French Protestants. • One's mind is weighed down at seeing the oppression and misery to which the Protestants are subjected, and from which they cannot relieve themselves. We are, however, allowed to pray to God with some tranquillity. The first time the Mayor, appointed by the King, expressly ordered us to ring the bell, I said to my husband, This is done to furnish an article for the journals.' I was not mistaken, and it has gone forth to France and to foreign Countries that we are as happy as we can be. The police, on the other hand, will not suffer what has happened at Som. mieres to be spoken of. There the vilest of the mob, instigated by our per secutors, attacked the assembly of the faithful at the moment of their perfor. mance of Divine Worship. The Officers of the Regiment of Maria Theresa endeavoured to re establish order ;-one of the fanatics in the crowd snapped a musket three times at one of the officers; but it missed fire, and the officer's life was saved. The man who attempted this assassination is known, but he has not been arrested; on the contrary, two peaceable individuals, known to be respectable, have been arrested, one of whom is accused of having cried Fire l'Empereur, as if it were probable that persons capable of crying Vive l'Empereur! would declare against the Protestants. You will readily believe, that a department which abounds in assassins and robbers, will not be found Persons wanting in false witnesses. are always to be found who are ready to athim any thing, no matter what; and these people call themselves Chris. tians, par excellence! Every thing done against a Protestant is regarded as a pious act by those who are in office. The Protestants have been very unfortunate in having taken from them what they had enjoyed for 25 years. Twenty Protestants were employed in the receipt of the imposts; these have all been dismissed. The old and vener-able Laune had the posts: his place has been taken from him. He demand ed of the Mayor a certificate, that he had always acted with honour in that * situation, and it was refused him. When the wives and children of those detained in custody supplicate for their liberty, they are told that they must turn Catholics! Yon have no idea of the thousand petty vexations that are heaped in every shape upon our poor bre<thren. When will our miseries be at an end? God only knows! Our oppressors are supported by the fanatics, and by persons who live by disorder. Gen. la Garde has been for some days worse.' Since this paper was put to press, a mass of important documents has been transmitted to the Committee, by private hands, from eye-witnesses, and persons of unblemished reputation, not only confirm ing the facts they have already published, but detailing enormities which surpass former accounts, and such as the vincteenth century could not expect to huce witnessed! To oppose the prevalence of such evils, to endeavour to annihilate them, or at least to alleviate their effects; is so evidently the duty of all Christians, and especially of all Christian Ministers, that the Dissenting Ministers have not ceased to prosecute it since their preparatory meeting, held on the Second of November last, nor can the themselves the Ministers of God, by Committee but persevere, approving evil report and good report, by honour and dishonour, as deceivers, and yet true!' This determination the Committee have solemnly proclaimed to their connections, and to the world, by the circular letter, and the Resolutions which immediately follow. SIR, Library, Red Cross Street, Jun. 15, 1816. THE events which have taken placesince our last communication, have rendered expedient the adoption of the annexed Resolutions; and in transmitting them to you, we avail ourselves of the opportunity of conveying to you information, which will abundantly demonstrate the utility of our past exertions, and the demand which exists for vigorous and liberal efforts on the part of all who are interested for the security of the Protestant faith. Attempts, as disgraceful as unexpected, have occasioned ns additional labour and expence; but happily they have led to results directly contrary to the designs of our opponents, who have stood forward as the calumniators of the Dissenters of England, and the apologists of the persecutors of France.