The Sun.
London, England, 1815-12-22 00:00:00

PROT;I:`ANTS .!?\' 77tANCnI

ft. is with 06 'ordinary degree of plea ure that tvc
tae crierg-y arid c!• e suc-•!ss of the exertions
or the Committee of Dissenting, Siinistcrs, in be-
half of the persecuted mid too lOng neglected Pro-
testants in France. The expression of public
fticling. which they have called Forth, has already;
ittickened the steps of The Authories in France.;
and ihe contributions which are liberally 'and
cheerrully presented, will most esseotialiy assit
those who have suffered the lo As of all things, on
account Of thei ‘I;

7.. their religious protiessions.
Two circular letters have been addressed 'lry the
Committee to their brethren throughout .the
United Kingdoni. The first containing an account
of their proceeding'S, and requesting collectiOns
from all the friends of religion and bOrmanity.--
The second, containing the in.lanclierly proofs
crf the• massacres, spoliathins, and 0.. Z rkWet
which have been for .months the order of the rr
against the professors of the Reform.d Religion.
It is impossible to peruse this_shOrt but loom-anti
and connected history of the horrid efforts of fa-
naticisio, without Lull conviction of their exiSt.-
ence, and without an anxious desire to check their
progress and alleviate their effects. - We are happy
to leant, that the contents of this letter, with ad-
ditional information, will be published by the
Committee, it a cheap form-; and the profits of
the stile be appropriated to the general find. WC
now lay before our readers extract; from letters
of recent date, received. by the Committee-from
France; some of them in answer to engoitiei,
others written since they have been informed 'of
the exertions of the Committee in favour of their
afflicted brethren.
• I hasten to communicate what. news I can col.
lect from the fugitives, whom dire necessity•com-
pels to seek for refuge from their blood-thirsty
neighbours. I long to hear what effect the intek
ligenias of our miseries has produced on our Pro,-
testanthrethren in your country. You mitst be
conscious that thousands are now looking with
an imploring eye to a Nation sa renowned for the
exercise of Christian charities and Christian graces.
I am sorry to say that the unhappy situation of
Nismes is scarcely to be paralelled hi the present.
tranquil state of Europe.
• For many weeks the horrid system of pillage,
expatriation, and minter, has been pursued with
unabated ardour. Some trifling efforts for pro.:
teetion have been strewn by some in authority.;
hut nothin;-, of consequence till lately. The eyes
of Engliscmen will .soon he opened to see, that
notwithstanding the base calumnies of our ene-
mies, the object of oar indefatigable-- foes- has
been not political, but the Protestant faith and
the Protestant worship. To aniiihilate the former,
and destroy the latter has been their aim by night
and by day The night of the 16th of October
last seemed destined by the infernal demon that
suggested- the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day
as the period when a finish should he given to the
proceedings in NiStues by the .extermittation of
every Protestant, and the murder of every family
Of the reformed faith. Troops of assassios had
actualls, torment the bloody project of' putting to
death -all the abhorred ternnant that remained in
that unfortunate city.
• The assassins of our brethren have too long
been suffered to proceed with impunity, but may
we not now hope, that by the justice of the King,
those wretches who have slaughtered so marry in-
noceot victims,—laid waste and burnt so many
hottses in the town, and such ar nomber of chateaus
alul.eitateS, the property of our respectable Pro-
testants in ,the country,—shall we not indulge the
lioN!, that they will.at length meet the. reward of'
their crimes, and others he deterred from purstilog
us with fire and massacre, because, without trio.
lesting them, we humbly venture- to -worsip God
according to the dictates of our consciences.
Your will mat be surpri3ed to hear that the Pro-.
testinta still live in constant dread. All those who
have property have quitted, 'and have sought au
asyti:ith in Lyons, Bourdeaux, and Paris ; and to
these more tranquil places -the merchants and,
tradesmen are daily, taking flight. , The manufac-
tories and other monuments of Protestant
indus-
try, are 411: abandoned ; our wretched mechanics
are either murdered or perishingin thelorests, of
wandering ill other towns, bereaved of their dear-
est connections, forced front their means of .sob-
sistence,.and seeking' daily bread. Lanier). V. 1,
2, 3. Out of five Ministers, :four have been
obliged tb fly ; and the churches, .sh ot for months,
have no prospect of being reopened, as. no PTO;
testauts.dare assemble for divine worship,. for fear
of their persecutors. Write- me with as much cir-
curaspection as possible, and'say if your esteemed
brethren commiserate the calamities of the perse-
cuted:Protestants.'
A not her,—

c- Since the publication of the,Memoir, intend-
ed for. the defence of the Protestants in the South,
trangoillity is by no means 'restored in that coun-
try. The fanatic! continue to persecute and ntas-
SaCre those who profess a relir.sion d:flerent from
their own. In the month of Septiuther last, en
the eve of the election of the Chamber of Deputies,
forty-two persons were butchered—titat the electors
being terrified might not name any of the Pro-
testants. In the night of the 16th or 17th of Oc-
tober, they had formed the plan of a general mas-
sacre ; and they had begun to carry it into cxe-
•:cntion.

The writer then proceeds to give a long and
most distrgssin account -of the horrid scenes of
the Bth of November, when an unsuccessful at-
tempt WO made by the PrOtestants to re-open one
of their aces of worship; which object they have.
since found it necessary, for the present, entirely
to abandon and concludes by saying;-- Things'
are at present more tranqn.il; but all those who
have pecuniary means, desert this unhAppy city,
and the others ate in a state the most deplorable.
Next to Gad, all our hope is in the justice of the
King, and in the benevolence of our brethren of
all cotint ries."
•

Another,--
I hope for better times,—persecutions and
fears keeping the Protestant churches and their
ministers in a 3titte of inactiN icy. I rrjoice to