Star.
London, England, 1816-05-24 00:00:00

PROTESTANTS IN PRANCE.

Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY wished that some
abler person had taken in hand the subject to which
he should have to call the attention of the House.— '
He did it, because he conceived it of too Much ins.
portance to allow the Session to pass withont enter-
ing into its invest gation. Gentlemen were aware
that some months since reports had been in eked's.
don relative to the persecution of the Pritestants in
France, which had produced much effect in this
country. Meetings had been holden in various
quarters, and subscriptions opened- with the usual
characteristic liberality of Britons. It appeared, how.
ever, that his Majesty's Ministers were inclined to
consider That interference both unnecessary and kn.
proper—they even tried to check the course of pro•
ceedings which had been adopted, and a letter was
published, written by the Duke of Wellington, in
which he stated that he was satisfied that every thing
possible had been done by the French Government
to prevent those disturbances, and that his Majesty
Louis XVIII. had extended his protection to all
classes of his subjects, and secured the enjoyment of
their religious rights. A Noble Lord, a Minister in
that House, had there represented the events that
had taken place in the South of France as of so light
a kind, that he had desired Honourable Members to
take lesson from them, how to interfere another time
in foreign matters. These official statements had
produced some impression on the public at large,
and on the Common Council ; and the litter had
even seriously debated whether the Address which
they. had prepared in favour of the peraecuted•Pro.
trillions in France, should be presented to the Prince
Regent. It had been presented, however, and his
Royal High4ess had been advised to answer, that he
was re.tdy to interpose his good offices in behalf of
the Protestants abroad, should the occasion require
ii, but that such an occasion had not occuned. He
(Sir S. Romilly) did not mean by his present motion
to criminate Ministers. He did not believe that if
they had known what had really taken place in the
South of France, what had been the interposition of
Louis XVIII. and what protection be had extended
to li's subjects, they would have pursued a line of
conduct so detestable as to support a Government to
whom they wished well, by disguising the enormi-
ties which had been committrd. All he charged them
with was credulity. They had too readily believed
the false assurances which they had received. He
was led by no party, by no political motive—be
should only state the facts which had come to his
knowledge: and after the active inquiries which he
had made, the information which he had obtained
from she places not distant from the seat of the enor-
mities, and the conversations which he had held with
persons who had_ been eye-witnesses on the spot, he
' thought that he could not have been deceived. Nei.
ther did he believe that there was any danger in
bringing the subject forward, nor that his 'motion
would be fraught with mischievous consequences to
the Protestants in France. Commanded and extorted
letters from them had indeed deprecated British in.
terference. But how had those been procured ? The
Duke of Wellington's letter had been printed and
ostentatiously published at Nismes by the French
Government. It had filled the Protestant: with the
deepest consternation. It had taken the last restraint
away from the persecutors—it had extinguished the
last hope of the persecuted. Was it Fr isible that they
should be still worse treated because their brethren of
Great Britain took interest in their fate ; at lower
animals on whom their master revenges himself for
the sympathy expressed by strangers in their behalf ?
He thought, on the contrary, that his motion
would do them good, and that British interference
had even hitherto not been entirely useless. The sub-
ject would resolve itself into three branches :
First, Had those murders and enormities been corn.fmbeeronp.
o
mined or not ? Secondly, Did they spring
lineal or religious causes ? Aad, thirdly, Had the
French Government afforded due protection to the
rights of all its subject: ? It was impossible to give
an adequate idea of all the transactions which had
taken place in the Department of the Gard, for with
the exception of small districts of the adjoining De-
partments, the persecution of the Protestants was
confined to the Department of the Gard. Before he
shodld enter into details, it would be necessary for
him to put the House in possession of the situation
in which the Protestants stood in that part of France
at the restoration of the present King. The Depart-
ment of the Gard was composed of the provinces of •
Languedoc, Provence, and'the mountains of the Ce-
vennes. it was the birth-place of the Reformed Re-
ligion. There its doctrines had first displayed them-
Iselves, centuries before the Reformation had begun
in other parts of Europe. The Vaudois (Waldenses)

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illi...144.1•••••4••••••=•••••••••••
were inhibitants of the Cevennes. After the Refor-
mation, a communication had taken place between
them and the followers of Luther. It was then that
blond was shed. The Parliament of Aix undertook
to punish the Heretics, and its 'President, Daugay,
and the Advocate-General, 3beriii, signalized their
zeal by desolating those countries. Thin first ap--,
peered those.massecres in the name of religion which
afterwards spread over the world in the wars with the
Hngonets and the horrible hatchery of St. Bartholo-
mew..•thieler King Henry IV. the Protestants en.
