Gasparin. A many-sided man, combining the scholar, the statesman, the
politician, the man of letters, and the finished gentleman, possessed of
every advantage of culture, wealth, and position, he has devoted a long
life to the advocacy of liberty in all its forms, whether religious or
political, and has ended by making a profound study of American history
and politics, the accuracy of which is truly remarkable. A few facts
with respect to his career, kindly furnished by his personal friend,
Rev. Dr. Robert Baird, of New York, will be here in place.

Count Agénor Étiénne de Gasparin was born at Orange, July 4, 1810. His
family is Protestant, and of Corsican origin; his father was a man of
talent and position, who served for many years as Prefect of the
District of the Rhone, and afterwards as Minister of the Interior under
Louis Philippe, by whom he was highly esteemed. He received a liberal
education, and devoted himself especially to literature, till 1842, when
he was elected by the people of the island of Corsica to represent them
in the Chamber of Deputies. Here began his political career. At that
time, religious liberty was in danger of perishing in France, assailed
by the powerful opposition of the tribunals and the administration. De
Gasparin declared himself its champion, and, in an eloquent speech in
the Chamber of Deputies, which moved the audience to tears, he boldly
accused the courts of perverting the civil code in favor of religious
intolerance, and claimed unlimited freedom for evangelical preaching and
colportage. He also made strenuous efforts to effect the immediate
emancipation of slaves in the French colonies, and published several
essays on the subject. He devoted himself especially to the protection
of Protestantism, and founded in France the Society for the Protection
of Protestant interests, and the Free Protestant Church, yet, detesting
religious intolerance everywhere, he did not hesitate to denounce the
Protestant persecutions of Sweden as bitterly as he had done the