“of Serasse, a paper manufacturer, is particularly talked of; and that of Seguin," formerly a violent Terrorist. He has published an account of his conversion ; "in which he celebrates what he calls Three Returns: his return into the bosom of "the Catholic church,-the return of the Pope to Rome, and the return of Louis "XVIII. to the throne of his ancestors. Many copies of this account have "been distributed and stuck up in various parts of the city.!... The account which follows will further exhibit the distressing state of the city of Nismes, at the very period when it was affirmed in Parliament that all was tranquil and satisfactory. "Mr. a most respectable gentleman, residing in Switzerland, who had passed the winter mouths in Provence, for the health of his family, arrived at "Nismes, May 21. It was his intention to remain several days among his friends, "but he only remained 24 hours. The deplorable situation of the town, and the "melancholy which the sufferings of the Protestants inspired, compelled him to depart. Not one of the Protestant merchants, or the respectable reformed inha"bitants, dared venture to leave their houses, associate with him, or appear in public.” Unhappily, the spirit and the practice of Persecution are not confined to France. From the Sketch of the State of the Waldenses, published by the Committee, it is necessary to furnish the following short extracts :- "Under these circumstances, the Committee have laid before his Majesty's Government a statement of the situation in which these afflicted churches are left, by the late political events; and by a deputation, have requested the attention of, the Earl of Liverpool to the practicability of renewing, in favor of the Vaudois, the grant of William and Mary. "Waiting the result of their application, which, was graciously and favorably received, the Com mittee have felt themselves compelled to establish a fund for the immediate relief of their necessitous brethren, and have already sent to them some pecuniary assistance. "To render this fund efficient, they invite the aid of the benevolent, and donht not that, in the eycuft of its being found impracticable to obtain from the resources of the nation adequate support, the Christian public, and especially Protestant Dissenters,, will enable the Committee to place the descendants of the earliest and most honourable of continential Christian Churches in a state of private and domestic comfort, though even their political condition should continue to be unjustly oppressive and degraded." |
