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Intelligence.-Debate in the House of Commons on the French Protestants. 361

punished by the French government. [Hear!] He had boasted of the murders he had committed. One of the first acts after the 17th of July, the period when Nismes reverted under the royal government, was to disarm the urban guard, which it was declared should exclusively consist of Catholics and he should have to state an order of the new authorities, that all persons should be disarmed who could not belong to the national guard, which was equivalent to declaring that their intended victims should be disarmed, in order to their execution. In one place these infuriated persons dug up the body of a young man, and burnt it, together with the house of his father. In short, every kind of atrocity was committed. He was speaking now of persons who were murdered in cold blood, and not taken with arms in their hands. It was proper here to inquire what steps were taken by the French government to prevent these excesses. The king had appointed the Marquis d'Arbaud Joucques prefect of the department of the Gard. He arrived on the 30th of July, and issued a proclamation for the purpose of protect ing the Protestants from the fury of their persecutors. In consequence of this he was ill-treated on his appear ance at the theatre. They insisted that Trestaillon should be released, which was accordingly done. This prefect was still continued; and under such circumstances could any man say, in the language of the Duke of Wellington, that the French government had done every thing to protect its Protestant subjects? The disturbances at Nismes still continued. The 21st of August was the important day fixed for the election of deputies to the legislature. He read from the official journal of the Gard, the proclamation of Devallon, the mayor of Nismes, on the eve of the feast of St. Louis, recommending to the people to abstain from the employment of squibs and crackers, and reminding them that the least disturbance would throw great responsibility on the magistrates. What was the amount of force which this mayor, then, had at his disposal? It was twenty-four companies of national guards and three of cavalry. There was another proclamation issued on the 30th of August, in which he states, that many murders

had been committed, the perpetrators of which concealed themselves in darkness. These, he said, had profoundly wounded his heart; but he ascribed them all to unknown agitators, who in this way abused their love for their king. What were we to think of a government which ascribed these murders to misguided demonstrations of loyalty? They are then reminded that such crimes could not be justified, because crimes of the same kind had been committed during an usurpation blasted by heaven, and detested by man. But what was the fact? The national guard which was at the disposal of the mayor, had never exerted themselves during all these days to prevent the perpetration of the murders. It might be worth mentioning, that M. Trinquelaque, a lawyer, who was chosen one of the depu ties to the legislature, and lately appointed secretary general to the minister of justice, was the person who, after the first restoration, proposed that a silver image should be dedicated to the Virgin, in the event of the preg nancy of the Duchess d'Angouleme. It was also worthy of remark, that on the 24th of August, another military force entered Nismes, exclusive of the national guard, when tranquillity was restored, and continued as long as they remained. The national guard was marched into the mountains of the Cevennes, where the people had remained in perfect tranquillity, though they were now treated by the national guard as in a state of rebellion. The Austrian troops that were soon after sent into the Cevennes, in order to disarm the inhabitants, declared, on the contrary, they had never seen a people more peaceably disposed. They quitted the country on the 25th of October, and the same system of murder was recommenced. Besides the infamous Trestaillon, there was another notorious murderer, of the name of Quatretaillon. Trestaillon had been sent away from that part of the country, but punished he had never been. In fact, not one of the persons concerned in these numerous atrocities had been brought to punishment; they still roamed about at large, though well known to most of the inhabitants of Nismes. He had to notice another proclamation of the prefect, in which he spoke of an indignation, too natural not to be

