and Deacons being deposed shall not be restored in any other manner or form than is used in the re-admission of deposed Ministers CHAP. IV. Of the Deaconship or Office of dispensing the Churches Charities unto the Poor CANON I. MOneys belonging unto the Poor shall not be dispensed by any other hands than those of the Deacons by and with the advice and consent of the Consistory CAN. II. It is very requisite that one or two Ministers be always present at the ordinary distributions but most especially at passing of accompts CAN. III. The People shall be informed of the days of Accompt that so they may have liberty all of them if they please to see the making of them up as well for their discharge who have the handling of those Moneys as for notifying unto all the Necessities of the Church and Poor and also that thereby they may be excited to more liberal Contributions CAN. IV. To prevent those Disorders which daily fall out by reason of Certificates given unto the Poor every Church shall endeavour to maintain its own and in case any one be constrained through the urgency of his affairs to travel Ministers shall examine with the greatest care in their Consistories the just causes of his Journey and thereupon shall give him Letters directed unto the next Church lying in the straight way by which he must go specifying his Name Age Stature Hair and the Place whither and the Cause of his Travel and the Assistance which was given him nor shall the Date of the Day and Year be omitted which Letters the Church he is directed to shall keep by it and give him others unto the next and all Certificates formerly given shall be torn in pieces CHAP. V. Of the Consistory Chap V. Of Consistories CANON I. IN every Church there shall be a Consistory made up of those who govern it to-wit of its Pastors and Elders and in this Assembly as well as in all other Church-Assemblies the Pastors are of right to be Presidents CAN. II. Whereas our Churches by reason of the present distress have hitherto most happily employed Deacons in their Government and that they have discharged at the same time the Elder 's Office such as for the future shall be so elected or continued shall have together with the Pastors and Elders the Government of the Church and therefore shall commonly appear with them at the Consistory and at Colloquies and Synods provided they be sent by their Consistory CAN. III. In those places where the exercise of our Religion is not yet established the faithful shall be exhorted by the Colloquies to chuse unto themselves Elders and Deacons and to embrace our Church-Discipline And in the said Colloquies it shall be advised to what Church they may most conveniently join themselves and for the better maintenance of their Minister from which they shall not depart without having first communicated it unto the said Colloquies CAN. IV. There shall be but one Consistory in a Church nor shall any other Council be allowed or established for Church-affairs as distinct from the Consistory and if there be any such it shall be immediately suppressed Nevertheless the Consistory may call at certain times unto it self such Members of the Church as it shall think fit when affairs so require it But yet Ecclesiastical business shall not be handled any where else but in those places where the Consistories do usually meet and assemble CAN. V. A Consistory is at liberty to receive into it the Father and Son or two Brothers unless there should arise an inconvenience by it of which the Colloquy or Provincial Synod shall take cognisance CAN. VI. It is left unto the prudence of Consistories to call their Proposans into it although they have no office in the Church but not without very great causes and considerations and upon good experience had of their prudence And the said Proposans shall be present not to give their Suffrages when as affairs are debated but to prepare and fit them for the Government of the Church against such time as God shall call them to it Moreover it is left to the discretion of Pastors to make tryal of their sufficiency by demanding their advice which yet shall not be done but with much prudence and judgment and upon their promise of concealing all matters which they had heard discussed CAN. VII The Civil Magistrate may be called unto the Office of an Elder in the Consistory provided that his Exercise of one Office do not hinder the discharge of the other and that it be not in any wise prejudicial to the Church CAN. VIII The Churches Government shall be regulated according to the Discipline made and decreed by our National Synods nor shall any Church or Province make any Ordinance which shall not be for substance conformable to the general Canons of our Discipline To this end the Canons of our Church-Discipline shall be read in Consistory at least before the Celebration of the Lord's Supper and all Elders and Deacons shall be exhorted to keep a Copy of it by them for their private reading and meditation at their leisure CAN. IX The Cognisance of Scandals and power of passing Sentence on them belongeth unto the Assembly of Pastors and Elders and there shall be no Exceptions made against full Consistories no nor against the greater part of them Nevertheless Exceptions made against the minor part of the said Consistories whether they be particular Pastors or Elders shall be valid and admitted by the Consistory which being once judged they shall proceed farther notwithstanding an Appeal be interposed upon the admission or rejection of those Exceptions aforesaid CAN. X. That Custom used in divers places of inquiring into and passing a general Censure upon offences in popular Assemblies before Men and Women forasmuch as it is condemned by the word of God the Churches are exhorted to disuse it and in point of Censure to acquiesce in that order established by the Discipline CAN. XI Elders shall be advised not to report the faults of any unto the Consistory unless they have good Evidence and proof of them and when they do it it shall be done with singular Charity and no Person shall be called into the Consistory without a sufficient cause or occasion for so doing CAN. XII All possible care shall be taken that those formalities and terms which are used in Courts of Law may be avoided in the exercise of Church-Discipline CAN. XIII The faithful may be exhorted yea and charged in the name of God by the Consistories to tell the Truth forasmuch as it doth not in the least derogate from the authority of the Civil Magistrate nor shall they use any of those accustomed formalities in the taking of Oaths before the Magistrate CAN. XIV When differences arise the contending Parties shall be exhorted by the Consistories to agree among themselves in a friendly manner Yet Consistories shall not appoint them any Arbitrators nor deport themselves as if they
desire that he may be admitted into the Church of God by that Initial Sacrament he shall not be baptized till he have made a publick Confession of his Faith and evidence that he hath a competent measure of Understanding and Knowledge in the Articles of our Christian Religion CHAP. VII Of MARRIAGES ARTICLE XX. MInisters neither may nor shall marry such as are professed Papists till they have first renounced their Popish Religion Superstition the Mass and do make profession of our Faith although the Husband himself should be a Believer ARTICLE XXI The Churches shall be informed not to celebrate any Marriages of Strangers out of the places of their abode without sufficient Attestation from that Church unto which they do belong ARTICLE XXII The Banes shall be published on two Lord's Days in those places where there be Weekly Sermons and if in other places then at such times as there is Exhortation made and common Prayers yea also they shall there be published thrice within the Fortnight It may be lawful but not necessary to publish the Banes of Marriage in the Popish Temples ARTICLE XXIII 'T is the Judgment of this Synod That a Man having left his Wife because of Leprosie and married another his first being yet alive that this his Marriage is null before God and that therefore he may not be admitted to the Lord's Table till he have first separated from this second Wife and repaired the Scandal he hath given the Church by publick Penance CHAP. VIII About Interests of Money ARTICLE XXIV ALL Persons shall carefully observe the King's Edicts and the Rules of Charity about Interest of Money CHAP. IX About Vagrants Hereticks and Schismaticks ARTICLE XXV VAgrants Hereticks and Schismaticks shall be notified unto all Churches that they may be aware of them CHAP. X. Of the LORD's SVPPER THe Churches shall be informed that it belongs only unto Ministers to give the Cup in the Lord's Supper if possible they can do it and that all evil Consequences may be avoided CHAP. XI General MATTERS I. MInisters shall exhort their Churches to demean themselves with all Reverence during the Administration of Baptism II. Women only shall not be admitted to present Children unto Baptism III. This Synod explaining the Article of the foregoing Synod concerning Baptism saith That no Baptism shall be administred unless in publick Church-Meetings The Cup at the Lord's Supper must be given by the Ministers IV. The Churches shall be informed That it belongs only unto Ministers to give the Cup at the Lord's Table and to obviate all evil Consequences it be possible none else shall deliver it V. All Vagrants Hereticks and Schismaticks shall be denounced such by Name unto the Churches that they may beware of them VI. Consistories shall be directed to call none before them unless there be good and sufficient ground for it VII Professors that are Ministers may be Members of Consistories and Synods To remove and change Ministers the Power is vested in the Synods VIII Ministers tho' already fixed in one Church may yet be lent unto another for its Edification for some time And when as our Candidates shall be called into the Ministry they shall have a certain Flock assigned to them among whom they shall have their constant abode The Power of removing Ministers for certain considerations remaining in the Synods with the consent of their Churches according to the Discipline Excommunication 〈◊〉 Synod 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Appeal Whole Consistories â—â—y not be Arbitrators All Sentences of Excommunication ratified by Provincial Synods shall for the future be confirmed and no Appeal from them X. The Bodies of Consistories shall never be chosen Arbiters but only some particular Members from among them instead of the whole XI None other Articles of the Church-Discipline shall be divulged but such as have been resolved on unanimously by all the Deputies in the National Synod CHAP. XII A Case of CONSCIENCE XII MAy a Man marry his Cousin-German or she that is one degree removed This Synod is of Opinion That care be taken of giving Scandal in such a case and the Offence being removed we know nothing to the contrary but that such Persons may marry for they do not sin against any Prohibition of God XIII At the openings of all Synods Provincial or National all the Articles of the Discipline shall be read And for time to come Provincial Synods shall sâ—â—d unto the General Assemblies the Articles decreed by them as well such aâ— concern the Government of their own Province The Book of Discipline to be read at the beginning of all Synods as those others which concern the generality of the Churches XIV Consistories have full liberty to receive Father and Son or two Brothers at the same time into Office among them unless there be some just cause which may hinder it whereof the Provincial Synod shall take Cognisance CHAP. XIII A BOOK Censured XV. HAving seen and read a certain Book intituled A Declaration of the Mystery and Secret of God demonstrated by two Pictures as also another Book in Manuscript intituled The Mirrour of Antichrist This Assembly declares the said Books to be full of Blasphemies Heresies and of vain and scandalous Discourses and therefore adviseth the Faithful to beware of them and their Author is declared unworthy of the Ministry and of any other Office in the Church and the Books shall be put into the hands of the Ministers of the Classis of Nismes who shall tender them unto their suspected Author and if he avow them for his own then to depose him from all Office if he bear any in the Church and to proceed farther against him as they shall judge meet CHAP. XIV Particular MATTERS James Pinus deposed from the Ministry for being a Vagrant c. JAmes Pinus is declared unworthy of the Ministry and the Sentence of the Synod of Niort condemning him for divers Crimes from which he hath never purged himself is confirmed in particular 1. That he intruded himself into the Ministry without a Call 2. For that since he hath continued in it notwithstanding the Remonstrances made him and his Promises to desist which he made unto the National Synod of Poictiers Moreover he shall be bound to reconcile himself unto the Churches of Geneva and Lausanna And for what concerns our Brother De Ressé he shall be exhorted by Letters to continue in his Ministry and to renounce Pleading at the Bar and other Businesses which take him off from his Calling and in case of his Rebellion he shall be forthwith deposed and cut off from Communion with the Church And the Church of Talmont is admonished to live in Concord with the other Churches CHAP. XV. UPon those Remonstrances presented by the States of Languedoc unto this Synod there was this Advice given As to the first and second Articles concerning Ministers Letters shall be written unto the Provincial Synod of Languedoc exhorting the Ministers of that Province to
be expressed conceived and offered up to God for them XXIII In the first Article concerning Delinquents after these words Cutting him off in the Name and by the Authority of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be added And of his Church Protestants possessing Tythes must wholly employ them in pious Uses on pain of being censured XXIV Whereas divers Persons professing the Reformed Religion do by their own Authority and Right possess Tythes which formerly were appropriated unto Church-men in Holy Orders they shall be advised to employ them wholly to pious Uses such as the Maintenance of the Ministry Relief of the Poor Education of Schollars who be the Seminary of the Church and in no wise unto their private Profits on pain of being suspended the Lord's Supper in case of non-observing this holy just and reasonable Counsel XXV That Article concerning Burials without Exhortations and Prayers at the Graves shall be punctually observed and such as act contrary to it shall be severely censured XXVI Against Dances See the Second Synod of Rochel Art 33. Ministers and Consistories are hereby admonished to see that Canon concerning Dances to be most strictly observed which is the 20th under the Title of Particular Orders forbidding expresly all Dances and also they shall prudently distinguish between such as be contumacious Rebels against this holy Advice and those who by their discontinuance of Dancing do manifest their having profited by it XXVII ‖ ‖ ‖ No suspended Person from the Lord's Supper may be Sureties for a Child at Baptism Suspended Persons from the Lord's Table shall not be admitted to present Children unto Baptism in quality of Sureties during the time of their Suspension XXVIII There shall be no change made in the present Division of the Provinces with reference to their particular Synods Yet are they advised all of them so to assign the Places of their Synodical Assemblies as will be most commodious for them XXIX Churches that in singing Psalms do first cause each Verse to be read shall be advised to forbear that childish Custom and such as have used themselves unto it shall be censured XXX Whereas divers Persons during Publick and Family Prayers do neither uncover their Heads Humility must be testified in Prayer nor bow their Knees expressing thereby the great pride of their Hearts and scandalizing such as fear the Lord that this their Irreverence may be amended and reformed all Pastors Elders and Governors of Families are advised and required to see carefully unto it that during the time of Prayer every one in their Churches and Families without exception be they high or low noble or base do testifie the humbleness of their Heart by those fore-mentioned outward marks of humility unless they be hindred by unavoidable necessity or malady in which cases we leave them to the direction of their particular and respective Consciences No Legal Formalities to be used in the Exercise of Church-Discipline XXXI In the Exercise of of Church-Discipline all Formalities and Terms of Law commonly used by the Civilians shall be forborn And forasmuch as divers Persons that they may avoid the Censure of their Crimes do ordinarily appeal from one Ecclesiastical Assembly unto another and then at last to the National Synod which is thereby more encumbred in the deciding their businesses than of any other Differences arising in any Province are to be definitively determined in that particular Province This Synod doth ordain That for time to come whatever Differences arise in any Province shall be definitively determined by that very Provincial Synod and no Appeal from it to be admitted excepting what concerns the Suspensions and Deposings of Ministers Elders and Deacons and the removal of a Minister from one Province unto another and Points of Doctrine in which cases they may be brought by degrees at last to the National Synod where they shall be finally judged and determined XXXII The Holy Word of God condemning that Custom introduced into certain Reformed Churches of enquiring into and generally censuring of Faults in the Publick Congregation both of Men and Women before the Lord's Supper those Churches that have used it are exhorted to forbear it for the future and in Point of Censures to acquiesce in the observation of that Order established in our Discipline and practised by all other the Reformed Churches of France And such Churches as shall refuse so to do shall be censured That the Complaints of Ministers and the dissipation of Churches may be avoided the Churches must advance a Quarter's Pay before-hand unto their Ministers XXXIII That the Ingratitude of divers Churches towards their Ministers who therefore deserve justly to be deprived of them may be hereafter prevented This Assembly doth ordain That every Church shall advance a Quarter's Stipend before-hand unto their Pastors of that Annual Maintenance they had ingaged to pay them And in case three Months be laps'd and his Quarteridge unpaid after Complaints made unto the Consistory or the more eminent Members of that Church the said Pastor may withdraw himself from the Service of his said Church appealing from its Consistory unto the two nearest Ministers before whom he shall declare the causes of his departure that so he may be discharged from all Calumny and the Pastor thus ungratefully dealt withal shall not be obliged to tarry for the Judgment of any Colloquy or Synod unless one of those Assemblies do meet in the same Month of his departure And that ungrateful Church shall not be provided of any other Pastor till it shall have first given plenary satisfaction unto its former Minister And he must in the mean while remember not to engage himself to any Church out of his Province unless he have first obtained License from his own Provincial Synod XXXIV The Censure incurred and merited by the ungrateful Members of particular Churches shall be inflicted on them by their own Consistories according to our Discipline XXXV The 11th Canon in the Chapter of Marriages shall be thus explained That whenas one of the Parties is of a contrary Religion the Marriage shall not be admitted in a Reformed Church until such time as that Party of the contrary Religion be sufficiently instructed and is enabled with a good Conscience to make a publick Protestation of his Renouncing all Idolatry and Superstition and that by the Grace of God helping him he will continue the rest of his Days in the purity of his Worship And the Consistory of that Church in which he is to make this Protestation shall take Cognisance or the sufficiency of his knowledge XXXVI All the Provinces are desired to take Notice that a certain Minister called German hath been deposed from his Ministry and declared a Vagrant for good and just Cause by the Provincial Synod of Orleans and Berry whose Sentence shall abide valid Saving always to the said German power to justifie himself before the National Synod if he think fitting The Confession of the Low
Higher Guyenne Master Michael Beraut Minister of Montauban Master John Baptist Botan Minister of Castres Master Gabriel Turonier Doctor of the Civil Law and Master John Lisandre Doctor of the Civil Law both Elders For the Lower Languedoc Master Christopher Barjac Lord of Gasquetz Minister of Vigan Master John Gigord Minister of Montpellier together with Daniel Darnand Lord de la Cassagne and John de Boyere Lord of Camion Elders For Vivaretz Master Anthony Mercier Minister of Chasteuneuf and of Chalencon and Master John Valeton without Elders For the Lower Guyenne Master Moyses de Ricotier Minister of Clerac Master Signeron du Fon His Majesties Advocate in the Court of Casteljaloux For Xaintonge Aunix and Augoumois Master Fresnon du Vigier alias du Vergier Lord of Moustier Minister of St. John d' Angely and Master Michael Texier Elder For Poictou Master Jonas Chesneau Minister of St. Maixant and John Renoy Esq Lord of Braconnier Elder in the Church of Poiré and Belleville For Anjou Tourain and Maine Master Francis Grelier Lord of Macefer Minister of Saumur without an Elder For Provence Balthazar de Villeneuve Esq Lord of Tortonne Syndick of the Churches in the said Province No person appeared at this Synod for Burgundy Lyonnois and Forrest The Synod being opened by solemn Invocation of the Name of God Monsieur Berault was chosen President and Monsieur de Montigny Assessor and Monsieur Macifer and Monsieur Cartaub Scribes Monsieur Du Moulin Deputy for Orleans being sick divers Churches of that Province together with the Deputies of Normandy and the Isle of France substituted in his stead Monsieur le Noir which was well approved by the Synod and a Decree passed in it that the Provinces should nominate three or four Persons for the future to represent them in these National Assemblies that in case of sickness or any other accident which might hinder their attendance there might be some others to supply that default The Provinces of Normandy Anjou and Vivaretz were censured for not sending Elders together with their Ministers Because of the great Desolations and Dispersions of the Churches in Provence the Synod granteth unto their Deputy his Vote in all Debates controverted Cases between the Provinces only excepted and this for that he wanted his Letters of Deputation CHAP. II. Observations upon the Confession of Faith OUR Confession of Faith being read was universally approved in all its Articles by the whole Assembly Printers are admonished to prefix no other Title than what is usual unto this Confession and for time to come they shall not add these words Revised and Approved in such and such a Synod CHAP. III. Observations upon the Church-Discipline I. THE Second Article in the First Chapter concerning Ministers being read That instead of these words In a Provincial Synod these shall be inserted By and with Advice of the Provincial or National Synods II. The Churches shall be exhorted to observe exactly the 4 5 11 and 13 Articles of this First Chapter together with that Ceremony of Imposing Hands in Ordination and the Refractory shall be censured III. The last clause of the Article concerning Printers shall be struck out because it is comprised in the fifteenth Article of Particular Orders IV. The Churches of the Isle of France desiring an Explanation of the 38th Article of the first Chapter of the Discipline the Synod adviseth That difference be made between Ingratitude and Inability and that where the Ingratitude on the Churches part is visible the Article shall be observed but not otherwise V. And that the 45th Article of the first Chapter and the eleventh Article in that of Provincial Synods may be more carefully observed this Assembly injoyneth the Provincial Synods to bring with them unto the National an Attestation of their Duty performed unto their Pastors who through Sickness are disabled from Exercising their Ministry as also of what hath been done by them for the Widows and Orphans of such as are deceased that in case a Church-Colloquy or Province have not wherewithal to relieve them Provision may be made for them by the National Synod VI. After these words in the * * * It is now the 44th 43d Article Great and small there shall be these subjoyned Of whatsoever Condition or Quality they may be VII For the better keeping of the fourth Article in the second Chapter and that all Obstructions may be removed the Synod enjoyneth all Deacons to bring unto their Colloquy or Provincial Synod the Accounts given by them of the Poors Money that we may know whether the Fifth Penny hath been defaulked and laid by for tho maintenance of our Proposans VIII Instead of these words in the fourth Article of the second Chapter It were good shall be inserted It is necessary IX To prevent those Disorders which daily happen from Attestations given unto the Poor the Synod decreeth That all Churches do their endeavour to maintain their own Poor and in case any one through necessity be obliged to travel from home the Ministers shall carefully examine the grounds thereof whether just and valid and so shall give them Letters Recommendatory unto the next Church leading directly unto that place whether their Affairs call them specifying the Name Age Stature and Hair of the Dearer and the Place whereunto they be going and the Cause of their Travel and the Relief that hath been given them which said Certificate the Ministers to whom they apply themselves shall keep by them and give them another directed also unto the next Church and whatever Attestations have been given formerly or may be in time to come any otherwise than as now prescribed shall be null and torn in pieces X. To those words in the 16th Article of the fifth Chapter And which giveth great scandal to the whole Church there shall be subjoyned And those also who contrary to the godly Counsels given them do marry according to the Popish manner and Parents who consent unto such Marriages of their Children and they likewise who carry their Children unto Popish Priests to be baptized by them or become Sureties for those Children so baptized XI The Church of Castres moved this Case Whether an Extract of some few or more Articles of our Discipline might lawfully be communicated unto the Magistrates of both Religions for their better Conduct in the Exercise of Justice This Synod resolveth affirmatively yea and that the whole Body of our Discipline may be presented them there being nothing in it but what ministreth unto edifying XII Because of the present Distress and Poverty of bur Churches and till such times as the Lord shall have blessed us with greater abilities it is ordained by this present Synod That the National Synods shall be convened only once in three Years unless it be in case of very great necessity as of Heresie and Schism whereof the Province charged to convene it shall take special Cognisance and on this Condition that every Province do send their full number of
Antichrist in their private and publick discourses This Synod protesting that this was the common Faith and Confession of all our Churches and of this present Synod That the Pope is the Great Antichrist and one of the principal causes of our separation and departure from the Church of Rome and that this Confession was contained in and extracted out of the holy Scriptures that it had been sealed with the blood of a world of Martyrs Therefore all the Faithful be they Pastors or private Christians are exhorted constantly to persist in the profession of it and openly and boldly to confess it yea and this very Article shall be inserted into the body of the Confession of our Faith and the General Deputies of our Churches at Court are required to petition his Majesty that none of his Officers in any Soveraign or other Inferiour Courts of Judicature may be suffered to infringe our Liberty of Conscience granted us by his Edicts of making a free Confession of our Faith and that none of them may trouble or vex us as divers of them have done for this very matter And who so are now prosecuted and molested on this account or may be hereafter they shall be supported and defended by the whole Body of the Churches in the best manner that can be according to that firm Bond of Union which is established among us And Letters shall be written to our Lords the Judges in the Mixt Courts to exhort them vigorously to maintain this Article of our common Confession Concerning those words Pretended Reformed 6. A general Case was proposed Whether the Faithful might lawfully use in publick Acts and Instruments before Magistrates these words Of the pretended Reformed Religion especially if those Magistrates be of a contrary Religion to us This Assembly thinks fit that an humble Address be presented to his Majesty intreating him that we may not be forced to speak or act any thing contrary to our Consciences and in the mean while all the Faithful are exhorted to abstain from that word of Pretended it being repugnant to our Faith and to that sincere and free and open confession we are bound to make of it Whether a private Christian may appropriate unto himself a place of Burial and erect Monument upon Pillars 7. This Case was propounded by our Brethren of Xaintonge Whether a private person might appropriate unto himself a place of Burial and erect upon Pillars or any other way a Monument unto himself and whether the Lords of the Mannor or other Gentlemen may set up their Escutcheons in our Temples As to what concerns our Churches This Assembly ordaineth That in matters of Sepulchres the ancient plainness and simplicity shall be retained nor shall any private person appropriate any spot of ground unto himself in particular because we express hereby our Communion as with the Saints in their Death so in our hope and expectation of a blessed Resurrection And the same plainness and modesty shall be observed in our Temples leaving however unto Colloquies and Consistories to act on special occasions as they shall judge meet The Form of Certificates that shall be given unto Officers of the Mixt Courts and to Govenours of places 8. The Attestations granted unto Officers in the mixed Courts where they be one half Protestants and the other Papists shall run in the same form with those given unto Governors as it was expressed and inserted into the acts of the Synod of Montpellier in these terms We Ministers and Elders assembled in the Colloquy of N. in the Province of N. do testifie that whereas Monsieur N. hath applied himself unto us for our Attestation of his being a Protestant professing the Reformed Religion he being chosen by his Majesty for the Government of N. vacant by the death of Mr. N. lately deceased we do attest and certifie unto the Kings most excellent Majesty that the said Monsieur N. doth make open and actual profession of the Reformed Religion and that he communicateth with us in the Holy Sacraments and is a person of a Godly life and well reported of performing all the duties belonging to his said profession and therefore we do give him this our Testimonial for his use and service as in reason and Conscience we stand obliged 9. Messieurs Berron and Videl demanding that out of the Common stock of Moneys granted us by his Majesty there might be drawn the summ of Six thousand Crowns for the founding an University at Die and whereas the Deputies of the Town of Die protested that they sought not a penny of the said Moneys for themselves only that other Churches having Academies they had none and that the necessities of their Churches did require one This Assembly having considered the whole judgeth that there cannot be granted unto the said Town of Die any farther summ than was at first demanded by their Deputies 10. Our Brethren of the Church of Die requesting that Monsieur Chamier might be constituted by this Synod the Professor of Divinity in their intended Academy This Assembly doth confirm that Article of the Synod of Gergeau whereby it was ordained that Monsieur Chamier ought not without the express consent of the Churches of his Province be removed from his Church of Montlimart 11. Our Brethren of Dolphiny desired that some means might be contrived for a Conference and Union with the Lutheran Churches in Germany Means of Union with the Lutherans See the Synod of Vitré part M. Act. 27. and the 3d. Synod of Rochel Act. 4. after the choice of the Moderator that so the Schism between us them might be removed This Assembly desirous to see the fruits of such a noble project ordereth Letters to be dispatcht to the Orthodox Universities of Germany England Scotland Geneva Basil and Leyden and to Messieurs des Gourdon and de Fontaines in London intreating them to travel with us in the effecting of this Holy Union and that Princes may be ingaged to put forth their authority herein that so we may all be more firmly united among our selves in the Confession of one and the same Doctrine 12. This Case was propounded A Proposant never called nor ordained unto the Ministry takes upon him to baptise a Child Is this baptism valid This Synod judgeth that the scandal given unto the people be carefully taken away And forasmuch as that baptism is of no force the Child shall be brought into the Church of God by true Baptism according to the decision of the Synod of Poictiers 13. This Case was moved Whether an Oath might be lawfully taken before the Magistrate by laying the hands on and kissing of the Bible This Assembly judging that Ceremony to be of dangerous consequence declareth that it ought not to be used but that whoso are called out to swear shall content themselves with the bare lifting up of their hands 14. The Province of the higher Languedoc moved whether disputations in Theology might be introduced among our Ministers in
Assembly commissionated Monsieur Vignier Minister of the Gospel and Monsieur des Fontaines Texier and le Fevrier Elders to examine and close up those Accounts which being done and report made by them it appeared that Monsieur Phillip Pinaut Receiver of the said Moneys stood indebted to them in the sum of 4292 Livers 15 Sous and 8 Deniers upon the whole which said Audit and final Reckoning is approved and ratified by this Synod and it 's further ordered that the said sum of 4292 Livers 15 Sous and 8 Deniers shall remain in the hands of the said Pinault to be employed in the Maintenance of the said University and about nothing else as we shall hereafter take care for And in so doing the said Receiver and Province shall be acquitted and discharged of the said Moneys And the Originals of the Accounts aforesaid shall be kept in the Consistory of Rochell and the Duplicates and Copies evidencing the whole shall be lodg'd in the hands of the said Pinault with the consent of the Deputies of that Province 29. The Province of Xaintonge moving whether it were not needful to make a compleat Answer to the Works of Bellarmine This Synod charged the Deputies of Dolphiny to intreat Monsieur Chamier to prosecute his worthy Labours begun by him upon this Subject 30. Every Province shall chuse one particular Church in it where the Original Acts of their Synods shall be conserved that in case of necessity they may have recourse unto them 31. The Professors of Divinity in the Universities of this Kingdom shall be advised so to contrive their Lectures and Common-places that they may be compleatly finished in three years time 32. The Province of Orleans and Berry demanding that the time for Proposans tendering themselves unto Synods and Colloquies with their Propositions might be fixed equally This Assembly judged that it were best and most convenient to leave it as before unto the liberty and prudence of those Meetings 33. Moreover at the request of the same Province it was ordained That Churches which had Ability should be desired to Erect Libraries for the service of their Ministers 34. Monsieur Perrin is intreated to finish his begun History of the True Estate of the Albingenses and Waldenses and to help him in it all persons having Memoirs by them either of the Doctrine Discipline or Persecutions of those poor Saints of Christ are charged to transmit them to him with all possible care and diligence 35. Into whose hands there may fall a little Treatise about the dispossession of the Devil out of a Demoniack in Soreze they are required to suppress it 36. No Scholars for the future shall be received by the Provinces as Pensioners and who be now maintained at the trivial Schools by the Moneys of his Majesties bounty till such times as they shall have finished their Studies of Humanity and have begun their course of Philosophy and shall give in good Security for repaying the sums received by them and expended on them in case that through their default they do not serve the Church in the Ministry of the Gospel 37. This Case was propounded by the Deputies of Higher Languedoc and Guyenne How they should deal with them who being accused of Crimes were absolved by the Magistrates and yet afterward new evidence appeared against them and the scandal continued The Synod leaves it wholly to the prudence of Consistories who shall comport themselves herein according to circumstances and take special care that the Lives and Reputation of the Brethren be not exposed to needless dangers 38. The Deputies of Normandy requiring that the proper Hebrew names of the Old Testament according as they be printed in this last Edition of our Bibles might be refined and pronounced as in the former Antient Impressions This Synod judgeth it more convenient that they remain as they are and that nothing be changed by our Printers in any of their After-Impressions 39. Monsieur Beraud propounded this Case Whether an Elder of the Church accused of some enormous Crime and justified by an Inferiour Judge and yet drawn by his adverse Party to a Superiour Tribunal may whilst this Appeal stands in force against him exercise his Office in the Church The Synod judgeth that he ought to refrain until such time as he be finally acquitted and discharged by due course of Law See the Synod of Gergeau p. m. 39. 40. The Provinces are exhorted to assist the poor Churches especially in their distribution of his Majesties Bounty conferred upon us 41. The General Deputies are charged not only to manage the general Affairs of all our Churches but the particular ones of every single Church especially when as a difficulty is started about the Erection and Conservation of it according to the Edict And this Order shall bind the Provinces to seek out diligently a Legal Title for the Erection of our Churches and to associate themselves with the Deputies in all Prosecutions at Law necessarily required that so their Erection may be obtained and confirmed A conditional Supersede as to the Article of Antichrist 42. Whereas since the last Resolution taken by us concerning that Article Antichrist and its insertion into the body of our Confession of Faith and in consequence thereof its being printed his Majesty hath notified unto us by our Deputies as also by Monsieur de Montmartyn that the publishing of this Article would exceedingly displease him This Assembly ordaineth That the Printing thereof shall be superseded unless any Member of our Church be molested for it or be brought before the Magistrate for his confession of it or any Minister for Preaching Teaching or Writing about it and his Majesty shall be humbly intreated to interpose his Authority that no one be disquieted for the Impression which is already past or for being possessed of any Copies received from the Press 43. The Deputies of Higher Languedoc crav'd the Advice of this Synod what should be done in that case of Moneys received by their Deputies sent unto the Assembly of Chastelleraut in the year 1605. and which had been given them to defray the Charges of their Journey and Abode there by the Churches and by his Majesties Liberality This Synod ordaineth That the Receivers and Detainers of the said Moneys not having given in their Accounts for them unto their respective Provinces nor having received from them good and vallid Acquittances and Discharges shall be bound to do it and in case of defailure they shall be prosecuted with all Church-censures and other due courses of Law if that the Provinces and Churches do so require it 44. In reading the Synod of Gap about Censures inflicted on the Violators of Marriage-promises without just cause several difficulties were related to have arisen in divers places upon this Subject Wherefore this Synod decreeth That neither private persons nor Consistories have any Authority to dissolve such promises but shall remand them back unto the Cognizance Order and Legal Judgment of the
clause seems to favour that Opinion of the necessity of Baptism And the remaining part of the said Article shall be in force until the next National Synod and in this Interval the Provinces are charged to Study the point diligently and to come prepared with the judgments of their respective Consistories Colloquies and Provincial Synods and to send them in writing confirmed by solid Arguments that so after mature consideration had of the whole the Case may be finally decided by plurality of Votes gathered from the several Deputies of that Synod And that this may be the more easily effected Monsieur Sonis du Moulin le Faucheur and la Faye are nominated to put in writing the reasons both of the one side and other which have been here urged and a Copy of them shall be carried hence together with the Acts of this present Assembly unto their Provinces by the Deputies 8. The Deputies of Berry requesting that some course might be took to avoid the violating of that Canon made at St. Maixant Bearne which forbad all Professors in Divinity to intermeddle with Political Assemblies This Synod ordaineth that it be punctually observed and in case any of them do accept of such a Deputation whoever he be shall be punished with Suspension from his Professorship for the space of six months 9. Information being made of the great disorders in the Provincial Synods of Higher and Lower Languedoc of the tricks and subtle under-hand dealings fitter for Attorneys and Petty-Foggers than for such grave Assemblies commonly practised by them and of the contempt of Church-Discipline from whence have sprung up very many and grievous scandals This Synod doth most strictly enjoyn all Provincial Synods and most especially those now mentioned that for the future they do reform and conduct themselves better on pain of being dealt withal as violators of the Discipline and that in the severest manner and particularly it threatens the Moderators in those Meetings with Suspension from their Charges in case they connive at them and do not their utmost to redress these irregular and scandalous actions CHAP. VII Of Appeals 1. THE Church of Orange complaining by her Deputies that they were excluded from the Political Assembly held in Dolphiny This Assembly remands them unto the next General Political Assembly unto which they shall present their complaint if they judge meet 2. Master Gautier complained on behalf of the Church of Annonay that they had never been reimburst their Expences which they were necessitated to make in getting supplies during the absence of their Pastor Monsieur Faucheur who was deputed to the Assembly of Saumur This Synod ordereth the Province of Vivaretz to see the said Church of Annonay be paid an hundred Livers including in that sum the six and thirty already received by them 3. The Church of Armagnac appealed from a Decree of the Provincial Synod of Lower Languedoc held at Florac which had imposed on them the Sieur Thevond to be their Pastor against their consent And the said Mr. Thevond also appealed from the Synod of Montpellier for removing him against his will from Aigues-mortes This Assembly after hearing of all Parties and perusal of the Acts of both these Synods judgeth that the said Province hath very much transgrest the Discipline by lending the said Thevond unto the Church of Aigues-mortes and by restoring the said Pastor unto the Church of Armagnac and therefore ordaineth that the next Colloquy or Synod shall provide the said Thevond of another Church and that he be removed from that of Aigues-mortes or of Armagnac and the Church of Armagnac is sharply censured for her strange proceedings in obstructing the return of the Sieur Thevond to them as also Benezet Elder of that Church and his Companions who without any just cause given did prosecute the Expulsion of the said Thevond from among them Moreover we do very greatly condemn him the said Thevond for his pragmaticalness and unnecessary intermedlings with Civil Affairs as also for his unhandsome actings in the celebration of his Marriage that he might avoid the Tying of the Point a notorious Character of his Infidelity and Distrust of God deserving a Deposal from the Sacred Ministry and the Sieur Chambrun Pastor of Nismes who blessed that Marriage is liable unto the same censure But this Assembly contents it self with that softer Reprehension given him by the Colloquy hoping that it will redound unto his future benefit And in case he hath not as yet fully satisfied the Censure imposed on him by the said Colloquy he is ordered immediately to fulfil it on pain of being suspended from his Ministry 4. The Deputies of the Church of Aigues-mortes complained of that Article of the Assembly at Saumur which authorized the prosecution of Monsieur de Berticheres at the instigation of the Lords General Deputies and the said Deputies of Aigues-mortes remonstrated that the said Assembly was surprized for otherwise it had been impossible for the said de Berticheres to have been admitted into the said Church The Synod refused to take cognisance of this Affair it having been determined by the said Assembly of Saumur and because it conceived that a subsequent Assembly of the same nature could best judge of its own preceding Sentence and of whatsoever might be proposed with reference unto that subject and therefore remands the Plaintiffs thither but it charged our Lords the General Deputies at Court to give order that this Affair be remanded unto that Assembly there to be determined and in the mean while nothing shall be innovated or altered in that Article 5. Monsieur Benoist Pastor in the Church of Moutauban and de la Vialle Lieutenant Criminell in the same City appeared in this Assembly craving Remedies against those Dissentions which have arisen about the Ministry of the said Benoist in the said Church This Assembly deputed the Sieurs Perrin and Ferrand Pastors and de Mallerett Glatignan and Bonnett Elders to pass over unto Montauban and after hearing of the several Parties to find out some means of reconciling them and to contrive some expedient whereby their Differences may be composed and upon report of the whole matter by these Deputies the Synod declared that of right Monsieur Benoist belongs unto the Church of Montauban he having been adjudged as such by the National Synod of St. Maixant Yet nevertheless in regard of the present Disposition of that Church of Montauban it decrees the said Benoist to continue in his Ministry of the Churches of Realville and Albyas until the next Provincial Synod in which if the said Benoist be not demanded by the Church of Montauban by their general and unanimous Consent according to the Discipline the said Provincial Synod is enjoyned to provide the said Benoist of some other Church wherein he shall make his Residence and the whole shall be so managed as that the honour of his Ministry may be kept unblemished because he is not discharged from his Church for any fault committed
