The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-11-16

Huguenots, who did not cleave to their
integrity under persecution, became the
seats of the coolest and most hooking
skepticism. Thus, Condillac and Mably,
the very high-priests of the infdel move
ment, were both grandsons of noble in
Dauphiny, who had been converted -
by the booted missionaries of st. Ruth.
The Encyclopedia" was the Nemesis of
the Dragonnades.
AS though to give more startling en-
phesis to the teachings of this history
and to set browning glory upon the
principles of the consistent Huguenots,
we find that the best friends the Bourbon
had, in the day of his calamity, among
the enlightened friends of French liberty,
were of the prosecuted religion. The
Noblesse, by their cowardly emigration,
and their truculent plots against their
fatherland, only added to the cruel diff
tculties of the position of the sovereign
they professed to revere. The last stand
for constitutional liberty, and for the
sacredness of the kings person against
the despotic fury of Jacobinism, was made
by the "Gironde." The Girondists had
their strength precisely in those pro-
vinces of the south, where Professionalism
fingered most. When the miserable king
and his queen were dragged back to Paris
from their attempted flight, one of the
two deputies who watched over them,
exhibited such respect and courtesy, as
won the confidence of Marie Antoinette.
1t was the Girondist Barnave, Presby-
terrain of Grenoble. He was, with the
other true friends of their country, the
advocate of limited monarchy. He be-
came the wise adviser and temperate de-
fender of Louis XVI in the convention.
For this loyalty to the heir of the mon
arch who had prosecuted his own ances-
tiers to the death, Barnave was dragged
to the guillotine under Robespierre. But
the most illustrious defender of the fallen
monarch was the Presbyterian minister,
Ro6aut 81. Etie,ane, of Nismes. His
father, the venerable Paul Rabaut, was a
disciple of the heroic pastor, Antoine
Court; and held the mission of "Pastor
IN the Desert, when to preach the Cos
pei to the prosecuted people of God in
France, was death. His son, Rabaut ST..
Etienne, devoted him. elf from his youth
to the same perilous ministry. For many
years he preached the GOSPEL in Langue-
doc, with the sword at his throat. But
the approach of the revolution was mod
Grating the audacity of the Romanists,
and he gradually acquired more liberty
of action. At length in 1887 he ven
tured to appear in Paris under the pat
ronage of La Fayette, then on the flood
tide of his popularity, and obtained from
the amiable Louis XVI, a charter of toll
Grafton for the prosecuted people Such
were his wisdom, eloquence, and modera-
ton, that when the States General were
convoked in 1889, to give France con-
stitution, the Presbyterian pastor was one
of the prominent deputies. In 1870 he
was chosen President of the CONSTITUENT
Assembly" which followed the first con-
vocation. He advocated liberty of con
science, trial by jury, and limited, con-
stitutional monarchy. But "The Terror
was approaching, under the patronage of
the Jacobins and the atheists. The Con-
vention was sitting; the kings attempted
flight, the arming of the emigrant mobiles
and the trial of their monarch for his life,
followed in rapid succession. Many
bowed before the turbulence of Jacobin-
ISM but Rabaut st. Etienne both spoke
with fearless eloquence and voted for
the kings acquittal. He was condemned
by "a majority of one vote Had the
tyranny of Louis XIV been less sweep
ing, had two more such Presbyterian pas
tors been LEFT to vote in that convention,
Louis XVI would have saved his head !
A wondrous providence thus illustrated
again its awful justice, and the magnan-
unity of true Christianity. ST. Etienne
paid for his fidelity, along with the
at the guillotine, and Louis
and his proud queen were murdered.
Well would it have been for them, had
hero haan mora trua Huouao oto loft IN