118). Rapin was educated at the academies of Puylaurens and Saumur. He showed more inclination for arms than letters, but, at his father's desire, adopted the study of the law, and was received as an advocate in 1679. In the same year the abolition of the courts of the edict obliged his father to remove to Toulouse, whither Rapin accompanied his family. He is stated to have pleaded only one cause as an advocate, and devoted his time to mathematics, music, and belles-lettres.
In 1685 the elder Rapin died, and two months after his death the edict of Nantes was revoked. The Rapin family retired into the country to avoid persecution. Paul, with his younger brother Salomon, made his way in March 1686 to London, where, thanks to the influence of his uncle Pélisson, he was favourably received by Barillon, the French ambassador. Rapin saw no prospect of employment under James II unless he became a catholic, and found himself harassed by the attempts of his uncle's friends to bring about the necessary conversion. To escape their urgency he went over to Holland and enlisted in a company of French refugees at Utrecht, commanded by his cousin, Daniel de Rapin. The company formed part of the army with which William of Orange landed in England in November 1688, and Rapin's account of the prince's expedition is therefore one of the most valuable parts of his history (ib. p. 143; History of England, translated by Tindal, ed. 1743, ii. 777). In 1689 he was made ensign in Lord Kingston's regiment of foot, which formed part of the force sent to Ireland under Schomberg. He distinguished himself at the siege of Carrickfergus, and was a few months later given a lieutenancy. Rapin fought at the battle of the Boyne, and was wounded at the unsuccessful assault on Limerick (27 Aug. 1690). Lieutenant-general Douglas, who became his patron, employed him temporarily as quartermaster-general, wished to take him to Flanders as aide-de-camp, and procured for him a company first in Kingston's regiment and afterwards in the Scots guards. Rapin took part in the capture of Athlone (30 June 1691), but was not present at the battle of Aughrim. In 1693 he was recalled to England, and was offered, at the Earl of Galway's recommendation, the post of governor to the Earl of Portland's eldest son, Lord Woodstock (Cazenove, p. 191). Rapin travelled with his pupil in Germany and Italy, and accompanied the Earl of Portland on his embassy to the court of Versailles in 1698 (ib. pp. 196–8). He resided also for some time at the Hague, where, in 1699, he married Marie Anne Testart, of a Huguenot family from St. Quentin, which had sought refuge in Holland. In June 1704 his pupil also married, and then, if not earlier, his employment as governor came to an end. Rapin was now stranded. On 1 Jan. 1700 William had granted him a pension of eleven hundred florins a year until he should obtain some office of greater value, but he never received any such appointment, and the pension ceased on the king's death (ib. p. 204). At the Hague Rapin enjoyed the company of men of learning (such as Beauval de Basnage and Jean Rou), and he was one of the leading members of a literary society called ‘La Féauté,’ which met at his house; but in 1707 his straitened circumstances obliged him to remove to Wesel. At Wesel he spent the rest of his life, which he devoted entirely to the study of history. In 1717 he was offered a post in the supreme court at Berlin, but refused on the ground of his insufficient knowledge of law; what little he knew he confessed he had forgotten in the thirty-two years which had passed since he abandoned his legal studies (ib. App. p. xvii). The first volumes of his history of England—in French—were published in 1723; the last two appeared and were completed in 1725, just before his death. ‘Though he was of a very strong constitution, yet a seventeen years' constant application to compose his history entirely ruined his health. About three years before his death he found himself quite spent, and frequently seized with violent pains in his stomach. He might have recovered if he would have relinquished his work, and unbent his mind for a time. Of this he was sensible, but could not resolve it as he ought. All he indulged himself in was not to rise before six o'clock, after which it was impossible for him to sleep or lie in his bed. As to his diversions, of which walking was the most usual, he was quickly tired of them, and, if his indisposition permitted, returned to his work, which was the cause of his illness and properly his sole delight’ (‘Some particulars of the Life of M. de Rapin,’ in History of England, ed. 1743, i. p. x). He died on 25 May 1725 at the age of sixty-four, and was buried at Wesel (Cazanove, pp. 326, 334).
Rapin left several daughters and a son, who became a Prussian official, was director of the colonies of French refugees at Stettin and Stargardt, and earned the praise of Frederick the Great. A great-grandson, Philippe de Rapin-Thoyras, fought in the German war of liberation, and became colonel of cuirassiers in the Prussian army.
Rapin's earliest historical work was a ‘Dissertation sur l'Origine du Gouverne-