whereas the Deputies demanded another Portion for the Church of Ouchant at present served by the Ministers of Blois it being necessary that they should have a Pastor of their own this Assembly would not grant them because the said Church may be conveniently supplied by the aforesaid Ministers and in consideration of the great Necessities of the said Province there were seven supernumerary Portions appointed for them whereof two shall be given free of all Taxes and Charges unto Monsieur Guerin Pastor of Baugency for divers good and valid Reasons moving this Assembly thereunto 5. The Province of the Isle of France was injoyned to provide the Church of Langres of a Pastor to which purpose there was assigned it one Portion and moreover because of the multitude of poor Churches in it there were twelve supernumerary Portions more granted to be disposed by them for the relief of the most necessitous and indigent Congregations 6. The Province of Burgundy shall make proof of their Care and Duty in providing for the Church of Noyers an able Pastor at the next National Synod to which purpose they had one Portion assigned them and those two formerly granted were ordered to be continued to the Churches of Maringues and Paillac and over and above this seven supernumerary Portions 7. Pour Portions were granted unto the Province of Xaintonge that the Churches at present destitute of Pastors there might be provided for viz. a second Pastor for St. John D' Angely one for Villefaignan one for Tonnay Boutonnay and another for Genonsac And whereas they demand another Portion for Baigne Chenonceaux and Monlieu when as they shall have brought in their account for these before-mention'd Portions unto the next National Synod then care shall be taken about some provision for the said Church it so be it be supplied by a Pastor Moreover the said Province shall have two supernumerary Portions comprising in them that Moiety granted by the Synod of Tonneins for the relief of Messieurs Rossignol Gabard Paris du Plot Velez and Toussain who were Pastors Emeriti by reason of their Age and Infirmities and otherwise very much afflicted with Wants 8. The Deputies of Higher Languedoc protested that these ten Churches were become lately vacant by the death of their Pastors or by some other accident and that there be several others to be provided for by that Province as soon as may be to wit Castelnau Brassac Cormies Aisones Caumont Manosques Pairasque Figeac Sevenieres and la Tronquiere to every one of which there was a Portion assigned provided they were really vacant and care taken they be supplied And that Portion and half assigned them by the Synod of Tonneins is continued to them on this condition that the whole Portion shall be imployed for the relief and assistance of the Church of Leyran and the half unto Monsieur Aubriot a Pastor Emeritus 9. The Province of Anjou declared that they were just now presenting a Pastor unto the Church of Chasteau du Loir and another unto that of Mondoubleau for which cause two Portions have been adjudged to them and another under the name of Monsieur Gomarus Professor of Divinity in the University of Saumur and two supernumerary Portions were added by way of augmentation unto the poorer Churches and whereas Monsieur de la Coste late Pastor of the Church of Dijon is given unto the University of Saumur for a Professor in Divinity another Portion is also granted the said Province 10. One Portion was assigned the Province of Sevennes for the Church of Maruejols and another shall be divided between the Churches of Combes and St. Basilc 11. Seven Portions were appointed unto the Province of Normandy one for the Church of St. Peter on the Dine another for the second Minister of St. Lo another for the Church of Cheffreine another for that of Gauré another for that of Gisors another for that of Fescamp and lastly another for that of Havre de Grace all which are lately become vacant by the decease or removal of their Pastors and these shall be supplied with able Men as soon as possible whereof the next National Synod shall take cognizance and six Portions shall be farther added for the relief of the poorer Churches 12. The Deputies of Vivaretz protested that these five Churches following are lately destitute of Pastors and that the Province will see they he supplied out of hand to wit St. Saviour La Bastide de Viral St. Pons de Mirabel Rochers and lastly le Poussin For every one of these this Synod ordained a Portion on condition that the Province should notifie their Care and Duty in providing able Ministers for them unto the next National Synod and six Portions more were added including those two for St. Stephen's which had been allotted it by former National Synods and of the four remaining a half Portion shall be given unto Monsieur Chanforan because of his great poverty In the Province of Provence there were three Churches to be provided for viz. la Coste Sederac and la Charse and that Provincial Synod was ordered to give unto each of them a Pastor and therefore three Portions were added to them for which they shall be accountable unto the next National Synod and there were given them more to be distributed among their poorer Churches six Portions 14. The Deputies of Lower Guyenne assured this Assembly that they were now getting Pastors for these Churches following viz. for Nerac a third Pastor for Beaune Benac Condom Espiens Sause de Misné Hastingues Bayonne Le Mas and Caumont and Pellegrue all which are lately become vacant for which there were assigned nine Portions and the Province shall give account of them unto the next National Synod 15. Two Portions were laid by for the Province of Dolphiny to wit for the Church of Montbrun and Beaurepaire and because of the great poverty of divers Churches in the said Province this Assembly hath granted them seven supernumerary Portions 16. The Province of Brittain had the Priviledge of taking out one Portion under the Name of Monsieur Marmet Pastor of the Church gathered in the House of the Lord Duke of Rohan and because of the great poverty of the Churches in that Province there were eight supernumerary Portions more allotted to it whereof one shall go to the Church of Nants free of all charges and out of the seven others shall be taken an hundred and fifty Livers to be thus employed to wit one hundred Livers to the College of vielle Vigne and fifty Livers to the relief of the said Church 17. The Deputies of Lower Languedoc reported Alez p. m. 72. that in the dividend of the Portions for the said Province there was but one Portion only assigned to Monsieur Scoffier an ancient Pastor and Emeritus altho' there was formerly allowed him one and an half This Assembly gave order to the Lord of Candal that he should give annually a Portion and half unto the said Scoffier who shall give an Acquittance
be payd without security for its restitution 5. Monsieur Perreaud Pastor of the Church of Mascon appealed from two Decrees of the Colloquy of Lions one of which concerned certain Charges expended by him in his Travells unto that Colloquy and another which ordered him to return unto his Church within six Weeks This Synod ordaineth that the said Perreaud be censured for troubling it with such trivial matters and which might be ended in his own Province and for that he hath not acquiesced in that other Ordinance of the said Colloquy so very just and equitable as nothing more and that he return home again unto his own Church without delay 6. Another Appeal was brought by the same Perreaud from a Decree of the Synod of Gex which had censured him for being absent Fourteen Moneths from his Church and that there should also be deducted Seven Moneths Wages from out of his Stipend and the Church of Masâ—on also appealed from the same Decree demanding a greater abatement to be made of that Summ. This Synod confirming the former Censure of the Synod of Gex doth reduce his payment unto Four Moneths Wages and which shall be deducted out of the Sallary payd him from the Kings Moneys and his Church according to that Order made by the Colloquy of Lions 7. The Elders of the Church of Hâ—â—re de Grace Appealed from an Order of the Provincial Synod held at Dieppe about a certain Summ of Moneys But this Assembly rejecting their Appeal censured the said Elders for troubling them with such a slight matter which might be easily determined in their own Province 8. The Sieur de Gasques appealed on behalf of the Church of St. Martyn de Bobaux from the Synod of Sevennes held at Alez which had given Monsieur d' Allegre away from them to be Pastor unto the Churches of Auvergne without taking any care how they might be supplied The Deputies of the said Province of Sevennes being demanded about this Affair answered that what they had done in removing the Sieur D' Allegre was by and with the consent of the Elder of the said Church of St. Martyn who also had dismissed him though for what reasons he was discharged by them they knew not This Assembly orders the said Province to provide without delay a Pastor for that Church and to restore Monsieur d' Allegre to it or to take some other speedy course that it be immediately and out of hand supplyed And for the future it commands the said Province never to consent that a Pastor be separated from his Church by their sole License till they have been first of all fully informed and satisfied about the causes of the said dismission and separation 9. The Consistory of Castres brought in an Appeal from the Decrees of the Colloquy of Albigeois and the Provincial Synod of Higher Languedoc by which Monsieur de Combalasse Pastor of the Church of Vabres for words uttered by him in the late troubles and which had caused a tumult in the said City was censured by the said Colloquy and farther obliged by the Synod to appear in Person before the Consistory of Castres and to give satisfaction to it unto their Church and to the Consuls of the said City This Assembly considering that the Offence for which he is now questioned is of their Nature which were ordered to be buried in Oblivion by the Peace and Amnesty given us by His Majesty doth think â—it that the aforesaid Consistory should rest satisfied with the Decree of their Synod it having been fully performed and so should be no more at all mentioned 10. The Sieur de L' Allen appealed from the Judicial Sentence of the Province of Xaintonge confirming that of the Consistory of Rochell which had not only condemned him to abjure the Errors collected out of his Works and Writings to which he had satisfied but he was over and above obliged to make a publick Recantation of them and to do Pennance for them before the whole Church there Although this Assembly approveth the Acts and proceedings of the said Provincial Synod and Consistory of Rochell as done with great Prudence and Charity yet nevertheless yearning with Bowels of compassion on the said Sieur de L' Allen and considering these great and solemn protestations of Repentance made by him in this Assembly and ratified by a new and particular and voluntary Act of Abjuration subscribed with his own hand we do ordain that he be received to the Peace and Communion of the Church but on this condition that he do not participate of the Lord Supper till after two Moneths Tryal and Experience had of his Obedience and Constancy which time shall begin from that very day in which this present Act shall be published in the Church of Rochell on the Lords day immediately after Sermon by Monsieur Berauld Pastor and Professor of Divinity at Montauban who is Deputed by this Assembly unto the Church of Rochell for this very end and purpose And if the said Sieur de L' Allen shall ever hereafter relapse into his former Errors and vent them either by Writing or Discourse or any other manner or way whatsoever this Synod doth ordain that he be then cast out of the Church by Excommunication 11. The said Sieur d' Allen requested that the Paper in which was written the Retractation and Abjuration of his aforesaid Errors and that Act confirming and recording this his Abjuration made in this Synod might not be sent to Rochell because he intended to quit that City and live at Paris This Assembly for divers reasons moving them thereunto ordaineth that the said Record shall be kept by the Consistory of the Church of Paris 12. The Sieur de Richelieu Pastor of the Church of Plouer and St. Malo appealed from the Sentence of the Provincial Synod of Britain vvhich had ordered the Sieurs du Preau and de Soâ—vigne Pastors and the Sieurs de Conte an Elder to visit that Church and to inquire into those Disorders committed in it and to take some course for their removal and that they may be prevented for the future After that the Deputies of the said Province had been heard and the said Monsieur de Richelieu also and the Acts of the said Visitation by those Commissioners vvere read by him and ovvned by them This Assembly judged that the said Provincial Synod had very vvell and vvisely acted in ordering of the Visitation but yet nevertheless they should have took notice of matters of greater importance than are contained in their Report and they should have vvaved the cognisance of such slight and trifling Accusations vvhich vvere never proved nor should they have troubled this Assembly vvith such needless and unprofitable storys Farther the Commissioners did not proceed uprightly in the execution of their Commission because they did not mark and observe what might be said as well for and in behalf of the said Monsieur de Richelieu as against him and for that they accepted
and admitted of all kind of Evidence and Witnesses against him though they were never so passionate and Parties in the case and some also who were not legally to be admitted unto a Deposal against a Minister And as for the said Sieur de Richelieu This Assembly judgeth him worthy of a very grievous Censure for neglecting his Duty and not keeping up Order and Discipline in his Church for not holding Consistories nor passing Censures as ought alwayes of course to have been done and practised before Communion days at the Lords Table and for leaving his Church before the time appointed and without having demanded or obtained his License of departure in due form and above all for expressing too much levity in his imaginations and for giving too much way unto his passions and for speaking disadvantagiously of other Persons and insulting over the dead whom he took for his Enemies and who could not speak for themselves And whereas this Assembly could not at present be fully and satisfactorily informed of the State of that Church of Plouer the Colloquy of Constantine in the Province of Normandy is ordered to visit it by their Deputies who are Authorized by this Assembly to provide for that Church as they shall judge meet and to order all matters for its edification in Godliness and if they see cause for it they shall remove and discharge the said Sieur de Richelieu from his Ministry and the Expences of these Deputies shall be defrayed by that Province of Britain 13. The Church of Die and the Sieurs Martinett and Huron appealed from two Judicial Sentences denounced in the Provincial Synod of Dolphiny against them to witt Monsieur Martinett complained for that the said Synod had ordained his removal from the said Church of Die upon pretence of ease and quieting his Spirit though he had been preferred unto that Church by some former Synods And Monsieur Huron appealed for that the said Synod had forbidden him the Exercise of his Ministry within the Province of Dolphiny whereunto he had retired in time of the late troubles And the said Church appealed for that the said Synod had refused and rejected their endeavours to get Monsieur Huron for their Pastor Whereupon the Provincial Deputies of Dolphiny were heard give in their Report of the causes and occasions moving their Synod to pronounce those Judgments and the aforesaid Martinett and Huron were heard in their reciprocal Accusations and Apologies and in like manner the Messengers of the said Church were heard speak for it and the Acts relating to these Affairs were all produced and perused upon the whole This Assembly doth ratifie the Judgment of the said Province of Dolphiny and dischargeth the said Monsieur Martinett from his Pastoral Office in the Church of Die purely for his ease comfort provided alwayes that the said Church do pay him if they have not already done it all his Arrears due unto him from the very first day that he was set at liberty from them by the aforesaid Synod and he is at full liberty to accept of any other Church And as for the maintenance of the said Martinet since that time he was first of all discharged and set free of serve the Church Beaumont This Assembly exhorteth and intreateth the said Province out of Charity to pay him the one half of his Salary And forasmuch as Monsieur Huron has been convicted to have left his Church for little or no just cause and to have brigued his Election into the Church of Die and to have fomented the Divisions in it betwixt the Church and Monsieur Martinett in whose expulsion out of it he had the greatest hand and part having consented to divers irregular Actings and Contentions and adhered to the Rebellions of several Members of the said Church to the contempt of its Consistory and of the Decrees of many Ecclesiastical Synods and for that he kept Conventicles private Meetings Proclaimed Fasts and Days of Prayers and Writt Books contrary to the Analogy of Faith and Form of Sound Words and hath done many other things contrary to the Order and Discipline Established in the Church of God and that honourable Calling of the Holy Ministry This Synod aggravating the Judgment of the Provincial Synod of Dolphiny suspends the said Huron from the Sacred Ministry for the space of Three Moneths and sets him at liberty to be imployed in some other Province than that of Dolphiny And forasmuch as in their endeavours to get the said Huron to be their Minister the Consistory and Pastors of the Church of Die have too much adhered to the unruly motions of some private Persons and strangely supported their insolencies and proud irregular actings This Assembly doth judge them also worthy of a very sharp censure and exhorts them for the future to testifie and express more Vigour and Zeal for the Discipline of our Churches and to maintain it in theirs and to see the Decrees and Canons of our National Synods put in Execution And that all these Censures may be performed the Sieurs Paulet and Berlie Pastors Deputies for the Province of Sevennes are appointed by this National Synod to pass over unto the said City of Die as they return home unto their Province and in the Consistory of that Church there to make denunciation of them 14. The said Sieur Huron the next day came into this Synod petitioning that his suspension might be taken off and that some maintenance might be provided for him until such time as he were presented unto another Church But the Synod confirmed his suspension and ordered that some small matter should be allowed and given him for his present Relief 15. The Church of Sauve and Monsieur Rossel Pastor of the Church of Montlimart appealed from a judgment of the Synod of Dolphiny by which his Ministry was refused to that of Sauve and confirmed in that of Montlimart though the former did most earnestly re-demand him After hearing the Deputy of the Church of Sauve and Monsieur Rossel speaking for it as also Monsieur Chamier for the concern of the Church of Montlimard and the Provincial Deputies of Dolphiny and Sevennes This Synod ordains that Monsieur Rossel shall be lent unto the Service of the Church of Sauve in the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments until the next National Synod and injoyneth the Colloquy of Montlimart to take care that the said Rossel be then restored unto his Office again in that Church 16. Monsieur de Gouvernet Lord of Mirabel appealed from a Decree of the Synod of Dolphiny concerning Monsieur Perrin Pastor of the Church of Serres After that the Deputies of that Province had been heard who reported that there was nothing to this purpose spoken of or handled in their Synod at Mure This Assembly because of the absence of Monsieur Perrin and their want of Acts needful to determine this Affair hath given full Authority to the Province of Burgundy to judge therein and the Province of Dolphiny is
Plants which have been sent you from divers Provinces of this Kingdom that through your well-deserving Pains and Counsels they may be prepared and made fruitful Ministers of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus And to these our Thanks we shall add our most ardent Prayers unto God that he would pour out upon you his most precious and saving Blessings and that he would always make you a most eminent Example of his Grace and Mercy in the Churches of his dear Son covering you and your Common-wealth wherein you live with the Wings of his Protection to the Glory of his Providence and to the Honour of his Holy Name as also to the Consolation of our Churches In whose Name we are From Castres this 6th of September 1626. Most Honoured Lords and Brethren Your most humble and most affectionate Servants in the Lord the Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Churches of France assembled in our National Synod and for them all The Superscription was thus To our Lords the Pastors and Elders in the Church of Geneva at Geneva Chauve Moderator Bouterove Assessor Scribes of the Synod O. Blondel Petit A Letter from the Church of Paris to our most Honoured Lords the Pastors and Elders assembled in the National Synod at Castres Most Reverend and very Honoured 'T IS with very great regret on our part that we are enforced to complain unto you against our Province but we have too just cause for out so doing We have ever held a fair and Christian Correspondence and Fraternal Union with it And indeed Sirs if it had been only our own particular Interest that was concerned we should much rather have chosen to suffer all manner of ill Usages than to have interrupted you in your most holy and important Occupations But the Honour of our Functions and the Glory of our God and the Advancement of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ are all concerned Therefore we implore with the greater freedom the Assistance of your Charity and the Help of your Fatherly Protection because we are well assured of your Zeal to the Well-being and Edification of our Church You know Sirs that great Affliction wherewith our â—od hath of late visited us in calling unto himself that most excellent Person Monsieur Durant whose Gifts and Graces and singular ministerial Abilities were universally known throughout the whole Kingdom During his Sickness which lasted near sour Months and six Months since his Decease those two astors which were left us were so surcharged with hard Labour that they both fell dangerously Ill and must have infallibly funk under the weight of their Burden had they not been extraordinarily assisted and supported by God As soon as God had took into his Joys our late famous Pastor we faw immediately the great necessity we had to relieve and ease those two which survived and this was the unanimous Prayer and Desire of the whole Church It was utterly impossible for us to find in our Colloquy a Minister every way qualified for us for besides that none of those Pastors had a Voice strong enough for our Auditory and those other Abilities requisite for the edifying so great a People There were some afflicted with Sickness and divers Churches were destitute of Pastors and so far were we from being holpen by them that several of the Neighbour-Churches have importuned us to lend them our help To assemble a Synod for their and our Relief was out of our Power For besides the bitterness of the Season the rigour and sharpness of the Winter we were then in the very hottest and deepest of the late Trouble and without any hopes of Peace which since our good God out of his infinite Mercy hath bestowed upon us Being then obliged to provide for our selves elsewhere we were not in any great trouble on whom to sasten our Eyes for so had the gracious Providence of God ordered it that in the extremity of Monsieur Durant's Sickness Monsieur Daillé preached three Sermons to us which so much affected our whole Church that from that instant it was the common Discourse that as God afflicted us on the one Hand so did he seem to comfort us on the other by pointing out unto us such a Person as might he easily and speedily obtained by us because the Province of Anjou was well enough provided of able Pastors and of divers Proposans of very great Hopes Monsieur Durand resting from his Labours in Abraham's Bosom we believed it our Duty to concur with those ardent Desires that many of our Members had expressed for Monsieur Daillé and the rather because we were well inform'd of his singular Piety Probity and rare Learning who by reason of those excellent Gifts and Graces of God's Holy Spirit in him had been already sought after far and near by many of the greatest and most famous Churches in the Kingdom But the Lord out of his abundant Goodness had reserv'd him for us And that we might handsomly and regularly proceed in giving him a Call to the Pastoral Office in our Church we resolved at first to demand him by way of Loan as we can easily prove by our Letters written unto the Church of Saumur and to the said Monsieur Daillé and by the Acts of our Consistory But the Person whom we deputed to Saumur and to whose Prudence and wise Conduct we had confided this Affair having been refused as to the Loan advised us by an express Messenger that there was more hopes of gaining him as an absolute Gift because the Church of Saumur could more easily procure it self a fettled Pastor than borrow one for a few Months Whereupon he demanded of us new Letters and a more ample Commission The Quality of the Person imployed by us in this Negotiation and our most pressing urgent Necessity made us resolve to demand the Ministry of Monsieur Daillé purely and absolutely We in the mean while taking it for granted that our Synod would have approved and consented to what we had done as we on our parts were disposed to break off the whole Treaty in case they could make it appear that we were out and mistaken in our Choice and that there could be any thing opposed against the Doctrine Life and Conversation of him to whom we had sent our Call As soon as we had notice that our Synod should be assembled we to render all due Honours to it delegated the Sieurs Mestrezat Bigot and d' Huysseau to it and charged them to make report of our Conduct in this Affair and to petition that Assembly to approve of the calling Monsieur Daillé into Office among us though at that time we had no promise of him made us by the Church of Saumur We well hoped that those Reverend Gentlemen would have considered the great importance of our Church and the Kindnesses they continually receive from it and that they would have comforted us in our Affliction and would have praised our Proceedings or at least would
Sieur Doul in that of Professor of Eloquence without suffering the said Nomination to be made a Precedent and on this condition that the said Professor Doul do every three Months keep a Publick Act. And this Assembly hath likewise approved and ratified that Canon of Agreement betwixt the Consistory and the said University for taking Cognizance of all Affairs depending upon both those Assemblies And that this present Decree may be put in Execution the Sieurs Guitton and de Bourdieu Pastors and the Sieur des Champs an Elder are deputed to pass over unto Saumur and to visit the said Church which is ordered to defray their Expences Now Sirs let me add what was given me in charge from this Holy Synod to deliver to you Ton cannot be ignorant of what the Faithful in all Ages have generally owned and confessed and which the Church of God hath always sung to its Consolation that there is nothing better nothing more pleasant nothing more desirable for your selves nothing more advantagious for the Interest of God than to see Peace on Earth in the midst of its horrible Confusions than whilst the Children of Rebellion who are possessed by the Devil do by their turbulent and intollerable Passions turn things upside down to see the poor Church of God in Peace Zion a quiet Habitation all the Faithful united the whole Houshold of Faith of one Heart having the same Love enjoying the same Hope and wholly busied and taken up in the Works of their common and holy Calling 'T is by this that God their Heavenly Father is most especially glorified This Peace is not of this World nor sustained by carnal Interests which may either by time be abolished or by corrupt Affections changed This is that Peace of God which his well-beloved Son our Lord Redeemer Christ Jesus hath left as a Legacy unto us and which is nourished and supported by that precious Blood which he shed for us and it shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given unto us of which the World shall never deprive us as long as we cherish and value it When once this Peace dwells and rules abundantly in our Hearts whenas our Holy Communion is strengthened by it whenas it leaveth Characters and Marks of its Glory upon us and our Souls tast its Sweetness then is Heaven above us reconciled with us then is the Sanctuary of our Hope opened to us then are the Bowels of God's Compassions yearning on us then is his Jealousie excited for us and then shall we obtain the most glorious Deliverances a Troop an Heap a Multitude of Divine Benedictions Sirs I never think of this Heavenly Blessing but that my Head is Waters and mine Eyes Fountains of Tears and mourn bitterly for those Sad Divisions which have so long time reigned among you These are horrible Scandals and noised abroad in the whole Kingdom By these Breaches hath Satan the Prince of this World got admission into your Hearts by these breaches is your Faith exposed to extream danger and I tremble at the Indignation of the God of Peace against you For when he seeth his Peace despised his Church distracted and dismembred and that Service owed him by your Consciences altered and abated and the profession of the Truth exposed to the Laughter and Scorn of his Adversaries he hath too just cause of being exasperated against you and to correct you with his Severest Judgments This Gracious God hath forborn you a long time he hath supported with wonderful Patience and Indulgence your grievous Disorders he hath compassionated your Infirmities he would rather remove them by the sweetness of his Grace than cut you off by the Sword of his just Vengeance He assembled when you least hoped it even at your Doors the Deputies of all the Provinces of this Kingdom who having as to your Concerns none other Interests than that of your Salvation did according to that Authority which God hath given them over your Consciences put a period unto your differences and compose them with singular Equity in order to your Peace When I consider Sirs what I was formerly in this City and Academy the least among you in all respects instructed by them who are your Instructors that profound respect which I have ever conserv'd in my Heart for you causeth me to fear and tremble whilst I am speaking to you For my own part I had much rather that this important Commission had fallen into any other Hands than mine that it might have been discharged by a Person much more worthy of your esteem and commendation but the most wise God hath disposed otherwise by the Suffrages of his Servants and 't is his Call by them that incourageth me to execute it That great deference which I know you have for our Church-Discipline this holy Order set up by God himself in the midst of us in his own House raiseth my Hopes that you will not so much reflect upon the Messenger that speaks unto you in Earth as upon his Message now brought unto you from God who is in Heaven and who doth great things and marvellous among his Saints by the weakest Instruments I beseech you most Honoured and Dear Brethren for the sake of our common Saviour that you would with Heart and Soul accept of that Peace which is now by God himself exhibited and offered to you Forget all past matters consider what is to come look not behind you but before you you are entred into a new World open the Doors of your Hearts to our Lord Jesus who demands it by my Mouth suffer this King of Glory to set up the Standard of his Cross in your Souls to pour into them the Consolations of his Love Let him crucifie your Old Man and all his Actions let him make your many Hearts to be but one all your Souls but one Soul that so he may live in you all and as you live by him so you may live for him Yon stand obliged unto this by his Grace the Commands of God demand it of you The example of your Rverend Pastors is a powerful motive to ingage you to it Be you Followers of them in Love imitate that Charity which they have first Sworn in the presence of Christ Jesus Consider them as Persons in the same Office imploy'd in the same work and pay an equal Respect unto them Encourage their Hearts and strengthen their Hands in the Service of God and of your Souls by your Affectionate and orderly Carriage and Obedience Pray for them as they do for you Love them as they love you Repay their Love unto them with Interest Evidence yours unto them by all kind of good Offices they are studious to approve themselves unto you by their Zeal and Labours for you And if you practise these Counsels all the Churches will be filled with joy you will be blessed by all the Children of God the Adversary will be confounded and the God of Peace will dwell among
were Arbitrators But and if any Members of the said Consistories shall be chosen Arbitrators it shall be as they are private Persons and only in their own names CAN. XV. Besides those Admonitions given by the Consistories if there be a necessity of inflicting greater punishment or censures upon Offendors it shall be either Suspension or Privation for a time from the Lords Table or else Excommunication or cutting off from the Church And Consistories shall be advised to manage both the one and other with singular Prudence and to distinguish well betwixt them as also to weigh and examine very prudently those faults and scandals with their circumstances that are brought before them that so Censures and Judgment may be given according as is meet and requisite CAN. XVI Suspension from the Lords Table shall be used for the greater humbling of Offenders and for quickning them to a most lively sense of their offences This Suspension shall not be published unto the People nor its Cause nor also the re-admission of the Delinquent unless they had been Hereticks Despisers of God Rebels against the Consistory or Traytors to the Church These also shall be suspended who have been attainted of Crimes deserving Corporal punishment and causing grievous scandal to the Church Item those who contrary to the Remonstrances made them were married by a Popish Priest and Fathers and Mothers that so marry their Children and Tutors Guardians and others in the stead of Parents that do in the same manner marry their Orphan-Pupils and those also who shall carry them to a Popish Priest by him to be baptized or represent another at such a Baptism It being needful that such persons although they begin visibly to repent should be immediately suspended and for a time deprived of the Lord's Supper and that their suspension be declared unto the people that so they may be more deeply humbled and induced unto Repentance as also that the Church may be discharged of all shame and blame and to terrify others and learn them by this example not to be guilty of such sinful miscarriages CAN. XVII If by such suspensions Sinners be not reformed but abide obstinate and impenitent after long forbearance and frequent admonitions and earnest sollicitations of them to it they shall then be proceeded against with publick Admonitions made before the Congregation by the Pastor on three Lord's days following and for their greater shame if it be thought needful they shall be mentioned by name and the whole Church shall be desired to intreat God for them and to endeavour by all means to bring them unto Repentance and an acknowledgment of their sins to prevent their being cut off by Excommunication unto which we cannot proceed without a World of regret and grief And if after all this there be no Conversion on the Sinners part but that they persist in their hardness and obstinacy on the fourth Sabbath the Pastor shall publickly declare to the whole Congregation that the said scandalous and obdurate Sinners nameing them particularly are no longer owned by us for Church-Members but in the name and by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his Church are cut off from it And this shall be the Form of Excommunication See the Acts of the second National Synod of Paris in the year 1565. Canon the Second The Form of Excommunication to be used in the Reformed Churches of France decreed by the Synod of Alez 1620. and incorporated with the Canons of Church Discipline by the National Synod of Charenton Observation the 11. upon the Synod of Alez Dear Brethren THis is the fourth time that we declare unto you that N. N. for sundry Sins and Scandals committed in the Church of God and for his Impenitency and contempt of all Admonitions which have been given from the word of God was suspended the holy Supper of the Lord which Suspension and its Causes have been notified to you that you might join your Prayers with ours that the Great God would be intreated to mollify his hard heart and touch him with sincere Repentance and draw him out of the way of Perdition But although we have so long born with him prayed exhorted and adjured him to return unto God and have essayed all means to bring him unto Repentance yet nevertheless he persisteth in his impenitency and with a most hardned obstinacy rebelleth against God and trampleth under foot his Word and the Discipline established in his House and boasting of his Sin hath caused a great deal of trouble for a long time unto his Church and the most holy name of our God to be blasphemed Wherefore we Ministers of the Word and Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ whom God hath armed with spiritual Weapons mighty through God to throw down the strong holds which do oppose themselves against him to whom the Eternal Son of God hath given power of binding and loosing upon Earth declaring that what we shall bind in Earth shall be bound in Heaven and being willing throughly to purge the House of God and to free his Church of Scandal and by pronouncing Anathema against the wicked one to glorify the name of our God In the Name and by the Authority of our Lord Jesus by the advice and authority of the Pastors and Elders assembled in Colloquy and of the Consistory of this Church we have cut off and do cut off the said N. N. from the Communion of the Church of God We do Excommunicate and deprive him of the Fellowship of Saints that so he may be unto you as a Pagan or Publican and that among true Believers he may be an Anathema and Execration Let his Company be reputed Contagious and let his Example possess your Souls with astonishment and cause you to tremble under the mighty hand of God! And this Sentence the Son of God will ratify and make effectual until such time as the Sinner being confounded and abased before God shall glorify him by his Conversion and being delivered from the Bonds of Satan to whom he is inslaved he may mourn for his Sin with Repentance unto Life Let 's pray God most dearly Beloved Brethren that he would daign to compassionate this most miserable Sinner and that this dreadful Sentence which with very great regret and sorrow of heart we have pronounced against him by the authority of the Son of God may contribute unto his humiliation and bring back into the way of Life and Salvation a Soul which is wandered and strayed from it Amen! Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently Amen! If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha Amen CAN. XVIII Henceforward all Sentences of Excommunication confirmed by the Provincial Synod shall be of full power and valid as also all Sentences of Suspension from the Lord's Supper made by the Consistory which were not declared unto the People shall hold good although the Person suspended had entered his Appeal unto the Colloquy
all possible care shall be taken that neither the Civil Magistrate nor weak Christians may be offended CAN. X. A Man may not marry the Mother of his Deceased Spouse to whom he was betrothed without an Order from the Civil Magistrate which shall be waited for both by the Pastor and the Parties Contracting that Marriage N. B. This last Clause of the Canon is only in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions CAN. XI Likewise a Man may not marry his Wife's Aunt such a Marriage being Incestuous and although the Magistrate should permit it yet shall it not be Solemnized in our Assemblies And therefore all Pastors are carefully to keep themselves from it And by parity of reason the Marriage of an Uncle with his Niece or with the grand Niece of his deceased Wife is also Incestuous CAN. XII Although Civility and Decency may oppose the Marriage of a Man with the Widow of his Wife's Brother yet in case the Civil Magistrate do authorize the Contract the Churches shall not make any difficulty to bless such a Marriage Provided that there be good evidence that the said Contract hath been first allowed and approved by the authority of the Civil Magistrate N. B. These last Clauses of this Canon Printed in another Character are only in my Editions of Paris and Rouen CAN. XIII No Man after his Wife's Death shall marry her with whom he had committed Adultery during her Life unless that such a Marriage were authorized by the Civil Magistrate CAN. XIV Forasmuch as the principal end of Marriage is to procreate Children and to avoid Fornication the Marriage of an Eunuch that is so known shall not be admitted nor solemnized in any of our Reformed Churches CAN. XV. All Marriages shall be propounded unto the Consistories with a sufficient Certificate of the Promises CAN. XVI The Banes of Matrimony shall be published in those places where the Parties dwell and if they have a mind to celebrate their Marriage elsewhere they shall carry with them a sufficient Certificate that the Banes have been thrice published CAN. XVII The Banes shall be published on three Sabbath-Days following in those places where the Word of God is Preached and in other places when as Common-Prayers are read However it be yet there shall be the space of fifteen days between the Publication of the Banes and the Solemnizal of the Marriage in the Congregation which may be performed on the third Sabbath CAN. XVIII Such as live in those places where the publick Exercise of Religion is not established may cause their Banes to be published in the Popish Churches because it is a matter purely Political CAN. XIX The Churches shall not suffer any Persons to be Married without an ample knowledge and approbation of them CAN. XX. If one of the Parties be of a contrary Religion the Marriage-Promises shall not be received nor published in the Church unless that Party of the contrary Religion have been sufficiently instructed and have publicity protested in the Church of that place where the said Party shall be known that from a good Conscience he doth renounce all Superstition and Idolatry and particularly the Mass and that he will through Divine Grace persevere the residue of his days in the pure worship of God of which instruction the Consistory of that Church shall take Cognisance in which that Protestation shall be made And it shall not be lawful for any Pastor or Consistories to do otherwise on pain of being Suspended yea and deposed from their Offices CAN. XXI If one of the Parties who would Marry be Excommunicate the Marriage shall not be permitted to be Solemnized in any one of our Churches unless that the Excommunicate Person shall have acknowledged and done Penance for his Offences But as for suspended Persons from the Lords Table the Consistories may permit them to marry notwithstanding their Suspension but yet not without taking Cognisance of their Cause CAN. XXII The Banes of Widows who desire to marry again shall not be published in the Church till at least seven Months and an half be expired after their Husbands Death that so all Scandals and Inconveniencies which might afterwards fall out may be prevented unless in such a Case in which the Civil Magistrate hath interposed his Judicial Sentence to the contrary CAN. XXIII All Marriages shall be publickly Solemnized in the Religious Assemblies of the Faithful according to the word of God and by the Ministry of the Pastors and not of any others N. B. That middle Clause in another Character is only in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions of the Discipline CAN. XXIV For the good order of our Churches no Marriage shall be Solemnized on those days in which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is Administred And this Canon shall not be broken but upon very great Considerations of which the Consistory shall take Cognisance Moreover no Marriages shall be Solemnized on Days of publick Prayer and Fasting CAN. XXV Such as being betrothed shall cohabit together as Man and Wife before they be lawfully and solemnly Married whether their offence do come to light before or after the Solemnizal of the Marriage they shall do publick Penance for this their Offence or at least they shall acknowledge it before the Consistory either way as the discretion of the Consistory shall appoint And if it be discovered before Marriage then shall there upon the Wedding day before they do proceed to compleat the Marriage be such Ceremonies and Censures used as the Consistory shall judge fitting unless those Persons had cohabited together in the days of their Ignorance without despising or contempt of our Church-Government And those also who cohabited as Man and Wife when as there was no Church erected in the places of their Habitation or in the Province and all these shall only be called into the Consistory that so their Marriage may be ratified and Celebrated in the Church of God if the Consistory shall judge it to be expedient CAN. XXVI That those inconveniencies may be avoided which fall out through over-long delays of Solemnizing Marriages the Parties and those Persons under whose power they are shall be advised not to defer the Consummation thereof any longer than six Weeks after publication of the Banes if it be possible CAN. XXVII All Marriages shall be Registred and carefully kept in the Church-Books CAN. XXVIII The Faithful whose Partners are convicted of Adultery may be admonished to a reconcilement with them but in case they will not do it that Liberty which God in his holy Word hath granted them shall be declared to them But if it be the hap of a Church-Officer he shall not take his Wife again or if he do he shall lay down his Office CAN. XXIX This course shall be taken about Divorces for Adultery The Innocent wronged Party shall prosecute at Law before the Civil Magistrate the Delinquent so long till that by his definitive Sentence and final Judgment she be duly Convicted which Sentence the
