French Protestants. 2 Taillon still screened from justice: he conjured every Member to peruse the Report of the gentleman who had just returned from Nismes, which he saw the noble Lord (Castlereagh) had in his hand*; and concluded with reminding the House and the Governmet, that while the nation interfered as it had done, and continued to do in the affairs of France, it would fall under a very great degree of blame if it should not ask protection for these unfortunate people. - The motion was opposed by Lord Castlereagh, who objected principally to British interference; but his Lordship also asserted, that the disorders were local and political, and had long ceased; and that every thing was now tran quil and satisfactory. The Committee have had to brave considerable reproach, because their letters and statements could not be published with the names of the writers: but after all, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, not professing to state that any correspondence had taken place with the French Government on the subject, produced in evidence only an anonymous letter, written by a person, as he stated, a traveller to the south. Even this statement was, however, more than corrobative of the facts detailed by Sir Samuel Romilly, for it acknow, ledged that sanguinary songs had been sung during the first restoration; that Protestants had been deprived of offices and consideration; and that 300 had been murdered in Nismes, and 1000 in the Department. Mr. Brougham followed in a most animated and eloquent strain of remark on the speech of his Lordship, and retorted on him the result of that interference which had been charged on those who disapproved of the treaty, allowing the slave trade to continue for five years, Lord Binning defended the line of argument adopted by his noble friend, the Foreign Secretary.-Mr. W. Smith thought it very remarkable, that, after the long duration of these persecutions, and the deep interest which a large portion of the British nation had taken in the situation of the Protestants, that nothing was said of any existing correspondence between the respective governments; and that all that had been brought forward was a letter, without any name, being given to the House. Sir Samuel Romilly closed the debate with a most able and energetic reply. He disclaimed the motives which had been charged on him, and reminded Lord Castlereagh, that he himself first brought the subject into Parliament, and on a discussion quite foreign, had unhandsomely reflected on those benevolent persons who had taken up the cause of suffering fellow-Christians. He denied that the outrages were confined to the Gard,-though that department alone contained between 3 and 400,000 inhabitants. They had extended to several, particularly l'Herault and l'Aveyron. In the latter, the temple of St, Afrique, 80 miles from Nismes, had been burnt. He compared the conduct of this Government, on the occasion of the riots of a few days in 1780 (to which the eight months' persecution in the south had been compared) to that of the French Government; and could not hold the latter free from censure. He thought the Duke of Wellington's letter unjustifiable. The Duke professed to speak from his own knowledge, — but his assertious were not borne out by facts. "Whatever imputations might be cast upon him (he said) for the discharge of his duty, it was some consolation to the cause of humanity, that so obscure an individual as himself, could bring into public discussion a topic of such an important nature, and that there was one place at least in Europe, where the oppressed could appeal, and where so long as public justice lingered in the world, acts of atrocity could be stamped with infamy, and men, who were suffered to go unpunished, be visited with public detestation." "One of the prefects had observed, that the charges against the fanatics of the south, had been made in the face of Europe. He felt therefore, that when the whole question was brought before Europe, the best results might with confidence be anticipated." • The Committee had presented copies of the Report to the principal members of administration, previous to the debate, French Protestants. While the friends of the Protestants in and out of Parliament, were thus endeavouring to obtain for them redress and protection, and while those who opposed their measures, were assuring the public that all was tranquil, and that interference was unnecessary,—the Committee have the melancholy duty to state, that the dreadful outrages were renewed, and the lives and property of peaceable and unoffending members of society sacrificed to the most barbarous fanaticism. The Committee, who have neither allowed themselves to be indifferent or inactive, nor lulled the minds of others into apathy and neglect, feel that they are bound to employ in this cause fresh energy, and to invite every friend to humanity and religion, as well as every Protestant Dissenter, to cast his mite of influence and property, into the common treasury of benevolence and exertion. The following are extracts from the information which the Committee have lately received:— “Before the renewal of the open outrages, which have replunged the Protestant "population of the city of Nismes into the deepest consternation and distress; and ** though their persons were not assaulted, or their worship interrupted, yet the "negligence and the revolting partiality of the local authorities