12 President's Address. 



ous bubble," the Ayr bank, in 1772. Three-fourths or more of the 

 property was sold ; but through the urg-ent advice, and, no doubt, 

 assistance of the Dover banker, a residue was preserved ; and in 

 later years, out of the fortune which he bequeathed, some of the 

 lost portions have been redeemed and restored to the old estate. 



What curious links are sometimes evolved in the chain of 

 cause and effect ! Thus, when Louis XIV. put his signature to the 

 Act of Revocation he unwittingly helped largely to found a new 

 family, and to secure its modest prosperity in the land to which his 

 tyranny had banished it. But he did far more ; the influence of 

 his act was world-wide. He put an end in France, for a time at 

 least, to freedom of thought and liberty of worship ; he inaugu- 

 rated an epoch of mental stagnation, political depravity, religious 

 hypocrisy, and moral decay. Protestantism was crushed out, 

 Jesuitism was triumphant ; and the reign of bigotry was followed 

 at no distant date by the reign of terror, and the horrors of the 

 Revolution ; a Revolution which, beginning in 1789, has not, as it 

 would seem, yet run its course. 



This is not the place to dwell upon the fortunes, or rather the 

 misfortunes, of France, which were largely consequent upon the 

 expulsion of the Huguenots ; but it is certainly a remarkable fact 

 that since the time of Louis XIV. no ruler of France has, with two 

 exceptions, died upon his throne. The fate of Louis XVI. and of 

 his son is well known. Louis XVIII. died indeed upon the throne, 

 but it was after long years spent in banishment. Charles X., his 

 brother, died in exile ; as also did Louis Philippe, who supplanted 

 him. The I)uc de Berri, son of Charles X., was assassinated, and 

 his son, the Count de Chambord, the last of the elder branch of the 

 Bourbons, lived and died a stranger to his own land. The fate 

 of the two Napoleons is, of course, familiar to us ; and who can 

 say where the headship of that great nation at present resides, in 

 the army, in the mob, or where ? 



We need only turn to the Huguenot dispersion to see how 

 different has been the fate of the Refugees and their descendants. 

 From the first their prosperity has been very marked ; and whether 

 as soldiers or sailors, as lawyers or physicians, as men of science 

 or men of business, they have contributed their full share to the 

 wealth and progress of the countries of their adoption. We are 

 apt to boast perhaps too much of our Anglo-Saxon origin : the root 

 stock may be Anglo-Saxon, but it had been largely recruited from 