of those of the said pretended Reformed Religion within the Jurisdiction of our Parliament of Provence they not needing to take out Letters of Evocation or other Provisions but in our Chancery of Dolphiny As also those of the said Religion in Normandy and Brittaine shall not be obliged to take out Letters of Evocation nor other Provisions but from our Court of Chancery in Paris XXXIII Our Subjects of the Reformed Religion in the Jurisdiction of the Parliament of Burgundy shall according to their will and choice plead in the Chamber ordained for that purpose either in the Parliament of Paris or in that of Dolphiny And they also shall not be bound to take out Letters of Evocation nor any other provisions unless from out of the said Chanceries of Paris or Dolphiny at their choice and pleasure XXXIV All these said Chambers composed as aforesaid shall take cognisance try and judge Soveraignly and without Appeal by Decree privatively of all others of all Suits and Differences moved or to be moved in which those of the said pretended Reformed Religion shall be the principal Parties or Defendants in demanding or defending in all matters as well Civil as Criminal whether the said Suits and Processes be by writing or by verbal Appeals and if it seem good unto the said Parties and one of them do require it before the Cause come to be contested with respect unto the Processes which may be moved excepting always all matters beneficiary and the Possessors of Tithes not impropriated Patronages of Churches and those Causes in which the rights and duties and Demean of the Church shall be debated all which shall be tryed and judged in the Courts of Parliament without granting any power unto the said Chambers of the Edict to take Cognisance of them As also we will that when as Criminal Processes shall fall out between the said Ecclesiasticks and those of the said pretended Reformed Religion if the Ecclesiastical Person be Defendant in this Case the Cognisance and Judgments of the Criminal Process shall belong unto our Soveraign Courts privatively of the said Chambers or if the said Ecclesiastical Person be Plaintiff and he of the said Religion Defendant the Cognisance and Judgment of the said Criminal Process shall belong by Appeal and finally without Appeal unto those Chambers beforesaid established Moreover those said Chambers shall take Cognisance in times of Vacations of matters attributed by the Edicts and Ordinances unto the Chambers established in time of Vacation every one of them in their Jurisdiction XXXV The said Chamber of Grenoble shall be from this instant united and incorporated with the Body of the said Court of Parliament and the Presidents and Counsellers of the said pretended Reformed Religion shall be accounted and called the Presidents and Counsellors of the said Court and shall be reckoned and taken in the rank quality and number of them And for these ends they shall be first distributed by the other Chambers and then extracted and drawn out from among them to be imployed and serve in that which we ordain anew but always on this condition that they shall assist and have Voice and Sessions in all Deliberations that shall be made when as the Chambers are Assembled and they shall enjoy the same Sallaries Authorities and Preheminencies which the other Presidents and Counsellors of the said Court do XXXVI We will and it is our mind and intention that the said Chambers of Castres and Bourdeaux shall be reunited and incorporated in those Parliaments in the same form as others when as there shall be need of it and that the Causes which have moved us to make the establishment shall cease and there shall be no place left for them among our Subjects And to this purpose the Presidents and Counsellors in them of the said Religion shall be accounted and held for Presidents and Counsellors of the said Courts XXXVII There shall be also a new Creation and Erection in the Chamber Ordained for the Parliament of Bourdeaux of two Substitutes of our Attorney and Advocate-Generals one of which said Proctors shall be a Catholick and another of the said Religion who shall be possessed of the said Offices with competent Sallaries XXXVIII And the said Substitutes shall not take unto themselves any other quality than that of Substitutes and when as the Chambers ordained for the Parliaments of Tholouse and Bourdeaux shall be united and incorporated with the said Parliaments the said Substitutes shall be provided of Offices of Counsellors in them XXXIX The Dispatches of the Chancery of Bourdeaux shall be made in presence of two Counsellors of that Chamber one of which shall be a Catholick and the other of the said pretended Reformed Religion in the absence of one of the Masters of Requests of our Houshold And one of the Notaries and Secretaries of the said Court of Parliament of Bourdeaux shall make his Residence in the place where the said Chamber shall be established or else one of the ordinary Secretaries of the Chancery to sign the Dispatches of the said Chancery XL. We Will and Ordain That in the said Chamber of Bourdeaux there shall be two of the Register of the said Parliament the one for Civil the other for Criminal Causes who shall discharge their Offices by our Commissions and shall be called the Deputies or Commissioners in the Civil and Criminal Office of the Register who notwithstanding may not be abandoned nor revoked by the said Registers in Parliament Yet nevertheless they shall be bound to bring in the Emoluments of the said Registers Office unto the said Registers and the said Deputies shall be paid their Sallaries by the said Registers as it shall be advised and arbitrated by the said Chamber Moreover it shall be ordained that the Catholick Ushers shall be taken out of the said Court or from elsewhere according to our pleasure over and besides which there shall be two new ones erected of the said Reformed Religion and who shall be put into those places without payment of Fine or Fees And all those said Ushers shall be regulated by the said Chamber as well for the exercise and division of their offices as for the Emoluments which they are to receive There shall be also set up by Commission a Payer of Wages and Receiver of Fines in the said Chamber which office shall be given by us to whom we please in case the said Chamber be established any where else than in the said City And that Commission formerly granted unto the Payer of Wages in the Chamber of Castres shall be in full power and effect and the Commission of the Receit of the Fines in the said Chamber shall be joined unto the said Office XLI There shall be good and sufficient Assignments made for the Officers Wages in the Chambers ordained by this Edict XLII The Presidents Counsellors and other Catholick Officers of the said Chambers shall be continued as long as may be and as we shall see meet for our
We were pursuing Our Victories the Duke of Rohan the Citizens of Anduze those of Sauve Gange Le Vigan Florac Meruez and all other places of the Sevennes Nismes Aymargues Vsez Milhaud Cornus St. Affrique St. Felix St. Rome of Taon the Pont de Camarez Viane Castres Rogve Courbe Reuel Montauban Caussde Mazeres Saverdun Carlat Le Mas d' Azil and generally all Fortresses and places in the Higher and Lower Languedoc Sevennes Gevaudan Guyenne and Foix the Gentlemen and others who were in Arms yet against Us and Our Service did send their Deputies unto Us to testifie their Repentance for having fallen into Rebellion and promising to yield unto Us in the face of the whole World all that Obedience and Fidelity which good and loyal Subjects owe unto their King they petitioning Us that We would pardon them and grant them an Act of Oblivion for their said Rebellion and for all Matters passed and done by occasion thereof and they offered of their own accord to raze the Fortifications of the said Towns that so there might be no cause given us to distrust their Fidelity or that might minister an occasion unto any one of departing from it and farther to assure Us they would put into our Hands such Hostages out of those Towns and such a number of them as We should demand unto which We did the more readily incline because We would by so rare an Example of Clemency after so many Relapses gain the greater Interests upon the Hearts and Affections of Our Subjects and spare the estusion of their Blood the desolating of the Province and all those Confusions and Calamities which be the inseparable attendants of War We being solely moved hereunto by our meer compassion of their Miseries and desire of their Welfare And this causeth Us to hope that Our said Subjects having such manifest Tokens of that Goodness which is treasured up in our Heart for them will return the more sincerely unto their Duty and that it will serve as an everlasting Cement to keep them inseparably united unto our obedience We waiting for that Grace and Mercy of God in Heaven to touch and illuminate their Minds that they may be reunited unto the Catholick Church and so dry up the Fountain of these most lamentable Divisions For these Causes after that the Hostages of the said Towns were delivered to Us and that We had put them into safe places appointed by Us to this purpose where all and every one of them respectively should dwell until the said Fortifications were perfectly rased and demolished We desirous to take some course about the past Disorders and to prevent the like for the future We do give you to know and understand that after We had maturely debated this Affair with our Council took their advice from Our certain Knowledge full Power special Grace and Royal Authority by this Our present perpetual and irrevocable Edict signed with Our Hand We have declared enacted and ordained We do declare enact and ordain We will and 't is Our pleasure I. That the Roman Catholick and Apostolick Religion shall be set up again and restored in all Towns and places of the said Countreyâ— from whence it had been removed or diverted And all Churches Goods and Ecclesiastical Houses in those said places and Provinces shall be restored unto them to whom they do belong without any suing for the Profits past and received In which Churches and in all those said places the said Religion shall be exercised freely and peaceably without any trouble or obstruction whatsoever But nevertheless we ordain that in all the Monasteries which are in those Towns returned unto their obedience to our Authority that there shall not be placed any other Religious Persons than those who live in a most exact observation of the Rule of their Order according to those Letters which they shall obtain from us II. And whereas we desire above all things to see for the future a perpetual Union among our Subjects tho' we will and intend to maintain them who profess the said pretended Reformed Religion in the free and peaceable exercise thereof and without any trouble yet we cannot but desire their conversion which we beg heartily of God in our daily Prayers Wherefore we exhort all our said Subjects of the said pretended Reformed Religion to divest themselves of all passion that so they may be the more capable of receiving the Light of Heaven and of returning into the Bosom of the Church in which for above eleven hundred Years continuance the Kings our Predecessors have lived without any interruption or change For we cannot any other or better way express unto them our paternal affection than by desiring that they would walk with us in the same Path-way unto Eternal Salvation in which we our selves are going III. We do farther ordain that all Patrons to whom of right it appertaineth shall provide for all the vacant Parishes in those Countreys good sufficient and able Curates and that they so order it that they have a sufficient Income for their Maintenance that so they may acquit themselves worthily of their Functions according to the tenour of those Ordinances made by us the last January or by some other means more commodious according to that Report which shall be made by those Commissioners who shall be deputed by us to this purpose IV. We have remitted pardoned and indemnified we do remit pardon and indemnify unto the said Duke of Rohan and Lord of Soubize and all the Inhabitants of the said Towns and Places and those of the Champain Country which adhered to them all matters passed since the 21. of July 1627. unto the day of the Publication made in every Seneschalsy of these Articles of Grace which we accorded them the 27. day of June last We have discharged and do discharge them of all acts of Hostility raising of Armies leading of Warlike Souldiers Enterprizes by Sea and Land of general or particular Assemblies yea and of that Assembly at Nismes seizing of Ecclesiastical or of the Royal Moneys or of Moneys belonging unto private Persons Coining of Money under whatsoever title or value Imprinted Libels Insurrections and popular Commotions Riots Violences Attempts made upon the two Towns of St. Amand and the Castles of that Lord the taking of the Castles of St. Stevens of Valfrancesquez and Florac and the rasing of it as also the Murder and other Accidents fallen out in that Enterprize upon St. Germier and Castres the last January as also the Inhabitants of Vsez for the Murder of the Sieur du Flos and the Consuls of the said place the Decrees denounc'd against them in the Parliament of Tholouse and in the Court of the Edict of Beziers and the Sieurs D'aubais James Genoier Paul Saussier and Andrew Pelissier for their being named and chosen to be Consuls of Nismes in the year 1627. and their exercise of the said Offices for the said year as also all the Political Consuls and Counsellers
a third which we have termed Infractions of the Edict of Nantes under pretence of Explication Those who would know their Number and Quality need only cast their eyes upon the Books written and published on this occasion by Father Meisnier the Jesuit an Author famous for his Illusions and by one Baanard a pitiful Officer in the Presidial Court of Beziers in Languedoc There you will meet with all the Windings and Turnings the Shifts and Evasions which the silliest and most unworthy Sophisters could invent whereby to elude the clearest Text of the Edict and to corrupt and pervert its very heart sence and sincerest meaning And that I may avoid prolixity I shall only produce a brief Account of some few particular Instances of their Troubles As for example Was there any thing more clear evident and unquestionable in the Edict than this viz. That it was given with an intention to maintain those of the Reformed Religion in all the Rights that Nature and Civil Society give to Men Yet in 1681. there came out an Edict that Children might at the age of seven Years abjure the Reformed Religion and embrace the Catholick under pretence forsooth That the Edict did not precisely mark that at this age they should continue at their Parents disposal Who sees not but that this was a meer Trick seeing that at one hand the Edict forbad to take away Children by force from their Parents or by Flatteries and on the other hand the Edict supposed and confirmed all the natural Rights of which without controversie this is one of the most inviolable Was there ever a more notorious Infraction of the Edict than that which forbad those of the Reformed Religion who had passed over to the Romish to return unto that which they had quitted because forsooth That the Edict did not in express formal terms give them this Liberty For when the Edict permitteth generally all the King's Subjects Liberty of Conscience and forbiddeth to perplex and trouble them or to act and offer any thing contrary to this Liberty who seeth not this exception touching the Pretended Relapsers is so far from being an explication of the Edict that it is a most notable Violation of it Unto this we may add the Charge given unto the Roman Catholicks not to change their Religion and embrace the Reformed For when the Edict giveth Liberty of Conscience it doth in plain terms grant it unto all Persons whatsoever who are or shall be of the said Religion Yet if we believe the Clergy this was not Harry the Fourth's meaning for he intended that Grant only to those who then at that time when the Edict was made professed the said Religion SECT XXXII This Edict of Nantes also gave unto the Reformed the Priviledge of keeping small Schools in all places where they had the Exercise of their Religion and by common acceptation those were always understood Lesser Schools in which Children were taught Latin and Humanity This was the known received sense of these words throughout the Kingdom and it is thus taken when it doth concern the Roman Catholicks Yet by a new Interpretation this permission was restrained to the bare liberty of Teaching to read and write as if the Reformed were unworthy to learn any more And this on purpose to tire out the Parents and drive them to this extremity either not to know what to do with their Children or be forced to send them to the Roman Catholicks for Education The Edict gave them Liberty in all places where they had Churches to instruct publickly their Children and others in what concerns Religion and this did visibly establish them in the right of teaching them Philosophy and Theology especially Theology because this is nothing else but Religion Moreover the Edict of Harry the Fourth had promised unto the Protestants Letters Patents to be expedited in due form of Law for the Erection of Colleges in which their Youth might be educated and instructed in the Liberal Sciences For whence should their Churches be supplied with Ministers if they had no Seminaries nor Colleges And yet the Clergy supposed that the Edict gave no right to the Reformed to instruct them in Philosophy or Theology nor were they upon this supposition to have any Colleges Hence their Universities and Colleges were all condemned and suppressed that so the Ministery might be destroyed This was the very self same course that Julian the Apostate took of old to extirpate Christianity They had Colleges almost in every Province All these are supprest They had six Academies one at Die in Dolphiny another at Nismes in Languedoc a third at Pau ill Bearne a fourth at Montauban in Quercy a fifth at Saumur in Anjou and a sixth at Sedan This last though grounded on a particular Edict was suppressed as well as all the others yea and had the Honour to be first ruinated It led the Van to the other Universities and preached to them in its Rubbish what kindnesses they must expect from the Jesuitical Councils at Court They had been very fuitful Nurseries of many excellent Scholars furnished the Churches with some thousands of able godly and painful Ministers This was the great eye-sore of the Jesuits and cause enough for their bigotted Disciples at Court to procure their Ruine The Professors in these Academies were Men of most eminent Learning and Piety exceeding studious and laborious in their Calling They read four Lectures every Week publickly besides the private Colleges they had in their own Houses daily for a number of young Students would combine together to prosecute one body of Controversies and the Professor reads to them at home and they draw up their Theses and dispute upon it We have a world of these Exercises in the Foreign Universities Their Professors exercise their Scholars with publick Disputations and strictly examin their Proficiency once a quarter Their stipends were but mean never amounted to Seventy pound a year yet they were generally Men as of great parts so of great reputation and highly esteemed by their Churches Synods and the Nobility I shall insert here a Catalogue of the Prefessors in Divinity in the University of Montauban from its first foundation in the sixteenth Century unto the year 84. of the seventeenth when the University was suppress'd and all the Professors clapt up in the Prisons of Tholouse by a Decree of that Parliament where they were kept in duress till the month of October in the year 1685. and were then banished the Realm with all the other Ministers 1. Dr. Michael Berault was the Founder of and first Professor in the University of Montalban in the year 1590. 2. Monsieur Peter Sohuis was his Collegue in the same Office and at the same time 3. Monsieur Daniel Chamier that great Man and invincible Champion of the Truth The Jesuits could never stand before him He was killed upon the Lord's day when the City was besieged with a Cannon Bullet in the year 1621. 4. Monsieur John Cameron
God is already established shall be sufficiently admonished to forbear and in case of their persistency they shall be declared Schismaticks and the same Admonition shall be given unto their Followers who also abiding contumacious and obstinate shall be denounced Schismaticks X. If A People not having the Ministry of the Word of GOD fixed and setled among them should choose unto themselves a Pastor The Neighbour-Church shall amicably and earnestly intreat him to confer with them and exhort him to subscribe the Confession of Faith and Church-Discipline established among us And in case of refusing such Subscription three or four Ministers of the next Churches shall assemble together with their Elders and shall then declare him a Schismatick and the People shall be advised to avoid such a Person But in case of Non-conforming to our Discipline he may not be declared Schismatick until such time as the Provincial Synod shall have ordained some other course to be taken with him None may Preach in another Church without the Pastâ—r or Consistoryâ—s leave XI The Minister of one Church may not preach in another without the consent of its Pastor but in his absence the Consistory may give Leave and Authority unto that Stranger And in case the Flock be scattered by Persecution or any other Trouble he shall endeavour to assemble the Elders and Deacons but if that cannot be effected he may notwithstanding Preach for the Re-uniting of the Flock A Minister may be intreated but not enforced to accept of the Call XII He that being called to the Holy Ministry and hath once accepted of that Call shall betake himself wholly to this Employment but in case he should afterwards change his mind and refuse it he shall be sollicited by fitting Exhortations to embrace it but he may not by any other means be enforced thereunto XIII Ministers that cannot discharge their Office in those Places whereunto they have been appointed if being sent elsewhere by the Advice of their Churches they do refuse it they shall then declare the Causes of such their refusal unto the Consistory who shall judge whether they may be admitted and if they may not be and they still persist in their not accepting the said Employment the Provincial Synod shall determine of it No Intruder into the ministry may be approved XIV Whoso intrudes himself into the Ministry of the Gospel although he may be approved by the People yet shall he not be approved by the Neighbour-Ministers nor others in case another Church excepts against him Wherefore e're they proceed farther the Provincial Synod shall be assembled as soon as conveniently it may for to determine about it And in case that Synod cannot be called if there be a Colloquy of six Ministers at the least established there the said Colloquy shall have Power to take Cognizance of this matter Ministers are such for their Life XV. Such as are once chosen unto the Ministry of the Word must know that their Call is during Life And as for those who were sent for a certain time and to whom for some special Reasons we gave admittance it is advised That the Church in which they are do make provision of a fixed Minister that so the others may intend their own Affairs But if the Churches cannot provide a Pastor for this Flock these shall not be permitted to abandon the Church for which Jesus Christ died An Exchange of Ministers for a time XVI If a Minister be personally persecuted so that he cannot without great danger unto himself discharge his Office in the Church whereunto he was ordained he may exchange for a time with another Church and this with Advice and Consent of both Churches And in case of the Minister's Disobedieâ—ce to the Judgment of their Churches the Cause shall be referr'd unto the next Provincial Synod There may be other Causes of changing which shall be proposed and judged in the Provincial Synod No Pastor shall forsake his Church without leave XVII No Pastor shall quit his Flock without leave first had and obtained from his Consistory and the Neighbour-Churches also shall approve the cause of his departure Yet on such occasions it will be fitting to admonish Churches to relieve their Pastors and to minister unto their Necessities And if necessary Relief be refused them when they have been advised to it in this case it shall be lawful for the Minister to ingage himself unto some other Church This is the Second Article in the First Chapter of the Discipline It is not lawful to â—â—car the Popish Preachers XVIII Novices received of late into the Church especially Monks and Priests shall not be chosen unto the Ministry without a long and diligent enquiry into and approbation had of their Lives and Doctrine XIX Forasmuch as it is not lawful nor expedient to hear the Sermons of Popish Preachers or of others introduc'd without a lawful Call in those Places where the Ministry of the Word is established Therefore the true Pastors are obliged as much as in them lieth to hinder their Flocks from going to them Causes for the Deposing of a Minister XX. Ministers teaching Evil Doctrine and not desisting upon sufficient Admonition and such as are disobedient to the Holy Orders and Counsels of God's Word given them by their Consistory as also they who lead a scandalous Life deserving Punishment by the Magistrates or Excommunication and they who are totally insufficient for their Office shall be deposed But those who be rendred uncapable by Age Sickness or any other Affliction or hindred by the Providence of God from the Exercise of their Ministry shall not yea their double Honour shall be continued to them and the Churches are required to maintain them and to provide another Minister to execute their Office Crimes for Deposing XXI Scandalous Crimes punishable by the Judges as Murder Sodomy and High-Treason or any other Sins which would redound to the great Dishonour and Scandal of the Church although they had been committed not only before his Call unto the Ministry but even in the time of his Ignorance merit the Deposing of such a Minister As for other Sins less scandalous the Judgment of them is left to the Prudence of the Provincial Synod XXII A Minister Convict of enormous and notorious Crimes shall be immediately deposed by the Consistory two or three Pastors of unstained Reputation being called into Counsel with them And in case the Delinquent Minister complain against his Accuser and of the Calumny laid upon him Presently by the Consistory the whole Matter of Fact shall be reported to the Provincial Synod If he has taught any Heresie or False Doctrine he shall be out of hand suspended by the Consistory two or three Ministers as before being called in until such time as the Provincial Synod shall have Decreed about it The Causes of Deposing unless necessity so require of which the Consistory shall judge may not be published
unto the People The Elder 's Office XXIII The Elders and Deacons are the Counsel of the Church in which the Ministers of the Word ought to preside The Office of Elders is to assemble the People to make Report of Scandals unto the Consistory and such other like Matters according as in every Church it is couched in Writing together with the proper Customs of those Places and Times Yet is not their Office for Life The Deacon's Office XXIV The Deacon's Office as now used by us is not perpetual yet this belongs unto them to Collect the Moneys for the Poor the Prisoners and the Sick and by the Advice of the Consistory to distribute those collected Charities among them to Visit them and in their respective Houses to Catechize them and in case any Deacon shall be found fit and he promise to devote and consecrate himself during Life unto the Service of God in the Ministry he may be chosen by the Ministry and Consistory to Catechize publickly according to the Form received in our Churches and this in order to their Trial without permitting them to administer the Sacraments The manner of Electing Elders and Deacons XXV The Office of Elders and Deacons is not to Catechize publickly nor is their Office perpetual However neither the one nor the other shall quit it without leave first obtained from the Church In the Minister's absence or sickness or in any other necessity of the Church the Deacon may read Prayers and the Holy Scriptures but he shall not take upon him the Office of Preaching XXVI In those Places in which Church-Order is not yet established both Elders and Deacons shall be chosen by the common Suffrage of Pastor and People but where Discipline is already constituted it shall be done by the Minister and Church-Councel who shall give them their Charge and they shall subscribe the Confession of Faith professed and avowed by us then they shall be presented unto the People and in case any one should oppose their Election it shall be debated and determined in the Consistory but if they cannot agree it shall be referr'd unto the Provincial Synod Causes of Deposing Elders and Deacons XXVII The Deacons and Elders shall be deposed for those very self-same Reasons that the Ministers of the Word were according to their quality and if being condemned by their Consistory they should make their Appeal they shall be suspended until such time as the Provincial Synod shall have ordained otherwise Books forbidden to be Printed till first communicated XXVIII Ministers nor any Other Members of the Church may not Print their own or others Works concerning Religion nor in any wise Publish them till they have first communicated them unto two or more of the Gospel of unspotted Reputation Who are to be Excommunicated XXIX Hereticks Contentious Persons Despisers of God Rebels against the Consistory Traytors to the Church such as be impeached and convicted of Crimes worthy of Corporal Punishment such as scandalize the whole Church shall be utterly excommunicated and cut off not only from the Sacrament but from all Communion with the whole Church And as for Delinquents suspended from the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and guilty of other Vices it is left to the Church's prudence whether they shall be admitted to hear the Word preacht or no. XXX Such as are Excommunicate for Heresie Contempt of God Schism Treason and Rebellion against the Church or other grievous Offences scandalous to the whole Church shall be denounced Excommunicate Persons before the People Who are by Name to be declared Excommunicate and who not unto the People together with the Causes of their Excommunication And as for those who were Excommunicate for lesser Offences it 's left to the Church's Prudence to consider whether they shall be published by Name unto the Congregation or not And this Order shall hold till it be otherwise determined in a National Synod Manner of Receiving Excommunicate Persons XXXI These having been Excommunicated shall address themselves unto their Consistory for Re-admission into Church-Fellowship who shall judge of their Repentance And if they have been publickly Excommunicate they shall testifie their Repentance publickly but if they have not been publickly Excommunicate they shall only in private before the Consistory express their Repentance Denial of the Faith demands a Publick Acknowledgment When Fasts are to be proclaimed XXXII Such as through force of Persecution have abjured the Gospel shall not be received into the Church till such time as they have expressed their Repentance publickly before all the People XXXIII Publick Prayers and extraordinary Fastings yet without any scruple or superstition shall be enjoyned in times of severe Persecution of War Pestilence Famine and other grievous Affliction as also whenas a Minister is to be chosen or a National Synod to be conven'd Of the Publication of Marriage XXXIV Marriages shall be propounded unto the Consistory in which the Contract of Marriage shall be produced signed by the Publick Notary or proved by some other sufficient Attestation in such places where there is not a Notary Or if the Persons will not produce their Contracts they shall however bring a sufficient Attestation under the Notary's hand or some other way and a Fortnight after the Banes shall be published on three Lord's Days following in those Places where the Word is ordinarily preached and in other Places where is Exhortation and Publick Prayers provided that this Publication be continued a full Fortnight and then the Marriage may be solemnized in the Church This Order shall not be infringed unless there be very great Causes for it whereof the Consistory shall take Cognisance Marriages and Baptisms are to be Registred XXXV Both Marriages and Baptisms shall be Registred and the Register preserved carefully by the Church together with the Names of the Fathers and Mothers and Sureties for the baptized Infants XXXVI The Faithful may not contract Marriage within the prohibited Degrees of Affinity and Consanguinity and the Church is to take heed that all scandal in this particular be avoided The Church may not dissolve a Marriage XXXVII The Faithful whose Yoke-fellows are convict of Adultery shall be advised to reconcile themselves with them but in case of refusal that liberty they have by the Word of God shall be declared to them However none of the Churches shall dissolve the Marriage least they should intrench upon the Authority of the Civil Magistrate The Consistory in case Parents refuse their Consent shall order about it XXXVIII No Person may contract Marriage without the Consent of Parents But in case Parents should be so unreasonable as to refuse their Consent to such an holy and needful Ordinance the Consistory shall advise what is to be done herein XXXIX Promises of Marriage once made cannot be dissolved no not by mutual consent of the Parties who have past those Promises each to other And the
Consistory of that Church where these Persons are Members shall judge of the lawfulness of those Promises In a particular Affair the Common Cause is not to be concerned XL. No Church shall undertake any Matter of great consequence wherein the Interest or Damage of other Churches is of right to be comprised without consulting the Provincial Synod if it may be conveniently assembled But if the business be urgent they shall communicate it to other Churches of the Province and obtain at least by Letters their Advice and Consent XLI These present Articles of Discipline are not so ordained by us but that if the Churches Profit do require they may be changed But it shall not be in the Power of any one particular Church to change them without having first Advised with and got the Consent of a National Synod CHAP. III. Particular Matters Propounded and Decided in the aforesaid National Synod held in PARIS Such as have Popish Licenses to Marry shall not be married without having first confessed their Sin 1. AS to that Case of Conscience propounded by the Minister of Diep it was answer'd That such as had Licenses from Popish Vicars or Curates to Marry where they pleased should not be married in the Church of God unless they do confess this their Offence before the Congregation wherein they be married And the Minister of the Gospel shall be instant with them to evidence their Repentance by Tearing of the License But whether the Tearing of it in pieces be done in the Church or Consistory that is left unto the Church's Prudence where this Matter may fall out None can be discharged of their Marriage-Promise upon pretext of Religion II. As to the Question propounded by the Minister of Anger 's it was answered That he who had espoused a Maid of the Popish Religion but is himself since converted although the said Maiden refuseth to be married in the Church of God is nevertheless bound by his Promise wherefore he ought sollicite her to accomplish it but if she will not consent unto it he must contain himself until such time as the Bond be broken either by her Marriage or Whoredom The same Advice was given in the like case by Mr. Calvin Whether the Children of Papists are to be receiv'd into the Church III. The Minister of Castelherand having moved this case A Papist displeased with the Creasme and Spittle and other Ceremonies added unto Baptism by the Popish Church desireth him to Baptise his Child It was queried Whether he should do it But because there was another Question first to be debated viz. Whether the Children of Papists ought to be received into the Church of Christ Divers Arguments having been banded on both sides the Decision thereof was remanded to a more full Assembly What Course is to be taken with the Broachers of Heresies IV. As to what was related by the Minister of Poictiers concerning Lavan who for a long time hath publickly Taught and printed strange Doctrines Schisms and notorious Heresies The Brethren may if they judge meet cite him to appear before the next Provincial Synod or privately Commune with him and if he be found Obstinate there being made a diligent and faithful Collection of his Heresies they shall be brought into the Provincial Synod that so they may be according to the Rule of GOD's Word condemned However out of hand the People shall be admonished to avoid so great a Plague V. And whereas our Brother of Poictiers hath declared in private Conference That an Heretick is not to be punished as an Heretick but as a Disturber of the Civil Government we say That were there no other Fault but this yet he should be admonished not to create Troubles unto the Church but there being other Circumstances reported unto this Assembly and these in particular That he hath very proudly scorned Counsel given him and basely Calumniated the Minister his Tutor and the whole Consistory calling him A blind Leader of the Blind and notwithstanding the many Remonstrances made him not to frequent a certain Schismatical Heretick nevertheless he continues to keep him company Therefore for these causes we advise that he be cut off by Excommunication from the Fellowship of the Faithful VI. The Minister of Poictiers having demanded Whether it be well done to take their Oaths who are newly received into the Church not to discover their Brethren Whether an Oath may be take from such as are received into the Church Again these Novices being made Prisoners for the Gospel's sake and the Magistrate tendring them an Oath to declare the Truth whether notwithstanding their first Oath they should discover their Brethren As to the former it was answer'd That respect must be had unto the circumstance of Places that so they may obviate the Levity and Malice of those Persons who otherwise by their Imprudence and Malice would endanger an whole Church Whether a Man notwithstanding his former Oath may yet afterward declare his Brethren And as to the second Question It is most certain that the end of that Oath being to glorifie God and preserve Charity the latter Oath does not oblige to speak or do any thing contrary unto these But it were better that they did Protest at first never to speak any thing that might redound to the Dishonour of GOD or the Damage of their Neighbours Whether Children may be baptized without a Sermon and where no Church is VII Is it necessary that Infants should be baptized in a Publick Church-Assembly Or may it be done without such a Congregation as in a private Family where there be very few People We answer That where a Church is already constituted publickly there the Children shall be baptized publickly But where there is none gathered nor publickly established and Parents through Infirmity are afraid to carry them to a publick Assembly far distant from them there to be baptized Ministers may yeild what in Prudence they may judge convenient for them Whether the Faithful may write their Childrens Names in the Registers of Popish Priests VIII Our Brother of St. John d' Angely demanding Whether the Faithful might lawfully suffer their Childrens Names to be recorded in the Registers of Popish Priests It was answered That because it was a Civil Ordinance of his Majesty the Ministers and Consistories should specially observe the Design and End of him that it and admonish him that he be very careful lest thereby he be taken for a Papist Whether the Faithful may Rent Ecclesiastical Revenues IX Advice hath been taken upon what was proposed by the Minister of St. John d' Angely viz. Whether the Faithful might lawfully Farm the Ecclesiastical Revenues of Monks and Priests c And it is our Judgment That it is in no wise lawful for the Faithful to intermeddle with any Matter that hath Idolatry conjoyned with it as the Patten or the Baise-mains or to cause Masses or Vigils to be said or sung
