been liberated but by the force of solicitations, and after a considerable time.

66

Nismes, August 13th, 1816. "Yesterday was a day of triumph for all the fanatical and bigoted populace of Nismes. The famous brigand, Trestaillon, returned to his home at ten o'clock in the morning; his accomplices, like him, have escaped the justice of the laws. Trestaillon received the visits of more than twelve hundred persons, who cried with deafening acclamations, The King of the Bourgards is arrived.' Trestaillon paid his visits to-day, dressed up in the habit of the National Guard, and with a sabre under his arm. How has this monster, accused of the murder of more than Forty Protestants, been able to escape the authority of the laws? The answer is, He had most powerful friends. During the fêtes which were given to the Duke of D'Angoulême, at the time of his last visit at Nismes, the busts of the royal family were placed on a stage, richly decorated, surrounded by valuable trees, cut from the estates of Protestants, and the stage was placed directly in the front of the house in which Trestaillon lived before he was arrested." -French Papers.

POPISH INSOLENCE.

The great source of dispute between the sovereigns of the Netherlands and Prussia with their Catholic bishops was, that the latter, who had all along put up public prayers for Buonaparte (and he would not have

used much ceremony with them if they had not done so) yet had the audacity to refuse to pray for those sovereigns because they were Protestant; and the bishop of Ghent refused to return thanks for the birth of the children of the Prince of Orange. They were, however, compelled in part to comply. On a reference to Rome, a letter was sent, Feb. 6, 1817, from Cardinal Gonsalvi, the papal minister; and the clergy were instructed to pray for the Protestant sovereigns; but in conformity to the instruction of Benedict XIV., which was, "that these prayers should not be in the service of the mass, nor should the king be named in the canon" -both which are done when the sovereign is a Catholic.

ABSURDITIES IN THE HOLY LAND.

The fathers of the Roman Catholic convent regularly go through the ceremony of the crucifixion every year. A statue, intended to represent our Saviour, is nailed to the cross; the pilgrims are all called upon in succession to advance and kiss it. The cross is then erected, and the image is allowed to remain upon it for a given time; it is then taken down from the cross, when the nails are withdrawn from the hands and feet, kissed, and carefully laid by, to be sold to the deluded votaries, and carried away to work miracles in a distant quarter of the globe. The bloody image is then wrapt in a linen cloth, and carried down to the stone

of unction; where it is anointed, powdered, and spiced, and bound up and laid in the tomb, in which it remains till the morning of the third day. Dr. Richardson's Travels, vol. ii.

PERSECUTION OF THE VAUDOIS.

In the year 1655, the persecutions and massacres inflicted on the harmless inhabitants of the Vaudois, by their bigoted and cruel sovereign the Duke of Savoy, called the attention of all the Protestant potentates of Europe; but none entered more warmly into the cause than the English and their Protector, Oliver Cromwell. It was at this time that a permanent fund was raised, for the annual relief of the Vaudois.

The Lord Protector gave

Collected in the Cities of London and

Westminster

Collected in the parishes of England

and Wales

Given by particular individuals

Gained by remission of part of the above 144 3 3

£.38,241 10 6

Charles II. seized this fund, and all the pressing remonstrances, and pathetic appeals of the poor Vaudois, could not prevail on him to restore it. His only answer was, that he did not consider himself bound by

any of the engagements of an usurper and tyrant, nor responsible for his debts. James II. could not be expected to pay any attention to the claims of the Protestants; but William and Mary restored the pension, or at least established a new one, and were the constant friends of this oppressed community. And it is right to add, that their successors, to the present time, have not been wholly unmindful of them; but it may be proper further to observe, when Piedmont was under the dominion of Napoleon, he placed these poor Protestants on a footing with the Romanists, and equalized their condition in the state with the rest of the subjects of the empire; but on the annihilation of the power of Buonaparte, and the restoration of Piedmont to its legitimate sovereign, their miseries were again renewed. The British General naturally conceived, that he, who had been instrumental in replacing his Majesty upon the throne of his ancestors, had some pretensions to be heard in favour of subjects who professed the same religion as his own sovereign and himself; he therefore took the earliest opportunity of urging their suit; and at Genoa, before the king could even set foot in the hereditary dominions, to which the British arms had restored him, and while he was yet under the protection of a British escort, Lord William Bentinck most earnestly pleaded for the oppressed churches of the Valleys. The king listened to the eloquent and feeling appeal with worse than indifference. His determination most probably was already made; for in four days afterwards, and on the morning after he had taken possession of his palace.

at Turin, the ungrateful monarch issued an edict, by which he dispossessed the Vaudois of all that they enjoyed during his dethronement; and put many vexatious decrees in force, which had been proclaimed against them by his bigoted and intolerant predecessors. It is impossible to contemplate the excellent character, the patience, resignation, and disinterestedness of this exemplary people, without being moved by pity and admiration; they seem, indeed, "the salt of the earth," and may with much propriety be held up as a model to all Christian communities.

Let us now for a moment observe the conduct of the Sardinian government towards the Protestant inhabitants of these Alpine valleys. Their numbers can afford no ground of jealousy, for they do not exceed 16,000; and they are engaged in agricultural pursuits, in a remote situation. Yet it appears, from the interesting account of these people, lately published by Mr. Gilly, that they can neither purchase nor inherit land beyond the limits of the three valleys which are left them; that they must pay a land-tax of 20 per cent., where the Roman Catholics pay 13; that they are prohibited from working on several Catholic saints' days; that, in their own communes, the majority of the Syndics must be Catholics, although it is necessary to choose them from the lowest of the people; that they are not allowed to print any religious works in Piedmont, and that the duty on importation is enormous; that they are excluded from all civil and military employment, excepting that they are liable to conscription to serve in the ranks,