roved all their rights. They resorted chiefly to
Nem s, which then almost contained a majority of
Proteetart population.' In 1685 came the revocation,
of the Edict of Nantes. through the, superstition of
Louie XIV. and the ambition of his Minister, Lou-
vres: Then too those dm:gone:As were invented, the,
teentien of which must cause every one to shudder.
lV nil. piovinces were to be converted- by regiments
of dragoons, and the Minister dared to represent to
his' King that be had effected an object most agree-
able in the sight of•Gon, and that all France con-
tained nothing but Catholics, and no Heretics. In
those times Protestants were proceeded against-not as
Protestants, het as Heretics, or, as they were called,
44 let nouveaux Convertir." What was their condition
till 1757, two years previons to the Revolution ? If
any persons were found attending Protestant service,
they vete punished with the gallies for life. The
Minister was sentenced to die, and if any persons liar.,
booted him in their house, or facilitated his escape,
they were condemned to the gallies for life. Such was
the state of the laws respecting the Protestants up to
that period. French legolators also said that how-
' ever severe in their enactments, they were mild in
their administration ; and what did they adduce as a
proof of the leniency with which they were adminis.
wred ? that in the period that elapsed between 1745
and 1770, only eight Protestant Ministers heti been
hanged !—(Hear, hear, hear.) The marriages of Pro.
testants were illegal ; their children were bastards,
and the Government might take . them away to edu-
cate them in the Catholic religion. At seven )ear's
of •age a Protestant child was authorized to become
a Cathelic. In a particular instance, forty marriages
had been annulled, the husbands sent to the gallies,
and the wives to hospitals, as common prostitutes.—
These tales remained in force ti.l 1787, when Louis
XVI. softened them, desirous to make Iris subjects
• happy, and surrounded by Ministers disposed' to 'se.
cond his disposition. Among his papers had been
found a memorial from his Secretary of Stara., the
Baron de Breteuil, in favour of the Protestants, and
letters from the celebrated M. de Malsherbes on the
same subject. Unfortunately, the reform was carried
too far; yet all the calamities that ensued arose from
the good intentions of the King, who wished to give
to his subjects a degice of freedom which be thought
them capable of enjoying. The first act of the Re-
volution was to relieve the Protestant,, and in a short
time a Protestant was elected President of the Na.l
tional Assemble. The Protestants would therefore ;
not pos.ess the feelings of men. if thty had not no- I
mired that Revolution which had rescued them from
the condition of wretched utiles:es, a:id restored them
to the common rights of society. But this was not
used against them, and they were branded with the
appelistion Bonapareists, but without foundation.
They were, and must have been, naturally attached
to the Revolutien, but when it degenerated into acts
of tyranny, no Protestant was found an actor amongst
them. Not one Protestant had voted for the death of
the King, without adding that appeal to the people
which was the only way left to members of tee Assem.
blyto save him. N Protestant had ever held a scat in
• the Revolutionary Tribunals of the Deputation of the
Gard. Under the reign of Robespierre, 130 'persons
had been guillotined at Nismes, and of those above
le° were Protestants- The population of the De.