or others that may sing Masses for the Dead is he to be deposed from his Office We answer Let him be first heard in the Consistory speak for himself before they proceed unto his Deposal XXVII It was demanded Whether the Word of God might be preached publickly without Authority from the Civil Magistrate Answer was given That there should be special care had of the Time and Publick Peace and above all that there be no Tumults nor Sedition XXVIII The Churches of Paris Orleance and Rouan are deputed by this present Synod to Protest against the Popish Council now held at Trent and of the Nullity of all its Decisions and Decrees and their Protestation shall be done either by Printed Books or Oral Remonstrances unto the King's Majesty or by any other way as they shall judge needful XXIX It is now Decreed That the Deputies of the Provinces when they go to Court shall take with them our Confession of Faith and consult among themselves how to present it unto His Majesty together with the Petitions of our Churches and to this purpose they shall make Application unto those Lords who they know to be Favourers of our Cause and Religion XXX Whereas divers Persons do solicite this National Synod to supply the Congregations who have sent them hither with Pastors they are all answered That at present we are utterly unable to gratifie them and that therefore they be advised to set up Propositions of the Word of God and to take special care of Educating hopeful young Men in Learning in the Arts Languages and Divinity who may hereafter be imployed in the Sacred Ministry and they are most humbly to Petition the Lord of the Harvest to send Labourers who may get it in XXXI May he be admitted to communicate in the Bread only at the Lord's Table who hath an Antipathy against Wine Yes he may provided that he do his utmost to drink of the Cup but in case he cannot he shall make a Protestation of his Antipathy The End of the Synod of Poictiers THE ACTS DECISIONS and DECREES OF THE III. National Synod OF THE Reformed Churches of Christ IN The KINGDOM of FRANCE HELD At ORLEANCE in the Year of our LORD 1562. The Contents of this Synod Chap. I. A Moderator and two Scribes chosen Chap. II. General Matters The Synod to be called the General or National Church-Council of the Kingdom Chap. III. Discipline exercised upon Delinquents Chap. IV. Various Matters Cases of Conscience c. THE Synod of Orleance 1562. Synod III. SYNOD III. Articles of the National Synod held at Orleance the Twenty fifth Day of April in the Year One thousand five hundred sixty and two after Easter in the Second Year of K. Charles IX CHAP. I. Monsieur De Chandieu was a very learned French Divine His Works are 1. The Marks of the True Church 2. De L'Vnique Sacrifice 3. Contra les Traditions c. in Follo He was Lord of Chandieu and Baron of Chabot chosen by the Church of Paris to be their Pastor at Twenty Years of Age and Moderator of this National Synod at Twenty three A Gentleman of eminent Piety and Gravity He was desired by the King of Navary to be his Pastor and upon his Death removed to Geneva where he was called to the Pastoral Office in that City and discharged it with very great fidelity He never took any Wages for his Work in the Ministry He wrote himself Sadeel which is the Hebrew of Chandieu The Field of GOD. He died of an Hectick Fever in the 57th Year of his Age saith Mr. Du Thou but he was mistaken for it was in the 63d Anno 1591. Melchior Adams hath writ his Life among his Theolog. Exteri ANthony de Chandieu Minister in the Church of Paris chosen President Robert le Macon Lord La Fountaine Minister in the Church of Orleance and Peter Sevin Deacon of the Church of Paris chosen Scribes by General Consent of the Deputies CHAP. II. General MATTERS This Synod bears the Name and has the Authority of a General Council by the Advice of the Assembly I. THE Ministers and Elders Convocated in this Assembly of Orleance for the General Council of France following the Determination of the last Synod held at Poictiers are of Opinion That the present Assembly should have and bear the Name and Authority of the Council General of the Deputies of this Kingdom notwithstanding that several Deputies are absent who shall be sufficiently informed of Matters debated and resolved in this Council together with the Reasons for which notwithstanding their absence we were constrained to proceed without them all which shall be more largely declared in the next General Council where also shall be heard the Reasons of those absent Deputies for their Non-attendance and their Arguments if need be against the Decisions of the present Council Ministers of Princes and great Lords shall sign the Confession of Faith II. The Princes and other great Lords following the Court in case they would have Churches instituted in their Houses shall be desired to take such for their Pastors as are Ministers in Churches truly Reformed bringing with them sufficient Testimonials of their Lawful Call unto the Ministry who shall before their Admission subscribe the Confession of Faith of the Churches in this Kingdom and our Church-Discipline And that the Preaching of the Gospel may be more successful the said Protestant Lords shall be requested every one of them to erect a Consistory There shall be a Consistory in their Houses composed of the Ministers and other Persons most eminent for Piety in their said Family by which Consistory all Scandals and Vices shall be supprest and the Rules of Discipline observed Moreover those Ministers shall be present at Provincial Synods if it may possibly consist with their occasions And that this may be effected the Council hath ordained That the Province in which the Synod shall be assembled shall be obliged to call them to it And those Ministers especially or a part of them shall be there present being deputed by the rest unto the General Synods together with their Elders who may inform the said General or Provincial Synods of their Lives and Conversation And in case the said Lords and Princes have divers Houses they shall be advertis'd None to have preheminence over another that none of their Ministers may pretend domination or preheminence over another according to that Article of our Church-Discipline in this case expresly provided And when as the said Lords and Princes shall reside in those Houses of theirs where there is a Church already formed we desire for the preventing of all Divisions that the Church in their Family would joyn itself unto the Church of that place and for that time to make but one Assembly III. Whenas the Lord's Supper shall be celebrated in the close of every Synod according to the Fourth Article of our Church-Discipline in the Acts of the First National
Consistories of the Reformed Churches at such times at least when as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administred XVII The Churches shall suppress Usuries and all manner of Extortions as much as lieth in their Power yet they may not condemn those who receive a moderate Profit for the Loan of their Monies provided it be conformable to the King's Ordinance and the Rule of Charity All Usury is sharply to be reproved See the Synod of Lyons p. 9. XVIII Priests Monks and other Ecclesiasticks of the Romish Church before they be received unto Communion with us at the Lord's Supper shall manifest their Repentance before the Consistory and for some particular causes if the Consistory do judge it requisite they shall testifie it before the whole Assembly Concerning Monitories See the Synod of Montpeillier Observations on the Discipline Art 24. The Faithful may do nothing that may favour Idolatry XIX The Faithful may not take out Admonitions or execute Excommunications from the Church of Rome nor obtain a Dispensation for Swearing from the Official or any other belonging unto that Church and though there hath been a Recompense given the Oath cannot hinder the Rescission of the Contract XX. Printers Booksellers Painters and in general all the Faithful especially such as bear Office in the Church shall be admonished not to exercise their Arts Office or Calling in or about the Superstitions of the Romish Church or their Dependencies nor in the least to savour them and the Cognisance of particular Matters that may happen hereupon and their Correction and Reformation shall belong unto the Consistories What Names may be given or rejected in Baptism XXI Concerning Names imposed upon Children Ministers shall reject those which yet remain of old Paganism nor shall they give unto Infants such as are attributed unto God in Holy Scripture nor Names of Office as Baptist Angel Archangel moreover Parents and Sureties shall be admonished as much as in them lieth to take those which are approved by God's sacred Word XXII Although a Church having lent a Minister for a time and that expired may re-demand him back unto its Service yet ought it to have respect unto the Necessities of that Church where the said Minister hath been sent and shall ordain herein what will make most for the Glory of God and the Edification of his Church XXIII No Church shall marry any Persons without having first received ample Information and Approbation of and about them XXIV The Inconveniencies which have already risen and may in time to come arise from the usual publick Catechisings by Deacons having been heard and consider'd the Council hath remitted the intire Decision of this Matter unto the next National Synod and in the mean while Exhorts those Churches which have not received that Custom never to admit it and in other places where it is practised the Churches are likewise exhorted to deal with their Deacons in case they be fitted for it to enter into the Ministry as soon as possible they can One may be adjured in Consistory to declare the Truth Booksellers may not print any thing against Religion nor may the Hawkers vent any scandalous ones XXV The Faithful may by their Consistories be adjured to declare the Truth because this doth not in the least derogate from the Authority of the Civil Magistrate XXVI Churches having Printers and Booksellers shall carefully advise them to print no Books concerning Religion or the Discipline of the Church before they have communicated them unto their Consistories because of the Inconveniencies that have arriv'd Nor may many Booksellers or Hawkers sell scandalous Books nor may they in the sale of their Books take unto themselves immoderate Gains CHAP. III. Discipline exercised upon Delinquents Particular Matters THe Council having heard and considered the Proceedings against James le Fevre his Excommunication and the publick Penance imposed on him by the Authority of the last Provincial Synod held at Gien and the Deportment of the said Le Fevre in undergoing publick Penance together with its Consequences and having understood the whole of that Affair partly from the Relation of the Brethren and partly from his own Confession the Council is of Opinion That the said James le Fevre hath not well nor duely made that publick Confession which was injoyned him nor given Testimony of his Repentance and for this cause the Excommunication denounced against him shall abide in its full power and vigour and therefore the Council hath declared and doth now again declare him a Man uncapable of serving the Church of God until such time as he shall have first undergone publick Penance in the Church of Bourges in which Penance shall be declared the Facts contained in the Article of the said Synod of Gien touching this matter And moreover this shall be added That by his Replies and Murmurings he had shewn himself Refractory and Disobedient to the Displine of the Church And whenas there shall be good Evidences of his Repentance he may be received into the Communion of the Lord's Supper II. As to those matters concerning David de Brosses who calling himself Minister of the Church of Melun after hearing the Charge brought in against him by the Deputies of the Church of Paris who had opposed his Election because of the wicked Doctrine formerly broach'd by the said David and because of the Troubles and Schisms excited by him particularly in the Church of Melun and because of his wicked and debauched Life which hath occasion'd a Process of Enormous Crimes to be commenced against him and from which he hath not purged himself before the Consistory the proofs of all these matters having been laid down in Writing read and diligently considered divers Brethren Ministers of God's Holy Word having been heard also both as to the Doctrine published by the said David and his Life and Conversation The Council judgeth the Opposition founded by the Church of Paris against him to be good and valid the Election of the said David made by the Church of Melun to be null void and of no force nor effect And farthermore the said Council hath declared and doth delare the said David uncapable of the Ministry of the Gospel until such time as he shall have manifested his Innocency before a National Synod of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom Yea moreover the said Council hath excommunicated him out of the Church until such time as he shall have testified publickly his Repentance by confessing publickly his Sin and that in the Church of Melun which he hath troubled by his Schism in case he return unto it or in any Church unto which he would hereafter joyn himself and that Church having good Evidences and Testimonials of his Repentance may receive him unto Communion with it in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper But and if the said David despising the present Decree of this Council shall hereafter intrude himself into any Church and cause new Troubles and Divisions
in it then this Council commands that Province in which the said David shall be and reside to Formalize itself against him and upon this account the Church of Paris shall be obliged to furnish the said Province with Proofs which it hath now or may have had heretofore lying by against the said David that so he may be proceeded against in such a manner as shall be thought most advisable for the Repose of the Church III. Touching the matter propounded by the Minister of Paris the Council is of Opinion That the Marriage pretended to be broken by reason of Spiritual Kinred doth remain firm and in its full power and therefore the second Marriage which hath since intervened is null and these second married Persons are excommunicated because of their Adulteries until such time as they have done publick Penance and shall have duely evidenced their Repentance IV. Whereas our Brother the Minister of Varennes in Picardy doth usually administer the Lord's Supper every Month the Council doth advise That our Brother of Mont-mejor do admonish him in the Council's Name to follow the general Practice of our Churches that so there may be no Diversity among us and our Uniformity may be preserved V. The Churches are advertised to take notice of a Fellow called Frederick Thierry formerly an Augustin Fryar as also of another called Marmande as being Vagrants VI. 'T is the Judgment of this Council That a Minister being imployed in the Church may not ordinarily exercise any other Calling nor receive Wages for it Our Brother of Britain moved this Question VII As to that Book entituled A Treatise of Christian Discipline and Polity composed and published by John Morelly the Council judges That as to the Points concerning the Discipline of the Church by which he pretends to condemn and subvert the Order received in our Churches sounded upon the Word of God that the said Book contains wicked Doctrine and tends to the Confusion and Dissipation of the Church and therefore the said Council cautions the Faithful to take heed of the aforesaid Doctrine VIII A Remonstrance being made by the Church of Poictiers about an Appeal brought by the People of the City of Loudun from a Decree of the Provincial Synod of Poictou held at Niort concerning the Fact of Maturin Sibileau the said Appeal having been signified to the Church of Poictiers on behalf of the said People of Loudun the Decrees both of the Provincial Synod held at Partinay and of the Synod of Niort were read and considered Whereupon this present Council hath and doth send back the Knowledge of the said Cause unto the next Provincial Synod of Touraine which by the Authority of this Council shall pass a Definitive Judgment upon these Persons although they were absent provided their Absence be not out of Contumacy and they had been duely informed of the meeting of that Synod And in the mean while it is ordained That both the said Sibileau and the said People of Loudun shall yeild Obedience to the Synod of Niort And to this purpose the Church of Poictiers is required to signifie this present Sentence and the Church of Tours is to Assemble the said Provincial Synod IX A Petition being presented by Madam Margaret de la Voirie concerning a Marriage pretended to have been contracted between her and the Noble William de Schilhant The Council has approved and doth approve of that Sentence given by the Provincial Synod of Touraine held at Mans the last October by which the said Marriage was declared Incestuous because the said De Schilhant had formerly espoused the Sister of the said Petitioner whereunto it does injoyn the said Lady quietly to submit and to observe it with Repose and Tranquility of Conscience moreover the Council exhorts her to return unto her own Church there to make such Acknowledgment of her Fault as the Consistory shall think meet X. Having heard the Remonstrance made by our Brother the Deputy of Poictou concerning Peter Boulay who had intruded himself into the Ministry of the Church of Niort The Council ratifies and approves the Determination of the Provincial Synod held at Niort by which the said Boulay was declared uncapable and insufficient to be chosen into the Ministry of the Gospel until such time as he had given proofs of his Sufficiency before the Provincial Synod of Poictou Moreover this present Council hath ordained That this very Advice shall be signified both unto the said Boulay and to all those who do abett him by our Brethren La Forest and De Thire who making report unto the next approaching Synod of Poictou of the Obedience or Rebellion of the said Boulay and his Abettors a final Period shall be put unto this Affair according to the Rules of our Church-Discipline And the Council leaves it to the Wisdom of the next â—ynod whether it be expedient for the common Edification of the Church that our brother De la Fayole be not also removed from Niort XII There shall be no Alteration made in that Article of our Discipline touching the Choice of Ministers and the Council hath ordained That * * * In the Book of Niort he is called M John Viâ—ier Mr. John Rebitt do sign the Confession of Faith and Articles of Discipline and moreover doth expresly forbid him so Teach in his Lectures Doctrine contrary unto them that so there may be no Disunion in the Church and if he should refuse Submission to this Advise of the Council he shall be sent back to the Consistory of that City to be dealt withal according to the Canons of our Church-Discipline XII As to that Question moved by our Brother of Orleance the Council hath and doth leave it to the liberty of the respective Consistories to judge of those who may be sit to assist at the Examination of Candidates for the Ministry as may be most expedient for their Edification yet so as they shall not suffer any besides the Members of the said Consistory to examine them XIII The Council judgeth it inconvenient to publish from the Pulpit the Articles of our Discipline yet they may be given unto such as desire them by the Consistories XIV Whereas the Letters sent unto this present General Council of the Reformed Churches of France assembled at Orleance by * * * The Book of Niort calls him Jodâ—â— Maurice Joequin are fraught with heavy Complaints against David Vivian Minister of Bourges and divers others of the Consistory of the said Church and because both Parties are absent the said Council remands them unto the next approaching Provincial Synod Berry that there the said Vivian and the other Members of the Consistory may be dealt withal as is just and sitting In the mean while considering the outragious and prophane Words mentioned in the said Letters and the Contumacy of the said Joequin disdaining to come unto this present Council after he had been lawfully summoned and the Threatnings contained in his Answer divers of our
transmitted Difficulties shall be maturely examined and the Arguments on both sides urged being fair and carefully written down shall be sent unto the National Synod And forasmuch as our present Circumstances will not admit any great Number of Ministers and Elders in this National Synod we are of Opinion that for this time only and during these Difficulties that the Brethren assembled in each Provincial Synod should choose from among them one or two Ministers and as many Elders of the ablest and most expert in Church-Affairs to be sent in the Name of the whole Province who shall come furnished with good Memorials and premeditated Thoughts upon those Difficulties which had been communicated to them The Provinces shall not prescribe any set time or term unto these their Deputies for returning but shall let them tarry in the said Synod as long as there may be need of them and the Charges of the said Deputies shall be defrayed by their respective Provinces And that the National Synod may be no more imployed in Matters already decided by former Synods the Provinces shall be advised to read over carefully the Acts of the past Synods before they prepare their Memorials and to send nothing but what is general â—nâ— of common concern to all the Churches or else that which merits the Resolution of the said National Synod And the Churches of Poictiers which is charged with the calling of the next National Synod shall be informed of all this that they may intend their Duty CHAP. XI General Advertisements unto the Churches XXIV THE Printers in every Province shall be advised That whereas at the end of Psalm-Books and Catechisms they do add the Confession of Faith of our French Churches that they do especially this which begins with these words We believe and confess that there is but One GOD c. and which hath an Epistle prâ—fixed to it dedicated to the King and not that other Confession which begins thus Forasmuch as the Foundation of Faith c. not but that both are conformable in Doctrine And hereof also Notice shall be given to the Printers of Geneva Elders not to be displac'd without great cause XXV Although the Elders Office as now used by us be not perpetual as is exprest in the 35th Article of the Discipline nevertheless the Churches shall be admonished not to discharge their Elders but for great Causes whereof the Consistories shall take Cognizance that so the Church may be be conducted after the bed manner by Persons well verst in her Government XXVI Ministers in places appointed by the King and in all others are advised not to receive the Members of any other Churches unto the Lord's Supper without a sufficient Attestation produced by them under the hand of their Pastors or Elders if it may be had No Books must be written ridiculously but Modesty is to be observed in them XXVII Ministers and others whom God hath endowed with Gifts and Abilities to write in Defence of the Truth are requested not to publish their Thoughts in a ridiculous or injurious manner but to keep to that Modesty and Gravity which becomes the Majesty of God's Word and to observe that self-same Modesty and Majesty in their Sermons and in their ordinary Stile to use the Language of God's Spirit in the Holy Scripture Schollars to be maintained by the Churches in the Universities XXVIII Because there is every-where a visible decay and a great want of Ministers and that some provision may be made for a Succession the Churches shall be admonished by our Brethren the Provincial Deputies that such as are rich would maintain some hopeful Schollars at the Universities who being educated in the Liberal Arts and Sciences and other good Learning may be fitted for and employed in the Sacred Ministry XXIX Altho' in our Churches for the most part the Lord's Supper is administred only sour times a Year yet the more frequent Celebration of it is very desirable due Reverence in approaching to it being always observed because it 's most beneficial for God's Children to be exercised and grow in Faith which is done by the frequent usage of the Sacraments as also because this was the Practice of the Primitive Church Nâ—â—â—e mâ—n may not carry with them in their Journeys the Ministers of the Churches leaving them â—â—â—upplied XXX Ministers being given to the Service of the Church and not to the Persons and Palaces of Great Lords altho' their Families may equallize in Numbers some Churches yet their Lordships shall be desired not to carry away with them in their Removals or Travels abroad with their Families the Churches Ministers least thereby they be left unprovided XXXI Lords and Gentlemen shall be censured according to the Discipline of our Churches if after frequent Admonitions they entertain in their Houses scandalous and incorrigible Persons especially if they suffer Priests to sing Mass or by Dogmatizing to debauch their Domesticks or if having cashiered them they shall again receive them into their Service XXXII The Churches shall be admonished to beware of a Book written by Mr. Charles Du Moulin Entituled Vnio quatuor Evangelistarum because in it there be divers Errors as about Limbus Free-will and the Sin against the Holy Ghost and the Lord's Supper and in particular about the Calling of Ministers and Church-Discipline which he treats with scorn and would totally subvert The Faithful also are warned not to assist at any of his Sermons or Sacraments it being against the Discipline of our Church Modesty to be kept in Attire See the Synod of St. Foy General Matters Art 2. The Faithful must use Charity towards their Brethren or Sisters that have forsook their Monastries XXXIII Ministers shall exhort their People to be modest in their Habits and that they themselves do in this and all other Matters give them the best Example forbearing all Gaudery in their own Persons and in their Wives and Children XXXIV They whose Brethren and Sisters have quitted their Monastery that they might serve God in freedom of Conscience shall be exhorted to admit them unto a part of their Estate at least they shall be compelled by all Censures to afford them Maintenance and a competent Pension according to their ability For they would otherwise shew themselves void of Natural Affection The End of the Second National Synod of Paris THE ACTS DECISIONS and DECREES OF THE VI. National Synod OF THE Reformed Churches of Christ IN The KINGDOM of FRANCE Held in the Town of VERTVEIL and Province of AVGOVLMOIS the First Day of September 1567. THE CONTENTS of this SYNOD CHap. I. Moderator Alterations and Annotations upon the Church-Discipline Chap. II. Marriage of Excommunicated Persons and Infidels Provincial Synods Reading of the Holy Scriptures Bread in the Lord's Supper to be taken by them who can't the Cup Church-Government Loan of Ministers Pastors deserting their Churches Rejection of Church-Officers Chap. III. A Case of Conscience about a Deaf and Dumb Man's
communicating at the Lord's Table and a Womans cohabiting with her Leprous Husband Elders and Deacons subscribe the Confession and Discipline Chap. IV. Of Vagrants Care of the Widows and Children of deceased Ministers Chap. V. Particular Matters Appeals by Ministers a Minister restored to his Reputation Clopet an accused Minister highly censured Monks and Priests revolting Chap. VI. Notes about a Book seller Poverty of the Church of Pamiers and care for it Restoration of Roberty a censured Minister Reflections upon an Intruder into the Ministry Chap. VII Roll of Vagrants Chap. VIII General Advertisements unto the Reformed Churches of France in eighteen Articles Chap. IX Fifteen Cases of Conscience resolved by Mr. Calvin Chap. X. Twelve Orders and Decrees concerning Marriages THE Synod of Vertueil 1567. Synod VI. General Matters SYNOD VI. Articles of the National Synod held at Vertueil in Augoumois the first day of September One thousand five hundred sixty and seven and in the Seventh year of the Reign of King Charles the Ninth Monsieur de L'Estre was chosen Moderator Chap. I. Alterations Additions and Annotations upon the Church-Discipline General MATTERS IT is Enacted by the Authority of this present National Synod that none shall be put into the List of Vagrants until such time as the Neighbour Churches have first proceeded against them according to the Canons of our Discipline and that they have clone their best endeavour to reclaim and reform them and there shall be kept a particular Roll of those Vagrants distinct from the Articles of the National Synod II. In Churches where there be several Ministers none of them shall give a Certificate concerning any matter of Importance without having first Communicated it with his other Brethren III. Elders may be present at Propositions of the Word of God made by young Ministers and at their Censures and may freely if it please them pass their Judgment on them IV. Such who according to the custom of the Country do falsifie disguise or corrupt their Merchandizes as Stretchers Drawers of Cloth in Poictou shall be admonished by the Consistory to forbear those Cheats and in case they should not desist they shall be laid under Censures V. Pastors who have obtained leave to follow their Studies for some time shall apply themselves to their Colloquy or Synod for its confirmation without which they may not depart their Churches lest by their departure the Churches be left unprovided VI. The determination of time and age capacitating persons to contract Marriage doth properly belong to the Civil Magistrate CHAP. II. Excommunicates and Infidels shall not be permitted Marriage without publick pennance VII WHere one Party is an Infidel or Excommunicate the Marriage shall not be celebrated in our Churches unless the Unbeliever do first make a Protestation to renounce all Idolatry and to live in the Church of God as becomes a Christian and the Excommunicate Person in like manner shall have given by publick Pennance full satisfaction for his offence to the Church VIII If there be a sufficient number of Ministers to make a Synod the Provincial Synods shall be modell'd according to the Governments But and if a Church shall complain of its being thereby incommoded and that there arise any strife about it between the Provinces a third shall be chosen to reconcile them Nothing besides the Holy Scripture to be read in the Church IX None other Writings besides the Holy Scriptures shall be read in the Publick Assemblies X. The Synod judgeth it not advisable that they should receive the Bread at the Lords Table who cannot the Cup. The Bread shall not be given in the Lords Supper to them who refuse the Cup. XI This Assembly understanding that some private persons had either spoken or written against the Discipline exercised in the Churches of this Kingdom demanded of the Deputies severally and distinctly whether their respective Churches had any scruple about the Discipline which hath been hitherto observed by us Whereunto the Deputies did all unanimously answer that their Churches did fully consent unto the Discipline and required its inviolable observation and that such who opposed this our Established Order might be censured And the absent Provinces which were but few in number have by Letters under their own hands testified their consent unto it XII If hereafter any difference should arise between two Provinces about their Redemanding of Ministers they shall choose a third to accord and arbitrate the matter between them A Pastor accused of leaving his Church shall purge himself before the Synod XIII Ministers accused for leaving their Churches without their consent first had shall be bound to make their personal Appearance before the next Provincial Synod unto which they did belong upon the first Summons that so they may clear themselves publickly And their innocency being vindicated the Church which had impeached them of unjust desertion shall be obliged to reimburse them all charges of their journey No Officer in the Church shall be said by till the Consistory have first determined it XIV Until the whole body of the Consistory have first maturely considered the causes why they should be rejected no Minister Deacon nor Elder shall reckon themselves to be rejected CHAP. III. XV. AS to the case propounded whether a Dumb and Deaf man giving Evidence by signs and gestures of his Faith and Godliness may be admitted to Communion at the Lords Table this Assembly judgeth that he may be received especially if they have had long experience of his holy Life and the Church do testifie of his Faith and Knowledge in the things of God A woman may not be compelled to live with her Lepours Husband XVI A Woman may if she please and do consent unto it live sequestred with her Leprous Husband But in case of her refusal 't is the judgment of this Assembly that she ought not to be enforced because the Commonwealth is concerned in this matter Onely she must not be wanting in her duty otherways XVII Whenever Elders and Deacons are received into Office they shall subscribe our Confession of Faith and Church Discipline or else make a publick protestation to observe it XVIII It is ordained that those words of the twenty ninth Article of our Discipline Where the Ministry is established and those also As much as possible shall be razed out of the said Article XIX Difficulties that cannot be determined by the Consistory shall be remitted to the Colloquy or Classis and from thence to the Provincial Synod XX. When any differences arise between Gentlemen professing the true Religion they shall be admonished to refer them unto their Friends and Kinred that so they may be amicably composed CHAP. IV. The Church or Province shall take care of Ministers Widows and Orphans see the Synod of St. Foy Gen. Mat. art 5. XXI SUch as being once inrolled by order of a National Synod among the Vagrants they shall never be taken off the file but
2d Article in the Chapter of Marriages and Book of Discipline That all Persons young or old tho' they have been formerly married if they refuse to pay that Honour and Duty unto their Parents of Acquainting them with their intended purpose of Marriage shall be sharply reprov'd by the Consistory This is the 6th Article in the Chapter of Marriage and Book of Displine IX After these words in the third Touching Consanguinities and Affinities the Faithful may not contract Marriage with Persons And in lieu of what follows 1571. Synod VIII Forasmuch as great scandal may proceed from it whereof the Church shall take Cognizance there shall be put unless it be permitted them by the King's Edict X. This Addition shall be made unto the seventh This is the 16th Chapter of Marriage and Book of Discipline And if the Parties resolve to solemnize their Marriages in any other place than that where their Banes were published they shall take with them a sufficient Certificate of their Banes having been thrice published XI And farther Additions shall be made unto this Article 'T is a part of the 21st Article in the Chapter of Marriages and Book of Discipline in these words As for Persons suspended the Lord's Table they shall notwithstanding this their Suspension be permitted Marriage but with this Proviso That they confess their Faults with true Repentance XII This also shall be added That notice be given unto the Faithful That divers Difficulties arising about Marriage-promises may be prevented Promises of Marriage shall be made in words de praesenti they shall â—or time to come make the said Promises in pure and plain words de praesenti nor shall the Consistories admit the Banes of any others to be published in the Church From which promises according to God's Word the said Parties can never be discharged XIII Instead of they shall be admonished This is the 23th Article in the Chapter of Marriage and Book of Discipline in the 19th Article shall be put they may be admonished and at the end shall be added But if it should be the Case of any Church-Officers tho' they Received again their Wives yet shall they be displac'd from that Office they held and exercised in the Church XIV After those words in the twentieth who shall acquaint him with his Liberty according to the Word of God This is the 29th Article in the Chapter of Marriage and Book of Discipline there shall be inserted yet nevertheless because of the many Difficulties we advise the Ministers of this Kingdom not to marry those Parties tho' they be at Liberty to provide themselves elsewhere And after these words And as for what concerns the offending Party the Remainder shall be thus abridged This Liberty after great and mature deliberation shall be declared to him And a definitive Sentence having been obtained from the Civil Magistrate the Consistories may proceed unto the Celebration of that Marriage XV. Touching the fourth Article of particular Matters treated in the Synod of Vertueil and dismissed over to this Synod We have advised That the Wives of Priests and Monks which had been married unto those of them who have since revolted should not cohabit with them as Women with their Husbands least God's Holy Ordinance of Marriage should be loaden with Reproach and Infamy altho the Marriage be not dissolved But illae vocatae sunt ad caelibatum they be called out by God's Providence unto a single Life CHAP. IX Acts passed on Saturday the seventh Day of the same Month. I. To the Head of Marriages the Canon decreed at Vertueil shall be added This is the 21st Article in the Chapter of Marriage and Book of Discipline The Banes of Widows shall not be published till four Months and an half after the decease of their first Husband that the Evil and Scandal which otherwise would fall out may be avoided II. And this also It 's convenient for the keeping up of Discipline in the Church These two Articles make up the 24th in the Chapter of Marriages and Book of Discipline that no Marriage be solemnized on Communion-days And this Canon shall not be dispensed with but for very weighty Causes and those also approved by the Consistory III. Item Marriages shall not be solemnized on days of Fasting Concerning Particular ORDERS IV. THere shall be added after the Word This Article is the 2d in the Chapter of particular Orders Lands belonging unto Castles this word And the Titles in the first Article V. To the third Article there shall be this Addition Judges shall not be reproved for giving Sentences in Causes concerning Ecclesiastical Goods and the Execution of the King's Edict This Article is divided into the 5.6 and 7. Articles of particular Orders in the Book of Discipline And Arbitrators shall in no wise intermeddle with any of those Matters which either directly or indirectly do concern Idolatry Advocates shall be admonished neither to demand nor give Councel in Causes belonging to the Execution of the said Edict VI. On the 4th Article the Queen of Navar demanded our Advice whether through want of others she might with a good Conscience Receive and Establish Roman Catholick Officers in her Dominions This is the 13. Article in this Chapter and Book of Discipline as also in her Conrt and Family To which the Synod humbly replied That her Majesty should take special heed about her Domestick Officers and as much as possible only to imploy Persons fearing God and of the Reformed Religion And that she should cause the Papists that are peaceable and of unblameable Lives to be instructed and that she should utterly discard those Traytors who forsook her in her Necessities and cruelly persecuted God's Saints in these last Troubles VII After those words in the 6th They may address themselves This is the 8th Article in this Chapter and Book of Discipline shall be added in case they be sent by the Magistrate VIII After Brethren and Sisters in the Eighth Article shall be put and other Parents And the last Clause shall be thus couched This is the 16th Article in the Chapter and Book of Discipline And they shall be exhorted to assist and provide for them according to the Laws of Humanity and Book This present Body of Church-Discipline having been diligently examin'd according to God's Word by all the Ministers and Elders of the Reformed Churches of France was in all its Heads and Articles approved by the said Deputies who in their own Names and for their Churches did Promise and protest to keep and observe it for the Edification of the Church the Conservation of Order and their mutual Union that God might be the better glorified by them N. B. The Discipline was kept most strictly forty Years after this Synod and then they began to lax the Reigns yeilding too much to the Iniquity of the Time CHAP. X. Particular Orders about publishing of Books
The Catalogue of their Names who must refute the Books of our Adversaries IX ACcording to the 12th Article The Colloquy of Beauvosin is order'd to receive Books from all parts of the Kingdom and all other Ministers shall send Controversial Books written by our Adversaries unto them that they may be answered To this purpose are named Messieurs de Saulete de Chandieu de L'estre des Bordes Houlbeac Despina Daneau Daniel Touslain de Villfort de St. Paul and Merlin And these Books shall be sent from all the Provinces unto the said Monsieur d'Estre And the said Colloquy of Beauvosin shall determine which of the Eleven Deputies is to undertake an Answer and what may be needful or convenient for them X. At the close of the 4th there shall be this Addition And they shall be exhorted to be moderate and reasonable in selling their Books and to rest contented with indifferent gain XI The 13th was thus contracted No other Confession shall be printed but what begins thus We believe for this is properly our own having been read in this Synod after that it had been formed by that of Paris the 19th day of May 1559. XII Under the if 15th Advice was given the Queen of Navar not to sell her vacant Offices especially those of Judicature nor to bestow them upon another's Recommendation without her Personal knowledge of their Qualifications and Abilities who are to discharge them XIII In lieu of those words in the 17th Article the King's Ordinances shall be observed let there be inserted these They shall be exhorted to observe Scandalons Plays are prohibited XIV There shall be this Article added All Plays forbiddaen by the King's Edicts and those which notoriously waste time or evidence Avarice or give Offence shall be reproved and the Actors censured in the Consistory according to the Circumstances CHAP. XI Particular MATTERS I. TO the Deputies of Lionois demanding what course we should take in censuring of Revolters in times of Persecution What course is to be taken with Revolters by reason of perscution It was answered in he Words of St. Augustine concerning a numerous Church of Drunkards That it were much better to have a vitious Church than none at all And it seems necessary that we should heed the Quality and Condition of the Persons than the Aggravations of their Faults For there be somes who have greatly and grievously offended and do repent most bitterly others have failed more highly or but in appearance who yet are indifferent whether they should return unto the Church and settle in it or no. Wherefore all Circumstances should be well poized and above all we ought to be most especially sollicitous how to reunite and cement together such as are stray'd and wander from the Church that so the House of God may be replenished and re-established II. As for those who call themselves Papists and have cut themselves off from our Churches partly because of the King's Edicts and partly because they could not meet with any Edification whereunto all things done in the Church should have their Tendency and because we are not to judge of them who are without Some are of opinion that we should quite abandon such Persons and acquiesce in that Judgment the Lord himself will execute upon them And therefore it were good in this Case if after some time of patience and forbearance and having done our Duty in reminding them of theirs to inform the People that such Persons are no longer Members of the Church and that they would intreat God for them that if they belong to him he would be pleased to convert them Otherwise we have good cause to bless God he hath purged them out from among us and further we should declare that inasmuch as these do not any longer relate unto us we leave them unto the Judgment of God Lord's-day the Eighth of the same Month. * Divers Deputies demanding what Course is to be used in censuring Apostates from the Gospel-Doctrine and Worship We answered That such as are troubled in their Consciences for this their heinous Crime shall be comforted and admonished in the Consistory who shall judge of the Nature of their Offences and after what manner these Delinquents are to be readmitted into the Church But in case of Obstinacy and Impenitency we declare in general That such as have thus left us are no longer Members of our Body and the Crimes committed by them ought not in justice be imputed to nor charged on us and there shall be no farther Proceedings against them in those places where there is evident appearance of danger to the Church In short this was advised by the whose Assembly to remit the whole Business unto the Consistories who shall act herein in such a manner as will best contribute to the Weal and Edifying of the Church CHAP. XII Acts passed on Tuesday the Tenth day of the Month. I. THE R. Mr. Beza craving our thoughts about M. Mercure a Brother of ours in the Ministery this Assembly is of opinion that the next Synod of Lower Languedoc do take Cognizance of that Matter and how he was restored unto the Ministery and they shall also take notice of the Calumnies imposed by him as is said upon the Church of Geneva II. As to that Fact related by the Elder of Taillebourg we advise that the Minister of that Church ought to solemnize the Marriage and to censure him who got the Pope's Dispensation because of Consanguinity Acts passed on Wednesday the Eleventh of the same Month. I. Our Brother * * * He is called in another Copy Guillemin The knowledge of some Crimes must be first notified unto the Magistrate Elders shall be chosen Ministers sent without any other formalities than what is provided for by the Discipline Guillemet Deputy for Poictou demanding Counsel of us what ought to be done in a particular Case mention'd by him we answered That the Knowledge of some Crimes must be first given in unto the Magistrate and the Consistory shall wait till such time as the Facts have been verified before him and then shall they proceed to inflict Censures upon the Delinquent according to his domerits unless the Circumstances prove such as can not admit of any delays II. The Synod being informed that certain Churches in Languedoc do practise divers things contrary to our Discipline as that in the Election of Elders and in the Mission and Loan of Ministers they gather the Peoples Votes one after another It doth disapprove and condemn all those Usages and Customs and admonisheth the said Churches to conform themselves unto that Order established and observed by us according to the Discipline and in case of default those Churches shall be censured III. This Article shall be inserted into the Discipline That Ministers or Elders deposed from their Office for Crimes deserving capital Punishment or bearing Marks of Infamy whatever their Repentance may be they shall never be restored unto their
