FRENCH PROTESTANTS. WHILE the COMMITTEE of DISSENTING MINISTERS have been exposed to the slander of men who were determined to reject evidence, as insufficient, because it was too powerful for their prejudices and their perverseness; and while they have had to contend with a prevailing disposition to abandon the Protestants to those who persecute, because they have had the audacity also to calumniate them; they have neglected no means, which could justify the confidence of their wise and benevolent friends, develope the truth, and bring before Europe the proofs of those crimes which have been committed, in the name of Loyalty and Virtue. The Rev. Clement Perrot, Pastor of the French Congregational Churches in the island of Guernsey, was accordingly requested by them to repair to France, in order to examine in the capital, and also on the spot, the real situation of the Protestants,-arrange plans for the application of the money obtained for their relief, and collect the history of transactions' which had been so long stoutly denied, or ingeniously palliated. For this important Mission their friend was specially qualified, not only by his perfect knowledge of the French language and the great respectability of his character, but also by possessing, in a high degree, the confidence and esteem of the most respectable Protestants and Protestant ministers, and an intimate acquaintance with them, formed on his visit to the South of France, during the first restoration of the Bourbon family, and confirmed by frequent correspondence since that period. It will be seen, by the Resolutions which follow, that this gentleman kindly undertook the task-that he has succeeded in the great objects which the Committee were anxious to accomplish — and that the General Body of Ministers had the satisfaction of his personal attendance at their Annual Meeting, just returned from a journey of nearly 3000 miles, effected amisst many dangers and difficulties, in the course of eleven weeks. In a country, which may be denominated a vast prison, where private confidence and personal liberty are nearly annihilated, where spies mingle in every society, and arbitrary power seals up the channels of information, it required great exertion and prudence to collect precise and authentic intelligence, and at the same time not endanger the safety of individuals. Directed however, and favoured by Providence, which seems to have prepared its agent by a former visit for this great service to the general interests of truth and religion; Mr. Perrot has been able to procure and to bring to England, besides his personal testimony (after having travelled to Nismes and the surrounding country) a mass of evidence which will at once set the whole question in its true light, and form materials for the history of Protestantism in the 19th century. It is impossible, in this paper, to give even an outline of these very important communications; but it would be improper not to refer to the objections which the documents, preparing for publication, must for ever silence. Mr. Perrot demonstrates, that politics have only been the pretext for the persecutions which have ravaged several of the Departments,—that the Catholics had no ancient wrongs to avenge on the Protestants,—that it is impossible to throw the blame on an unmanageable populace,—that it is equally impossi ble to exculpate the local authorities from a share, at least by connivance, in the outrages committed,—and that to this day, not one individual concerned in the Α horrors which have afflicted the city of Nismes, and the Department of which it is the capital, has been punished. To illustrate the spirit which has actuated the persecuting royalists, we insert the following account of the State of Affairs in the months of April and July, 1814; "The Catholic domestics no longer served their masters with the same zeal and affection as they had hitherto done. Husbands were separated from their wives, and wives from their husbands, though the only motive was a difference in religion. We were told that, Catholic woman actually received, in the confessional, the horrible advice to poison their Protestant busbands. The following is a fact less revolting, and which we can with certainty guarantee:— A man named Mariana du Hameau de Maza, in the Commune of Cardel, Department of Gard, lived for three years upon the best terms with his wife, who was a Protestant. He went one day to confess to the Cure of his parish, Jean de Serre. This Priest put the express condition to a refusal to give absolution to his penitent; that he must endeavour to convert his wife to the Catholic religion, and the following was the advice which he gave him for that purpose:-'You must present yourself before her with an angry countenance, and when she demands the reason of this change, you must answer her, I am not my own master, I am possessed with a demon from which you can deliver me, by turning Catholic, and you may thus save me, by saving yourself.' Marianna was a good Catholic, but he had the religion of good sense; he was above all a good husband, and he rejected the baneful advice, which tended to place him on ill terms with a wife whom he had always found worthy of his affection. A man of the name of Julian, a perruquier, at Nismes, had not the same strength of mind. During several months he rendered his wife the most unhappy of women, without ever attempting to assign a motive for the unaccustomed harshness with which he behaved to her, or the ill treatment which he made her undergo. It turned out, that it arose from his having been told by a priest that there must be no longer any Protestants in France. Having reflected, however, that there was more of passion than of religion, in the advice which had been given