putation of the Gard consisted of 320,000 persons, of
whom 100,000 were Protestants. At Ni.mes, the
proportion was still higher. The whole population
that city was 40,000 souls, and the Catholics
:amounted to 23,000, and the Protestants to 1.5.hu1h
They were all on the side of moderation and of jus-
tice. In May, 1790. some murders had taken place,
Lac from that time ell distinctions between Catholics
arid Protestants had ceased to exist. In 1602, Bona-
parte, then First Consul, bad proposed and passed a
law that had raised the Protestants still higher, and.
had placed them exactly in the same state as the Ca-
tholics. This was a real benefit, and they felt it as
such; and yet were they to be considered criminal,
because they, were grateful to the man who had con-
, Jetted it 'you them ? It was known that be had pro-
cured them those advantages; it was thought that
they must be attached to him, and on that account
they were viewed •with detestation, and marked out'.
as persons who deserved to be persecuted by those'
who would prove that they- held Bonaparte in abhor.
rence. Yet, under his reign, no Protestant had cent-
mantled in the departe.ent, or filed a seat in their
tribunals. Indeed, the latter could only be done by
a man who bad been educated in the law, and Pro-
testants had, till then, been proscribed from that pro.
fessiorn They were, however, in the full enjoyment
of their rights when_ Louis XVIII. was restored.—
Bonaparte was then become as odious at Nismes as
• in other parts, as the inhabitants were worn down
with taxes, and • irritated by repeated conscriptions,
more cruelly felt where families lived retired. The
if,y of all parties at the first restoration of the Xing
WAS sincere and unanimous. Unfortunately in the
course of the ten months which elapsed before Bona-
parte's second appearance, very considerable change
of opinion had taken place. Many ancient Nobles
bad rettioned after a long absence, and brought back
their former distrust c: Protestants. The IQwer or.
tiers of the Catholics caught the flame, and reports
were spread in every quarter of o speedy return to
the ancifn regime. The Protestants had hitherto con.
. sid.ercd themselves completely secure, although the
King's Charter did not leave them on the.footing to
which Bonaparte had raised them, but gave . a full
and decided preference to the Roman Catholic reli-
gion as that of the State. They could not forget
that Louis XVIII. returned from amongst us, a Pro.
teetent country, where he had received, be would not
call it protection, but all the offices of friendship,. and
*hey looked torward to the peaceable enjoyment of
all the benefits which they still retained. By degrees,
liewever, a different feeling arose. From the begin-
ning of 1814, they were insulted by the populace,
who threatened them with a renovation of the Saint
Bat tholo'mew massacre, and told thew the tinwwould

*own come when the, 11110014 ave the satleial anon of
.washing their handl ieetbelsiocal of Protestants, and
that only one religion Wouliebe suffered in trance--
Spirits were in thetatate of anxiety when Bnnaparte
suddenly re-appeared, notwithstanding the Peotest-
ants expressed their determination to support the
King with the same teal as the Catholics. On the
13th of March a declaration was made by the Muni-
cipal Body, the chief inhabitants, and the Clergymen
of both religions, at Nismes, expressing the warmest
attachment to the King, and pointing uttt the danger
and impropriety of listening to the invitations of the
disaffected. It was signed by Mr. Donuts, the
' Mayor, a Protestant, the five Catholic Clergymen,
and the three Protestant Ministers, besides all the
respectable inhabitants of both persuasions. Shortly
after the Duke of Angouleme established his head-
quarters at Nismes, and it was made a grievous
charge against the Protestants that they did not join
him. This. he believed, was partly correct. They
had been alarmed and deterred by all those reports
circulated before the appearance of Bonaparte, and it
was not astonishing that they should nut join the
Duke of Angouleme in great numbers. But the
rich Protestant inhabitants of Nismes contributed
largely, and offered their sons to the Duke. As the
number was but small, it was deternsined, however,
not to receive them, and not one Protestant was ad-
mitted. It was not till the .sth April that Bonaparte's
authority was proclaimed and acknowledged, and
en the King's second restoration they displayed the
white standard on the 156 July. It bad been repre-
sented that between the sth April and the 15th July
acts of the greatest violence had been committed by
the Protestants on the Catholics; and that after the
return of the King the latter had only retaliated.—
The fact was, that no act of violence had been com-
mitted during that period; not one house had been
destroyed, and only one man had been killed, and in
a manner entirely unconeecred with political or reli-
gious differences. This he had on information which
be thought was entitled to full credit, whilst on the
other side nothing but assertii ns were advanced.—
The town had all the time been commanded by a
Catholic, General Gilly. On the 15th in July, when
the white standard was hoisted, and Nismes had once
more become a Royal City, numbers of men flocked
in, armed themselves, and required the garrison left
by General Gilly to surrender. It consisted of 200
Protestants, who capitulated, laid down their arms,
and, in defiance of all honour and justice, were mur-
dered in cold alood, very few only escaping by flight.
