PAUL

See also:

• RABAUT
• PAUL RABAUT (1718-1794)

RABAUT (1718-1794)  , French pastor of " the Church of the Desert " (see HUGUENOTS), was born at Bedarieux, near Montpellier, on the 29th of January 1718 . In 1738 he was admitted as a preacher by the synod of Languedoc, and in 1740 he went to Lausanne to complete his studies in the seminary recently founded there by Antoine Court (q.v.) . In 1741 Rabaut was placed at the head of the church of Nimes, and in 1744 he was vice-president of the general synod . During the persecution of 1745–1752 Rabaut himself was obliged to hide . When the marquis of Paulmy d'Argenson was sent to Languedoc to make a military inspection, Rabautsucceeded in interviewing him (1750) . For a time the persecution ceased, but it broke out again in 1753, a price being put upon Rabaut's head . Louis Francois de Bourbon, prince de Conti, interested himself in the Protestants in 1755, and in July Rabaut visited him . During the years 1755–1760 periods of persecution and toleration alternated . By the year 1760, however, the efforts of Antoine Court and P . Rabaut had been so successful that French Protestantism was well established and organized . Court de Gebelin, Paul Rabaut, and his son Saint-Etienne now exerted themselves to get it recognized by the law and government . When the people revolted, the minister Turgot in 1775 requested Rabaut to calm them .

His success aroused the

jealousy of his colleagues, who tried to undo the good work started by Antoine Court . But Rabaut persevered in his efforts to improve legally the position of the Protestants . In 1785, when he was visited by General La Fayette, it was arranged that Rabaut's son, Rabaut Saint-Etienne, should go to Paris on behalf of the Reformed Church . In November 1787 Louis XVI.'s edict of toleration was signed, though it was not registered until the 29th of January 1788 . Two years later liberty of conscience was proclaimed by the National Assembly, of which Rabaut Saint-Etienne was chosen vice-president, and it was declared that non-Catholics might be admitted to all positions . After the fall of the Girondists, however, in which Rabaut Saint-Etienne was involved, Paul Rabaut, who had refused to renounce his title of pastor, was arrested, dragged to the citadel of Nimes, and kept in prison seven weeks (1794) . He died at Nimes on the 25th of September 1794, soon after his release . See J . Pons de Nimes, Notice biographique sur Paul Rabaul (1808) ; Charles Dardier, Paul Rabaut, ses lettres a Antoine Court (1884) and Paul Rabaut, ses lettres a divers (1891) .