-A letter from the Duke of Wellington, written in acknowledgment of a communication from the Secretaries of another Body, has been published in the Times Newspaper, as a document of importance, improperly suppressed. Without entering at all into the policy of withholding from the Public the entire contents of that document, we cannot but inform you, that the only part which in the least contradicts our previous statements, was printed in paragraphs in all the Journals, by the persons who received it. It stated, 'That the salaries of the Protestant Ministers had not been discontinued by the King." If, by this was intended, that the pay. French Protestants. ́ment bad not been forbidden by a Royal Ordonnance, the statement is true; but if it was designed to convey an assur ance that the salaries had been regularly paid, it is a false and unworthy effort to stifle the sympathy and be nevolence of the British Pablic, while the ministers are at this moment at least nine months in arrears. By us it was never mentioned as a proof of persecution from the government; but as an aggravating circumstance in the calamity which has befallen the Reformed Churches, that while their flocks have been scattered-their merchants and manufacturers exiled-and their resources drained by foreign troops and heavy imposts, their ministers should have been destitute of that stipend on which for so many years they bad regularly depended for their ministerial support-and though this defalcation has been common to the ministers of all ligions, it must be considered, that t Protestant ministers have not those means of obtaining money, which the Catholic priests, by their various ceremonies, always possess. Another Letter has been published in the same Journal, which had been sent to us by M. Marron, President of the Consistory of Paris, declining our aid and censuring our interference; but you will, doubtless, have seen by other Journals, that another letter was received by the same conveyance, from the same person, stating, that our exertions had made a strong sensation in Paris, and were likely to produce the most beneficial results: in addition to which, it is now evident, that the letter in question was written by M. Marron, after an examination by the Police, and under the 'foarotindividual persecution.' The effect of the Public Meetings which have been held, has been highly impor tant, and the arrival of the report of the Proceedings of the Common Council of London in Paris, was the commencement of exertions by the French autho rities, which had not been previously made. While some persons have deprecated these Meetings and Discussions, it will always be a subject of satisfaction to us, that they originated with the Dissenting Ministers of London; and the paper which we had the honour to address to you, and which was produced in Court by all the speakers, was the document on which the public proceed. ings of that day were founded, which have been succeeded by similar procedings in Hull, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gosport, Newcastle, Plymouth, and other places. No doubt, we presume, can now rest on your minds, as to the fact of he Persecution being religious, and not political,--at least only political as far as the intolerants have endeavoured to deprive the Protestants of those political rights and advantages which since the Revolution they have enjoyed. The intervention of the Catholic Priests, where they have been well-disposed, at the same time proves, that the Protestants could not have conducted themselves improperly towards the professors of the Catholic religion; and that their authority as priests was important in preventing or lessening evils which religious fury had inspired. The additional Accounts which we now furnish, will prove that your Con tributions (our intention to solicit which, was, in the first instance, submitted to the Prime Minister of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent) are even more necessary than we could have anticipated, from the authentic letters we had received, but which suppressed, thro' fear, many important details; and as the efforts of our enemies have occa sioned a serious increase in our expenditure, we must re-urge on you the propriety of making those Contributions as early, and as liberally as your convenience will allow. As it will not be possible for us to provide an antidote to the poison daily diffused, we shall be content to assure you, that whenever any Intelligence arrives which alters our opinion, or renders your exertions unnecessary, you shall have immediate information. By Order of the Committee, RESOLUTIONS. Williams's Library, bed Cross Street, At a Meeting of the Committee, appointed by 1. That this Committee have observed, with astonishment and regret, that attempts ar making, through the medium of the Press, to defeat their object, by misrepresenting their matives; and altho' the Committee know too well what is due to that respectable body by which they are deputed, to engage in useless warfare with those who are labouring to stifle that public sympathy, which it is the wish of the body to excite, they yet owe it to their own character, and to the cause they have undertaken, to state candidly, once for all, the motives by which they have been guided and the end they have in view. French Protestants. 