Nismes was teen plundered, the habitations of the
Protestants broken into, their furniture destroyed,
and individuals carried away in carts, concealed from
their friends and the public. Houses were burnt,
villages destroyeil, vineyards torn up by the roots,
and all manner of horrible excesses committed.—
In the streets of Nismes thirty women were subjected
to the molt shocking cruelties ; and if the statement
he had received was correct, no less than 200 persons
were murdered, and 3000 persecuted in various ways,
such as must be revolting to the feelings of every ci-
vilized nation even to hear of. One man. far ad-
vanced in life, who had never meddled with politics,
was thrown by them over the ballustrades of his
house, dragged by the mob from his own door till he
expired; in another family five brothers were mur.
demi, and in another seven. The leader in all these
outrages was a wretch named Trestaillen, who,
though he had been twice i,, custody. had never bees
brought to punishment.—( (Isar, hear, heart.)—He
was one of the National Guards, and the first time he
was apprehended he was released. In these Guards
no Protestant was admitted, and by a Proclamation
that had been issued, all persons were to be disarmed
who were not capable of belonging to those Guards.
The Learned Gentleman went on to eelate a number
of other cruelties that were committed at the times
' and places to which he alluded, amongst which he
instanced a fact of the digging up of the body of a
young Lady, which had been buried three days, and
asserted, that all these crimes were suffered to be
committed with impunity. When these things were
known, could any man say that he believed the
French Government had done every thing in its
lower to protect the Protestants ? The Learned Gen-
tleman then entered into a detail of the events which
occurred at Nismes previous to and atter the 21st of
August, the day appointed for the Meeting of the
Electoral College, describing them in the same terms
as they appeared in the public papers. He read a
number of Proclamations issued by the French Go-
vernment at that period, and contended that it was
impossible the disorders could not have been imme-
diately pat a stop to, if the Prefect and other Civil
Witten. had not been actuated by the most violent
spirit of animosity towards the Protestants, as there
were at Nissnes, reviewed by the Prefect, no less than
24 companies bf infantry of the. National Guards,
foi ming tin ee battalions, and one company of cavalry.
This force the Prefect bad armed on the day pre-
ceding the election, and yet on that very night many
murders were committed ; and in one of the Procla.
mations that were issued, the people, on being ex-
horted t 3 remain tranquil, were reminded that these
excesses were not novel ; that crimesot the same kind
were committed before the King recovered his authoel
titer, under a power which was blasted by HEAVEN
and detested by man.—(Hear, hear. hear.}—The inure
ders were continued till the 24th of August, when
the Austrian troops marehed in, and tranquillity was
restored. The National Guard was then sent out of the
town, and ordered to remain in the Cevennes, where
theycreated similar disturbances, representing the pro.
plc as being in a state of rebellion, which required the
presence of the Austrian troops the same as at Nismes.
On the very night that they quitted Nismes, Tres-
taillon was taken into custody again, but he was not
brought to justice, nor was one mats' apprehended for
the murders that had been committed. The Lear-
ned Gentleman here read another proclamation of the
Prefect, tending to guiltily the outrages, by stating
that the popular indignation had not been disgraced
by a spirit of robbery. The House, be said,.sbould
recollect, that it had been asserted these disturbances
were entirely political ; but the fact was that they
were entirely religious, and the people suffered 'on
account of their religion. To say that it was a poli-
tical contest was merely a pretext, .and many of the
persons who were promised safety and protection by
the proclamations of the Government were fnardered
in could blood. Oa the 12th of November the Pro-
testants, in the confidence of this proffered protection,
assembled it their Church, and many were murdered.'
the whole being either wolgadod or grossly ill•treated.