excusable, having burst on the heads of the disaffected; but, illegal as it was, he adds, it was not stained by plunder, and popular indignation had not been disgraced by robbery. The Honourable Gentleman then proceeded to advert to the opening of the Protestant churches at Nismes, on the 19th of November, when General Legarde was severely wounded. Mary of the congregation were besides wounded and maltreated. On the 1st of September, 1815, another proclamation was issued, which still used the language of persuasion to murderers. He made no doubt that the Noble Lord was much better acquainted than himself with all these facts; but the House would take into its consideration the extreme difficulty of procuring authentic information. There had been no difficulty, indeed, in publishing any thing against the Protestants; the conductors of the journals were permitted, nay, they were even courted, to publish statements against those persons; but the police would not suffer a single paragraph to be inserted with regard to their sufferings, He was himself present in the Chamber of Deputies, when a discussion took place on the personal liberty of the subject; and because one of the representatives, Monsieur d'Argenson, stated, that there had been persecutions in the South of France, a great part of the assembly rose in a most tumultuous manner, and in coarsest terms insisted that he should be called to order. He (Sir Samuel Romilly) then saw a gentleman in his place who was present in the French Chamber on that occasion, and he appealed to that Honourable Member to corroborate this statement. The President yielded to the cry of the House, and Monsieur d'Argenson was called to order. It was notorious, however, that only six days before he made that speech, the blood of the Protestants was flowing down the streets of Nismes, and it was only a fortnight before that the king's general was wounded; and yet he was called to order for stating that there had been a persecution in the South. [Hear, hear!] When General Legarde was wounded at Nismes, the king published a proclamation on the subject; and

the

Sir GERARD NOEL rose to call the Honourable and Learned Gentleman to

order. It seemed to him, that the House would act very unwisely, if they should allow the Honourable and Learned Gentleman to proceed with these details. He had been admitted into the Chamber of Deputies by courtesy, as an English gentleman on his travels; and he had no right to make use of what he then heard for the purpose of grounding an inquiry in the English House of Commons. It would be a great breach of confidence in the Honourable and Learned Gentleman, [a laugh,] and was derogatory to the high character and dignity of the House. [Repeated laughter and loud calls to Sir Samuel Romilly to proceed.]

Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY said, he could easily remove all embarrassment from the mind of the Honourable Baronet, with respect to being guilty of any breach of confidence, as he was only stating what the French government itself had permitted to be published in all the newspapers on the fol lowing day. [Hear, hear!] He repeated, that there was no hesitation whatever on the part of that government in publishing every thing against the Protestants. The four deputies of the department of La Gard published in the Quotidienne a sort of protest against the king's proclamation, and declared that the tumult was excited only by a few old women. On the 12th of November the prefect issued a proclamation, and, in the name of the department, promised a reward' of 3,000 francs to any person who should make known the name of the individual who had shot the General, and bring him before him. This man, however, had not been prosecuted or punished; nay, he had not been seized, though his name was well known to be Boisset. The proclamation of the king said, that an atrocious crime had been committed; but what followed? It called upon the magistrates to disarm all the Protestants; and why? Because, as the prefect stated, a tumult had been excited by a few old women! On the 19th of December, the mayor published a proclamation, stating, that the Protestant churches should be re-opened on the following Thursday, and an assurance was given to the people that the Protestants should have churches built out of the city. Of the two churches of the Protestants at Nismes,

Intelligence.-Debate in the House of Commons on the French Protestants. 363

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one had been bought by themselves, and the other was given to them by the government; but, instead of these, they were to be permitted to build two new ones beyond the walls of the town at their own expense. Now, he would ask, what had this to do with politics? What had this to do with Buonaparte? The House would see that all this was purely religious. On the 9th of January the king published another proclamation, stating, in the first place, that his orders had met with that respect and submission which he had a right to expect." But what was the nature of this respect and submission?-only that the Protestants had been disarmed. It then declared, that the temple of the Protestants was open, and that they enjoyed all the protection of the law;" and it concluded with his Majesty's thanks to his good people of the city of Nismes." This must be considered as a kind of general amnesty; and the fact really was, that not a single individual had been prosecuted or punished. The present condition of the Protestants certainly was so far in a state of security, that since the month of December no murder or cruelty had been committed; but he had been informed by a gentleman who had recently arrived from the city of Nismes, and on whose veracity he could place the utmost reliance, that the Protestants were continually driven away from the public walks. Whenever they ventured to appear in such places, they were jostled by the very persons who had murdered their wives, their husbands, brothers, sisters, and dearest relatious. The prisons were now filled with Protestants who had been apprehended on the charge of sedition. In the several departments of France there were not less than 19,000 Protestants in custody upon this pretence. Some were imprisoned for five years, some for ten years, and others for longer periods, on the charge of having sung improper songs. [Hear, hear!] It seemed a most extraordinary thing, that crimes so atrocious as those which he had mentioned should be suffered to pass unpunished, and that such trifling offences as singing a few songs, should be visited in this terrible manner. It was a strange feature of the administration of justice in any country; but that on which he most relied was,

