SUFFERING FOR THE FAITH 



77 



this he used for his study where he prepared his sermons 

 (siu-ely they wen; sermous worth hearing). Another 

 made liis home in a hole covered over with brambles in 

 the middle of a great plain ; here he read his Bible and 

 slept, until one day some sheep fell into the hole and the 

 shepherd, thus discovering the hiding-place, informed 

 the magistrates. In 1758 Paul Rabaut, the "Apostle of 

 the Desert," going by some lonely ci'ossroads, would spy 

 a placard : "Wanted, Paul Rabaut, the minister. Aged 

 about forty ; visage plain, long and thin ; a little sun- 

 burned ; black hair, aquiliue nose ; has lost a tooth in the 

 upper jaw," etc. The authorities rated his capture as 

 being worth 20,000 francs — little realizing that the value 

 of one such man as Paul Rabaut could not be expressed 

 in terms of money. 



Ill 



But after the middle of the century persecution grew 

 lighter and lighter. The wishes of Romanism finally 

 were forced to give way to the growing spirit of human- 

 ity. Toleration came at last, though with lagging foot- 

 steps. In 1762, in the city of Toulouse, the last Prot- 

 estant martyr ascended the scaffold. This was Pastor 

 Rochette, twenty-five years old. When the judge read 

 the sentence of death, Rochette knelt and prayed in the 

 court-room. "The recorder shed tears, so did jailers and 

 soldiers. Rochette kindly turned to one of them : ' My 

 friend, you would readily die for the king. Do not jDity 

 me, who am going to die for my God.' 



"At 2 p. M., the last Protestant scaffold was made 

 ready. He walked barefoot, with a placard around his 

 neck — Minister of the Pretended Reformed Religion. 

 Every balcony and house-top was crowded. The whole 

 city was shocked. Pity and sympathy were on every 

 face. Rochette stepped on the scaffold, saying, Here 

 comes the happy day. It was coming — for the martyr 

 first, and soon for his brethren." 



Paul Rabaut 



A Better Day 



Last Martyr 

 1762 



