-place
that one of his faithful guides had provided for him, under a pile of
stones and thorn-bushes. It was discovered at length by a shepherd,
and such was the wretchedness of his condition, that, when he was
forced to abandon the place, he still regretted this retreat, which
was more fit for savage beasts than men."

Yet this hut of piled stones was for some time the centre of
Protestant affairs in France. All the faithful instinctively turned to
Rabaut when assailed by fresh difficulties and persecutions, and acted
on his advice. He obtained the respect even of the Catholics
themselves, because it was known that he was a friend of peace, and
opposed to all risings and rebellions amongst his people.

Once he had the courage to present a petition to the Marquis de
Paulmy, Minister of War, when changing horses at a post-house between
Nismes and Montpellier. Rabaut introduced himself by name, and the
Marquis knew that it was the proscribed pastor who stood before him.
He might have arrested and hanged Rabaut on the spot; but, impressed
by the noble bearing of the pastor, he accepted the petition, and
promised to lay it before the king.

CHAPTER XIII

END OF THE PERSECUTIONS--THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

In the year 1762, the execution of an unknown Protestant at Toulouse
made an extraordinary noise in Europe. Protestant pastors had so often
been executed, that the punishment had ceased to be a novelty.
Sometimes they were simply hanged; at other times they were racked,
and then hanged; and lastly, they were racked, had their larger bones
broken, and were then hanged. Yet none of the various tortures
practised on the Protestant pastors had up to that time excited any
particular sensation in France itself, and still less in Europe.

Cruelty against French Huguenots was so common a thing in those days,
that few persons who were of any other religion, or of no religion at
all, cured anything about it. The Protestants were altogether outside
the law. When a Protestant meeting was discovered and surrounded, and
men, women, and children were at once shot down, no one could call the
murderers in question, because the meetings were illegal. The persons
taken prisoners at the meetings were brought before the magistrates
and sentenced to punishments even worse than death. They might be sent
to the galleys, to spend the remainder of their lives amongst
thieves, murderers, and assassins. Women and children found at such
m