About four o'clock in the afternoon
Henri did not say quite so much as this , but he told the men that a friend of theirs -- a bishop of the Church -- one especially appointed by the King before he died , to provide for the spiritual comfort of his poor people in the west of France , was now among them , and would soon address them . He directed them to stay where they were till this man of God should be among them , and he besought them strictly to follow any advice which he might give them . Every one in the town flocked out to the army -- men , women and children were soon in the fields , and the report was spread abroad through them all , that the mysterious carriage which had rattled through the streets of Montreuil , had brought to that favoured town a holy bishop , sent expressly by their father the Pope to give good advice to his dear children in La Vendée . About four o'clock in the afternoon the stranger walked among them . Father Jerome walked on his right hand , and Cathelineau on his left . M. de Lescure followed immediately behind them . He was a very tall man -- nearly seven feet high ; and his peculiar costume added in appearance to his real height -- he was dressed in the gorgeous robes of a bishop of the Church of Rome as he would appear at the altar of his cathedral when about to celebrate high mass ; he had his mitre on his head and his crozier in his hand ; and as he walked through the crowd , the men and women everywhere kneeled down and bowed their heads to the earth ; the people were delighted to have so holy a man among them -- to see a bishop in La Vendée .