a •
Thektftnatte or hia Malraq, on hearint4 Nibs via.
Woe othit former Ordinances, was that dfileakneess
'being merely expressive of regret, and a perinadve to
moderation. In bbort, the dfficulty o* publishing
any thing against the murderers had been screened
by the French Government itself ; but every at-
tempt was made to suppress_truth, and it could
never be learned through the medium of the French
press. He was himself in the Chamber of Deputies,
when it was stated by M. D'Argenceaux, that Ines-
Liens had been committed in the South, and instead
of desiring. a Committee of Inquiry, as would have
been done in this House, several Members called him'
to order for having dared to assert that such events
had occurred, and yet this was only a fortnight be-
fore the atrocious outrage took place in which Gene.
ral Legarde was nearly murdered. An Honourable
Member of this House was present at the same time
in the Chamber of Deputies, and could bear testi-
mony that the affectation of disbelief =the part of
the Deputies was exactly as he related it.
Sir G. NOEL here rose and called the Right
Hon. and Learned Gentleman to order. He thought
it must be considered as highly improper, that any
Member of this House, who was present by courtesy '
in the Legislative Assembly of another nation, should
take notice of their observations, with a view to
ground any motion upon them. He thought it not
consistent with propriety that any Gentleman in such
an important situation, as a Member of the-British
House of Commons, should take upon himself to
unsure the conduct of. persons in situations equally
great, in their own country.—(Loud cries of No, no,
Go on, go en.)
Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY resumed. He fancied
he could remove the scruples of the Hcn. Member,
that there was the least breach of confidence on his
part, by stating that what he had related, as having
beard in the Chamber of Deputies, was published the
next day in all the Paris Papers. Four Deputies of
the Assembly enured a sort of protest in the paper
called La Quotidintne, against the Proclamation which
stated that the rioters in the South consisted of no-
thing but a mob of women and children. He read
.1 Proclamation issued on the 4th November, relative
to the attack on General Lagarde, in which it was
said, that nothing but the punishment of this init.
crews assassin could save the 'country—it offered a
reward of three thousand banes for his appreh.n•
sion, and said to the peoisle64 you know him well,
and can immediately bring him forward." Yet
no steps were taken to bring the person guilty of
this crime to punishment. Why did not the Na-
tional Guard march out to suppress these outrages,
which were said to be only those of women and
children ? What had all this to do with Bonaparte
The temples of Protestant. worship were at length
opened, and he was ready to admit that no excesses
had been committed since December. The animo-
sity, however, had net ceased, and he was credibly
informed that the Protestants were continually in-
sulted and driven away from the public walks; they
were informed against for utiering such or such words
and were imprisoned and exposed to the pillory on'
charges of having sung improper songs. It was an
extraordinary picture of the administration of justice
that crimes of this magnitude should pass unpunished,
and offences of the most trivial nature coMmite d by
Protestants, be visited by vengeance. Every thing,
'however, sheaved that the Protestants were insecure,
as no assailant of them had yet been brought to jus-
tice. Thus the time might come for letting loose en
the Protestants of Nismes all those persons who hod
marked them for victims. The Right Hon. Gen-
tleman, in conclusion, observed that any proceedings
on the subject should take place on the part of the
House; he only wished the aovernment ef France
should know what was the feeling upon it in this
country, and he asked for information, that. it might
be understood the Protestants had suffered on ac-
count of their religion, and not for their political
opinions. It had been said that they were I.l..ml-
partists, merely because they were Protestants;
and that all the Catholics were Bonaportists.—
This he had shewn was fallacious, and he wished it
io be seen whether Government had done all in their
power to stop these excesses. We had a precedent
for our :interference in the case of the natives ea
Africa, on which the strongest expression was maul.