and the tribunals "contributed, together with the more secret menaces of the populace, to keep all "classes of the Protestants in a state of depression; and, from the most respectable “to the poorest individuals, every one was rendered miserable by indefinite appre❝hension and alarm.” "As soon as the enemies of the Protestants heard the news of the commotiona which had taken place at Grenoble and in Dauphiny, though the newspapers "made not the most distant allusion to difference in religious opinions, nor men❝tioned the terms Protestant and, Catholic, the populace eagerly seized the pretext, " and proceeded to the renewal of their acts of violence and persecution agaiust "our unfortunate brethren. Two houses, one belonging to the Sieur Crouset, ou “the Placette, and that of Paulet, were broken into and plundered. Many of the "Protestants were attacked in the streets, and beaten in such a cruel manuer, that "four or five of them are now lying in their beds, at the point of death. "On Sunday, May 12, the city was in a dreadful situation, Many, alarmed at. "the dangers which menaced them, had fled; and the poor, and those who were "not able to leave, barricaded themselves in their houses. Only a few of the "most courageous ventured to attend public worship, which, however, they were "allowed to celebrate without being assaulted. "On the 13th, the populace ran about the fauxbourgs, knocking at the houses of "all the Protestants, whom fear kept close prisoners, crying, with imprecations, ❝ that an ordonnance of the king had just arrived, by which he commanded all the “Protestants to embrace the Catholic religion, and that there should be only one "faith and one law, throughout the kingdom. "The mob broke into several houses where the persons whom they had so unmer"cifully beaten were confined to their beds. One of them, of the name of Tesso"nier, was near being murdered by the ruffians, who rushed into his room. About "a dozen of these monsters pressed upon this wounded man's body, with the inten “tion of strangling and suffocating him, when a woman, who lodged in his house, a "Catholic, came to his assistance, and after having broken two chairs in endeavour❝ing to beat them off, fetched her child, and thrust him on the bed, between them “and the body of her host, exclaiming, ‘If you kill him, you shall kill my child !" "We had great rejoicings on account of the arrival of two of the deputies of "the Gard, M. de Bernies, and M. Jules de Calviére. The women of the "Bourgades went out to meet them, and to celebrate their arrival, having at their "head what they are pleased to call the Company of Whippers. Their cries, their "vociferations, their gestures and their conduct, gave them the appearance of *furies, and filled us with horror. Some ladies, who had ventured to return "to Nismes, were so terrified, that they immediately quitted it. Conversions con4 tinue; and the Catholics have every day some one of which to boast. That • Alluding to their having whipped and abused the Protestant females. French Protestants. "of Serasse, a paper manufacturer, is particularly talked of; and that of Seguin, formerly a violent Terrorist. He has published an account of his conversion; "in which he celebrates what he calls Three Returns: his owu return into the bosom "of the Catholic church,-the return of the Pope to Rome, and the return of "Louis XVIII, to the throne of his ancestors. Many copies of this account "have been distributed and stuck up in various parts of the city!" The account which follows will further exhibit the distressing state of the eity of Nismes, at the very period when it was affirmed in Parliament that all was tranquil and satisfactory. "Mr. —, a most respectable gentleman, residing in Switzerland, who had passed the winter months in Provence, for the health of his family, arrived at "Nismes, May 21. It was his intention to remain several days among his friends, but he only remained 24 hours. The deplorable situation of the town, and the "melancholy which the sufferings of the Protestants inspired, compelled him to depart. Not one of the Protestant merchants, or respectable reformed inhabit. “ ants dared venture to leave their houses, associate with him, or appear_in_public.” Unhappily, the spirit and the practice of Persecution are not confined to France, From the Sketch of the State of the Waldenses, published by the Committee, it is necessary to furnish the following short extracts : "Under these circumstances, the Committee have laid before his Majesty's Government a state. ment of the situation in which these afflicted churches are left, by the late political events; and by a deputation, have requested the attention of the Earl of Liverpool to the practicability of renewing, in favor of the Vaudois, the grant of William and Mary. "Waiting the result of their application, which was gracionsly and favorably reecived, the Committee have felt themselves compelled to establish a fund for the inmediate relief of their necessitous brethren, and have already sent to them some pecuniary assistance. "To render this fund efficient, they invite the aid of the benevolent, and doubt not that, in the event of its being found impracticable to obtain from the resources of the nation adequate support, the Christi ublic, and especially Protestant Dissenters, will enable the Committee to place the descendants of the earliest and most honourable of continental Christian churches in a state