to him, he suddenly changed his conduct, and confessed all to his wife. We might present many other similar instances; but these are sufficient to shew the spirit which actuated the principal directors of the people, and which leave little room for astonishment at the disorders of which we are about to present a deplorable, but true picture." In July, 1814, M. Baron, Counsellor of the Cour Royale of Nismes, conceived the project of voting to God a child of silver, in the event of the Duchess d'Angouleme giving a prince to France. He communicated it to the Marguillerie; it assembled-deliberated, and this project of M. Baron was soon changed into a religious vow, unanimously formed, which was so◄ lemnly proclaimed the 19th of July, in the parish-church of St. Castor, and in a church dedicated to St. Francis de Salles. The whole city of Nismes was informed of it-it was talked of in the societies-it was talked of tete a teteit excited the people to repeat without end their paters and aves, who, after they had inflamed their passions by crying Vive le Roi !—Vive les Bourbons !—came to kneel at the altar, where their imaginations were again filled with the same French Protestants. objects. This unhappy effect produced no alarm in the minds of those who maintained an influence over the populace. However this might be, a deputation of the Marguilliers of the parishes of the city of Nismes, consisting of M. M. Viscount de Bernis, the Abbe d'Esgrigny, the Viscount de Suffren, the Marquis d'Assas, the Marquis de Rochemaure, the Marquis de Montcalm, the Marquis de Calviere Vesenobre, Trinquilagues, first Advocate General of the court of Nismes, and Froment Secretary of the King's Cabinet, having had the honor of being admitted to an audience of Madame the Duchess d'Angouleme, to communicate to her the vow of which she was the object, M. Trinquilagues spoke as follows: "Madame, "In the name of the administrators of the parishes of the city of Nismes, we come to present to you the homage of a religious act with which they have been inspired by their ardent love for the blood of their King, and their profound veneration for your Royal Highness, Like all Frenchmer, they have felt that there is wanting to our happiness a son of yours; and they ask it of him from whom emanates every good. They have deposited at the foot of the altar their vow to consecrate to him a monument of their gra-titude. They would have left this vow of their hearts under the veil of the sanctuary, and have waited in respectful silence for the benefit which their prayers solicited; but your Royal Highness has often said that the love of the French could only convey consolation to your heart; and they rejoiced at the thought that, in communicating their sentiments, they might perhaps soften a moment of melancholy recollection," &c. We subjoin a fact which took place on the 3d of July, 1815. The Sieur Bigne,` a Commission factor at Nismes, after having passed some months at Lyons, was on his return home. On the 1st of July, 1815, he arrived at St. Esprit. There he learned that the environs of Nismes were infested by banditti, who committed the greatest excesses against the Protestants. Ile was undecided, in consequence, what course to take; but as he had done no ill to any one, why should they do harm to him? Important business and the desire of seeing bis family urged him besides to return home. He set out from St. Esprit, the 2d of July, in the evening, with two travelling companions, Protestants, likė himself. On the 3d, as the day began to break, they arrived at Besome, a Catholic village, two leagues from Nismes. They heard a tumult, and perceived gendarmes. Their carriage was soon surrounded. They shewed themselves, and some one recognized them. "There are the Black Throats" (Gorges Noires) cried they; and the cry spread from mouth to mouth. The whole village assembled in an instant. They made the travellers descend from the carriage, and conducted thence to a field of olive-trees, where they were to be shot. The signal for execution was given, when, by providential interposition, the Mayor, who was a well-meaning man, but durst not say any thing, made the Sieur Bigne comprehend, by a gesture, which he understood, that a sign of Catholicity might save him. The gesture was seized with as much rapidity as it had been made. It was to the sign of the cross, and to some words of pater that they had learned in their childhood, that the three unfortunate men owed their safety. "Now," cried the populace, we were about to kill our brethren.” Mr. Perrot brings a dreadful account of the situation of the Protestants as late as the last Month, Williams's Library, Red Cross Street, April 16, 1816 Ar the ANNUAL MEETING of the General Body of PROTESTANT Rev. JOHN HUMPHRYS in the Chair, The Secretary having made a Report from the Committee appointed to pursue Measures for the Relief of the persecuted French Protestants, and the Rev. Clement Perrot having communicated the result of his personal inquiries, undertaken, at the request of the Committee, into their past and present situation, Resolved unanimously, 1. That the Report of the Committee appointed by this Body, "for the purpose of Inquiry, Superintendance, and Distribution of the Funds which may be contributed for the relief of the French Protestants, suffering for conscience-sake,” now presented by the Secretary, displaying the zeal, the industry, and the perseverance with which they have prosecuted the objects confided to their care, be accepted by this body with the highest sentiments of satisfaction and gratitude. 