then if the said Dissenters refuse conformity they shall promising as before be dismissed over to the ordinary National Synod or if there be one at that time extraordinarily assembled they shall be heard in it with all holy freedom And here shall be the final and absolute Decision made of this Controversie from the Word of God whereunto if they refuse a full and entire Obedience and in plain and express terms do not renounce their recorded Errors they shall be cut off by the Sword of Excommunication from the Body of their Churches A Pastor or Elder breaking the Churches Vnion or stirring up contention about any Point of Doctrine or Discipline which he had subscribed or about the Form of Catechising Administration of Sacraments Publick Prayers or Celebration of Marriage and not conforming to the determination of the Colloquy shall be then suspended from his Office and either the Provincial or National Synod shall finally proceed against him CHAP. V. The manner of Electing Ministers XIX THE Fourth Article concerning Ministers shall be couched in these terms A Minister shall not be chosen by one only Minister with his Consistory but by two or three Ministers called into the said Consistory and if there be one in being by the Colloquy or if it may be by the Provincial Synod Afterward he shall be recommended to the People who shall hear him two or three weeks following or for some longer time if it be conceived fitting that he may be known to them and his Method in Teaching the Congregation also shall be expresly informed that if any one of them know a just cause or reason why the called Minister should not be chosen or if they be dissatisfied with them that they would declare it unto the Consistory who will readily receive and patiently and freely hear their Exceptions against him And in case there arise contention on one side or other the Election shall be suspended and the whole Affair shall be brought before the Provincial Synod who shall take knowledge both of the Justification and Reception of the said Ministers who though justified shall not however be imposed upon that People against their will or to the discontentment of the major part of them And on the contrary the Peoples Silence shall be taken for their full consent Finally the said Pastor shall be presented unto the People and be ordained by laying on of hands And if any Ministers be desired by particular Churches to be employed in their Service they shall be sent with good Testimonials of their Life and Doctrine unto the Colloquy or Synod of the Province whereunto the Churches that demanded them do belong and that Colloquyor Synod shall first hear them and in case the Ministers thus sent have never before exercised the Pastoral Office they may examine them and afterwards depute three or four Ministers to nominate and present them unto the Churches which desired them who having heard them preach shall finally receive them or if the People do oppose it the whole Affair shall be determined according to the Order before appointed and all at the Costs and Charges of the Churches which demanded them XX. At the close of that Article concerning Excommunication under the Head of Delinquents these words shall be added And during the Publication as well of the said Excommunication as of the Reconciliation it shall be lawful for those of the People who never consented to give Notice of it unto the Consistory and they have all holy liberty for so doing and the Consistory shall consider of it whereas the silence of others shall be taken for consent And in case of opposition or discontent they shall not proceed unto Excommunication without advising with the Colloquy yet nevertheless the said Suspension shall stand and remain in its full vigour and effect XXI To the first Article of Particular Orders there shall be made this short addition And to nourish Monks XXII In the 27th Article concerning Ministers after these words To shorten the Term of Three Months there shall be added And the said Colloquy shall consider how those ungrateful Persons shall be dealt with weighing maturely and considering seriously all Circumstances and above all having in their eyes the Glory of God the Edification of his Church and the Honour of the Ministry And what remains of that Article shall be razed out XXIII After the 18th Article concerning Consistories this present shall be subjoyned In those places where the Exercise of the Reformed Religion is not established the Faithful shall be exhorted by the Neighbour Colloquies to choose unto themselves Elders and Deacons and to observe the Discipline of the Church and the Colloquy shall advise unto what Church most commodiously both for Minister and People they may be annexed and this shall be done by consent of all or the major part of them and they shall not depart from that Church without having first consulted the said Colloquy Provincial Synods have Power of changing Ministers XXIV The 16th Article concerning Ministers shall be couched in these following words Authority is granted unto Provincial Synods for certain Causes to remove Ministers their Churches being first heard and their Reasons duly pondered but in case of difference the Cause shall be finally decided by the National Synod and till that Sentence be obtained Ministers shall abide where they were XXV There shall be this addition made unto the Article of Provincial Synods And the said Deputies shall come at the common Charges and Expences of their Churches XXVI To the sixth Article of Baptism this Clause shall be added And after they have made Profession of Religion XXVII To the third Article of Elders after these words As also the Sentences of Suspension shall be done there shall be this addition Without any mentioning of Name XXVIII Unto the end of the 7th Article of Elders shall be this added And they shall be diligently exhorted to continue in their Offices as long as may be because frequent changes brings damage unto the Church The Faithful may not be present at any Stage-plays XXIX There shall be this addition at the end of the 18th Article concerning particular Orders It shall not be lawful for the Faithful to be present at Stage-Plays Comedies Tragedies or Farces whether they be acted publickly or privately because they have been ever condemned by God's ancient Churches for corrupting of good Manners especially when as the Holy Scripture shall be profaned by them But if a Colledge judge it meet for their Youth to represent any History not comprised in the Sacred Scriptures which was never given us for our sport and pastime but to be preached for our conversion and comfort and provided this be done but very seldom and by the Advice of the Colloquy which shall first peruse the Composition it may be tolerated XXX The fifteenth Province shall be divided into two Forest Auvergna and La Marche shall make one Burgundy Lyonnois and Benujolois another and
from the King and without any mixture of Superstition or Idolatry they may do it lawfully enough But and if they hold them with Idolatry or Superstition be it either from the King's Gift or the Pope they cannot do it there is sin and guilt in the case nor shall they be admitted to Communion with us at the Lord's Table For this would be a professed owning of the Pope's Tyranny who hath no rightful Dominion nor Authority in these matters but Kings and Princes only who are robbed by the Pope's Usurpation of their just Rights Power Priviledges and Authority CHAP. VII Particular MATTERS Art I. IT is now concluded that the Province of Normandy may be divided into two Provinces in case they cannot conveniently meet in one and all the Ministers shall come unto them accompanied with their Elders according to the Canon of our Discipline and not by deputies from the Colloquies Art II. As for Cozain upon reading those Letters sent us from our Brethren the English Ministers it was ordered That the two Books written by the said Cozain and dedicated to some particular Members in the Church of Bourdeaux and brought unto this present Synod by Monsieur de la Sauls should be put into Monsieur Beza's hands for his perusal and who should make report of their Contents unto us and an Answer shall be returned to our Brethren of England Art III. The Deputies of the Isle of France craved our Advice about those Points of Church-Discipline now controverted by Monsieur Ramus du Rosier Bergeron and some others Whereupon an Order was made That Monsieur de Chambrun should read in this Assembly that Abridgement made by our Brethren of the Isle of France and extracted out of Morellius's Answer to that Book De la Confirmation de la Discipline and sent by them unto this Synod together with the Book of the said Morellius in answer to it and for decision of those Points and Arguments therein contained as also Ramus and De Rosier's Books which shall be delivered unto Monsieur Cappel to be examined by him And in case there be any other Arguments found in them besides those formerly urged by Morellius these shall be also answered And Messieurs de Beza De Roche Chandieu and De Beaulieu are chosen to reply unto them And as for the Decisions and Decrees they shall be made only by the Provinces Yet liberty is given unto the By standers in case they think good to make opposition and to this purpose the Doors of the Synod shall be leâ—t wide open and silence shall not be imposed upon any Man in this matter for this time Only it shall not be made a Precedent Art IV. But this Affair having been since considered examined disputed debated and put to the Vote as it was ordered in the last mentioned Canon a Decree passed That our Church-Discipline as it hath been all along to this very day observed end practised among us so also shall it be for the future without any change or innovation in it as being grounded upon God's Word And as for those Positions asserted by Monsieur Ramus Morellius Bergeron and others 1. About the Decision of Points of Doctrine 2. About the Election and Deposal of Ministers 3. About Excommunication out of the Church and Reconciliation with and Re-admission into it 4. And lastly about Prophesying None of these shall be received among us because they have no Foundation in the Word of God and are of very dangerous consequence unto the Church as the whole hath been verified and made appear in the presence of this Synod in which all the Arguments of those Books of Ramus Morellius and Du Rozier were most narrowly sifted and discussed and this was unanimously assented to by the Declaration of all the Provincial Deputies who affirmed That they had maturely and duly considered of those Points of Discipline controverted by those Gentlemen before-mentioned And Monsieur De la Roche Chandieu was ordered to reduce and set down in writing all the Answers and Resolutions made by this Assembly unto the said Treatises and Arguments and to communicate them with the Colloquy of Lionnois that they may be printed and published Only the Relation of these Synodâ—cal Answers and Resolutions shall be writ with the greatest moderation and without mentioning the Names of any Person Art V. The Colloquy of Limmigny shall be advised to get the Memoirs of their Synod to be razed nor may they make any particular Canons of their own but shall be governed by those of our Discipline Art VI. Monsieur Berauld and his Colleagues in the Church of Montauban are charged to recover from Monsieur Comerard of Tholouse the History of the Albigenses written in their Langùage and Monsieur D' Acier shall translate it into French and having done it shall communicate it unto their Colloquy according to the Canons of our Church-Discipline and then cause it to be printed And Letters shall be written to this purpose unto the said Sieurs de Comerard and D' Acier from this Assembly Art VII The County of Messin and City of Metz shall be joyned to the Province of Champagne according to the particular Canon of our Discipline and Letters concerning it shall be sent unto them from this Synod Art VIII The Lord Admiral de Chastillon having writ a Letter unto this Synod the Churches were all admonished of their Duty to his Majesty and an Answer should be returned to this effect unto his Lordship Art IX A Vote passed but without any prejudice to the liberty of Monsieur de Saules and without debating the Merits of his Cause that a Letter should be written unto the Magistrates of Geneva thanking them for their Love and Good-will and they shall be desired to continue it unto all the Churches of France in general and particularly to those of Bearn and we do grant Monsieur de Saules tor one Year more unto the Queen of Navarre and Letters also shall be written unto her Majesty and to his Highness the Prince her Son Art X. The Churches shall be excited to assist with their Charity the poor Members of the County and Church of Orange who are in extream poverty there being no less than Twelve hundred Families of these Refugees in the single Province of Dolphiny Art XI Before that Mr. John le Gagneur shall be admitted Pastor into any one of our Churches he shall give good Evidence of his Repentance and of his Reconciliation with the Church of Geneva and we will have some considerable space of time for proving the truth of his Repentance Art XII Upon the Censure of Ramus Morellius and their Companions it was voted That Letters should be writ in the Name and Authority of this Assembly unto the said Ramus Morelly Du Rozier and Bergeron and to give them all severally to understand what was concluded by this Assembly against their Books and to re-mind them of their Duty according to God's Holy Word and a Letter
Cause and Sin must he confessed VIII There shall be no publick Penance done in the Church without express Confession of the Cause and Crime committed by this publick Penitent They shall not be chosen Elders nor Deacons who have Popish Wives IX For the future none shall be chosen if possible into the Eldership or Deaconry whose Wives are of a contrary Religion according as the Apostle Paul hath ordained Nevertheless that the Church may not be deprived of the Service of divers godly and well-deserving Persons who by reason of past ignorance have Wives of another Religion they may for this present necessity be tolerated provided they do their endeavour by Instructions and Counsels to convert their Wives and to bring them into Communion with the Church X. Neither Ministers nor Elders may give Attestations without an express and punctual Declaration of the Places and Persons Names and the way which they intend to travel who obtained these Certificates at their hands And if any Attestations are presented to them without these Circumstances they are required to vacate and tear them in pieces and those who granted them shall be censured in the next ensuing Colloquy or Synod CHAP. III. An Act for a National FAST IX FOrasmuch as the Times are very Calamitous and that our poor Churches as are daily menaced with many and sore Tribulations and for that Sins and Vices of all sorts are risen up and growing in upon us in a very fearful manner a general Day of Prayer and Fasting shall be published that our People may humble themselves before the Lord and all the Churches of this Kingdom shall observe it on one and the self-same Day which shall be Tuesday the 25th of March next following and if it may be done the Lord's Supper shall also be administred in all the Churches on the ensuing Sabbath XII According to the 2d Article in the Chapter of Consistories and Book of Discipline about Common-Prayers The Churches shall be exhorted where Morning and Evening Common-Prayers are publickly used to conform themselves unto those others which have none and where this Custom was never introduced And Ministers shall advise all Governors of Families to Worship God by Morning and Evening Prayers in and together with their respective Housholds and Families XIII Churches refusing to defray the Expences of their Ministers in going to Classes and Synods Churches shall defray their Ministers expences at Collâ—quies and Synods shall be admonished of their Duty and in case of non-performance and that their Ministers be inforced to travel to those Sessions at their own Costs and Charges they shall be deprived of their Ministers unless they remind themselves of their Duty and reimburse them those Sums they had so expended Moreover Colloquies shall reassume their disused Exercise of Propositions on the Word of God as they were formerly handled to their very great Profit and Edification That so Ministers may better know their Duty and grow in the Study and Understanding of the Holy Scripture and be more Methodical in their Sermons and Divinity Discourses XIV God-mothers shall be equally bound to the Religious Education of those Children for whom they be Sureties as their God-fathers And Ministers shall charge them to see that they conscientiously fulfil their Promises XV. The Synod having been acquainted that in divers Places during the Celebration of the Lord's Supper Ministers do vary in their Expressions it judgeth that nothing shall be innovated in particular Churches but that herein they be left unto their Liberty for the present only the Provinces shall be advertised to come prepared about this Matter unto the next National Synod XVI His Majesty shall be Petition'd to approve of those Marriages which have been celebrated among us during the last Civil Wars according to the Tenor of the former Edict against the Laws of the Romish Church in that particular Article of Consanguinities and Affinities CHAP. IV. Cases of CONSCIENCE A Man may nâ—t marry his dead Wife's Aunt XVII IT being Queried Whether any one might Marry the Aunt of his deceased Wife Answer was given That such a Marriage was altogether Incestuous and in case any Church had permitted it the said Church deserved Censure See the Synod of Bergeraâ— Art 2. XVIII This Case being propounded A Maid was betrothed unto a Man by words de presentl and with the usual requisite Solemnities The Resolution of this Case was to be given by the Magistrate but afterwards this Man happens to be condemned unto the Gallies during Life yet by some how or other he escapeth out of them and returning home doth demand and summon his betrothed Spouse to marry him according to her Promise What shall be done herein The Synod doth advise That because Marriage is a mixt Alliance the Parties concerned shall apply themselves unto the Magistrate according to whose Decree the Church shall be governed XIX Although the holding Temporalities of Benefices in France be an indifferent Matter yet the Faithful are admonished to intermeddle as little as may be with such Purchases because of their evil and dangerous Consequences and Consistories and Colloquies shall use a great deal of Prudence in their Opinions and Actings in and about them Scripture-stories must be handled with modesty by Poets XX. Such as shall put into Verse or Poems Scripture-stories are admonished not to blend nor mingle Poetical Fables with them nor to ascribe unto God the Names of false Gods nor to add or diminish from the Sacred Scriptures but to confine themselves strictly to the Scripture-Terms Modesty in Apparel See the Synod of Paris Gen. Mat. Art 33. XXI That Article concerning the immodest Habits and Fashions of Men and Women shall be observed with the greatest Care imaginable And both Sexes are required to keep Modesty in their Hair and every thing else that no Scandal may be given to our Neighbour See the Synod of Bergerac Art 9. upon reading the Discipline XXII A Minister may not together with his Ministery practice Physick But yet out of Charity he may give his Advice and Assistance unto the sick Members of his Church and to the Neighbourhood without diverting himself from his Function nor shall he draw Advantage from it unless in time only of Trouble and Persecution when as he cannot exercise his Ministery in his own Church XXIII Fathers and Mothers are exhorted to be exceeding careful in Instructing their Children which are the Seed and Nursery of the Church and they shall be most bitterly censured who send them to the Schools of Priests Jesuits and Nuns As also the Gentry shall be reproved who place them Pages or Domesticks in the Houses of Lords and Noble-men of the contrary Religion XXIV Such as commit enormous Crimes as Incests Murders or the like shall be without any more ado cut off from Communion at the Lord's Table and their Suspension shall be published in the Church XXV If there arise any difference between a Church and
to several Goldsmiths in the City of Sedan for which the Civil Magistrate inflicted corporal Punishment upon him in the said City all which he could not but acknowledge and confess to be true before this Assembly For these Causes the said Bonniot or Bouquier is deposed from the Sacred Ministery as a Person uncapable and utterly unworthy of it and shall be continued on the Roll of Vagrants and shall do publick Penance in the said Church of San Bouchard However because of his deep Poverty and great and numerous Family of Children we do License him to keep School and to instruct Youth but with this Proviso that the Ministers of the Places where he shall live do watch over him and his Deportments with a very strict and careful Eye VI. An Appeal was brought by Monsieur De la Jaille and the Church of Saujon who complained of the Wrongs done them by the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge held at Saujon which had adjudged him Pastor unto the said Church of Saujon without obliging it to defray his Expences in coming to it This Assembly ordereth that the Colloquy or Synod of that Province shall censure the said Church and Monsieur Royan the Minister for their pragmatical intermeddling in a Business not appertaining to them VII Monsieur Boucquet shall write unto the Colloquy of Aunix that Monsieur Baron may be returned unto the Church of La Guerche in the Province of Anjon there to exercise his Ministery in Obedience to the Call given him VIII The Synod of the Isle of France shall make an exact Enquiry into the Life Writings and Conversation of Monsieur Gibbon sometime Minister of Deippe that Judgment may pass upon him accordingly IX Forasmuch as Mr. Bernard Giraud hath been divers times recalled by his Church of Marceoill in Poictou and by the Synod of Poictou he shall be censured for his disobedience to this Summons and also for that he quitted his Church at first and this according to the Canons of our Discipline And the Colloquy of Annix shall in like manner be censured for admitting him among them without any testimonial Letters of Dismission For which cause this Assembly will remove the said Giraud elsewhere X. This Assembly will take special care of Monsieur Christian for his Subsistance But in the mean while the Church of Poictiers shall be severely censured for their default of Duty baseness and ingratitude to this Reverend Man of God who was one of their first and most ancient Pastors and who laid the very Foundations of their flourshing Church And the said Church shall be summon'd to the next Synod and injoyned to give him full Contentment and Satisfaction and to pay him all Arrerages owing to him for time past and to relieve him now in his old Age. XI The Province of Anjou shall be obliged to provide for the Safety of Monsieur Daniel a Minister of the Gospel who was formerly sent unto them and is now remanded back unto them by this present Assembly and that Church which shall call him unto their Service shall reimburse him those Expences he was at during the last Persecution XII Monsieur Daniel shall exercise his Ministery in the House and Court of his Excellency the Prince of Conde but only for some Months in the Year which being expired he may be redemanded by his own Church and Province And the Church of Bergerac shall likewise lend Monsieur de Borda their Minister unto the said Prince for four Months more of the same Year And this shall hold till such time as some other course be taken And Monsieur Martin shall be the ordinary Minister of his Excellency's House and Family XIII Monsieur de Malescot who was the first Minister of the Church of Montagu in the County of Perche shall be summoned by the Province of Poictou unto which he doth belong to return unto the said Province according to the Canons of our Discipline however without any prejudice unto the said Church of Montagu and the said Province of Poictou is ordered to receive those Informations of the Province of the Isle of France concerning the Deportments of the said Malescot his Writing and his Way and Manner of Preaching XIV The Brethren of the French Church of London in the Kingdom of England sent Letters unto this Assembly petitioning that Messieurs de Villiers Minister of the Church of Rouan and de la Fontayne Ministers of the Church of Orleans might be given to them for their Pastors Their Request was granted and these worthy Ministers of the Gospel were lent unto the said Church till such time as their own dissipated Flocks might be recollected and then they should return and be restored unto their former Churches respectively XV. On sight and perusal of the Writings of Mr. Anthony Fregeville of the Town Realmont this Assembly judgeth them utterly unworthy of any Answer because they are stufft with Errors Lyes and Calumnies and farther the Sentence past upon him by the Provincial Synod was ratified and whereas he was only suspended from the Lord's Table it is now ordered that his said Suspension shall be publickly notified unto the whole Church And in case he continue to sow and spread abroad his Errors and Follies either by Word or Writing he shall be cut off from the Body of the Church by the Sword of Excommunication as a notorious Disturber of the Repose and Union of the Church XVI Monsieur Giraud is sent unto the Town of Mas in Agenois to exercise his Ministery in the Church of Calonges which is now annexed to that of Mas according to the Letters and Request of my Lady of Calonges and of the said Church of Mas in Agenois CHAP. IX The Roll of MINISTERS provided for and disposed by this present SYNOD I. MOnsieur Christian is sent unto the Town of Sancerre in the Viscounty of Turenne 2. Monsieur Quesnel unto Lectoure 3. Monsieur Chaffepied to St Foy yet his Church may recall him at the Years end 4. Monsieur de la Valle at Abbeville in Agenois 5. Monsieur Giraud to the Town of Mas in Agenois 6. Monsieur Du Puy to Le Laigne and Bas de Fon with their Annexes 7. Monsieur Anisse to St. Aulaye ¶ This present National Synod was finished the fourteenth Day of February in the Year of our Lord 1578. Thus Signed in the Original Peter Merlin Moderator Francis L'Oyseau Scribe William de la Jaille Scribe Mr. Merlin the Moderator of this Synod was Minister in the Family of that famous Nobleman the Lord De Coligni High Admiral of France who miraculously escaped with his Life in that horrible Massacre at Paris on St. Bartholomew's Day 1572. He leapt out of a Window and hid himself in an Haylofft where an Hen came and lay an Egg by him three days successively with which he was sustained till the Lord opened a Door for him to get out of this bloody City He was afterward Minister of the Church of Vitre He
Monsieur de Lestang-Godion Minister of Coue in Poictou and Monsieur de Chauveton Lord of Beauvois and Minister of the Church of St. Martins in the Isle of Re were also voted to be Scribes CHAP. II. General MATTERS I. ALL the Deputies protested in the Name of the Churches of their respective Provinces that they would persevere in the Union of that Doctrine and Confession of Faith which was formerly subscribed in the National Synod held in this City in the Year 1571. and now exhibited read and recognized in this Assembly Moreover the said Deputies certifyed and declared that they had not the least notice given them of any manner of opposition to it but a general Acquiescency in the said Doctrine and Confession of Faith in all their Churches For which they did unanimously praise God One Minister enough to ordain another II. The Book of Discipline being read It was ordained that the fourth Article in the Chapter of Ministers should remain entire as it was excepting that instead of three or four Ministers required to present the new elected Minister unto the Ministery one only should be sufficient III. In the Margent of the 5th Article this shall be inserted That the said Article was only appointed for such a time when as a Province had no Churches constituted in it and not for the present Day when as blessed be God every Province in the Kingdom hath divers of them IV. These were declared Apostates by the Isle of France and their Declaration approved of by this National Synod Toussainct le Gibou in Normandy Launay in Brie And Panctier in Picardy a Deserter Grenet a Minister of La Garnache in Lower Poictou a Vagrant and Quenet in the Colloquy of Vsez and Monsieur Beazer was ordered to make inquiry about one called du Plessis V. The 22d Article of the Synod of St. Foy concerning Ministers who Practice Physick having been read was Approved as being consonant to the Word of God And this Assembly being informed that divers Ministers do more employ themselves in Physick than in the Duties of their Ministery The Deputies of the Province in which they live were ordered to exhort them to intend and mind their Ministery and to yield plenary Obedience unto God's Word in this Article or otherwise the Colloquies and Synods shall proceed against them according to the Rules of our Discipline VI. Princes and great Lords shall be advised to observe the Articles of our Discipline and to send their Ministers to our National and Provincial Synods and Colloquies VII The 12th Article of our Discipline and the 21th and 33d of the Synod of Figeac were thus confirmed 'T is the Judgment of this Assembly that a Pastor being duely discharged from his Church if the Colloquy or Provincial Synod in which he served do not within a Month provide him another Congregation he may accept of the first Call given him by any other Province and this according to the Canons of our Discipline VIII The 15th Article of our Discipline concerning Ministers was confirmed but with this Proviso That these words Composed of six at the least shall be left out IX And that the said Article may be the better understood After these words Who shall have intruded into a Church this shall be added Altho' he had been afterwards chosen by the People X. And whereas in the 16th Article it was thus written The Reasons it shall be added And the Reasons being well examin'd XI And to that of Professors shall be added Regents and School-masters XII Elders in the Pastor's absence may warrantably perform that Duty of publick Common-Prayer especially if they have been thereunto appoint-by the Consistory XIII Whereas in the 6th Article concerning Elders and Deacons it is said that no Elders shall pretend to Primacy Let this be added neither in Election nor Precedency nor in order of Suffrages nor in any other thing belonging to their Office of Elders XIV The 7th Article concerning Elders and Deacons shall be most diligently observed XV. Ministers and Elders are required to use their utmost Endeavour that the Twelfth Article in the Chapter of Consistories be punctually observed XVI Advise was taken on the Third Article of Consistories which treats of Certificates given unto Passengers That for time coming good and vallid Causes moving us hereunto The first Certificates shall neither be kept nor broken until such time as they be come unto their journies end mentioned in them and then and there the said Certificates shall be detain'd and cancelled and Certificates shall be given very rarely unto any Persons XVII The Tenth Article of Figeac shall be closed up with this Addition If it be not with Consent of the Consistories no Offences shall be discovered to the Civil Magistrate The 5th Penny of all Charities shall be applied towards the Maintenance of Proposans XVIII His Majesty the King of Navar and his Higness the Prince of Conde and other Lords professing our Holy Reformed Religion shall be most humbly desired to contribute liberally towards the Maintenance of poor Scholars and Proposans designed for the Ministery And all Churches are exhorted to press this Duty vigorously upon their richer and more substantial Members that so every Colloquy may be able at least to give Subsistance unto one Proposan and if it can be conveniently the fifth Penny of all Charity-monies shall be allotted to this very purpose XIX That the 13th Article of Consistories may be executed concerning a Collection of all memorable Acts relating to the Church's Sufferings it is thought meet that every Colloquy do depute a Minister to whom all the Churches shall send their Memoirs that they may be brought unto the Provincial Synod and thence unto the National XX. Such Professors as range abroad to hear the Word in one Church and receive the Sacrament in another shall be admonished of their Duty to fix themselves to some particular Church of Christ and in case of neglect they shall be censured XXI In the first Article concerning Delinquents next after these words Nor the Cause of it shall be added this nor in like manner the Restitution and these words shall be razed out Lest they be defamed CHAP. III. XXII IT being desired that the 3d Article of the Synod of Figeac might be explained the Assembly voted that towards the close of it there should be this Addition viz. That it was left wholly to the Prudence of the Consistory whether they would mention by name or not those who had a long time since revolted but as for them who were but of late Apostates Censures shall be pronounc'd against them according to the Tenor of that Canon unless that by such a Personal Denunciation of those Sinners the Consistory might foresee some great and notable Danger like to betide the Church In which case nothing shall be done without the Advice of the Provincial Synod XXIII If the Members of one Church fallen into Idolatry happen to take up their abode in
Scripture provided always that there be nothing indecent in them XXXII Such as receive from His Majesty's Royal Bounty a Sine Curâ a Benefice without Cure of Souls shall be exhorted to dispose of a considerable part of its Revenue to pious and charitable Uses as towards the Maintenance of God's own holy instituted Worship and Relief of the Poor otherwise we will proceed against them by Suspension from the Lord's Table XXXIII The 9th Canon in the 12th Chapter of our Discipline binding Pastors as much as possible to distribute the Cup at the Lord's Table shall be in full force Pastors and Elders must communicate at the same Time and Table XXXIV Elders of the Church shall communicate together with the Pastors at the Lord's Supper in the first place and the residue of the People in such order as the Consistory judgeth most expedient for the Churches edification In Case of Appeal from an Inferiour to a Superiour Judge Marriage may not be celebrated Nicodemites are in the same Classis with Infidels XXXV Altho' the Parties cannot obtain the Consent of Parties yet if they that have that of the Magistrate unto their Marriage by his Judicial Sentence the Pastors in our Churches may celebrate such Marriage unless there lie an Appeal in the Case XXXVI To the Case propounded by the Deputy of Berry and Orleans this Synod returns its Answer That the Churches shall declare it publickly that whosoever whispereth in private that he is a Protestant and of the Reformed Religion altho' he do not make an open profession thereof that this Person is to be accounted no better than an Infidel until such time as he he have totally renounced the Superstitions and Idolatries of the Romish Church XXXVII The Deputies of Xaintonge having declared the Inconveniences arising in several Churches from Promises of Marriage expressed by words de praesenti and that it were better that for time coming all such Promises should be uttered in words de futuro The Decision of this difficulty is remitted over to the next National Synod whereunto the Provinces are required to come with due preparation XXXVIII The 12th Article of the 13th Chapter of the Discipline is remitted over to the consideration of the next National Synod and in the mean while Mr. Beza and Mr. Daueau are intreated to couch in Writing their Arguments about it that they may be perus'd and examined by that Synod that so we may know Whether it be lawful for a Brother to marry the Widow of his Wife's Brother Whence proceeds Impotency and tying of the Point and its proper Remedy XXXIX When divers Persons in our Churches are afflicted with that Plague of Impotency by those who tie the Point the Pastors shall remonstrate to them in their Sermons that the cause of this Evil is Unbelief in some and weakness of Faith in others and that Charms used to untie them are detestable as also the means used by others in consulting Witches the Devils Ministers this Remedy being worse than their Disease whenas Fasting Prayer and Reformation of Life thorough the Blessing of God would effect the Cure XL. In the Form of Excommunication pronounced publickly at the Lord's Table next after the word Idolaters there shall be added All Sorcerers Charmers and Inchanters as also upon another account after the word Mutinous there shall be added Murderers XLI Whereas Publick Notaries in divers Churches keep open Doors on the Lord's Day and pass all manner of Contracts and Transactions whereby very many Souls are taken off together with themselves from the Religious Sanctification of the Lord 's holy Sabbath It is decreed by this Synod That for time to come the said Notaries shall pass no manner of Contracts on the Lord's Day unless it be Contracts of Marriage Last Wills and Testaments Articles of Agreement between dissenting Parties and the amicable terminating of vexatious Law-Suits and such other business as cannot possibly be delayed under which head fall in Matters of Necessity and Mercy and such Contracts may be dispatcht on the most Holy Days provided always that such Writings be not drawn up nor executed during the time of Divine Service and of the Publick Worship of God and their Offices shall be shut if possible whilst they be thus employed XLII Nothing shall be changed in the first Article of the 14th Chapter of our Discipline but all endeavours shall be used to prevent those Abuses which are usually committed XLIII The Deputies of Gascony demanded Whether it were lawful to take a new Lease of the Lands and Demeans belonging to the Popish Church-men upon condition of bringing them their Rent home unto their Convents and other Houses of those Ecclesiasticks To which it was answered That there was no inconvenience in it provided that it were not in any matters relating unto Idolatry as the carrying of Incense Wax to make Torches and other such-like things XLIV The second Article in the 14th Chapter of our Discipline concerning Patronages shall not be altered Yet notwithstanding Lay-Patrons may enjoy their Priviledge of laying claim by Protestation unto their Rights and Emoluments that so their Title to them may be preserved grounding their Protestation upon this that the present Collation is contrary to our Religion against which they dare not in Conscience act And this is according to the Edicts of Pacification And this Affair shall be further debated in the Assembly of St. Foy XLV The 26th Article of the same Chapter shall remain entire only the word Poincons a Houpe shall be left out and because now that Habit is wholly out of Fashion among us and such as paint and shew their naked Breasts shall be dealt with more severely than heretofore and weaker Persons shall be born withal as much as possibly we can for their edification or in case they be censured it shall only be by a simple suspension from the Sacrament that so they may be reduc'd unto Christian Modesty XLVI The Deputies of Xaintonge moved well and this Synod decrees upon it that whosoever are received hereafter Members into Communion with our Churches shall subscribe if they can write the Act of their Reception and a Register shall be kept in all the Churches of their Names and of the time of their Deaths XLVII Upon another motion of those Deputies it was decreed That exiled Members from their Churches refug'd in another shall yet notwithstanding contribute to the subsistence of their ancient Pastors if so be they are fled only with an intention of returning to their former Habitations but in case they resolve to remove elsewhere it is not reasonable they should be compell'd thereunto XLVIII Upon another motion of the same Deputies concerning Proposans Candidates for the Ministry who having been for some time maintained at the Churches Charges in order to their future Service in the Ministry not meeting with a Call unto it or having since upon other grounds altered their minds and took up another Vocation the Synod
Prosecutions to cease against Monsieur de la Garime and Monsieur de la Grange for having deposed Master Gaspar Olaxa who was ejected by Authority of the Colloquy of Albigeois and the Provincial Synod held at Montaban And in case our Advice concerning the said de la Garime and la Grange be not entirely observed this National Synod doth declare That those of the Church of Castres on whom it was incumbent to effect it shall be censured even with suspension from the Lord's Table and farther that they be utterly unworthy of ever enjoying the Ministry of their Pastor Monsieur Balarand and the Colloquy of Albigeois are ordered from us to meet in any other place than the City of Castres and to see to it that this our present Decree be effectually observed and that the said Monsieur Balarand be transferr'd from the City of Castres and to see to it that this our present Decree be effectually observed and that the said Monsieur Balarand be transferr'd from the City of Castres to serve in some other Church elsewhere VI. The Province of Higher Guyenne having complained of the wicked Conversations and scandalous Lives of Master Gravel and Vieux Banque it was decreed That the Ministers of Upper Quercy shall summon the said Graver and Vieuxbanque to appear without delay in two Months time personally in this City of Montauban where the Minister of the Upper Quercy producing sufficient Evidence that they had summon'd the said Graver and Vieuxbanque to appear together with the Information of the Crimes charged on them which if clearly proved on them the Ministers of this City and Colloquy by the Authority of this National Synod shall suspend or depose them as they see cause from the Ministry and in case of their non-appearance they shall be immediately suspended and this their Suspension published in the Churches VII The Province of Tourain Anjou and Main craving Advice how to dispose of Monsieur Le Bloy Minister of St. Aignan this Synod doth ordain That the said Le Bloy shall continue in the said Church provided that within six Months the said Church do give him full satisfaction in paying him the Salary they had promised him and in cause of failure therein he shall be consigned unto the Church of Preuilly according to the Order of the Provincial Synod of Touraine VIII Whereas the Church of * * * Two other Copies read Bracquâ—t Bourinquet doth inform us That their Pastor Monsieur De la Finer is removed from them by the Pastors of the Province commissionated by this present Synod to inspect that Affair who have thereby left them totally destitute without a Minister this Assembly doth ordain That the said Sieur de la Finer shall abide with his Church exercising all the Duties of his Office until such time as they be provided of another and the Colloquy of Lower Quercy shall take that Task upon them and the said Sieur de la Finer shall be presently paid all his Arrears and that said Church of Bourinquet shall supply all his Wants for the future and in case of non-performance on their part then the said Sieur de la Finer shall be free and fully discharged from them IX This Assembly at the Request of the Deputies of Lower Languedoc doth think meet That our Brother Monsieur Boulet do stand related unto Condoignac and Vergessers but with this Condition that he exercise his Ministry in his former Church until such time as they be provided of another X. At the desire of the Magistrates of the City and Church of Rochel as also of the whole Province of Xaintonge this Assembly ordaineth That Letters be sent forthwith to the Syndics and Church of Geneva earnestly intreating that the Seignory and Consistory of that famous Church and City would be pleased to give up their Right in our honoured Brother Monsieur Rotan for the Service of the Church of Rochel because of his singular usefulness and fruitful Labours in that Church and his great serviceableness in that Province yea and to all the Reformed Churches of France Yet Rotan was afterward deeply suspected for prevaricating in Religion XI Complaints being made by the Province of Xaintonge against Master Esperient and Cahier this Assembly orders That the Province of Xaintonge do inform the Synod of Bearn about the said Esperient because he belongs to it that he may give satisfaction to them and that the Sieur Cahier shall be written to in the Name of this Assembly that he personally appear before the Synod of Xaintonge which is impower'd with full Authority by this present Synod to hear and judge of the whole Fact XII The Province of Lower Languedoc demanding Advice about Mr. John Corneille it is decreed That the Province shall be sharply reproved for their so long suffering and sparing the said Corneille in his Errors and wicked Actions and in particular the Magistrates and other Persons in the Church of Orange who prosecuted so vigorously his Restoration unto the Ministry For which cause this Synod confirmeth the Deposition of the said Corneille and ordains that he be silenced for ever and that the Magistrate and Consistory of Orange be reproved for permitting him to pray publickly during his Suspension as also we give warning that it is dangerous to employ him in the teaching of Youth XIII Sharp and Comminatory Letters shall be written unto the Colloquy of Auvergne and to Monsieur De Montcassin that if they do not satisfie and reimburse Monsieur Lambert his Expences in getting the King's Orders for the maintenance of the afore-mentioned Ministers this Synod on their refusal will proceed against them as Delinquents and particularly against Monsieur Montcassin because he became bound for the Payment of that Money as appears by the very Act of the Provincial Synod held in this City of Montauban in the Year 1593 And in case they do not give satisfaction before the breaking up of this Assembly Process shall be issued out against them as we have written them XIV Forasmuch as in the conclusion of this Synod the Colloquy of Higher Rouargue have returned no Answer to it theâ—efore in pursuance of the Resolution before taken it is decreed That Monsieur de Villette and Chalais when they return into their Province of Lower Languedoc shall interdict the Exercise of the Ministry in all the Churches of that Colloquy and particularly Monsieur de Montcassin shall be suspended and silenced for not performing his Promise XV. Mr. William Benet acquainting this Assembly That he had discharged his Duty in educating his Son Mark Antony in good Learning in order to his being employed in the Ministry of the Gospel to his great comfort and yet without his privity and consent his said Son had accepted of a Call unto the Church of Marvejoles in the Province of Lower Languedoc After hearing what could be alledged for themselves by the Deputies of that Province as also the Plea of the said Mark Antony for himself