felted in an I out of the House on behalf of our fel-
low creature a There were two Protestant armies at
Paris, at the time these excesses took place,, and his
Cathelic Majesty could not hack out of his palace,
without seeing cannons loaded and matches lighted;
a deep responsibility would, therefore, rest upon us,
if it should appear that at that moment we bad not
interposed. It could not be denied that even now
troubles and disorders of the-most serious nature ex-
isted in the South of France; and what might we not
apprehend would be the situation of the unhappy
Protestants of Nismes ? We ought to consider what
.sort of resp osibility would fall upon us if we ne-
glected to ask for information, and refused them the
pretectien whi:h it was in our power to hold out.
He concluded with moving that an humble Address
be presented tea the Prince Regent, praying him to
direct that there be laid before the House copies of
all communicatians that had taken place between his
Majesty's Gover tment and that of France relative to
the sufferings of the Protestants in the Soul of that
Kingdom.
Lord CASTLEREAGH said, it was with deep
pain he felt that there had existed those troubles
which should give rise to any invidious degree of re-
proach towards a Government with which we were
in a state of cordial amity, as such a feeling was
' likely to do great harm. The Right Honourable
and Learned Gentleman had placed him in a most'
' embarrassed s nation, by stating a number of local
feels to the House, as if it were a body that had
either the right or power to inquire into them. He
felt it his duty to protest against that false policy of
the Honourable and Learned Gentleman, which he
would invite the House and the country to adopt
Were we to be embarked hy the Honourable and
Learned Gentleman in a system of interference with
the internal affairs of other countries ? If such policy
were adopted as he had most unnecessarily and un-
wisely dwelt on to-night, what could be expected
but that the most black and bloody scenes of the
most unenlightened centuries would be revived, and
all those passions re-excited which had subsided for
ages ? The Honourable Gentleman had said he did
not mean to charge his Majesty's Government with
y on this subject; but surely he did not expect
=
Ministers would intake with the internal regu.
' -

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tGhaotveraomste)rott of
to ctioieunettecneasnsecse
wla)tilibeheead:oo•
reel, : gee n y this
hheave
the part of his Majesty's Government tii
their horror at whet had occurred : but if the Rea:
Ministers Honourable
wereandd
policy adopted by certain persons in this comitry,
was egregiously mistaken—Wear, ,;;;;
were convinced that by such a rdicy they would
have done more harm titan good ; and unless the
prudence of such persons arrested them in their pro,
press, he had no hesitation in saying they mend ee
crease the calamity they were desirous re seine
—The fact was, that there were particular elecss :I
France which had been disgraced by locel eniee tee,
AS had heretofore disgraced ceitain pints ef ties Eel.
pire, and which all the wisdom and energy c,f tee
Government had not
:been able to put down ier 4
length of time. It was within his own rectlieciea
that in the county of Armagh two sects wee. teep •
ee
war against each other for the space of two leers',
and the arm of the law was not able in All teh eke
to prevent their excesses.—(Hear, hear).—lirliat would
the Honourable Gentleman say if Any eireign pop cr
were to apply to this Government, and insist that we
should euppert the Catholics against the PunCstatits,
—(Near, Lear).— Would such interference be eee.
rated ? He trusted that there would only he ere
common feeling in the House on this •tittjeet, lie
regretted that such a state of thiess base
existed ; but it was singularly mateereess, that the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman seould admit that
none of the circumstances should h ere taken place
since December, and now come to harms/ up nar
feelings with tales of the severity of religious perste).
don exercised on one side. He ought at least to tette
coloured the picture as highly pa the ether, mid h.we
corrected the errors of both, and not to have fltt ered
the passions of one religious sect, while tart ware
tearing each ether to pieces. He felt that he seeele
not act consistently with his duty, if he did net •d.