that no person had been yet brought to trial. He did not intend to move that there should be any immediate address to the crown on this subject; but he contended that the Protestants had suffered, not for seditious conduct, but only on the suspicion of entertaining particular opinions. All that he meant to ask for was, that an humble address should be presented to the Prince Regent, that he would be graciously pleased to lay before the House copies or extracts of all correspondence between his Majesty's government and the government of France, relative to the Protestants in the South of France. He made this motion in no spirit of hostility against ministers, but to give them an opportunity of making a statement more in detail, than had yet been done. He could give a long list of names of persons who had been murdered at Nismes, but he did not consider it necessary in this stage of the business. Because they were Protestants, they were said to be Buonapartists; and the Catholics, who had been suffered to persecute them, were called Bourbonists. The Noble Lord would have anopportunity of correcting this error, if it were one; and he should be glad to hear that government had used all the means in its power to put a stop to these crimes. In concluding his remarks, he might advert to what had been done by our ancestors on similar occasions: and if precedents were necessary, he need only recall to the recollection of the House what it had recently done for the negroes of Africa. But surely the Protestants of the South of France had equal claims upon our generosity and benevolence, and we ought not to suffer them to be persecuted, imprisoned, and murdered, without some remonstrance to the government which was bound to protect them. At the very moment when these dreadful scenes were acting in Languedoc, Paris was in possession of three Protestant armies, and the king could not look out of the windows of his palace without seeing the cannon that was planted before it. He did not state this for the purpose of bringing a charge against his Majesty; but if he neglected to send assistance to his Protestant subjects, it was the duty of those who commanded the foreign armies to protect and defend them.

The

French government did nothing but give words and make professions; but it was still in our power to interpose all good offices in this case. Tumults had recently arisen in various parts of France; and if disorders should again break out, who could tell what might be the situation of the unhappy inhabitants of Nismes? He trusted that the House would consider what heavy responsibility was then upon them, and that, as they would answer to God and their consciences, they would not refuse protection when it was in their power to afford it. [Hear, hear!]

Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that the House must have listened with great pain to the speech of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman, as they must certainly lament to hear that persecutions for religious opinions were still practised in any part of Europe. He did not mean to make any invidious reflection, but he must take leave to say, that the Honourable and Learned Gentleman had drawn a most exagge -rated and unfairly coloured picture. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman had placed him in a most embarrassing and painful situation. He had addressed himself to the House as to a tribunal that had jurisdiction to inquire into all the circumstances; but if they had even the means of arriving at the truth, they had not the means of applying a remedy to the evils. He must enter his protest against the false policy of interfering with the internal situation of the affairs of other countries, more especially with respect to religious opinions. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman had dwelt with great pains upon the centuries that were gone by, as if he wished to rouse all those bad passions which, he should hope, had been long buried in oblivion. He had also adverted to the impression made on the public mind by the conduct of certain individuals; and had stated, that a sort of countenance was given to their exertions by his Majesty's ministers. If he imagined, however, that government was disposed to encourage those persons, he was certainly incorrect; for they were satisfied, that, notwithstanding the benevolent motives by which those bodies might have been actuated, they had done more harm than good to the cause in which they interposed. He knew that it was not possible to dis

courage the efforts of individuals, but he was confident that his Majesty's government would have lost sight of their duty if they had encouraged them. It was a question of prudence to look at the cases of former interference, and every man who viewed them with an impartial eye, would consider what the spirit of toleration was working in fayour of religion. There was a time, indeed, when religion was made a pretence for imposing a system of government, and then the Protestant powers were obliged to stand together: but we were now placed in a situation in which we might suffer Christianity to effect its own work. He did not say that one government could not communicate on this subject with another; but he did say, that if one government at this day would suffer a foreign state to interfere with it because it administered its laws according to its own conception, that government would be degraded in the eyes of all the world. But suppose we should be rash enough to interfere with another state on this account; if we were not listened to, what would become of our dignity? Was the Honourable and Learned Gentleman prepared to state, that he wished an appeal to arms?-[Hear, hear!] He was the more astonished at the Honourable and Learned Gentleman's proposal, when he found he had not laid the ground for it in the general situation of the Protestants: on the contrary, he had told the House that his was not a charge of religious persecution; he had told them that the evil was local-that it was confined to the department of the Gard-that the Protestants derived their liberty from that man who owed the loss of his life and crown to his benevolence: had he been more vigorous, the world would have been spared those scenes of calamity that had since overwhelmed the whole of the civilized globe. He had commented on the acts of the French government and the proclamation of the king himself. It would be ' invidious for him (Lord C.) to enter into critical disquisitions on that proclamation, but he was persuaded that the king felt the most sincere desire to put down the hostile feeling against the Protestants: he had not only tolerated but indulged them, and their miseries were only the result of a local · feud, such as we had but too often seen in parts of this empire, and which all i