Inscription Avis pour la paix de L'Eglise Royaume de France This Synod having read and examined those aforesaid Writings and received the Judgment of the Colloquy of Nismes and of the Deputies from the other Colloquies in that Province as also the Censures of the above-mentioned Churches doth condemn them as containing divers Erroneous Propositions to wit That the true Doctrine was kept entire and sound among all that are called Christians That those of the Church of Rome having the self-same Articles of Faith with us the same Commandments of God Forms of Prayer Baptism and the same Means and Ordinances to attain everlasting Salvation as we have are consequently the true Church and that the Difference betwixt us is only verbal not real That they would have the Ancient Councils and Writings of the Fathers to be Judges of the Points in Controversie between us and that because they quote the Canons of Gratian under the Name of the Catholick Church therefore we are made the Authors of that Schism and of those Civil Wars which have happen'd in this Kingdom and several other such-like Matters And all the Churches are enjoyned to beware of them And whereas there is a Manuscript handed up and down with this specious Title Elenchus Novae Doctrinae the Colloquies of Montpellier and Nismes are charged to peruse it and in case they find nothing in it contrary to the Doctrine receiv'd and taught in our Churches they may giving it a Preface give it also a License to be Printed V. This Case of Conscience was propounded Whether a Soveraign Prince for certain Causes moving him thereunto may not grant a Pardon unto a Person guilty of those Crimes which had deserved Death or change his Punishment into a less or delay Execution of the Sentence past upon him This Assembly having carefully examined the Circumstances of this Case doth judge That by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we be not bound unto the Political Laws of Moses but that all Punishments are now arbitrary and that from Scripture-Instances the Soveraign Magistrate may very well do it when the Publick Interest is concerned VI. Another Case also was moved Whether a Parent or Special Friend whatever his Condition or Quality be tho' it were that of a Minister of the Gospel might lawfully petition the Soveraign for his Relation or Friend's Pardon The Synod answereth That this Case is decided by the former for if it be lawful for the Soveraign to give it is lawful also for a private Person to take out a Pardon provided it be not by any indirect or sinful means VII Whoever hath maimed another unjustly so that he is thereby disabled from gaining his Livelihood or that of his poor Family if so be the Maimer be a Man of Estate he shall be urged by Church-Censures to allot him a Pension for his Subsistence altho' he be not condemned to it by the Civil Magistrate because he cannot better express the sincerity of his Repentance than by this Act of Charity VIII Promises of Marriage made by Persons of competent Age to be married and those Promises past with consent of Parents Tutors and Guardians and by words de praesenti are indissolvable IX It is not contrary to Christian decency for espoused Persons to lodge under the same Roof before Marriage X. That Obligation laid on Sureties in Baptism doth not only import their Education of the Children in Godliness but this also that in case of need they provide for their maintenance XI Churches having at their own Charges bred up Schollars to the Ministry and do now enjoy their Labours in the Word and Sacraments if they carry themselves unworthily towards them as in not giving them equal Stipends with their Colleagues shall be censured and in case they do not reform the Colloquy or Provincial Synod may grant a License unto those Ministers to forsake them and also to provide them of some other Church according to the Discipline XII The Deputies of the National Synods shall within one Month alter their Return advertise the Colloquies of their Provinces to take Copies of the Acts of these National Synods and this at the sole Expence of the said Colloquies XIII When a Province desireth some considerable alteration to be made in the Articles of our Discipline it shall give Notice thereof unto that which is charged to convene the next National Synod that by it the other Provinces being informed their Deputies may come prepared for the Debate However we do not hereby mean that the National Synods should be over-ruled by the Provincial XIV Master Chamier and Brunier having brought Letters from the Assembly of the Churches at Chastel-heraut together with the Edict granted us by His Majesty and understanding by them that had it not been for that good Union and Correspondence which is among us we had never got the Liberty of our Consciences in the Publick Profession of the Gospel and Service for our God nor Justice to be administred to us nor other needful Securities for our Lives This Synod considering former defects in this matter doth now protest and resolve That for the future that Union subscribed and sworn at Mants shall be better and more strictly kept and observed than ever that so the Articles of this Edict may be performed to us and all other things needful for our preservation in our Obedience to his Majesty and his Edicts and we will also take care that the Provinces do the same and that if any Person should in the least transgress them or prove disobedient to our Remonstrances herein they shall be prosecuted by all the Censures of the Church XV. The Provinces also shall be exhorted to receive and observe the Orders sent them from the Assembly at Chastelheraut and to defray the Charges of the Deputies they being necessitated to reside there to see to the Execution of the Edict unless His Majesty shall of His Royal Bounty provide for them XVI This Synod proceeding to distribute the 43333 Crowns and of the one third of them Granted by His Majesty towards the Relief of our Churdies hath and doth ordain that 3333 Crowns and one third shall be employed in the erecting of two Universities In the Copy from which this was translated the mark over the Sums was one of which shall be at Saumur and the other at Moutauban †††W and towards the Maintenance of each of them it doth assign 1111 Crowns 6 Sous and 8 Deniers and to the erecting of two Academies in Theology Which I have rendered Crowns because a Livre consisting but of twenty Sous and the French reckoning be Crowns as â—â—ll as Livres I have rendred Crowns ratâ—er than Livres the one at Montpellier the other at Nismes for Montpellier 500 Crowns and the rest for Nismes And the remaining 40000 Crowns shall be distributed among the Churches as well those which are already as those which may be hereafter constituted And a
nor Province As also for that he neglected to give notice of it unto this Assembly The whole business was dismissed over to the next Synod of the Isle of France there to be determined 3. The complaint of the Colloquy of Niort against the other Colloquies of the Province of Poictou about the third part of all expences to be defrayed by that Province is turn'd over to the judgment of the Synod of Xaintonge 4. The Church of Mauvaisin demanded that License might be given to Monsieur Girard to Preach occasionally among them This Assembly confirming the decree of the Synod of Gergeau doth expresly forbid the said Girard in any wise to Preach at Mauvaisin 5. Monsieur Bourg complaining that Monsieur Forton and some of the Elders in the Church of Bourdeaux had in divers places slanderously reported of him that he intended to revolt from the profession of the true Religion This Assembly not crediting such relations and being perswaded that he will constantly and faithfully persevere in the profession of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus doth remit the cognisance of this affair unto the Consistory of the Church of Bourdeaux which is ordered to look into it with more than ordinary care and diligence 6. The Lord Vicount of Paulin and the Church of Compagnac desiring it we grant that the said Church shall be conjoined with the Colloquy of Quercy 7. The Churches of Dauphiny are charged to notifie unto the other Provinces when it may be needful to assist the poor Fugitives banished the Marquisate of Saluces and from the Valleys of Piedmont and Savoy 8. The Provinces of Anjou Poictou and Normandy shall by turns supply the Church of Rennes with a Pastor until such time as it shall please God to give a fixed one unto them and the Colloquy of Lower Poictou shall begin Anjou next and last of all Normandy He was Minister of Fentenay 9. The little book of Monsieur de la Vallee concerning a person possessed by the Devil shall be read and examined by the Synod of Xaintonge and if they judge sit let it be imprinted 10. The next Provincial Synod of Dolphiny is charged to moderate the Taxes laid upon the Church of Montlimar by the Colloquy of Die the said Church complaining of its being over-rated 11. For as much as the Pastors and Elders of the Church of Bergerac have petitioned that Monsieur Beraud the younger might be permitted to continue the exercise of his Ministry among them and that Monsieur de Beraud his Father gives way unto it as appears by letters under his own hand This Assembly confirms the Call of the said Beraud the son unto the Ministry of the Church of Bergerac for so long time as his Father can dispense with him considering the great need he will have of him now in his declining years 12. Monsieur Hesperian is confirmed in the Ministry of the Church of St. Foy and Letters shall be sent unto his Father from this assembly desiring his consent unto it 13. This Synod approves that Order established in the Baylywick of Gex concerning their Supreme Consistory in Matrimonal Causes and nothing therein shall be innovated 14. The Churches of the Baylywick of Gex shall have their share in the Moneys granted us by the King until the next National Synod and in the mean while their Pastors shall dispose their people to contribute something towards the common charges of the Churches 15. The Deputies of the Isle of France shall tender unto their next Provincial Synod the Letters and Memoirs of Monsieur du Perche sent by him unto this Assembly that satisfaction may be given the said du Perche for what he pretends owing to him from their Province and to this purpose notice shall be given him of the time and place of their meeting by the Church of Paris 16. Letters were read from the Church of Vertueil whereupon this Assembly ordered that immediately Letters should be written to the Lords Commissioners for executing his Majesties Edict in Dolphiny recommending that Church unto them that so it may be named the first Town of the Baylywicks of Dolphiny as it was ordered at the Synod of Grenoble in the year 1602. and that the Town of Briancon might be reputed the second 17. Letters from our Brethren in the Valley of Barcelona craving advice how to govern themselves under their apprehensions of being deprived by the Duke of Savoy of their pretious Liberty to profess the Gospel and worship God according to his holy Will prescribed in the Scriptures This Assembly desiring most sincerely their Consolation doth earnestly exhort them to a stricter Union with the other Valleys of Piedmont assuring them of all Offices of Christian Charity in case they should be persecuted or banished they being Members of our own Body united with us in the same Doctrine and Discipline Concerning the setling of our Religion at Issoire 18. Letters from the Church of Issoire being read this Assembly ordered the General Deputies at Court vigorously to endeavour that the exercise of our Religion might be established according to the Edict in the said Town of Issoire and in other places of the lower Auvergne and the Colloquies of St. Germain and Anduza in the lower Languedoc shall supply them with Ministers And that this their Establishment may be the better and sooner effected they shall have four Portions of the Moneys granted us by the Kings Majesty out of that Sum appointed for the lower Languedoc And in order hereunto the said Colloquies of St. Germain and Anduze shall assemble themselves within a Month after the breaking up of this Assembly to consult together about those Ministers who are to serve and shall be sent into the Lower Auvergne and those Churches there shall in the mean while do their utmost endeavour to get themselves furnished with able Ministers And the Province of Higher Languedoc shall have the same care and kindness for the assistance and relief of the Churches of the â—igher Auvergne 19. The poor fallen Christians in the Marquisate of Saluces demanding Counsel what course they should take after this their great Offence This Assembly ordered that Letters should be sent them to forsake those places where they be constrained to participate in Idolatry and to accompany their banished Brethren in bearing the Cross of Christ 20. The Universities shall be once again exhorted to get for themselves if possible a publick Library See this Art 24. of gen mat and in it the great Bible of Antwerp 21. The General Deputies of our Churches at Court are ordered by this Assembly to do their utmost for the repose and welfare of the distressed Valleys of Chasteau-Dauphin 22. Monsieur Claudius Jobard Citizen and Inhabitant of Geneva complained against the Province of Burgundy for wrong done in their publick Synodical Acts at Ullim unto Master David Peaget Minister in the Baylywick of Gex when as by the Colloquy of Gex who had inspected and examined that matter the
Burgundy Lionnois Forrest Bresse Beaujolois and Gex Monsieur Esaiah Bayly Pastor of the Church of Lion and Daniel de Piotay Pastor of the Church of Gex together with John de Jaucourt Lord of Villarnoul Elder of the Church of Avalon and Master Claudius Cotereau Elder of the Church of Dijon and Counsellor in the Parliament of Burgundy For the Province of Normandy Mr. John Gueroult Pastor of the Church of D'Indebeuf and John Boudrier Lord de la Buissonniere Pastor of the Church of Alencon and Samuel de L'Escherpiere Lord de la Riviere Pastor of the Church of Rouan together with Nicholas Le Febvre Elder of the Church of Caen with their Letters of Commission The Synod of the said Province and the Colloquies of the Higher Normandy were all censured for leaving the Nomination of their Deputies unto the Colloquy and for not sending an equal number of Pastors and Elders according to the Canons of our Discipline however the four fore-mentioned Deputies were admitted For the Province of Brittany Master Rene de Losse Lord de la Touche Pastor of the Church of Blain and Master Peter de la Place Pastor of the Church of Sion together with Lewes d'Avangour Lord of Bois de Cargrois Elder of the Church of Nantes and Elias de Goulaines Lord de Loudoniere Elder in the Church of Vielle Vigne There came also with Letters of Commission from the Countrey of Bearn Master Isaac Balldraind Pastor of the Church of l'Escar and principal of the Colledge of the same place craving admission and priviledge of Voting in this Assembly which was granted him But the said Churches were exhorted for the future to join an Elder in Commission with that Pastor whom they shall depute unto our National Synods Master James Capel called otherwise du Tilloy Pastor of the Church of Sedan and the Lord Peter de Bury Elder of the same presented themselves as Deputies from the Churches of the Sovereignty of Sedan in this Assembly but were not admitted as representing a particular Province because they were Members of the Colloquy of Champagne yet it was granted them to assist in this Assembly when as matters concerning Doctrine and Discipline in general were debated and that they might in their turn propound what did particularly concern their Churches and University Prayers being ended and the Assembly proceeding to the choice of their Moderator Assessor and Scribe there came into the Synod the Deputies of the Commonalty and City of Rochell demanding to be admitted and to give their Vote in that Election as constituting a Province together with the other Provinces of the Kingdom especially when as any Affairs not relating to the Doctrine or Discipline of the Churches but for our common preservation should be treated This caused a very great debate and at last it being judged that this Assembly was purely Ecclesiastical and it being utterly uncertain whether any matters of another nature might be handled in it it was finally determined that the Moderator Assessor and Scribe should not be chosen but by such persons as were purely Ecclesiastical However those Deputies were admitted into the Synod and had their priviledge of Voting in it according to the Decree at Chastelleraut in case other matters fell under consideration Monsieur Beraut was Elected Moderator and Monsieur Merlin Assessor and to Gather and Record the Acts of this Synod Monsieur Rivet and Roy. In the Letters of Deputation that Clause of Approbation and Submission unto the Decrees of the Synod in no wise to be left out In reading the Letters of Deputation it was observed that those of certain Provinces wanted that clause which promised Approbation and Submission unto the Decrees and Resolutions of the Synod Whereupon they were all admonished In no wise for the future to omit it as being very necessary for the ratifying the Decrees of these Assemblies and of this our Brethren of Bearn are particularly to be informed Whereas the Pastors and Elders of divers Churches not deputed unto this Synod were yet very importunate to be admitted to the seeing and hearing of all matters transacted in it This Assembly considering that their number did daily and excessively increase which might at last cause confusion and other evil consequences in case every one should be indifferently received it was resolved that entrance should not be granted to any other besides the Deputies unless when as the General matters of Doctrine and Discipline should be debated And this Order shall hold good for the future nor shall they be suffered to be present at these debates who have no business calling them unto these Synods unless they produce a Certificate of Leave had from their Churches together with the time limited for their tarrying No Appeals shall be consider'd till the 7th day after the meeting and sitting of the Synod For as much as divers persons at the opening of the Synods are very importunate and thereby disturb the Order of Affairs pressing impatiently the dispatch of their own particular concerns because of the Expences they are inforc'd to make by a long Attendance Notice shall be given to the Churches that for time coming no Appeals shall be medled withal till the seventh day after the sitting of the Synod that so the parties concerned in them may not be over-hasty and that they may have fit time for their Appearance The Answers of his Highness the Prince Elector Palatine return'd unto the Letters of the Synod of Gap by which he had been intreated to endeavour the Uniting of the Protestant Churches being read as also those others from the Ecclesiastical Senate of the Palatinate from the University of Heidelberg from the Provincial Synods of Holland and Zeland from the County of Hannaw and the Classis of Lauzanna Morges Iverdon from the Canton of Bearn and Church of Geneva This Assembly having found evident Testimonials in them of their sincere affection to the seeking and procuring the Common Good How the Lutherans may be re-united see the Synod of Vitré part mat 27. and of Gap Gen. matt 11. and in special an intire Approbation of the Confession of Faith owned and received in the Churches of this Kingdom doth render most hearty thanks unto God for vouchsafing us so great a benefit well-hoping that by their persisting in it the Lord will be pleased graciously to touch the Hearts of them who as yet dissent from us and disagree with us to imbrace it also And all persons are exhorted to be mighty Wrestlers with God in humble and ardent Prayers that it may be effected The Letters also of Monsieur Regnault Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux were read who was charged with those of the Synod of Gap when he went into Germany about his own private Affairs to be delivered unto those to whom they had been directed And because that such a Negotiation was not a little Incommodious to him and that upon his return he was summon'd personally and at his own charges
respective Consistories 10. These words shall close up the fourty eighth Article and all sentences of suspension for what cause soever shall stand good notwithstanding any Appeal until the final Judgment 11. On the first Article of the third Chapter That Custom introduc'd into some certain Churches that Elders going out of Office do nominate their Successors is reprehended and it is decreed according to the Discipline that they shall be chosen by the common Suffragies of the Consistories 12. On the fourth Article of the fourth Chapter Notice is given unto Provincial Synods diligently to enquire who those Pastors and Elders be that give Testimonials contrary to the form prescribed by our Discipline that so they may be censured And for time coming all Pastors giving Attestations unto Trades-men or others who desire them upon none other account than to be acknowledged as Church-members shall specifie that they promised never to abuse them as Instruments for begging or wandring from one Church unto another and in case they should so do that then they be reputed null and void and be torn in pieces 13. Churches whose Members are Prisoners in Paris or elsewhere upon the account of Religion Prisoners for Religion to be relieved are exhorted to minister unto their Necessities by be relieved their Charities and Alms-deeds 14. This Sentence shall conclude the fourth Article of the fifth Chapter however without being able to treat of Church-matters but in those places where the Consistory doth ordinarily meet 15. On the ninth Article whole Consistories shall not be excepted against nor one of the Pastors and Elders in case a Consistory judge the causes of that Exception invalid notwithstanding the Appeal Persons married by a Priest must confess their sin publickly 16. On the twentieth Article such as have been married by a Popish Priest shall not be dispensed from making publick Acknowledgment of their sin by the Consistory whatever their quality or condition may be 17. To the seventh Article of the eighth Chapter after these words shall be chosen these must be added with a low voice 18. Reading over the division of the Provinces it was thought good that the greater and which are furnished with a larger number of Pastors should consult whether it were not commodious for them to be divided into two and they are requested to come prepared with these Resolutions upon it unto the next National Synod 19. On the third Article of the ninth Chapter The Provinces are left at liberty to send their present Deputies unto the following National Synod provided they judge it expedient 20. The clause which was razed out of the seventh Article of the ninth Chapter by the Synod of Gap to wit The Provinces having been first informed by that which was charged to convocate the next Synod shall be again inserted but with this restriction in the end if it may possibly be done 21. On the third Article of the tenth Chapter License is given unto particular Churches to celebrate a Fast they first consulting with their Neighbour-Churches and on great and urgent causes for which they shall be accountable unto the Colloquies and Provincial Synods 22. To the eleventh Article of the thirteenth Chapter after these words with the Niece shall be added and the Grand Niece 23. To the fifteenth Article of the same Chapter after these words sufficient attestation there shall be added of Promises 24. To the sixteenth Article of the fourteenth Chapter there shall be this addition made to close up that Article And in case the matter be urgent then unto the Universities or Neighbour Ministers The Church Discipline having been read and approved by all the Deputies they swore unto its observation and promised to see that it be carefully observed in their respective Churches and to sollicite their Provinces for its performance CHAP. IV. Observations on the National Synod of Gap 1. THAT Exhortation given by the Synod of Gap for reading the Confession of Faith and Book of Discipline in the Provincial Synods is only to be understood thus if it may conveniently be done 2. This Assembly judgeth that it 's no proper time at present to make an Apology for the Confession of our Churches 3. In that Article of the same Synod treating of the 31th Article of the Confession of Faith where it speaks of the Call of the first Pastors in our Reformed Churches these words And to teach which are found in some certain Copies shall be razed and instead of simply shall be inserted principally and that last clause And not unto the small remainders of their corrupted Call shall be thus read Rather than unto the small remains of their ordinary Call 4. Our Brethren of Normandy shall out of hand conform to the other Churches in their reception of Elders and Deacons 5. The Churches of the Baylywick of Gex shall be incorporated with the Provincial Synod of Burgundy See observ 8. of the Synod of Gap upon that of Gergeau Scholars not ordained may not administer the Sacraments 6. In the Letter which shall be written to our Brethren of the Church of Geneva they shall again be intreated not to send our Proposans to preach in their Villages and to administer the Sacraments before they have been lawfully Ordained They shall also be further intreated to take special care of our Students in Divinity and when as they demand a Testimonial to give them none but upon good and sufficient knowledge of their Lives and as their diligence hath deserved and most especially in case of Monks who have quitted their Monasteries to whom this Assembly hath limited the term of two years before their reception into the Sacred Ministry and our said brethren of Geneva shall be advised to detain those who are too forward And farther 't is thought good to pray them that they would endeavour with their Magistrates and People to conform themselves unto the other Churches of Christ in the use of Leavened Bread at the Lords Supper according to the example and received practice of their Neighbour Churches of Berne 7. The word Damnation as 't is qualified and explained in the tenth Sunday of our Catechism shall remain unchanged 8. The Church of Sedan shall be joined according to the Article of Gap unto the Synod of the Isle of France and to the Colloquy of Champagne and shall be present by its Deputies at the said Colloquies and Synods On which condition they shall receive the four portions which had been assigned them by the Synod of Gergeau 9. The Ministry of Monsieur Baily who was granted by the Synod of Gap unto the Church of Lions having been exceeding fruitful unto this very day and mightily edifying unto that Church This Assembly ratifieth that Grant and bestoweth him upon them for their ordinary Pastor so that the Province of Lower Languedoc for the future shall not have any the least pretensions or right unto him 10. This Synod judgeth the Universities of Montauban Nismes Montpellier and
Sedan worthy of severe censures for not bringing or sending hither the Accounts of Moneys received for the maintenance or their Professors and Regents according to the Decrees of Gap and Gergeau And that for the future they may be more carefull of the Moneys belonging to the University of Montauban there shall be detained in the hands of the Receiver General five hundred Livers and for the Universities of Nismes Montpellier and Sedan two hundred and fifty Livers for each of them and with this farther penalty that in case hereafter they shall be guilty of the like neglect there shall be defaulked from their portions five hundred Crowns But if upon auditing their accounts they be found just and faithful then the detained summs shall be restored to them Finally the Provincial Synods are ordered to give in unto the National Synods a true report as in Conscience they be bound to do how the Professors and Regents in the several Universities of their respective Provinces do discharge the duties of their places and to be very careful in the form of their Acquittances and other evidences of their Integrity and to send them all by the Deputies of their Province unto the National Synods 11. Reading that Article of the Synod of Gap concerning censures to be inflicted on the breakers of Marriage-promises without just cause divers difficulties in divers places having risen hereupon This Assembly judgeth that neither private persons nor Consistories have authority to dissolve such Promises and therefore they shall be turned over to the Judgment and Lawful Decree of the Civil Magistrates and those refractory persons who will not discharge their injoined duty shall be pursued with all Church-censures CHAP. V. Of Particular Matters St. Maixant Art 1. of observat on this Synod 1. IT is ordained for time coming that particular Acts of Appeals Censures and things of the like nature shall not be delivered but unto the parties concerned in them 2. This Assembly declareth that the Act of the Synod of Montpellier not permitting any Certificate to be given them who through fear of Witchcraft would solemnize their Marriage in other Churches besides their own shall remain in full force as not being contrary to that of the Discipline which concerneth attestations in the Chapter of Marriages Charities ordered the poor Saints of Saluces 3. For as much as the necessities of our poor Brethren of the Marquisate Saluces are exceeding great they being banished and persecuted for the true Religion as is evident by the Relations of their Deputies Charles Garnier and Constans Vivyan This Assembly exhorts all the Churches in the Provinces of this Kingdom to assist them by extraordinary Alms and 't is left to the prudence of every Provincial Synod to take that course for Collecting the Charities for them as they shall judge most proper and convenient to the state of their respective Churches And whereas in divers Churches there have been Moneys already gathered for them it is ordained that in no wise those summs be diverted from their designed use but be out of hand sent unto them And that they may be reputed Natural French men our Deputies which shall be sent unto Court are expresly charged to procure the Declaration from his Majesty for their being naturalized 4. Henceforward the Deputies of the Provinces shall bring with them unto the National Synods an exact Catalogue of the number of Churches Ministers and Proposans in their respective Provinces together with an account of their particular Stipends annually paid them by the Receiver of the Province as also the Testimonials of the Universities concerning our young Students in them if possibly it may be done Proposans may be present as silent Learners in National Synods 5. Proposans may be admitted into the National Synod when as general Matters of Doctrine and Discipline are debated provided they bring with them good Testimonials But as for other Persons which are not Ecclesiastick whatsoever their quality or condition may be it hath been already judged inexpedient because of divers ill Consequences to grant them this priviledge A remedy against contentions for the Professors place in an University 6. If in case of difference about the Call of Professors and Regents in our Universities one of the contending parties should seek for relief and assistance any where else than in our Ecclesiastical Assemblies he shall be prosecuted by all the Censures of the Church and if he continue obstinate and rebellious he shall then be Excommunicated and if he be already seized of a Professorship this Synod Decreeth that no Wages shall be paid him and declareth him a Person utterly uncapable of any Academical Office 7. To prevent for the future that evil custom crept into the Churches and which hath caused a great deal of trouble unto this Synod by reading and examining an infinite number of Acts passed before secular Judges which may finally bring in upon us that base Chicanery so much practised by crafty Lawyers and utterly unworthy the Gravity of these Assemblies Wherefore all such manner of proceedings are most expresly forbidden and all persons are commanded to keep themselves to a native plainness and simplicity as best suiting with Church affairs on pain of having their papers and propositions rejected who shall do otherwise Pecuniary matters may be dismissed from one Province to another 8. In case a person complain of His being overcharged in pecuniary matters by the Provincial Synod in which the Synod is a Party he may demand a hearing before the next Provincial Synod which shall have power to judge finally in that affair without bringing such matters before the National Synods 9. When as the publick Fast shall be celebrated in the Churches of France those of Bearn shall be acquainted with the time and causes of it by the Province of Lower Guyenne and those Churches shall be comprised in all matters relating to our Union yea and in those Complaints and Petitions which shall be presented unto his Majesty by the means of our General Deputies 10. Monsieur Baldran Deputy for Bearn moved that whereas the Churches of Soulle and Bigorre lying within the bounds of France were yet notwithstanding unto this day annexed to the Churches of Bearn and supported by them both with the grant of Pastors and Moneys for their subsistence wherefore he requested that they might be enrolled among those who shared in the Moneys of his Majesties bounty and withal he left them to the sole disposal of the Churches of this Kingdom either to be Incorporated with them or implanted into any other Synod besides that of Bearn as they should conceive most expedient This Assembly ordaineth that for the present two portions of the said moneys shall be assigned out of the Dividend of Lower Guyenne unto those two before mentioned Churches and they have full power to declare in the first Provincial Synod of Bearn to which of the Provincial Synods of France they will adjoin themselves consulting
Church provide themselves of any other for the Ministry in that Church or for the Profession of Theology during the time of his loan unto the Church and University of Saumur 4. The Church of St. Ireney le Perche in the Countrey of Limousin petitioned this Assembly for a Pastor that so their Ruine and Dissipation might be prevented and that they might be holpen with some Moneys to make him up a competency for his subsistence with them The Assembly considering that Monsieur Alix was lent unto the Church of Angeau doth injoyn the Provincial Synod of Berry to examine Monsieur Salomon a Proposan and in case they find him well qualified they shall set him apart to the work of the Ministry by Imposition of hands and send him unto the said Church of St. Ireney le Perche for two years only in case the Church of Orleans be not destitute of Pastors which is much feared for both the Pastors of Orleans and Angeau have been a long time very sick and like to die And the said Church of St. Ireney le Perche shall be put upon the same Roll with the other Churches to draw forth and receive its portion of the King's Monies 5. Whereas the Elder of the Church of Villefaignun and Savelles hath petitioned that they might be without any longer delay provided of a Pastor the next Synod of Xaintonge is charged to take care of them and to give order for their supply And in the mean while the Neighbour Ministers of Xaintonge and Augoulmois are required to visit and officiate by turns in the said Church 6. There being great divisions and contentions among the Pastors and Professors in the Church and University of Montauban and particularly one lately fallen out between Messieurs Beraud the Younger and Duncan first Regent of their Colledge and Competitor for the Profession of the Greek Tongue and there having been very ill doings and of dangerous consequence in their proceedings their Cause being removed from the Colloquies and Synods by the said Duncan and others unto the Court of the Edict in the City of Castres This Assembly that past evils may be remedied and such as are future may be prevented doth enjoyn those Gentlemen concerned in these differences and who are now personally present in this Synod to be reconciled one unto the other which was done accordingly And that the absent parties might be reunited Messieurs de Gasque Gigord and those Elders deputed by the Province of Lower Languedoc shall take in their way homeward the City of Montauban and are charged by the Authority of this Synod to accommodate and compose all their dissensions And it is farther ordained That both the said Mr. Beraud the Younger and Mr. Duncan shall desist all pursuits about the Profession of the Greek Tongue and for peace sake a third person shall be chosen into that Office And whereas the said Duncan was obliged by a special Article of the said Colloquy to prosecute his Appeal in the Court of the Edict the Provincial Synod is ordered to inflict a very severe Censure upon that Colloquy in case that Article be found registred in the Original of their Acts which for this purpose shall be produced And Messieurs de Gasques Gigord St. Chapte and Bergier as they travel through the City of Castres shall acquaint his Majesties Officers professing the Reformed Religion in that Court how very prejudicial it will be unto our Churches if those Academical Differences shall come to be impleaded at their Bar that so according to their Zeal and Piety they may prudently provide for our publick and common benefit and take care in due time that the Liberties and Priviledges of the Churches be not invaded nor disseized 7. Monsieur de la Vallade is confirmed in his Ministry unto the Church of Fontinay unto which he was formerly presented nor shall the Province of Guyenne or Bergerac claim any right to recall him and this Decree passed without any opposition from the Deputies of the said Church and Province who declared they had no Commission to redemand him So that all Agreements and Covenants made betwixt the said Vallade and his Father and the said Church are ratified and become perpetual However this Assembly doth not approve of that Form in which they be drawn up especially with reference unto the Moneys which they pretend to have furnished him and in case the Church of Bergerac should demand him the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge is impowered with Authority to determine finally of him and all matters between him and them 8. The Churches of Maringues and Paillac in Auvergne petitioned this Assembly that they might be supplied with able Ministers and because of their deep poverty and want of necessary means to allow a sufficient maintenance for a Pastor the Synod of Lower Languedoc was enjoyned to lend them a Minister for one year they taking the first opportunity of their meeting to apply themselves thither for one And that a competency may be the more easily provided over and above the four portions out of the King's Money formerly allotted unto those of the Lower Auvergne there be two more granted to them and the said Churches of Maringues and Paillac shall receive four of them and the other two shall remain with and belong unto the Church of Issoire And it is farther ordained That the said Synod of Lower Languedoc shall in the mean time chuse a Proposan of good hopes and well qualified who may be given as ordinary Pastor unto the said Church of Issoire 9. Monsieur Primrose Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux brought Letters from the Magistrates and Ministers in the Church of Edinborough in Scotland written and directed to this Assembly and other Letters also written by his Majesty the King of Great Brittain recalling him home unto his Native Countrey to serve the said Church of Edinburgh and he declared farther that he had never absolutely ingaged himself either to this Kingdom nor to any particular Church in it but had always reserved a liberty of departure when as he should be duly recalled This Assembly replied that they would not in the least abridge him of his liberty but as he had acquired it so he might use it with a good conscience yet nevertheless they intreated him to consider well of all circumstances and to have a tender care and respect unto the Church of Bourdeaux which by his most fruitful preaching and exemplary godly conversation had been exceedingly edified Whereupon he promised seriously not to abandon the said Church till it were better supplied 10. The Sieur de la Buissonniere desiring that the Canon about calling the Provincial Synod of Normandy might be explained This Assembly decreeth that every Colloquy shall meet in its course in those places which are most commodious and the said Province is injoined to call unto their Synod a Pastor and Elder out of every Church and that it could not in any wise approve of their former actings being