2. That this Committee, therefore, utterly disclaim for themselves and their Constituents all party feelings ou a question which they conceive to be purely and exclusively Religions; but that if they must be ranked with a Party, they are happy in ranking, on this occasion, with that of the Government which listened so candidly to their representations, entered so warmly into their feelings, - and pledged itself so readily to employ its good offices for the same humane purpose to which their interference has been directed. 3. That if any man, calling himself a Protestant, can impute to Dissenting Ministers, as a crime, that they have shewn themselves peculiarly forward, on this occasion, he should remember that they are the descendants of those who, for conscience-sake, suffered the spoiling of their goods, and the loss of their lives; and to whose constancy, under persecution, it is chiefly owing that religious liberty is now firmly established in this favoured land. 4. That, feeling the value of this inestimable blessing, they could not but be deeply interested by any occur rence which might threaten its loss to those especially, with whom they are united by the tie of a common faith, and a common worship; nor could they refuse their sympathy or their relief to men bleeding in the same canse which rendered the memory of their fathers immortal. 5. That though letters have been received from Ministers in France, expressing objections to the interference of their Protestant brethren in England, the Committee have ascertained, from unquestionable evidence, that some of those letters have been written under constraint, and that others have been dictated by an apprehension (it is hoped erraneons) lest such an interference should injure them in the estimation of their own Government, or rather, lest it should expose them to the fury of faction, which sets the Government itself at defiance; and the Committee are of opinion, that if complaints are cautiously uttered, they deserve, the more, the consideration and sympathy of those who are aware of the cause in which this caution originates, 6. That while they have been acting consistently with their own principles, in expressing their abhorrence of all religious persecution, by whomsoever practised or countenanced, they cannot but suppose that in contributing to alleviate the distresses of the French Protestants, they are coinciding with the intentions of the French Government, which has been taking measures to sap. press those ontrages, which, if not suppressed, must occasion its own disgrace, and compromise its own safety. 7. That, in the subscriptions and collertions already made,—in the spirit which is spreading throughout the kingdom,and in the prospect that this spirit will ultimately enable them to grant impor tant Relief to their suffering brethren, and to the widows and orphans of the victims of Persecution, the Committee have the most flattering encouragement to persevere. They do, therefore, earnestly request the unremitting co-operation of Protestants of every denomis nation, but especially of Protestant Dis senters, in this labour of love; and they Express their confident assurance that in contributing to this object, without suffering their zeal to be damped by any insinuatious or assertions whatever, they are promoting the spread and es tablishment of that Christian Liberty which is the greatest earthly boon that Heaven can bestow on man. Signed (by order of the Committee) THOMAS MORGAN, SECRETARY. Collections, &c. for French Protestants. 8. School Meet. Hayes, Sussex 6 0 0 Flower's do. Titchfield 3 0 0 sand 14 16 016 0 0 Children at ditto 1 4 0 R. Langton, Esq. 1 Rev. Mr. Parson's Con. Chorley 8 C680 17030 9 24 3 0 0 Rotham's do. Willingham 2 Slatterie's do. Chatham 33 0 0 Rev. Dr. Collyer's Con. Peck- £. s. ¿ 40 15 0 Dr. Styles & Fr. Brighton 20 0 0 Sykes's do. Guastwick Hubbard's do. Banbury 550 500 660 4 4 0 Wood's do Jewin St.Lond. 15 0 0 Mather's do. Beverley 500 Palmer's do. Shrewsbury 860 Mr. Morrell & Friends, Baddow 5 7 6 Rev. Mr. Price's Con. Yeovil 1 3 1 Morrison's do. Stebbing Edward Swaines, Esq. Baptist Con. Horsforth Reynold's do. Chester Rev. Mr. Burkitt's Con. Kennel worth Gleed's do. Teignmouth 100 0 0 Kerby's do. Lewes Hudson's do. Rotherham 7 10 6 10 0 0 3 11 7 10 0 0 30 0 0 10 0 0 4 9.14 5 36 4 7 2 112 2 0 51 7 11 0 Deptford, & Woolwich 12 Anonymous, by Rev. Mr. Tracy 5 Rev. Mr. Ely's Con. Rochdale 5 10 Knight's do. Yelvertoft Mr. Ludiord, Newton Rev. Mr. Ford's Con. Bridlingt. 4 0 Mr. Field and Fri. Warwick 10 0 0 COCOCONOCOOCO 3 0 40 1 1 500 Rev. Mr. Morrison's Con. Chel- sea, Overbury's do Westbury L. 12 13 0 Right Hon. Earl Crawford and 5 0 2 Reynal's do. Wellingboro' 5 7 worth, in addition Ewing's do. Glasgow upon Tyne Lindsay Rev. Mr. I. Browne, Tiverton 2 o Independent Cong. Warcham Rogers's do. Fleet Dr. Rees's Con. London 60 6 0 6 6 57 13 10 15 9 0 20 0 Brown's do. Enfield 16 0 3 0 0 0 6 13 3 5 5 Middleditch's do Battlesden 3 3 0 7 0 0 Rev.Mr.Fall's Cong. Rugby 0 0 0 1 10 Rev.Mr.Barrett's Con. London 30 1 6 Charrier, Liverpool 5 5 0 Kershaw's Con. Abingdon 9 14 0 Perrott's do. Guernsey 150 0 10 10 @ Chapman's do. Greenwich 20 12 6 |