Intelligence.-Debate in the House of Commons on the French Protestants. 365

the force of government could not put down at once. Was he (Lord C.) to tell the House, that in the country to which he belonged, a feud, a dispute, which appeared religious, but which was totally unconnected with religion, would often disturb a province for years? In the county of Armagh sects had for two years been waging war with each other, and the whole power of the arm of the law was found insufficient to repress them. Did the House forget the present state of things in Ireland, and would they have us advise a foreign country to interfere in the cause of the Catholics of this country? [Hear, hear!] He was sure that such an interference would not be endured. Whilst there was but one common feeling-that of deep grief on the unhappy calamities in France, and an anxious desire to see them terthinated; whilst the Honourable and Learned Gentleman himself admitted that no outrages had been committed since December, and now, after such a lapse of time, he came to harrow up the feelings of the House with the recital of calamities we could not redress, he (Lord C.) had hoped that he would lay the question at peace, instead of colouring the proceedings on one side as highly as he might, if he had pleased, those of the other-instead of inflaming the passions of two sects who were tearing each other to pieces. This was an act of disrespect to the French people, and not an act of benevolence, whatever might be the motives of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman. He (Lord C.) could not consistently with his public duty acquiesce in producing to the House all the correspondence that had passed on this subject. If ever there was a question on which parliament and every good man should be silent, it was this. He did not mean to deny that communications had passed which had convinced his Majesty's ministers, that though the French government was in the exercise of a power so recent that it could hardly be productive of any great and immediate results, yet that his most Christian Majesty had been most serious in his efforts to repress all persecution. He agreed with the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, that the situation of the Protestants of France had for a long time been a source of pain to every liberal mind; but the emancipation of the Protestants commenced early in the

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Revolution; it had been followed up; and they enjoyed a degree of freedom they had never known before. With out imputing blame to the sect, without denying that they were a most enlightened people, he should contend that having acquired an extent of pow er, and that from Buonaparte, they felt interested in the continuance of his power: their conduct showed that they felt this, and had led to a jealousy which was the cause of the present disturbances. If he were to believe the Honourable and Learned Gentle man, and the various publications on the subject, he must imagine that the Catholics had not suffered or been provoked at all, and that this was a gra tuitous persécution of the Protestants. Indeed, the Honourable and Learned Gentleman had touched so slightly on the wrongs or provocations of the other side, that though he admitted a few individuals had been sacrificed, yet it would appear from his statement, that in general they had no cause for complaint. He (Lord C.) did not mean to give official information to the House, but he would read a passage from a letter which he believed to be written in a fair and impartial spirit. It contained the opinions of an individual whose sentiments he wished to receive, because he went out with a mind pure and unbiassed. This letter would bring one point on which the Honourable and Learned Gentleman' had touched slightly-the provocations and wrongs of the Catholics-into open view. "Both parties are to a certain degree right;" that was, the Protestants were mixed up with Buonaparte, and imputed to the Ca tholics jealousy and political dislike; while the Catholics, who adhered to the Bourbons, were afraid of the designs of the Protestants.

[To be continued.]

Schools for All.

The Anniversary Meeting of this grand British Institution, was held on Monday, the 13th of May, at the Lon don Tavern, the spacious ball-room of which was thronged, and had a. large proportion of respectable females."

The Duke of Bedford was expected to take the chair; but not arriving, the Right Hon. Lord Mayor took it pro tempore, and being obliged to wart on the Prince Regent, resigned to Sir

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