shall be charged to represent unto his Majesty that it will be needful to have a General Political Assembly to precede the Provincial ones of the same nature wherein the condition and number of the Six and the three years term of their Charge may be debated and resolved on and till such time as it shall please his Majesty to grant us this our Petition we do most humbly beseech him to accept of the said two Deputies to negotiate our Affairs as the former who within one month after their Arrival shall inform the Provinces of his Majesties pleasure herein And because it 's needful the Deputies should depart immediately without delay they shall be taken from among those who be here upon the place and not chosen by the Deliberative Votes of this Assembly 8. The Deputies which are now going unto Court shall be intreated to assist the Forreign Ministers imployed in the Pastoral Office of our French Churches to get them Letters of Naturalization And Monsieur du Caudal shall be obliged to bring in unto the General Deputies against the 15th of August next a Breviate of his Account together with his Acquittances 9. Forasmuch as divers persons to trouble and vex their adverse Parties do plunge them in infinite Charges and Expences drawing their Processes both Civil and Criminal before other Courts than the Chambers of the Edict Our Deputies are charged to make report of it unto his Majesty and in this particular to be favourable not only to the Bodies of Churches but even unto particular Persons when as necessity shall so require 10. The Lords of Villarnou and de Mirande were nominated by this Assembly to repair to Court and to inform his Majesty with the above-mentioned Causes for which this Assembly could not conform themselves to the terms of his Majesties Writ And in case his Majesty shall accept of them till such time as the General Assembly do meet they shall then attend his Majesty in the Quality of General Deputies of the Churches But and if his Majesty shall not be pleased to grant us speedily a General Assembly they shall continue in that Office a full year during which time they shall in the general name of all the Churches conjoyntly act and prosecute whatever may concern their universal good and welfare as also the particular benefit of every Church and Province and shall make a faithful report of all matters unto his Majesty from the Memoirs delivered to them by this Assembly and shall sollicit an answer to them and govern themselves in all things conformably to the Orders enacted and established for the said Deputies in the Assembly of St. Foy and the Instructions which shall now be given them And the Provinces are advised to have recourse unto them in all Affairs both general and special relating unto the Churches without making any private prosecution by any other persons besides the said Deputies And the said Deputies were sworn and entred upon their Office the 14th day of this present month CHAP. XV. The Account of the Lord du Candall for the Moneys given us by His Majesty 1. THE Sieurs de Genouille Bergier des Fontaines de Burges le Fevre de la Combe and Texier were Commissionated to examine the Account of the Lord of Candall and they made report of the many difficulties in it because he did not produce any Acquittances nor other Evidences proving his Accounts Whereupon the said Lord du Candal pleaded for himself that the true reason why he had not brought with him those Acquittances was because he never imagined that the Provinces would have scrupled the truth of those payments he had made them This Assembly ordained that for this time only the Account should be cleared and finished but it should never be made a President of for hereafter which was done accordingly And the said Commissioners reported that the said Lord of Candal was indebted 55639 Livers 19 Sous and 3 Deniers Allowances being made for summs accounted for but not received which the said Lord du Candall shall endeavour to get in and having recovered them shall pay unto those particular Churches to whom they are owing and become due against the fifteenth day of August next coming and this in ready Money or good Bills of Exchange according to the Contracts made with him at the Synod of Gap and he shall bring with him the Acquittances of those who received the Moneys from him unto the Lords General Deputies residing at Court within fifteen days after And our General Deputies shall bring them a Copy fairly written and collationed of those Acquittances unto the next National Synod unless a Political Assembly should chance to be held before it And the Original of that Account shall be reserved in the Archives of the Consistory of Rochell 2. The said Lords General Deputies shall cause the said Lord of Candall to bring unto them the Acquittances and other Evidences of his Account cleared and finished in this Assembly for 55639 Livers 19 Sous and 3 Deniers which he was indebted for upon the closing up of the said account And to this purpose there was delivered to them the said Deputies a Copy of the whole that so they might be inabled so prosecute if need were the Execution of that Account with all its Apostils and additions as it had been concluded and finished 3. That Obligation of the said Lord of Candall unto the Churches was put into Monsieur Merlin's hands to be reserved in the Archives of the Consistory of the Church of Rochel And a collationed Copy of this Original shall be produced in the next National Synod by the Deputies of that Province 4. Our Deputies at Court shall assist the Pastors of our Churches who are Forreigners by Birth to get out Letters of Naturalization from his Majesty 5. The Lord of Candall Receiver General for the Churches shall deliver in to our Lords General Deputies before the 15th day of August next coming a Breviate of his Accounts together with all Acquittances Evidences and Proofs of it 6. There having been several Writings and Memoirs prepared at Chastelheraud to be tendered unto his Majesty wherewith Monsieur de Crois had been intrusted he surrendred unto this Assembly the Writings concerning Religion Justice the Treasury and our Cautionary Towns in seven dictinct Pieces as also all the Evidences belonging to the said Writings and their Acquittances which were either given or offered by him unto the Deputies of the Provinces to whom they did properly belong Moreover he put into the Archives of the Guildhall of the City of Rochel the Writs concerning the Continuation of the Cautionary Towns As also he delivered into the hands of this Assembly the last Warrant granted for discharge of the Deputies and the nomination of those who were now called into Office And over and above all this he yielded up the Letters Patents for exemption of our Ministers with the Decree of their Verification in the Court of Aids at
that aforesaid Decree in the said Church This Assembly having heard Monsieur Merlin speak in behalf of the Synod and Monsieur Bonnet for the Colloquy judged that the Church of Soubize failed in their Letter of Summons inserting a clause that the Colloquy had exceeded their power by an over-rigorous censure inflicted on the said Church and Minister and it approveth the Decree of the Synod against the said Colloquy But for as much as publication hath not been made of it we do ordain that it shall be forborn only Monsieur Petit shall read in the Consistory of the Church of St. Just this present Article that so the honour of the said Minister maybe repaired 39. Bertrand Faugier formerly Minister of the Church of Viners in Dolphiny appealed from the Decree of the Synod of that Province whereby he was Deposed from the Sacred Ministry but his Appeal was declared null and void for non-appearance in person at this Assembly 40. The Appeal of the Church of Lamure in Dolphiny from a Decree of their Provincial Synod being only about Money matters shall according to the Canon made at Rochel be determined by the next adjoining Province CHAP. VI. Of General Matters 1. NO Church shall seek a Minister for it self out of the Province unless it have first consulted with the Colloquies or Synod of the Province 2. The Provinces shall be admonished carefully to observe the tenth Article of the eighth Chapter of our discipline wherein are declared the proper causes which may be brought by Appeals unto our National Synods and if any shall hereafter bring those matters before us which are determinable in Provincial Synods they shall not be heard And Provincial Synods shall give notice hereof unto such persons as Appeal without just cause 3. The Deputies of those Provinces in which are erected the Mixt Courts consisting of half Protestants and half Papists are ordered in the name of this Assembly to wait upon the Lords Presidents and Counsellors of those Mixed Courts professing the Reformed Religion and to exhort them to persevere in their zeal and good affection to the general welfare of the Churches and of their poor oppressed Members who have recourse to them for justice against their oppressors and Letters shall be written to them to this purpose 4. The Consistory of Nerac shall in the Name of this Assembly exhort the Lords Presidents and Counsellors professing the Reformed Religion in the mixt-Court of Guyenne to take special care that nothing do pass in their Court to the prejudice of the Edicts and Articles granted to the Professors of our Religion and that private persons may not be unjustly oppressed And in case of their neglect and connivency at such injustice the Consistory of the said Church shall proceed against them by all Church Censures 5. The Deputies of Lower Languedoc moved this Question what course should be taken with those persons against whom the Consistories having proceeded by Church Censures for their delinquencies according to the Discipline were yet abetted by their Friends and Kinred who combining together with them against the Consistories do forbear hearing of Sermons neglect Sacraments and refuse their ordinary contributions towards the maintenance of the Ministry It was decreed that they be prosecuted both abettors and abetted with all Church-Censures and Colloquies and Provincial Synods ordered are to take special care that these Censures be duly executed 6. The Deputies of the Isle of France and Picardy propounding it the Provinces are charged to proceed against such as do by underhand dealings canvass for deputations unto Politcal Assemblies by all Church Censures And they who Represent the Provinces shall make oath that they never obtained to be Deputies by any of those unfair practices and in all Elections of members unto such Assemblies in whatsoever place Burrough City or Province that they neither have nor shall in any wise give their Votes for them who by such undue courses have demanded Craftily contrived or Ambitiously affected and sought after those Deputations nor have they nor will they seek or demand the same for themselves by such or the like ways and means And in case his Majesty out of his Royal Bounty should defray their charges at those General Assemblies It is ordained that the Moneys so given by him shall be received by the Treasurer of the Churches for their benefit and the Churches shall pay the respective Deputies all the expences of their Journy Professors are exempted from all Deputations unto Political Assemblies 7. the Provinces are injoyned never to depute unto our General National Assemblies whether Political or Ecclesiastical the Professors of Theology nor shall they be imployed in any Deputations unto Court And whether they shall be sent or not unto our National Synods it 's left wholly to the prudence of the Provinces 8. Theophilus Bleuitt otherwise called de la Combe having been deposed from the Ministry by the Province of Anjou and his deposition ratified by an act of the last National Synod held at Rochel presented himself unto this Assembly craving the favour of re-admission into the Ministry The Assembly having heard the causes for which he was deposed and those enormous Crimes whereof he stood convicted declareth him utterly unworthy of that Sacred Office yea that he shall not be so much as suffered to teach School in any of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom and forbids him for the future ever to put his foot within any of our Synodical Assemblies more 9. The Deputies of the Isle of France moving it this Assembly decreed that in those Provinces where that Custom was established of bringing the fifth Penny of all Charities to the Colloquies or Provincial Synods to be employed in the maintenance of our Proposans shall continue it as long as they see it expedient And in case any Churches of the Provinces should oppose themselves against it they be enjoyned to conform unto the practice of the major party on pain of being deprived of the Ministry In consequence hereof the Deputy of Burgundy complaining of the great inconveniencies befallen them by the Exemption of the Church of Lion from this Ordinance it was again decreed that the said Church should be subjected to it as well as the other Churches of that Province 10. It 's left to the prudence of Consistories to judge what Poor are fit to be relieved by every particular Church and who are to be sent back unto the places of their Nativity or of their former Residence And herein to carry it with all Charity both towards the Poor and those Churches whereunto they do return them An Order for maimed Souldiers bearing the Cross on their Cloaks 11. The Deputies of the Lower Guyenne moving it this Assembly resolved That Protestant Souldiers to receive the Relief granted by His Majesty unto those who had been maimed in His Service might wear the Cross on their Cloaks not as a Badge of Superstition but as the Mark and Cognisance of their
might be Censured 3. The Lord of Barjac was Censured for not adhearing to the Resolutions taken in the Assembly of Saumur by plurality of suffrages Anno 1611. And for joyning himself unto their private Cabal who would have made the Lesser number carry it from the greater contrary to the Natural Order of all Synods But the said Lord of Barjac giving publick Testimony of his sorrow for this Miscarriage and protesting seriously for the future never in any wise to depart from the Universally received order of being Concluded by the Majority of Votes his Censure was taken off and his offence remitted to him To prevent all divisions in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom this National Synod framed an Act or Oath of Union to be taken by all the Deputies CHAP. III. The Oath of Vnion sworn by all the Deputies of the Reformed Churches of France assembled in the National Synod at Privas in Vivaretz and subscribed by them all the day month and year above-mitten WE whose Names are here under written Deputies for the Reformed Churches of France Assembled in a National Synod at the Town of Privas in the Province of Vivaretz knowing by past-experience that nothing is more needful to preserve the Weal Peace and good Estate of the said Churches than an holy Union and unviolable Concord both in Doctrine Discipline and their Dependencies and that the said Churches cannot long subsist without a good intimate and mutual Conjunction one with the other and better kept than formerly Being for this cause desirous to remove all seeds of disunion and occasions of divisions which may hereafter trouble the said Churches and to prevent all Impostures Calumnies private Factions Plots and Practices by which divers persons ill-affected to our Religion do endeavour to dissipate and ruine them Which quickens us more than ever to find out by joynt accord and Common Consent the proper and most effectual means of our just lawful and necessary conservation in the aforesaid Union under that obedience due unto his Majesty our Soveraign Lord and the Queen his Mother We have in the Name of all our Churches and for their good and for the service of their Majesties Sworn and Protested and we do Swear and Protest Promising also our utmost Endeavour that these very self-same protestations shall be ratified in and by all our Provinces to remain inseparably united and conjoyned in that confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom read in this Synod approved and ratified by every one of us Swearing not only in our own Name but also in the respective Names of all the Churches of our Provinces which have Deputed us unto this Synod that we will live and die in it As also we Protest in our own and their Names to keep inviolably that Ecclesiastical Discipline Established in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom and to see its Canons observed for the better Government of these our Churches and the reformation of life and manners Acknowledging that it is Most agreeable to Gods holy Word whose Authority is Supream And we Protest and Swear to yield all obedience and fidelity to their said Majesties desiring nothing else but that under the Protection of their Edicts we may serve our God with Liberty of Conscience CHAP. IV. Observation on Reading the Confession of Faith 1. WHereas there is mention made in the 14th Article of the Heresies of Servetus some of the Deputies desired that the specifying of them might be removed because those his Heresies are now as it were dead and buried and the Deputies of the Provinces in pursuance of that Decree past in the last National Synod of St. Maixant having brought with them the Judgment of their respective Provinces upon this Subject it was thought meet that nothing should be innovated in that Article but that it should be entirely left as we found it 2. That Union in Doctrine may be preserved among us and no Errors may be suffered to creep into our Churches All Pastors in actual service and all Proposans who are to be received into the Ministry shall sign this following Article I Whose Name is here under-written do receive and approve the Contents of the Confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom and do promise to persevere in it until death and to believe and teach agreeably thereunto And whereas some persons contend about the sense of the eighteenth Article treating of our Justification I declare and protest before God that I understand it in the same sense in which it is received in our Churches approved by our National Synods agreeably to the Word of God which is That our Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to the Moral and Ceremonial Law not only for our good but also in our stead and that his whole Obedience yielded by him thereunto is imputed to us and that our Justification consists not only in the forgiveness of sins but also in the Imputation of his Active Righteousness and subjecting my self unto the Word of God I believe that the Son of Man came to serve and that he was not a Servant because he came into the World I do also promise that I will never depart from the Doctirne received in our Churches and that I will yield all Obedience to the Canons of our National Synods in this matter And this Article shall be religiously observed in and by all the Provinces 3. Our Printers be forbidden henceforward to print the Confession of Faith with this Title The Confession of Faith revised and amended by the National Synod 4 The Confession of Faith being read and heard was approved by all the Deputies who protested that by the Grace of God they would live and die in it As was manifest by their Act in swearing the said Union CHAP. V. Observations upon Reading of our Church-Discipline Article 1. IN reading and revising the Discipline of our Churches this National Synod voted That whereas in the close of the second Canon of the first Chapter the time and manner of admitting Novices lately converted from Popery to the Reformed Religion are particularly specified Now instead of these words Unless in a Provincial Synod these ensuing shall be inserted Unless by the Advice of Provincial and National Synods and the said Canon shall be finished with this Sentence Nor shall they be Ordained by Imposition of Hands no more than if they were unknown persons without the Advice of Provincial and National Synods Article 2. On the third Canon of the first Chapter after these words which do almost conclude it And after long experience had of his Repentance and Godly Conversation There shall be nothing added but the last clause shall be blotted out viz. He being found meet and sit and sufficiently qualified to teach the Church may be chosen and called unto the Sacred Ministry Article 3. The Deputies of Burgundy demanding that they might not be bound by that Canon of the Synod of St. Maixant that seven Pastors should be
present at the Examination of that person who is called unto the Ministry because there is so great a distance between the Churches of their Province which renders its observation impossible and impracticable as also because the most of their Colloquies are composed but of five Pastors This Assembly for many and weighty reasons would not in the least change that Article and therefore advised them to defer the Examination of the Candidate until the Meeting of their Provincial Synod Article 4. On the * * * This is now the 19th in one Edit 1653. and in that of 1663. but that 20th in 1666. and in 1678. eighteenth Canon of the first Chapter which enjoyned Ministers to press their People to Modesty in their Garments and by themselves and their Families to be patterns of it unto their Flocks great complaints were made and brought in against many Ministers not only of their neglects but also of their opposition to it and that their Wives and Children were very vain and immodest in their Garbs and Dresses This Synod earnestly desiring to remove so great a scandal doth give express order unto all Moderators of Colloquies and Provincial Synods to reform those Excesses by the severest Censures and the refractory shall by the Authority of this Synod be suspended from their Ministry until such time as they have removed this scandal And that this Canon may be better and more strictly observed permission is given unto private persons according to the Rules of our Discipline to inform their Consistories of those aforesaid Excesses and to demand a reformation of them which in case it be denied they may address themselves unto the Colloquies who shall enforce them to it by Censures even both the Consistories and their Abettors Article 5. The fourth Canon of the fourth Chapter shall be couched in these terms That those disorders may be prevented which daily happen through Certificates given unto the Poor every Church shall endeavour to maintain its own Poor and in case any poor person should be constrained through the urgency of his Affairs to travel abroad then Ministers shall carefully examine him in their Consistories about the causes of his Journey and give him Letters directed to the next Church lying in the right way that he must go specifying his name age stature hair and place whereunto and the cause of his Travel and that assistance which was given him together with the date of the day and year which Letters that Church whereunto he is directed shall keep by it and give him others unto the next And all Certificates formerly given shall be torn in pieces Article 6. These words shall be added unto the 28th Canon of the fifth Chapter Unless in case of High Treason according to the known Judgment of former Synods Article 7. Unto the same words in the 30th Canon of the same Chapter Unless in case of High Treason these words following shall be added Revealed unto the Magistrate Article 8. The Deputies of the Isle of France demanded an exposition upon the 18th Canon of the fifth Chapter of our Discipline about Appeals from publick Suspensions that they might know whether a Consistory having decreed a publick Suspension against a delinquent Member or Minister and he appealing from it they might notwithstanding his Appeal yet proceed unto Suspension This Synod determineth that the Consistory ought not to proceed any farther but shall admit of the Appeal unless it be in case of publick Crimes notoriously known unto the whole Church And the next Colloquy or Provincial Synod shall judge finally of that Appeal Article 9. Express order is given unto the Provinces to see that the 33d Article of the fifth Chapter of our Discipline be punctually observed and obeyed Article 10. In pursuance of the Observations made by the National Synod of Rochel on the ninth Article of the fifth Chapter of our Discipline after these words Pastors and Elders these shall be added nor shall there be any Appeals admitted from full Consistories nor from the greater part of them yet the said Appeals shall be in force against particular members of the said Consistory whether Pastors or Elders provided those Appeals be received by the Consistory and being approved by it they may proceed farther Notwithstanding any Appeal brought in to the contrary upon the admission or rejecting of the said Appeals Article 11. A Case was moved whether in those Churches where there is but one Pastor and an Appeal is brought against him the Elders may judge of this controversy This Synod determines that Elders may judge of all emerging differences yea so far as of suspension from the Lords Table matters of Doctrine and of Excommunication only excepted In which two points Elders may not judge without their Pastor Article 12. The Deputies of Berry demanding how we should carry it towards malefactors accused of unpardonable Crimes by the Civil Laws and yet giving Laudable Testimonies of their Repentance did Demand the consolation of communion with us in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper This Synod judgeth that the Criminal giving plenary satisfaction unto the Church he may be received into Communion with us at the Lords Table although he cannot expert from the King any Pardon of his Crime One Jurisdiction not clashing with the other Article 13. The 24th Canon of the 5th Chapter shall be thus worded He whose suspension had been declared unto the Congregation and afterwards evidencing his repentance before the Consistory by good works and a godly life and sufficient Testimonies shall be received unto the peace and fellowship of the Church upon the acknowledgment of his offence Article 14. A difficulty was moved whether Promises of Marriage made in words de Futuro were as obliging and indissolvable as those by words de praesenti This Assembly judgeth they be not of equal force and vertue there being as great a difference between words de praesenti and de futuro as between promise and performance word and deed For 't is a clear case Espoused persons may on divers accounts be separated which cannot dissolve a Marriage already consummated as difference in Religion unknown before the promises impotency fallen out by some accident since the promises And this is farther evident by the publication of Banes after Betrothings which is therefore done that any one may have Liberty to bring in his reasons against it which are never admitted when Marriages are celebrated but only when they be designed and promised And often times it so falls out that one of the Espoused Parties retracting its promises takes up a Resolution never to marry whence it would follow that if Betrothed persons were bound by words de futuro then the Innocent and wronged Party should never marry which would intangle Conscience in very great Temptations and tho God hath ordained that whom he hath joyned together Man shall not in any wise part asunder yet they may be separated by the Civil Magistrate And that Authority of the
last Supper but yet permitted his Apostles to distribute among themselves the Bread and the Cup. And as to the abridgment of these words which we bless this Assembly judgeth that none should be employed but such as can authoritatively utter all the words of Institution Nor can the Example of the Church of Geneva any ways relieve the Church of Metz because that at Geneva in their delivery of the Cup the Deacons are silent but not so the Pastors For which causes and that the Authority and Reverence due unto this holy Sacrament may be kept up and maintained the said Church is exhorted to conform it self in this matter unto the Example and Practice of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the general Custom of our Churches and this to be done by the sweetest ways possible without any thing of violence 23. This Assembly was informed how that the Consistory of the Church at Orleans and in particular a certain Elder of it called Mesmein did but with a previous Protestation to declare unto the Supream Magistrate and to the Kings Attorney the matters transacted in it set themselves against an Order of the Provincial Synod held at Blois ordaining a General Colloquy in pursuance of the Decrees of their former Provincial Synods as also that the Sieur Eruet Doctor in Physick had writ a Defamatory Libel against that Canon of the Assembly of Saumur which enjoyned all the Provinces to establish Counsels for their mutual safety and against that Decree of the said Synod held at Blois This Assembly reproving and condemning all these Proceedings as being contrary to our Discipline and to the Union of all our Churches did Depute the Sieurs du Moulin la Fresnaye and Cartaud Pastors together with the Sieurs Bigot Manevill and du Bois Elders as they return in their way homewards to pass unto Orleans and there to Assemble the Consistory and notify unto them the pleasure of this National Synod which is that the Canons and orders of Saumur be observed as best agreeing with our duty unto their Majesties and what had been practised during the life of Henry the Great of Glorious memory and full Power is given unto the said Commissioners to determine finally in the Name and Authority of this Assembly of this affair and to suspend and remove all past excesses in and about it whatsoever and the Charges of the said Deputies during their abode at Orleans shall be defrayed by that Province 24. The Appeal of Master John de Vassan Pastor of the Church of the Castel upon Loir who stands accused of several Crimes and suspended by the Commissioners which were Deputed by the Provincial Synod of Anjou is dismissed over to the next approaching Synod of that Province and in case he do not appear in person to justify himself he is from this very instant declared to be deposed from the Sacred Ministry 25. The Sieurs d' Arguillon and Barnier two Magistrates of the City of Nismes together with Arnold Guyrand second Consul and Vestric Favier a Member of their Common Council as also the Sieurs Suffren and Chambrun Pastors of the said Church of Nismes deputed by their Consistory unto this Assembly did instantly and most importunately intreat that their Pastor Monsieur Ferrier might not be removed from them notwithstanding what had been before resolved about him in this Assembly as also that he might at their request be restored to them and that leave might be granted him to assist personally in Political Assemblies in case he were commissionated thereunto Whereupon the said Deputies of Nismes being demanded if they had any thing to offer from the said du Ferrier answered that he had charged them with nothing as from himself The Assembly having maturely debated the Remonstrances and Petitions of the said Deputies and applauded their Zeal and great Love to Monsieur Ferrier gave them to understand that forasmuch as the causes moving them to transport the said Ferrier out of the Province were still valid and in being they could not depart from their former Resolution which was not taken up on design of reflecting on or interesting the said Church of Nismes for which they have as high an esteem and value as for any other Church of Christ in the Kingdom and they hope that the whole Church will submit it self unto this Synodical Decree Whereupon the said Deputies and particularly the Sieur d' Arguillon speaking first renewed with great vehemency his desires adding very injurious words full of menaces threatning us with the confusions that would arise hereupon in the Church of Nismes and that he would give them notice of it He was seconded according as it had been concerted among them in private by the Sieur Vestrie Favier with discourses full of Arrogancy and Threats with a Protestation of Appeal unto another Synod and let this do what it pleased they would never part with the said Monsieur Ferrier and that he should continue to exercise his Ministry both in Nismes and in the Province also Accusing this Assembly of passion and partiality in its Judgment Whereupon the Assembly desiring an Act of Record for such injurious Language and to know whether the said Deputies would avow or disavow it the said Vestrie returning again into the Synod to evidence his owning of all his former discourses gave us Memoirs of them stuft with falshoods and calumnies all subscribed and attested with his own hand the which Copy was ordered to be safe kept and forth-coming in case of need at the next National Synod 26. And the Sieurs Suffren and Chambrun are sharply censured for becoming the Bearers of such Libellous and injurious writings against this Assembly to whom it was declared that they might and ought to have excused themselves from any conjunction in such a Deputation because by their departure from the City of Nismes the whole Church was left without a Pastor and this their offence was judged so grievous and their contempt of this Assembly so intolerable that they deserved a very long suspension from their Ministry Yet nevertheless out of pure respect unto the Church of Nismes and that it may not be left destitute of its Ministers The Synod doth Mercifully pardon them their offence and injoyns them most strictly upon their return unto Nismes to do their utmost that this Synodical decree be put in execution against the said Ferrier and that they do their utmost endeavour to prevent whatever Murmurings or troubles may hereupon fall out and that they keep their Church in peace And in Case after the dissolution of this Assembly they presume to act contrary to what is now commanded them the next Colloquy of Lions is authorized to proceed against them and all other Pastors and Elders Complices with them in the same Rebellion even to suspension yea and deposition from their respective charges And as for Monsieur Ferrier this Assembly will provide him a Church out of the Province which shall be signified unto him and
to be kept by Monsieur Ligonnier in his hands was declared null and rejected and the act of that Synod was ordered to be put in execution and made effectual 42. The Sieur Collinet appealing from the decree of the Provincial Synod of Burgundy this Assembly ordained that that Province should defray the expences of his journey to Court because he was sent thither to carry the verbal process of the Churches of Chaalons Paray c. 43. The Consistory of Mornac appealed from the Decree of the Synod of Xaintonge which had ordained that the said Church should pay unto the Sieur Cocque their Pastor his arrears due unto him from them but this their appeal was rejected by this Assembly who also injoin the said Church to make full payment unto him of his just dues or otherwise they should be deprived of the Sacred Ministry of the Gospel by the next Colloquy of the Isles or by the Provincial Synod who have all authority given them so to do from this Assembly 44. The Sieur Suffran appealed from the Colloquy of Lionnois which had suspended him from his Ministry to which he saith he submitted purely out of fear This Assembly having heard the Deputies of that Colloquy and the arguments of the said Suffran comprised in a Script of His presented to us finds the Colloquy to have judged prudently and piously in every particular of their Sentence and ordaineth that he be provided of a Church as soon as may be in the Province of Lower Languedoc or in some neighbour Province and that in the mean while a portion of Moneys allotted unto the Pastors shall be detained in the hands of the Lord du Candal to be paid unto him With this condition that when as he shall be provided of a Church that portion shall be put upon the score of the Province wherein it lieth and he officiates CHAP. VIII General Matters 1. THE Province of Higher Languedoc and Guyenne proposed that a most humble Petition might be tender'd by them unto their Majesties that they would be pleased to grant unto their Ministers a full maintenance This Synod is of opinion that it were more proper for a Politick Provincial Assembly to make this request than for us which are but an Ecclesiastical 2. The same Province moved another case Whether Consistories might be allowed to give in evidence unto the Civil Magistrate against insolent and outragious persons abusing their Pastors or Elders who called them according to the Duty of their Places before them This answer was returned that that Canon of our Discipline forbidding the discovery unto a Civil Judicature of matters transacted in the Consistory ought not to be restrained to the sole confessions of Crimes but is to be understood in the most comprehensive sence of all things whatsoever excepting only such riots and outrages whose fact being notorious it may be lawful to inform the Magistrate of But as for outragious words of what kind soever they may be Consistories shall apply the censures of the Church to redress and reform them 3. The Province of Higher Guyenne requested that there might be a particular Canon made for removing Elders from their office in the Churches 1614. The 21th Synod and that the time of their coming in and going out might be fixt and limited This Assembly Judgeth that this matter should be left to the prudence of Provincial Synods But nevertheless it ordaineth that if an Elder be deputed unto a National Synod by his Province he shall continue in his office tho the term thereof be expired until such time as he have discharged the trust reposed in him and shall have given an account unto the Province of those affairs concredited to him and dispatched by him in that National Synod 4. Forasmuch as divers Provinces have remonstrated that by Reason of the continuance and growth of ungodliness we be daily threatned with the most dreadful Judgments of God and that there is an indispensable necessity of extraordinary prayers unto the throne of Grace for the prosperity of their Majesties and for imploring the good blessing of God upon the beginning and progress of the Kings personal Government who will be very shortly declared Major and that the publick weal of the State may be promoted the Peace and Union of our Churches more firmly stablished that therefore we be called out to celebrate a publick Fast in all the Churches of this Kingdom This Assembly for these causes now-mentioned doth appoint the fourth day of this next September to be observed generally in all the Churches of this Kingdom as a day of Solemn Prayer Humiliation and Fasting And as for those extraordinary Prayers which are used 't is left unto the Churches prudence where they be in use either to continue them or lay them down 5. The Deputies of Berry demanding some alteration in that Canon of the National Synod of Rochell concerning Monks 3 Rochel g. m. 16. See St. Maixant ob 4 upon the same Synod who forsaking their Convents were to be sent back unto their respective Provinces Because it lays a very burdensom charge upon the poor Churches which are utterly unable to Support under it This Assembly Judged it not their duty to make any change in that Canon only it adviseth the Provinces to be very circumspect in their reception of such persons and in the dispensation of their charities lest they become a charge unto the Provinces which do already need relief 6. At the request of the Provincial Deputies of Burgundy and Orleans 2 Syn. of Vitré g. m. 38. our Lords the General Deputies are intreated and exhorted and also by this Assembly to get those Letters Patents for exempting the Pastors of our Churches from all taxes and other subsidies verified they having been already granted And the Deputies of the Provinces in this Synod are charged to carry back this same Petition unto their Mixt Provincial Assemblies that so they may joyn their most humble requests with those of the General Assembly in case it be not done before the time of their meeting 7. The Province of Dolphiny desired that those words Prestre and Préstrise in the 5th Section of our Catechism might be changed into those of Sacrificateur and Sacrificateure because none questioned their sence and meaning and for that words were received by common usage The Assembly did not Judge it any wise convenient to alter these words 8. At the request of divers Provinces it was ordained that our National Synods should not only not innovate any thing in the confession of Faith Catechism Liturgy and Discipline of our Churches unless the matter had been first Proposed by one or more Provinces but also unless it were a thing of very great importance nor should that be resolved on till such time as all the Provinces being duely informed of it had first debated it at home in their respective Synods and if it so happen that any of them shall have considered of it before the
for some weighty reasons and motives it doth at present accept of their Appeal and amending the Decree of that Provincial Synod ordaineth that the Canon made in the National Synod of Tonneins be put in Execution and whereas the said Church of Niort have been at needless Expences in seeking Ministers to supply them abroad without the Province all their Costs and Charges shall be limited and restrained to the sum of two hundred Livers to be payed them out of the monies allotted unto the said Province nor shall Monsieur Chauffepied be at all obliged to make any restitution out of the monies given him for his pains and travel unto the said General Assembly 8. The Church of Chastelheraut appealing from a judgment of the Province of Poictou their Appeal was admitted notwithstanding it had been decreed otherwise in former National Synods Though still the Provinces be exhorted to conform themselves unto their Orders of else they shall be remanded back re infectâ who ever bring unto these Assemblies matters which may and ought to be judged in a Neighbour Province and therefore amending the Sentence of the Synod of Poictou it ordaineth that whereas the Church of Chastelheraut had exhibited an hundred Livers towards the maintenance of a certain Fellow named Pichon formerly a Franciscan Fryar the Province of Poictou shall reimburse the said Church the sum of fifty Livers 9. Monsieur Paul Bonnet formerly Pastor in the Church of Saujon Alez Obs 17. on this Synod appealing from the judgment of the Colloquy of the Isles and since from that of the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge which had ratified the Sentence of the said Colloquy by vertue whereof he was suspended the holy Ministry until such time as he had fully cleared himself from that crime whereof he was impeached and accused This Assembly having heard the Deputies of that Province and the Arguments and grounds of their proceedings against him and the said Bonnet speak in his own defence approved the Decrees both of the Synod and Colloquy and ordained that his suspension should be continued until the next meeting of the Provincial Synod of Poictou which will be about six months hence and at present doth Commissionate the Sieurs Chesneau Pastor of the Church of S. Maixant and Papin Pastor of the Church of St. Hermin to take with them each an Elder either from their own or the Neighbour Churches at their own choice and to pass over unto those places at the charges of the Province of Xaintonge where the Crimes of which he stands accused were committed and they shall make strict and particular inquiry into the truth of them and make report thereof unto the said Provincial Synod who shall judge finally by authority from this Assembly of the whole affair either by aggravating his Censure in Case he be found guilty or by restoring the said Bonnet if innocent unto the holy Ministry which yet he shall never any more exercise within the said Province of Xaintonge and till this judgment be executed the said Bonnet shall be received into Communion with us at the Lord's Table but in another Church than that of Saujon And that portion of moneys given us by his Majesty and received under his name by the Province of Xaintonge shall be detained by the Receiver of the said Province to be restored to him free of all Taxes and Costs from the time of his deprival in case he be declared innocent absolv'd and justified but and if he be found guilty the said Province shall be responsible for it in their accounts unto the next National Synod And whereas the Church of Saujon demands reimbursement of costs expended by them during Bonnets absence they be remanded back unto the said Province of Poictou who shall judge definitively herein and the next Synod of Xaintonge shall come to an account with the Church of Saujon and pay them all their charges which are in justice due unto them without expecting the Declaration of that final Judgment which was before mentioned 10. The Church of Belin having appealed from a Decree of the Synod of Brittain which had ordained the said Church to reimburse Monsieur de la Place Pastor of the Church of Sion a certain sum of moneys owing by them unto Monsieur Aveline his Father-in-Law deceased The whole business was dismissed over to the Consistory of this Church of Vitré because it was not of that nature or moment as to be brought hither or determined by these Assemblies 11. The Appeal of the Church of Beziers from a Decree of the Synod of Lower Languedoc which had refused to give them two supernumerary portions is rejected because the said Church neither sent any Memoirs about it nor any one to report the true Causes of their said Appeal 12. The Appeal of the Church of Genouillac from a Judgment of the Synod of Lower Languedoc is also rejected and declared null because they sent not any Memoir about it and the Reverend and Learned Monsieur De Croy is confirmed in the Pastoral Office of the Church of Beziers 13. Whereas the Lord of Soubeyran Consul of the City of Aimargues and certain Inhabitants of the said City have appealed unto this present Assembly from the Synod of Lower Languedoc which had confirmed Monsieur Boulet in the Pastoral Office of their Church and had refused to restore unto them Monsieur Laurent neither of those persons having appeared for them nor having sent any Memoirs unto the National Synod they were declared to be fallen from their Appeal and to have lost all benefit and advantage by it and the Judgment of the Provincial Synod was now ratified and the rather because the Elder of the said Church yielded his consent unto it in the name of the Consistory and farther declared that the Ministry of the said Monsieur Boulet was exceeding edifying and successful and very acceptable unto the whole Church Wherefore the Colloquy of Nismes is charged to pursue the opposers of Monsieur Boulet's Ministry and settlement there with all Church-Censures 14. The Church of Privas appealed from a Decree of the Synod of Vivaretz Privas Art 10. of Colledges which had transferr'd their Colledge setled in their Town and confirmed by the National Synod there in the year 1612. unto the Churches of Aubenas and Annonay but they not appearing about it nor sending any Memoirs unto this Assembly the said Appeal was laid by until the next National Synod 15. Another Appeal of the same Church of Privas which was brought in from a Judgment of the Synod of Vivaretz that had injoined them to pay unto the Widow of Monsieur Valeton deceased the remainder of his Wages due unto him as also what he had disbursed out of his own pocket for their service was declared null and the Judgment of that Synod ratified 16. The Judgment of the Synod of Burgundy declaring that the Church of Mascon could not lay any claim of right unto the Ministry of Monsieur de
