, and named him Henri. The death of the old Marquis took place about a month afterwards — namely, on August 5th (new style). It drew from Dumont a tributary sentence extolling “the illustrious deceased, who has left behind him a memory worthy of his life, wholly engrossed with the care of the Church in France, notwithstanding the contrariety of the times — a life illustrated at its close by his overflowing beneficence to the refugees in Britain, whose stay and protector he has been on all occasions.” 