Star.
London, England, 1816-01-09 00:00:00

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GLASGOW MELTING.

PERSECUTION OF PROTESTANTS IN FRANCE.
Wednesday a public meeting was held in theTradee
Hall, Glasgow, at which the Resolutions, given in the
STAR of yesterday, were unanimously adopted. All
the Gentlemen who. spoke on the occasion, expressed
the highest sense of the importance of religious
liberty ; and their desire that this inestimable blessing
might be enjoyed by the inhabitants of every country
in the world. It is gratifying to observe, that this
fundamental principle seems now to he fully esta-
blished in the minds of all classes of the community.
We believe there was not an individual present who
did not abhor persecution with all his heart. wlrther
the object of it might Le Catholic or Protestant':
The Rev. Dr. Dicic opened the business, and
moved the Resolutions. He began by stating, that
the purpose of the present Meeting was not to inter-
fere with the politics of any foreign country, but to
express our sympathy with our Protestant brethren
in France, and our abhorrence of the persecution to
which they have been subjected, on account of their
religion: That a persecutten has been carried on in
some parts of that Kinsdo m against the professors of
the Protestant faith, is placed beyond doubt, not
only by long-continued public report, but by private
authentic intelligence, cesnreunicated by venous chan-
nels. Their chteches have been plundered and slut
•up, some hundreds of them, it is calculated, have
been massacred, and thousands have been compelled
to flee for their live. It has been asserted, iadeeds
not only in France, but in this country, that this is
merely a political contest: that the Protestants had
arranged themselves on the side of Bonaperre, and
that their sufferings are then consequence et an ebul.
lition of intetneerete zeal on the pert of the Royalists.
• But, although. we should admit that the Protestants
in general had attached themselves to the late Ruler
of France; and were this the fact, no persons could
be surprised, as under his Government they enjoyed
that religious liberty which the bigotry of the cried
family had denied 'them. It may be asked, were
they the only persons who adhered to them ? Were
not thousands aad millions of Catholics engaged in
the Same cause ? Were not his cabinet, his legisla-
tive assemblies, his armies, and all public offices,
filled with Catholics ? Were not many Catholics.
from various motives, as sincerely devoted to him as
the most devoted of-the Protestants? How, these
has it cotta to pass, that the vengeance of loyalty has
lighted upon the latter alone ? How has it come to
pass, th 4 while Catholics are spared, Protestants are
murdered : dun their murderers pursue them as Pro. j
testents, mingle their cruelties with the cries of into.
Terence, and, like tygers thirsting for blood, loudly
call for the return of the infamous massacre of St.
Bartholomew. Is this merely a dispute between po-
litical parties ? No : it is an undisguised persecution,,
catried on in the true spirit of that Church which was
long ago described as 4, a woman drunk with the
bleod cf the Saints." Men have been sometimes
persecuted for the sake of their religion ; but Ire.
qiiteitly %%bile this is the real cause, some other thing
is m ide ti.o pret‘xt. Nothing has• been more corn.
=non than to. brand the victims of intolerance, as
guilty of sedition, rebellion, eed treason, while then
ones crime was their stedfast adheience tie truth, and
their noble resolution not to submit to be dictated to
by a fallible,ancl erring mortal, in matters for which
they were accountable only to Goa Even our
- blessed Sevieur himself was accused of being a rival
to Cagier, and his Apoetles were charged. with vi'i
lacing the laws of the State, and turning the world
u, icie deem. This is a stale trick of persecutors,
which will iinpose only upon simpletons. It has been
pi aatised, however, there is every reason to believe,
on this occasion ; and the Protestants have been re.
presented as Bonapartists by some persons in France,
with a view to screen themselves from the odium
which avowed persecution would incur, and by some
in one own country, perhaps from True-mice, and
perhaps from motives which I shall not venture to
• explain. freeborn men, who claim it as our-
,
right to v. Goo according to our vmscience,,
we shnutd p :rt, it we did not wish
that the same privilege were extended to others.—
And, indeed, what would civil liberty avail, if that
liberty were withheld which is of far greater value—
the liberty of smelting freely for truth, :old blinw.
ing it whereeeever it may lead us? The Protestants
Of France are our brethren ; and if we profess to be
members of the body of Cliaier, we should remembers
that-in this asin the natural body. if one member
suffer, all the members should suffer with it. Our
brethren have already suffered, and are in danger
of suffering again ; and, it our voice can relieve
them, will the man who is silent on such an occa-
sion presume to call himself a Christian and a friend
of humanity ? The Protestants of France have not
only a natural right, in common with all other men,
• to worship Goo according to , the dictates of con-
science, but a legal right founded on the Constitu-
tional Charter, which secures freedom of worship.—
Who has dared to violate that Charter, I cannot tell.
It it be the restored family, their conduct is such a
Complication of -the basest falsehood and perjury, of
foul ingratitude to this Protestant country, to which
they chiefly owe their restoration, of "flagrant injus-
tice and• consummate bigotry, that every person must
regret that they have recovered a throne which they
are so unwoi thy to fill, and not one of us would pity
them if they were again driven. from it 6-morrow.
But I an: put disposed, without ufiniestionable evi-
dence, to believe that they are chargeable With this
outrage against law and humanity. Irmay create
suspicion, that the interference of the Court in behalf
of the Protestants *war ;low, that for week's they were
persecuted, and yet nothing was done except the issu.
ing of some feeble ineffectual proclamations, and that
we have not yet heard that the murderers and plun-
derers of Protestants hive been punished. The niter-
Jereacit of our own Government is a proof that the
Government of France has not done its duty. Still
let us hope that the King is guiltless of the blood of
his subjects. Let us be thankful that we live in a
country where, if any man be disturbed in his relie
giousprofession, redress can be speedily 01)4h-std.
Twii important purposes will be gained by our inter-
ference, As our Ministers have' expressed their ab-
horrenie of the iniquitous proceedings in France, and
their resolution is interpose, in order to secure td per.
Pons 0 all denominations liberty of Conscience, it lute
' encourage than to t.now that they ire. supported by
the sense of the countiy, and that they wal.be Urged