2. That the account now communicated to this body, of the situation of the French Protestants, by the Rev. Clement Perrot, who, at the request of the Committee, has so generously, and with so much personal inconvenience and risque, visited the scenes of persecution in France, while it demands our most cordial acknowledgements, has produced the deepest conviction that no relaxations should be suffered in the exertions of the Committee, but that their most vigorous efforts should be continued, till complete security and repose be obtained for those who are suffering for conscience-sake. 5. That although the lawless outrages of the persecutors in the sonth of France have happily abated, yet that the circumstances of our suffering Protestant brethren in that quarter still call for our sympathy and assistance; and that it be strongly recommended to our brethren throughout the kingdom, who have not yet made collections on their behalf, to follow the example of those who have already, by this means, declared publicly their abhorrence of persecution, and contributed to the relief of suffering humanity. (Signed) By Order of the Committee, THOMAS MORGAN, Secretary. Collections and Donations received since the last Publication. · Contributions will be received by the Rev. T. Morgan, Williams's Library, Red Cross Street. 96 000 The REPORT of the Rev. C. PERROT, printed by Order of the Committee, may be had of all Booksellers; and an HISTORICAL RELATION of the Persecutions endured by the Protestants of the Sonth of France, in one volume octavo, prepared by the same Gentleman, will speedily be published. R. WILLIAMS, Printer, Clerkenwell. FRENCH PROTESTANTS. THE painful subject which has so long and so imperatively claimed the exer tions of THE COMMITTEE OF THE DISSENTING MINISTERS, has occupied, since the last communication was prepared for press, the attention of the British Parliament. That attention was summoned by Sir Samuel Romilly, a senator, “whose probity, intelligence, independence of mind, and unwearied and disinterested efforts, in the cause of Justice and Humanity," says an eloquent writer," have deservedly placed him in the first rank of his profession, and secured him the respect and esteem of all parties. Descended from one of those families, which, driven in former times from their native country, by French intolerance, found an asylum in Britain, to which they did not come to live as drones, and to carry back all their prejudices and foibles; but to which they transferred their attachments, and consecrated their talents, as the land of civil and sacred liberty, the refuge of the stranger, and the shield of the oppressed, he could not fail to take a deep interest in the recent occurrences in the south of France *." After sacrificing much of his valuable time, and taking great pains to collect information from the most authentic sources, he brought forward, on May 23, the following motion: --- "That an humble Address be presented to His Royal Highness "the Prince Regent, praying that he will be pleased to give directions that there be laid before the House copies of all communications between His Majesty's *Government and the Government of France, relative to the Protestants in the "southern departments of France." On this motion it was not intended to take the sense of Parliament, should it be resisted; but it afforded this distinguished statesman and philanthropist an opportunity of conveying information to the meinbers of Parliament of enlightening the public mind, which had been so much abused — and of procuring for the country any official information which the ministers of the Prince Regent might possess, and might be disposed to communicate. In a speech, which occupied between two and three hours, Sir Samuel Romilly entered, with astonishing accuracy, into the whole history of the alleged persecutions. He described the state of the Protestants, subsequently to the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, and under the acts of amelioration antecedent to the Revolution,—under the Republican and the Imperial Governments, and up to the period of the first restoration of the Bourbon family. He related the indignities and injuries to which they were exposed, and the alarms by which they were agitated, from that time till the departure of the king;-and equally proved that, before that event, the Protestants were peaceable and faithful subjects; and that, during the period between that event, and the second restoration, they committed no violence, and indulged no revenge; as in that interval, in the city of Nismes," not one house was pillaged, only one had the windows broken, and one individual only had lost his life, and that not by a Protestant, but by a military man." He then drew a touching picture of the persecutions of the Protestants, from July 15, 1815, to the present time; including the losses they had sustained, the murders that had been committed, the cruelties they endured, and the oppressions they had experienced; and proceeded to expose, with the strongest indignation, the conduct of the local authorities. He produced many of their proclamations, commented on their negligence, their deceit, and criminality, in suffering such outrag s to be committed, and then to bẹ napunished ; and proved, trom official papers, that when some of the most dreadful massacres and outrages took place, there were in He called on the the city 24 companies of infantry and a regiment of cavalry. Honse to consider the present condition of the Protestants, at the mercy of arbitrary and partial tribunals-insulted by the lowest rabble—jostled, if they went into the streets, by the murderers of their wives, parents, and childrenthreatening them with their looks, and exulting in their successful villainy,--the wretch who shot General la Garde, and the monsters Trestaillon and Quatre • See a most able Review of the question of the persecution of the French, in the |