“Before arriving at such an extremity I thought it only right, M. le Président, to place the matter before you, in the hope that you would inquire into it with the whole-hearted firmness God bestows upon the rulers who place their trust in Him. May you, with His help, find a remedy for the crying evils I have placed before you. God grant, M. le Président, God grant that, when you have examined the injustice of the taxation as regards our religious bodies, you may be guided less by your counsellors than by your own sense of justice. For, if the chief may take counsel of others, it is his own counsel he should follow. As Solomon has said, ‘Counsel in the heart of a man is like unto deep water.’ _Sicut aqua profunda, sic consilium in corde viri_ (Prov. xx. 5). “With the deepest respect, etc., I have the honour, M. le Président, to be “Your obedient servant, “JOACHIM, “Bishop of Tourcoing.” The letter of the Bishop of Tourcoing was published on January 14th. On the 30th of the same month the _Agence Hava_ sent the following communication to the papers: “The cabinet met yesterday at the Élysée. It was decided at the meeting that the Minister of Public Worship should apply to the Council d’État for a writ against Monseigneur Guitrel, Bishop of Tourcoing, in connexion with a letter addressed by him to the President of the Republic.” Transcriber’s Note: Spelling and hyphenation have been retained as published except the following: Page 39 esctasy of admiration at _changed to_ ecstasy of admiration at Page 117 carrrying in front of her _changed to_ carrying in front of her Page 175 Superscript is shown with a preceding ^ as in “No. 3715^8” End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Amethyst Ring, by Anatole France