The Virginia Gazette

Extract of a Letter from Vienna, July 24.

"The Letter which the King of Prussia wrote to the Bishop of Breslau, about the Grievances of the Protestants of Hungary, has afforded the Ministers of the Powers of the same Communion an Opportunity to renew their Sollicitations in Favour of that injured People; and they have accordingly done it, within these few Days, in the strongest Terms and most pressing Manner. The Work of the Bishop of Vesprin which his Prussian Majesty complains of in that Letter, as containing very violent and dangerous Principles, is a Book wrote in Latin, and published at Raab last Year. The Bishop composed this Book on Occasion of a Petition which the Protestants of Hungary had presented to the Empress some Time before, setting forth their Sufferings, and craving Redress; which Petition the Prelate set himself to refute, and inserted it at large in his Work. The Drift of all his Arguments is to shew that the Protestants have no Right to claim Liberty of Conscience in Hungary, nor the Publick Exercise of their Religion: That the Principal Foundation of their Pretensions is the Convention of Vienna of the Year 1686, wherein some Conditions were stipulated in their Favour, which they found Means to get inserted in the Codex of the Kingdom; but that the Roman Catholick Clergy solemnly protested against the said Convention, and against what followed thereon; consequently are not bound to acknowledge the Validity thereof, but may, by tracing Things up to the Source, look back upon every Thing as null and void that has been done in Prejudice of their solemn Protests, &c.

The Zeal of the Bishop of Vesprin for the Cause of his Church, having made him launch out into Reflections and Invectives which no moderate Man can countenance, his Book made so much Noise, that it was justly feared the Subjects of both Communions might throw away the Pen, and maintain their respective Causes by Apostolick Blows and Knocks; wherefore, the Empress was no sooner duly apprized of the Ferment raised by this fiery Prelate, than she ordered his Book to be suppressed."