vise Parliament to be silent on site!) a topic. Ile
would not deny, that the communicant.:, led
taken place between the two Governments to
which the Honourable and Learned Gen slime
alluded, and the result had satisfied tsliniaers,
that his Catholic Majesty had been most sinsersly
desirous to pat an end to the disturhanees.—
The Noble Lord then, to shew that the Preiestene
in the South of France were hostile to the interests
the Bourbons, re..d a long series of extracts trout let,
tern he had received irom an able and cot& ientia!
person who had been in that part of the country fit
the purpeee of ascertaining the real causes of the du
turbances and the senaiments of both parties. noel
described the Presestents to be inflated with the re
volutionary ascendancy they h:td acquired, and u
.have succeeded in ptocuring for themselves a znej‘i
rity of the public offices and places of emolument.—
' (Loud and In continued lausliter.) The restoration
the Bourbons led to their dismissal on account of thei
known principles, on which they became the enereir
of the Government, and were most zealous in beitel
of the Usurper at the time of his return from EN:
When the Duke of A ngoulame, who was in the Suet
of France, heard of his landing, he hastened t
Nimes and used every exertion to check his es
vance; bet his design was clue. kted•by the atrocieu
desertion and treason which welt place amongst h
forces, and the rest of Ids followers Fleeing dispersed
about '2OO of them fell victims to the fury ut the Punts,
tants. The Noble Lord, after reciting this impala:lt
fact, for the authenticity of which be vouched, reeinia
reading 'the communications he had received, w:tit'l
detailed a number of particulars represent* 01
hostility of the Protestants to the present systems
Government, and the writer of which asserted the
most of the accounts which had appeared in th
English Newspapers of the disturbances in thot-
,,,arts, were either sltogetlter false, or extremely exact
Aerated. He added, that the number of lives lost
the department of La Garde, tell considetably s!eit
• lthiO, and not more than 300 persons were Lille
at Liters in all the disturbances diet had take
place. Tranquillity, however, he (Lord Cestlereagli
thought had been much in dereeer from the senate
in which the silleisct had been taken up by the iht.
testaut Societies, whose exertions on the occasion ti
ferred to, though dictated by the best possible motive.
had, in his, opinion, been calcol tted rather to extva
the ravages of intolerance, than, to check the ev
which had been so much deplored.—(Ther, k•ar.)-
lie commented oa the injurious tendency of bringie
tcrward a motion like that of the Honourable all
Learned Gentleman on this suaject, live mouths Ate
the Department of Le Garde had been restored to
state of tranquiiiity and with respect to the clusee
ofoilicers, SllggeAt'i as essential to the peace of th.
•Depaitinent, he apprehended it would not he 35AZ-I
ted that it was for the English Government to dicta
to the King of France the course proper to be V'
sued in the choice of his officers. p05i,..0
the letter described the Protestants of Fiance to L
greed, alas stied at the proceedings of the Is'eeiety i
England, which, whiles grateful :Or the :noises
theinethey could not but view with deep regret. II
believed he had now communicated to the tleuse
honest a picture of the late transactions as any ms
could furnish. From this it would be seen that tt
King ot -France had shewn no disposition to indele
a spirit of pet secution against the Protestants, an
that the disturbances had seen of a partial and not
ta general nature, and appeared to originate in loss
I causes. He maintained no good could result Intl
trumpeting to the world exaggerated statements an
highly canoucing one side of the picture to SI
in odious contrast to the other. (Bear) It wig!
not to•be assumed that all the faults were on one zed,
Ott these iv:stands, feeling that every thing had bee
done that could wisely he-dune; believing the Neat
:Government to be sincerely anxious to put a stop
;the evil (and what interest could they have not to d
so), and protesting against any right that we migi
•be supposed co have, from cur present relations wit
'France, to intermeddle with its Government, or 1
take any step which one independent country migl
not take without offence to entailer, he must oppes
this motion. He knew the Honourable and Learnt
Gentleman would not wish to shake the Frencit Gi
vernment ; but there were yet many spirits abroa
who, if encouraged, would be ready to. do this, b
an appeal to the benevolence of I:oglislunea for yt,