of private and domestic comfort, though even their political condition should continue to be unjustly oppressive and degraded." Williams, Printer, Clerkenwell. FRENCH PROTESTANTS. THE Committee appointed by the General Body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, for the Purpose of Inquiry, and also for the Superintendance and Distribution of the Funds for the Relief of the French Protestants, suffering for Conscience-sake, trust that the following Extracts, from Letters recently received, will afford satisfactory evidence of the feelings with which our Aid is received by the unhappy sufferers, and of the powerful claim which exists upon our continued exertious in the same sacred cause. In a Letter from an eminent Minister to the Secretary, dated June 21st, 1816, acknowledging the safe receipt, and detailing the manuer of distribution of a part of our Funds, the writer expresses himself in the following terms: -- "Be persuaded, Sir, and very honoured brother, that we are penetrated "with the most lively and profound gratitude; and assure the benevolent 46 persons who have taken an interest in our wretched situation, how deeply "sensible we are of their truly Christian charity. We can make no other "return than our very sincere wishes for their prosperity, and that of their country, and our most ardent prayers to the Sovereign Benefactor of the "human race, that he will be himself their recompence. 66 “I thank you for your expressions of good-will on our behalf, and I trust "the whole of our conduct will prove that we are not less attached to our "holy religion than were our fathers; and that, should we be called to the "trial, we are prepared to seal the truth with our blood." From the correspondence of a much-valued friend, whose personal exertions and hazards, in the cause of our suffering brethren, confer on him the most lasting honour, we give the following Extract: July 16th, 1816. "The affairs of our brethren in the south of France go on very badly. I "bave received several letters, which, by the allegories which the writers "feel themselves compelled to employ, and the ambiguous expressious they use, prove the state of anxiety in which they remain. In the department "of the Gard, and particularly at Nismes, the utmost dread oppresses the "Protestant population." We are tranquil,' says a correspondent, but ours 6 is the tranquillity of a person who has been nearly bled to death. If our 'persecutors do not go to the same lengths they formerly and so recently did, impute it only to the lassitude of murderers, and the wealth amassed by the ⚫ devastators and spoliators of our property. Harmless Protestants, unarmed, so weighed down by terror that they dare not speak to one another, and are even afraid of mingling their tears together, whom dread compels to relinquish the endearing intercourse of intimacy and relationship — are 'arbitrarily arrested false witnesses are not wanting and imprisonments, fines, and marks of dishonour follow. What remedy is to be found when Injustice and Oppression have the sanction of the law?' A -- - Another Correspondent, from the foot of the Pyrenees, thus expresses himself: With tears of gratitude we have beheld the benevolent and Christian ⚫ Resolutions and efforts of the Dissenting Ministers who meet in Red Cross 6 Street, in reference to the misfortunes of our brethren of Lower Languedoc, and the extreme want to which our pastors are reduced. I sometime ago wrote to these honoured brethren a letter*, expressive of my gratitude ⚫ and devotedness. To this I received no answer, though I could not imagine how it could miscarry, as I forwarded it through the Minister ' of Religion at Paris. At this distance from the scene of the criminal ⚫ outrages, we have not been without uneasiness, and ascribe our safety to · your firm and persevering efforts. These efforts are yet necessary. Persevere in the good work, and the blessing of God attend you! "Many letters "addressed to me have not come to hand; and a friend who passed through "the south of France six weeks ago could not prevail on my friends there "to entrust letters to him. All our exertions are yet indispensable. We will never relax till judgment is brought unto victory!" • No such letter has been received. Collections received since the last Publication. Rev. Mr. Pomery's Con. St. Rev. Messrs. Grundy and Rod bert's Con.Manchester £57 10 0 2 11 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 2 0 Contributions will be received by the Rev. T. Morgan, Williams's Library, Red Cross Street; and such as áre designed for the immediate Relief of the Necessitous VAUDOIS, or WALDENSES, will be exclusively appropriated to the Fund, established for that purpose, by the Committee. To be had of all the Booksellers, 1. The REPORT on the PERSECUTION of the FRENCH PROTEST. ANTS, presented to the Committee of the Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, in and about the Cities of London and Westminster. Price 23. Gd. By the Rev. CLEMENT PERROT. 2. A SKETCH of the past and present STATE of the VAUDOIS, or WALDENSES, inhabiting the Vallies of Piedmont. Translated from the original MS. by the Rev. THOMAS MORGAN, Secretary to the General Body of Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations.—Price 6d. Speedily will be published, 3. An HISTORICAL RELATION of the PERSECUTIONS endured by the Protestants in the South of France. By the Rev. CLEMENT PERROT. In One vol. 8vo. |