4. that it would please this Assembly to make a Decree that the Churches of Vic Figenseac Eutre and Leyran now lying in the Province of lower Guyenne and joyned to it might be separated from it and incorporated with the Colloquy of Armagnac lying in the Province of higher Languedoc It was ordered That the two Provinces should confer about it and hear the Opinion of those Churches upon the case and afterward they should determine that which they conceived would be most expedient for them Tâ—â—neins Appeal 34. 12. Monsieur Grand Pastor in the Church of Cajarc in the Province of higher Languedoc did by Letters humbly petition this Assembly to take off the Censure filed against him by the National Synod of Tonneins which had forbidden him any more to Preach in the Church of Caussade The Consuls and Elders also of the said Church and Town joyned with him in the same Petition This Assembly having considered the Testimonials given of him by the Colloquy of upper Quercy and also by the Synod of higher Languedoc do give power unto the said Province to license Monsieur Grand to return and exercise his Ministry as formerly in the Church of Caussade but in the first place they shall most diligently consider whether his Presence and Preaching there will be for its edification and that the Church of Cajarc be duly supplied by another Minister 13. The Church of Saumur contested with the Province of Brittain about a Pension and Maintenance exhibited by them unto Julian Fournier who had quitted the Convent of Capuchins in the City of Blois The Deputies of Anjou and Brittain having been both heard this Assembly moderated the said Charges and reduced them to the Sum of fifty Livers to wit twenty Livers for his Diet and thirty for his Cloths which said Sum shall be paid unto the Church of Saumur by the Province of Brittain out of the Monies granted us by his Majesty's liberality 14. The Lord Baron of Tournebu writ unto this Assembly by an Elder of the Church of Falaise that his late deceased Lady hath bequeathed as a Legacy some considerable Sums of Money which are in the Province of Zealand to be employed in the educating of a Scholar either of Zealand Basil or Geneva that may hereafter serve the Church of Essars in the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments And whereas the Sum bequeathed will not suffice for that purpose the said Lord promiseth on his Honour to make up the rest After the Deputies of Normandy had been heard the Assembly applauding the Design and Zeal of this noble Lord orders the Province of Normandy to intreat the said Lord not to chuse any Scholar out of this Kingdom and that he would be pleas'd to advise with his Colloquy and Synod about him and in case he should not grant unto us our desire he shall be at his full liberty to chuse him whence and where he will but with this Proviso That as soon as he shall be sit for service he be presented unto the Province and admitted by it according to the Canons of our Church-Discipline 15. The Colloquy of Foix in the Province of Higher Languedoc writ and sent their Complaints unto this Assembly of those grievous Oppressions the Churches in those parts have undergone for these last six Years and the great Sums they have been necessitated to expend in keeping possession of our Cautionary Towns there and to support themselves in the Courts of Parliament Chambers of the Edict and the Council of State This Assembly advised the said Colloquy first of all to apply themselves unto their own Province For we could not divert the Monies given for our Minister's subsistence unto any other uses 16. The Colloquy of Gex petitioned this Assembly to compassionate the deep Poverty of their Ministers and to add something by way of augmentation to what was given them in the Synod of Tonneins for their better maintenance Whereupon a Decree past that the Lord of Candal should be desired to pay those Ministers in the first place before any others and that the sixty Livers heretofore allotted towards the maintenance of their Colledge and taken out of the Common Stock of the Churches should not any longer be allowed because there is provision made for the said Colledge another way 17. Monsieur Codur Professor of Hebrew in the University of Montpellier complained that he was never paid his Salery since he exercised his Ministry in the Province of Provence This Assembly dismissed his Affair over to the Pastors and Elders of Lower Languedoc who are ordered by this Assembly to visit the Synod of Provence and to see that those Churches which have been served by the said Monsieur Codur do account with him and give him full satisfaction 18. The Province of Berry declaring that the last National Synod of Tonneins had by a special Order appointed the Lord of Candal to detain by him one portion under the Name of Monsieur Hume and to be paid into that Province in which he should be imployed as a Pastor and he being called to the Cure of Souls in the said Province yet they could never receive a Penny of the said portion as was evident from the Accompts of the said Lord Du Candal Whereupon this Assembly did expresly injoyn him immediately to accompt with the said Province and to pay them out of hand what is owing to them 19. David Chauveton a Scholar Alez Obs 10. upon this Syn. maintained by the Province of the Isle of France and since received into the Ministry and ordained Pastor to the Church of Claye from which having first obtained licence for three Months he departed to visit his aged and diseased Father Pastor in the Church of Limeueill in the Province of lower Guyenne but returned not according to his promise for which cause the said Province hath censured him and condemned him to make a full restitution of all their Charges they were at in his preparatory Studies to the Sacred Ministry Which he not having done they complained of him unto this Assembly who considering that the said Chauveton had served full three Years in the Ministry among them and that he came back unto the Consistory of Paris and offered himself to minister as formerly in the Church of Claye or in any other they would be pleased to provide for him did nevertheless reprove him for not being punctual to his promise in returning at the time prefixed nor sending some lawful excuse for his absence and the Province of Lower Guyenne could not receive the said Chauveton without the consent and dismission of the Isle of France whose he was and therefore ordaineth that the said Chauveton shall pay within one Year the Sum of three hundred Livers unto the said Province in lieu of all their Demands from him for Charges they were at in his Education at School and University And in case he be not able to do it the Province of Lower Guyenne shall disburse the
the Sacred Ministry which he hath vented in scurrilous and opprobrious Language against the said Boulet And finally the Commissioners deputed by the Colloquy to meet at Nismes about this matter they were very sharply censured for wasting their time and putting the Parties to so great charges by their tedious dilatory proceedings utterly unbecoming their Calling 22. A great Number of the Inhabitants of the Town of Sauve appealed from the Censure inflicted on them by the Synod of Sevennes held at Vigan the 24th day of April in the year Sixteen Hundred and Seventeen and requested that the said censure might be rased and taken out of the Acts of the said Synod and the Consistory there joyned with them as also Monsieur Bony contented so far as that they might have another Minister to exercise among them though herein he acted contrary to the Decree of that Synod which had inhibited them all Inquiries after a Second Pastor This Assembly judging this Affair not to be of their kind which ought to be tendered unto the National Synods doth therefore remand them and it back again unto the Province and either in a Colloquy or Synod to procure for themselves another Minister according to the Rules prescribed by our Discipline and for Peace sake it does amend the Censure of the Synod of Vigan and ordaineth That those words inserted in it of factions and quarrelsome shall be rased out of it 23. The Church of Lormarin together with their Pastor Monsieur Morrice and Corrigier one of their Elders appealed from the Synod of Provence held at Remoules in May last which having suspended the said Morrice for three Moneths from the Ministry the same Synod did some few days after restore him again And yet afterwards they compelled them the said Morrice and Corrigier to beg the pardon of that Synod upon their knees the Moderator calling upon God in Prayer before hand on purpose to expose them when as there was no cause at all nor had there been any on their part for so great an Indignity they having given no provocation which might merit such ignominious usage This Assembly condemneth the Province of Provence for abusing our Discipline and exposing the Sacred Ordinance of Prayer to contempt and scorne and ordereth that their Act of Suspension past in the Synod of Remoules be rased out of all Books in which it may have been recorded and the Acts of the said Synod being wholly cleared and renewal the Old Copyes shall be delivered into the hands of the said Mr. Morrice and this present Act shall be read in the next Synod of Provence by Monsieur Huron their Deputy and entered into the Register of the Synodical Acts of Provence See below in the Catalogue of Apostates and Deposed Act. 9. 24. Mr. Hector Joly appealed from the Synod of Higher Languedoc held at Puylaurent in June last for suspending him a whole year from the Ministry and that term expired for ordering him to quit the Province though they licensed him if he could to get himself into some other Church in another Province The cause of his suspension was Adultery And the Church and City of Montauban complained of the too much Lenity and Indulgence extended by that Synod towards the said Joly and of their censure given forth against the Consistory of Montauban The Deputies of the said Province declared the true grounds of their Synodical actings against Joly and of their censure upon the Consistory to be these viz. Because they had neglected their Duty to him and the formes requisite and usual in all our Ecclesiastical proceedings Joly also was called in and suffered to speak for himself and to produce by word of Mouth and Writing whatever might make for his Defence and Justification But after all that could be said by him or for him This Assembly approved the Judicial Sentence of the said Synod of Puylaurent in every Title and Member of it yea and in its censure inflicted on the Consistory of Montauban because of the notorious defaults confessed by them in their actings And all matters having been narrowly examined and considered which were alledged by the said Joly and particularly those Acts now produced by him he was now found to be really guilty of that Crime whereof he stood accused and of very foul and wicked practises to palliate and stifle it Insomuch as his Ministry could be no longer useful but must needs be a very great and publick scandal For these Causes this Assembly aggravated the Judgment of the Synod of Puylaurent doth now declare the said Joly to be totally deposed from the Sacred Ministry and interdicts him all manner of Acts Duties and Exercises appertaining to it And at his request the Papers which he had produced out of the Civil Courts were all returned into his own hands See below in the Catalogue of the Apostates and Deposed 25. Stephen Girault appealed from the Synod of Xaintonge held at Marennes in July Sixteen Hundred and Seventeen which had declared him utterly unworthy of that Holy and Honourable Office of a Pastor in the Church of God and deposed him from the Ministry without any hope of ever being restored to it unless he did wholly reform his Life and Manners and become a new Man before the sitting of this present National Synod and likewise he appealed from another Sentence since that of the aforesaid Synod past upon him by the Sieurs Constans and Rossel Deputed by the Colloquy of Pons in December in One Thousand Six Hundred and Nineteen to make inquiry into the Life and Conversation of the said Giraud by which he was suspended for Three Moneths from Communion with the Church of God at the Lords Table and this his Suspension was ordered to be notified from the Pulpit to the whole Congregation The Deputies of the Province of Xaintonge were desired to declare the Reasons of their rigorous dealings with this Girault and Girault also was heard in all his Apologies for himself both by word of Mouth and Writing In which he confest and owned some of the Crimes whereof he was accused but confidently extenuated and denied others This Assembly finding the said Stephen Girault convicted of Prophaneness and Lasciviousness Drunkenness Theft Perjury contempt of Church-Discipline Slandering Coveting dishonest gain in short a Fellow whose Life and Manners have no resemblance with that of a Servant of God but directly contrary to him and one who is utterly unworthy the Name of a Christian It hath and doth now declare him to be deposed from the Holy Ministry and totally interdicts him all manner of Acts and Offices belonging to it leaving it to the judgement of that Church where he shall reside whether they will admit him or no as a private Person to communion with them at the Lords Table which yet they shall not do till such time as they have had long and undoubted Evidence and Experience of his thorough Reformation and Amendment of Life and conceive him worthy of
so great a Favour and Priviledge upon very good and satisfactory Grounds and Reasons 26. The Colloquy of Rouergue presented their Appeal by Monsieur Jaques Pastor of the Church of St. Breuest from the Synod of Higher Languedock held at Millaud by which the said Colloquy was condemned to pay Five Hundred Livers another Copy has Five Hundred Crowns unto Monsieur du Luc for razing the place at Monntelarat it being a matter obtained by surprize and against that use whereunto the Churches Money is to be imployed After hearing the Arguments of the said de Luc against the said Colloquy and the reasons alleadged by the Deputies of the Province the Assembly did not judge this Affair to belong to the Cognisance of Synods and therefore remands it back again to the Cities and Corporations in the Colloquy of Rouergue that they may give satisfaction as they shall see reason for it The Moneys granted us by the Kings bounty shall see reason for it The Moneys granted us by the Kings bounty being destinated to other and better purposes 27. The Church of Authun and Couches appealed from the Synod of Burgundy which refused to give them Monsieur Textor for their Minister and had censured them for that they persisted in their Endeavours to procure him This Assembly not being able to invalidate the Judgment of the said Province of Burgundy because those who are concern'd in it are not here neither in their Persons nor by their Memoirs yet doth it however enjoyn the said Province to take care That the said Church of Cauches be speedily supplyed with an able Minister according to the Canons of our Ecclesiastical Discipline 28. The Church of Foussay appealed about the maintenance of Monsieur Vatable their Pastor from the Synod of Poictou but their Appeal was rejected because it was of the nature of those things which might be determined by Provincial Synods 29. The Sieur des Maretz appealed from a Decree of the Synod of Vivaretz held at Privas which had confirmed those Orders of the Colloquy of Rochefoucaut dated the 25th of June 1619. and that of Privas Dated the 10th of November 1619. and injoyned him the said des Maretz wholly to quit the Church of Vals as soon as they should have paid him the remainders of his Sallary The Deputies of the Church of Vals petitioned that they might be provided of another Pastor and those of the Province produced the reasons moving them to pronounce that judgment against him Upon the whole this Assembly although it doth confirm that Ordinance of the Synod of Vivaretz as to the removal of the said des Maretz from the Church of Vals yet cannot in the least approve of the proceedings of the said Province in their manner of Interdicting him his Ministry there And although he be exhorted to be more careful in preserving the Honour of his Calling and to adorn it with that prudence and gravity which well becomes it yet nevertheless do we recommend him unto the said Province of Vivaretz to settle him in some particular Church which shall be done either by the Colloquy or Synod And that till he be provided he may maintain himself and Family the said Province shall give him one Portion free of all Rates and Taxes out of the Moneys granted us by His Majesties Liberality and Fifteen Crowns in ready Money for the Expences of his Journey and the Church of Vals shall pay him off fully his wages to this very day and to this purpose the Moneys which would otherwise accrew unto the said Church of Vals shall be detained in the hands of the Receiver of the Province of Vivaretz And the Sieurs Agar and Richaud are charged by this Assembly that they do both of them in their respective Places and Capacities use their best indeavours that the said Church do give all content and satisfaction unto the said Sieur des Maretz A Canon made against those Churches who fill their Consistories with Persons nearly related by blood or Affinity each to other 30. Monsieur de la Cloche appealed from the Provincial Synod of Britain for detaining from him as he pretended Moneys which were owed him by the Church of Nantes This Assembly dismisseth him over to the Province of Anjou who shall judge definitively in this matter according to the Cannons of our Discipline 31. The Church of Chalays appealed from an Order of the Synod of Burgundy held at Gex in the year 1617 about an opposition made by Monsieur du Noyer an Advocate against the admission of several Persons nominated to be Elders because already the Consistory of that Church was filled up with near Relations as of Father and Son Three Brothers in Law an Uncle and Nephew and that the said du Noyer having opposed himself to this disorder they did thereupon suspend him from being an Elder in the said Church This Assembly judgeth that the said opposition was very warrantable because of the many Relations and Kindred that were in it and that the Colloquy did but right when they took off the Counsel from the said du Noyer And though for the present it suffers the State of the Consistory of the said Church of Chalais to continue yet doth it injoyne them for the future to observe as much as in them lieth the Consul given them by the Synod of Burgundy concerning their change of Elders So that they had no cause at all nor ought they to have appealed from that Synodical Exhortation 32. The Church of Valon la Gorce and Salvas appealed from the Province of Vivaretz for denying them help and assistance by which they might have stemm'd and resisted those many Evils befallen them by the Persecution of the Baron of la Gorce and for not suffering them to be incorporated with the Province of Lower Languedoc which they had most earnestly desired and requested do still persist in their desire of being incorporated with it This Assembly cannot consent that the said Church of Valon should be severed from the Province of Vivaretz for many and weighty Reasons and therefore enjoyneth the said Province of Vivaretz to have a most especial care of the said Church of Valon in their distribution of His Majesties Money that so they may be aided and supported under their many and heavy Burdens and most grievous Oppressions 33. The Church of Milhaud brought their Appeal from a Judgment of the Province of Sevennes which refused to repay them the Charges they had been at in maintaining Noel le Gele formerly a Carmelit Fryer in the Church of Rome and sent by the Church of Maruejols unto that of Milhaud This Assembly judgeth that the Colloquy of Rouergue should defray his Charges because the said le Gele is dedicated to their Service 43. The Church of Luke appealing from the Synod of Provence This Assembly judged that their demand of being reimburst their Charges for the pretended Synod of Thouars could not be admitted because they did not therein suffer alone
take our advice first in it CHAP. X. FORM of EXCOMMUNICATION 2. Paâ—is 2. 2. Vitre 2. Observaâ— upon the Discipline 21 THE Province of Poictou requested that there might be another Form of Excommunication framed of a larger Nature than that in our Discipline because the horrible Corruptions of the Age we live in do indispensably need it and call upon us loudly to put it in Execution Whereupon this Form following was drawn up See the Excommunicat 〈◊〉 Jâ—â—emy Ferâ—â—er in the â—nd of the Synod of Tâ—â—neiâ—s My Brethren This is the Fourth time that we declare unto you that N. N. hath been suspended the Lords Table for that hainous Crime of N. committed by him to the great scandal of the Church of God and yet he continues impenitent and rejecteth all Counsels and Admonitions that have been given him which suspension and its causes we have fully notified unto you that you might joyn your Prayers with ours unto the great God to soften his stony heart and to move him unto Repentance and to bring him out of the high and broad way of destruction But notwithstanding our Indulgence to him and long suffering and forbearance of him although we have prayed intreated threatned and adjured him to break off his sinful courses and to return unto the Lord and tryed all means to bring him unto Repentance he yet persisteth in his Ungodliness and Impenitency and is more obstinate and hardned in his Rebellions against God and tramples under foot his Holy Word and scorneth that Discipline which God hath set up in his Church boasting himself of his Sin and causeth unto the Church for a very long time a world of grief and trouble and the Holy and Effectual Name of Jehovah our God to be blasphemed Wherefore we Ministers of the Word and Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ whom God hath armed with Spiritual Weapons Mighty through God to destroy the strong holds of Sin which oppose and exhalt themselves against him and to whom the Eternal Son of God hath given an ample Power of binding and loosing in Earth declaring that what we shall do here below he will ratifie and make it good in Heaven we being willing to purge and cleanse the House of God and to free the Church from all Reproach and Scandal and to glorifie the Name of God by pronouncing an Anathema upon the Wicked and Godless Sinner We do in the Name and by the Authority of our Lord Jesus and by and with the Advice of the Pastors and Elders assembled in the Colloquy at N. and of the Consistory of the Church of N We have and do cut off the said N. from the Communion of the Church we do Excommunicate him and cast him out of the Society of Gods Saints that he may be reputed by you as a Publican and Pagan and that among the faithful he may be an Anathema and Execration Let his Company be lookt upon as contagious and plaguy and his Example possess your Souls with terror and horror and make you tremble under the Mighty Hand of God and know that 't is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God And this our Sentence of Excommunication the Son of God himself will ratifie and may he succeed and prosper it in such an effectual manner that this proud Sinner being ashamed and confounded before God may give Glory to him by his Conversion and that being deliver'd from the power of the Devil who hath hitherto kept him in Chains and Bondage he may be sorry for his Sin with a Godly sorrow and turn from it with a repentance unto life never to be repented of Let us my well-beloved Brethren call upon our God that he would be pleased to yearn with the bowels of his compassion upon this vile and miserable Creature and that this horrible Sentence which to our very great regret and grief we pronounce against him by and with the Authority of the Son of God may serve to abase and humble him and to reduce him into the way of Life and Salvation who hath wandred and strayd as a lost Sheep in the crooked paths of destruction Amen! Amen! Cursed is he who doth the Work of the Lord negligently Amen! If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha Amen! 22. The Province of Xaintonge craved advice what course we might take with them who take out from the Courts of Parliament Prohibitions against the Orders and Censures of the Church as if they were intolerable abuses This Assembly injoyneth all Synods Colloquies and Consistories to procede against such Persons as Rebels against the Discipline of our Church and to inflict upon them the last and heaviest censure of Excommunication provided they have first endeavoured by the ways of Love and Kindness and Grave Religious Counsels to reduce such Persons unto their Duty and to subject them unto our Church Orders CHAP. XI The Canons of the Synod of Dort incorporated with those of the Reformed Churches of France 23 A Motion was made in this National Synod that some course should be taken in time to prevent the spreading of the Arminian Errors that have of late so much troubled the Churches of the Netherlands that they create no trouble to the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom This Assembly embraced the motion very readily and approved of it as very laudable just and needful for the peace of the Church of God and for the Conservation of the purity of our Doctrine and for the farther strengthning of our Union with the Foreign Reformed Churches and therefore counting the Maladies of the Low-Country Churches a very fair Advertisement and warning unto us and that we may imitate so excellent an Example and prevent the danger threatned us by making use of these self-same means they did for the Expulsion of those Errors out of their Bowels wherefore forasmuch as the National Synod of Dort called by the Authority wise Counsel and vigilant forecast of their High and Mighty Lordships the States General of the Confederate Netherlands and of all the United Provinces under their Jurisdiction and Government and in which assisted personally divers great and very Learned Divines from many other Reformed Churches of our Lord Jesus hath been in the Netherlands and still is a most effectual remedy for the Reformation of the Church and the grubbing of Heresies in the Article of Predestination and its depencies This Assembly after invocation of the Name of God decreed that the Articles of the said National Council held at Dort should be read in full Synod which being read accordingly and every Article ponder'd most attentively they were all received and approved by a common unanimous consent as agreeing with the Word of God and the Confession of Faith in these our Churches that they were framed with singular prudence and purity that they were very meet and proper to detect the Arminian Errors and to confound them for which reason all the
Dieu le Fit Peter de la Croze Pastor of the Church in Courtezon James Bernard Elder in the Church of Montlimart and Moses du Port Elder in the Church of La Mure Deputies for the Province of Dolphiny Peter Guillamin Pastor of the Church of St. Andrew de Valborne Daniel Venturin Pastor of the Church of Vigan John de Vignoles Elder in the Church of La Salle Deputies for the Province of Sevennes Peter L'abbadie Pastor of the Church of Pau and John de la Coste Elder in the Church of Moneins Deputies for the Principality of Bearn De Chalas General Deputy for the Reformed Churches of France Touretin Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church of Geneva 24. Whereas the Deputy of the Lord du Candall hath acquainted this Synod that several of the Deputies unto this present Synod having no Letters of Order unto the said Lord of Candall to pay them the necessary charges of their Journey in case he should pay them the Receivers of the respective Provinces might make some difficulty to allow those payments of his unto the said Deputies in his Accompt This National Synod doth ordain that those Receivers aforesaid shall take the promises and Acquittances of the said Deputies as ready Moneys paid by the said Lord du Candall out of the very first Moneys that be either hath already or shall hereafter receive for the Churches and that they shall ho a sufficient discharge for him the said Deputy and good and valuable in the Audit of his Accompt 25. The Deputies unto our National Synods Privas g. m. 15. shall hereafter bring with them the Catalogues of all the Churches and of all the Pastors in actual Service in their respective Provinces Signed and Subscribed by the Moderators and Scribes of the Provincial Synods And in case they neglect the doing hereof there shall be no Respect nor Care had for them in the dividend of the Churches Moneys 26. All the Provinces which have Supernumerary Portions assigned to them in the General dividend shall give an Accompt how they have employed and to what use they have put those Supernumerary Sums in the next National Synod 27. In pursuance of that debate in this Synod concerning those great Sums of Money remaining due unto the Churches from the Sieur Palot This Assembly did this Thirteenth day of November pass a Letter of Attorney before a publick Notary which was delivered unto the Deputies of the Isle of France with this Express Restriction that they should not put it into the hands of the Sieurs Guidon and d'Huisseau till such time as they have agreed and stipulated by some publick act duely executed in Law that they do approve of the Act past in this Assembly and do solemnly promise that they will most effectually prosecute the said Sieur Palot according to the Conditions and Articles mentioned and declared in that our said Act. CHAP. XIII PARTICULAR MATTERS 1 MR. Gasper Martyn Minister of the Church of Saillans in Dolphiny related the great loss sustained by him in the printing of his Book styled Le Capuchin Reforme a great number of Copies being left upon his hand through the Craft and Knavery of the Booksellers who having printed more Copies than they should took out their own Number and leave him to pay the rest and in truth to stand indebted for the whole Impression This Assembly highly honouring him for his great sufferings for professing the Truth and the usefulness of his Works and in consideration of his present wants do bestow upon him one Portion free of all Taxes and Charges which shall be pay'd him until the sitting of the next National Synod over and above that ordinary Portion allowed the Church of Saillans for him and Monsieur Turretin was now desired to deal with the Printers and Booksellers of Geneva that the said Mr. Martyn may have satisfaction given him for the dammage he sustaineth by their means 2. Monsieur James de la Planche having faithfully served the Church of God for Six and Twenty Years in Provence and being now taken blind and almost broken by the Pthysick and borne down with many other Afflictions occasioned through his past labours and sufferings and through his declining Age for which causes he was declared Emeritus by the Synod of that Province and discharged with a very honorable Testimonial from the Exercise of his Ministry and now conflicting with great wants and needing Relief in his Old Age he petitioned this Assembly that some care might be had of him and a competent maintenance assigned to him yearly The Assembly compassionating his Poverty ordained a Portion free of all Charges for him which shall be pay'd by the Lord of Candal unto Monsieur Gras at Lions who shall see that the said Summe be remitted him unto the place of his Abode and the Summ of Six and Thirty Livres was now given him in hand to defray the Expences of his Journey thither 3. Mr. John Paul Perrin Minister of Nions in Dolphiny presented himself before this Assembly to render an Account of Printing his History of the Vaudois and Albigeois 2 Vitre Observ on the former and he farther declared that he was now writing the General History of the Church from the beginning of the World to this Age in which we live This Assembly applauding him and thanking him for his Pains and Labours in the before-mentioned History leaveth it to his prudence and Conscience to judge whether such a Work as he is now undertaking will be of use and benefit unto the Churches because we would not impose that task upon him which would be needless and unprofitable And whereas the said Monsieur Perryn informed us of the numerousness of his Family and that he had a great charge of Children and humbly requested tha the might have some Relief from us especially for the breeding of a Son of his formerly debauched by the Jesuites but now through Grace brought home again unto Repentance a youth of Excellent parts and yielding great hopes that he may be hereafter eminently useful in the Ministry The Province of Dolphiny was exhorted to take care of him and his Family according to the Laws of Christian Charity and the great Merits of the said Monsieur Perrin 4. Monsieur Albiac Dr. of the Civil Law Living at Velleneusve in Berry petitioned to be reimburst the Summ of Fifty Crowns expended by him in executing a Commission for the Churches of the Four Neighbouring Province viz. of Lower Languedoc Dolphiny Sevennes Vivaretz This Assembly judgeth That the Provinces which imployed him ought to see him satisfied and each of them shall pay him equally their parts of so just a Debt and the quota of their Moneys shall to this purpose be detained in the hands of the Lord du Candal that he may be honestly repayed 5. Mr. Simon Daniel Hoslâ—ie Pastor of the Church of Villenusve in Berry petitioned that some Relief might be allowed unto his Church because of
years old heretofore Pastor in the Church of St. Stephens in Forest tall of Stature Chestnut-colour'd Hair Head lifted up he was deposed for Adultery by the Province of Vivaretz 3. John Pressac alias Martin born at Montauban formerly Minister in the Church of Brieteste in Albigeois an Apostate of mean Stature about thirty years old he hath little eyes sunk deep into his Head and purblind brown Chestnut Hair pale Visag'd great Nose rash and haughty in speaking 4. N. Laurens an Apostate born at Montpellier a little dwarfish Fellow about thirty years old bald headed black Beard little Eyes great Lips pale-Visag'd formerly Pastor in the Church of Aymargues in Lower Languedoc publickly accused of Adultery 5. Hector Joly formerly Pastor in the Church of Montauban in the Higher Languedoc about Nine and forty years old pretty tall of Stature black Hair'd was deposed by this Synod for the hainous Crime of Fornication 6. Stephen Giraud heretofore Pastor of the Church of Gemauzac in Xaintonge about two and thirty years old high enough of Stature black Hair red Fac'd his Eyes sunk into his Head was deposed by the Synod of Xaintonge with hopes given him and a promise of being restored but he was totally deprived and deposed by this Synod for Drunkenness Adultery and Theft 7. John Cottelier sometimes Minister in the Church of Nismes in the Lower Languedoc about Five and thirty years little of Stature but a well compacted Fellow bald headed black Hair scarce any Beard high Forehead he was deposed for Fornication and other Crimes 8. Paul Daude formerly Minister in the Church of St. John of Gardonenque Deposed by the Sentence of the Provincial Synod of Sevennes and his Deposition was confirmed in this for divers notorious Crimes he is a Fellow about two and thirty years of Age of a flaxen colour'd Hair red Beard a long and ghastly Visage great Nose Ferrets Eyes sunk deep into his Head and yet poreing upon the Earth and short of Stature 9. N. Philippin born at Newcastle in Switzerland tall enough and great necked red Beard a bald uplifted Head wide open Nostrils lame of his right hand he was sometimes Pastor of the Church of Chasteau Dauphin but interdicted the Ministry for divers Natural Infirmities by the Synod of Dolphin and now a Vagabond Done and Decreed in the National Synod of Alez which sate from the First day of October till the Second of December 1620. Signed in the Original by du Moulin Moderator Brunier Assessor Vignier Scribe Papillon Scribe and by all the rest of the Deputies The Synod of Alez began on a Thursday and ended on a Wednesday The Original was lodged in the Archives of Rochell THE Acts Canons Decisions and Decrees OF THE XXIV NATIONAL SYNOD OF The Reformed Churches OF FRANCE AND OF BEARNE HELD IN The Town of Charenton St. Maurice near Paris the First day of September and ended the First of October in the Year of Our Lord 1623. By the Authority and Permission of Lewis XIII King of France and Navarr being the Sixty Fourth King of this Realm in the Fourteenth Year of his Reign In which Sate the First Commissioner for His Majesty the Lord Augustus Galland a Member of the said Communion according to His Majesties Letters Patents of the 17th of April 1623 verified in Parliament the Second of May following it being His Majesties Pleasure that alwayes in all Colloquies and Synods for the future there shall be present an Officer of the King professing the Reformed Religion to represent his Person and see that nothing but Ecclesiastical matters were Treated and Debated in them as had been Decreed by the Edict The CONTENTS of the Synod of CHARENTON Chap. I. THE first Commissioner from the King in a National Synod the Lord Augustus Galland Deputies to the Synod Election of Officers Chap. II. The Kings Commission to the Lord Galland Chap. III. A great Debate about this Commission Chap. IV. Approbation of the Confession of Faith Chap. V. Observations upon the Discipline Chap. VI. Observations upon the Synod of Alez Chap. VII Reflections upon those Observations made by the Synod of Alez on two Acts of the National Synod of Vitre Chap. VIII Reflections upon their Appeals Chap. IX Reflections upon their Chapter of General Matters Chap. X. Reflections upon that of particular Matters Chap. XI Reflections upon their Colledges and Vniversities Chap. XII One Observation on their General Laws for the Vniversities Chap. XIII Appeals unto this National Synod Chap. XIV Of General Matters Chap. XV. A Remarkable passage about Monsieur Primrose Pastor of the Reformed Church of Bourdeaux and Arnoux the Jesuit See G. M. 16. Chap. XVI A Canon passed in Obedience to the Kings Letter that no Ministers should be Deputies unto Political Assemblies See G. M. 17. Chap. XVII The Causes of the French Kings unwillingness to suffer Monsieur du Moulin to be Minister in the Church of Paris or elsewhere in the Kingdom A Catalogue of du Moulins Works Dr. Twisses Testimony of him and them Chap. XVIII Particular Matters Chap. XIX An Expedient to preserve the Churches Peace P. M. 11. Chap. XX. An Account of Curcellaeus another Ecebolius P. M. 17. Chap. XXI Mr Camerons Address unto the Synod P. M. 33. Chap. XXII Of Vniversities and Colledges Chap. XXIII The Lord of Candals Accompts Chap. XXIV A Dividend of Moneys among the Provinces Chap. XXV The Roll of Apostates Chap. XXVI The Decision of the Arminian Controversies Canons about Predestination Election and Reprobation Errors rejected Chap. I. Of Christs Death and Mans Redemption by it Errors rejected Chap. II. Of Mans Natural Depravedness Conversion and Gods Method in it Errors rejected Chap. III. The Saints perseverance Errors rejected Chap. IV. all subscribed by the Moderator and Deputies XXVII Remarks upon some of the Members of this Synod THE FIRST Synod of Charenton 1623. The 24th Synod SYNOD XXIV 1623. In the Name of God Amen The Acts of the National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France held at Charenton near Paris the First of September and divers Dayes after in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred Twenty and Three CHAP. I. The Kings First Commissioner Deputies and Synodical Officers THE Lord Augustus Galland Councellor of the King in His Council of Estate and Attorney-General of the Kingdom of Navarre was Commissionated by His Majesty to open this Synod by his Royal Authority and to be present in all its Sessions as shall be afterwards Declared There appeared as Deputies for the Province of Normandy Mr. Benjamin Basnage Pastor of the Church of Charenton John Maximilian de Baux Lord de L' Angle Pastor in the Church of Roan John Lewis Mustel Esq Lord of Boisroger Elder in the Church of Ponteau de Mer and James de la Loys Elder of the Church of St. l o. As for the Province of Orleans and Berry Mr. Simon Jurieux Pastor of the Church of Chastillon on the Loir James Imbert Durant Pastor of the Church
of one and the same Faith and Acts of Love and Charity because they are part of the same Mystical Body whose Members have none other aim or end than with one heart to serve God and the King in peaceable Lives and Liberty of Conscience so as for the Churches in other Nations they never had nor ever will have any Intelligence Alliance or Correspondency with them than what shall be approved by God and His Majesty desiring always to live in peace under the Wings of His protection Farther the Council protesterh that our Churches had never the least intimation or knowledge that any of their Members professing the Reformed Religion have tamper'd in any Plots or Treasons with the Spaniard or other Enemies of this Crown and if it could be proved to them that there be such as were ingaged in those pernicious designs and practises we would be the very first with heart and hand to subscribe unto their Condemnation and to abhor both them their Complices and Adherents as we now do from our very Souls profess our Abhorrency and Detestation both of them their Doctrine and practise who having divers times attempted to Assassinate the Sacred Persons of Kings do to this very day uphold and mantain Intelligencies and Correspondencies both at home and abroad within and without the Kingdom against their pretious Lives and Imperial Crowns Dignities and Regal Authority As for that Canon past in the Synod of Realmont and read now unto us This Council cannot conceal its grief for the great wrong done unto that Synod because it was enforced by His Majesties Commissioner then personally assisting in it to frame an Act which seems to take for granted that there were some Ministers accused of holding Intelligence with the Spaniard the most implacable Enemy of France and of our Churches though in truth there was not so much as one found guilty of that Crime and the Churches cannot but adore the goodness of God unto them that after the most diligent and rigorous Inquiries made to this purpose not one of our Pastors could be impeached and that the malitious and shameless Calumnies of our most invenim'd and inveterate Adversaries could never fasten or prove their Accusation upon any one particular Person of one Communion The Event having at last demonstrated that our Churches were condemned most unjustly and cleared and proclaimed innocent of all those Accusations before the whole World And as for the two following points This Assembly is resolved to give full contentment unto His Majesty And whereas our former National Synods have made a Canon about the first so will this also be as careful to enact another And the Acts of this Assembly shall answer for the second so that His Majesty shall ever have Universal Obedience Subjection Fidelity and most Faithful Service from our Churches whereunto we are obliged by our Natural Duty the Motions of our Conscience and the Ordinance of our God CHAP. V. The Kings Warrant for Choice of a New General Deputy THE Lord Commissioner Galland having been informed of the Death of the Lord Maniald one of the General Deputies of our Churches unto His Majesty did on the Five and Twentieth day of September present unto this National Synod this following Warrant dispatched by Express Order from His Majesty This day the Three and Twentieth of August One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Six His Majesty being at Nants and considering that the term of Three vears was now expired in which the Lords of Montmartyn and Maniald who had been chosen General Deputies for His Subjects professing the P. Reformed Religion and in that Quality and Office to reside and serve at Court and to attend upon His Majesty in all his Progress and Motions and that there must be a new Election of some other Deputies to succeed them in their Office and considering farther that this Election could not be more conveniently done than in a National Assembly and Council which His Majesty hath permitted His said Subjects of the Reformed Religion to hold in the City of Castres this September next ensuing that so they may not be put to unnecessary Expence and Trouble as they would otherwise be if they should be forced to call another Assembly on this occasion His Majesty for these considerations and divers other good and important reasons relating unto his Service the Repose and Tranquillity of his Government and Kingdom hath granted License unto the Deputies which shall be present at the said National Council to treat and choose new Deputies who may reside and serve in that Quality near his Royal Person instead of the said Lords of Montmartyn and Maniald and this in the presence of the Lord Galland one of the Lords of our Council of State and Commissioner unto the said National Assembly and to propose unto him Six Persons capable faithful and most affectionately inclin'd unto His Majesties Service and the Publick Peace that out of them His Majesty may prick two unto the said Office of General Deputies by means whereof those aforesaid Lords of Montmartyn and Manyald shall be discharged of their Imployment observing the forms in such cases accustomed provided alwayes that in the Assembly aforesaid there shall not be any other Matters debated or handled excepting what concern the Discipline of their Religion as has been determined by His Majesties Edicts and Declarations In testimony whereof His Majesty hath commanded me to expedite this present Writt Signed by His Own Royal Hand and Countersigned by me one of His Most Honourable Privy Council and Secretary of State and of his Commands Signed Louis and a little lower Philippeaux CHAP. VI. The Synods deliberation upon the Writt THE Assembly consulting upon His Majesties Writt and considering that it does not contain an Express Command but only a simple permission to nominate General Deputies and that it doth in such a manner restrain the said permission as that it leaveth unto this Assembly no liberty nor power at all of calling the said Lord of Montmartyn to an Accompt who hath from the first time of his Election unto this present day exercised the said General Deputation much less to give Instructions unto such as may be Elected unto the said Office Besides that this Assembly durst not adventure upon the said Election without an open violation of His Majesties Edicts Letters Patents and Sealed Letters and of our usual and accustomed Order and the Solemn Protestation of former Synods who have expresly declared that they desired and intended utterly to forbear all cognisance of Affairs of this Nature And farther that the Churches had been for a very long time together deprived of the Assistance of His Majesties Bounty and that it would be needful most humbly to petition him to order his Royal Promises to be observed and entirely accomplished and fulfilled For these Causes and Reasons and particularly that we might keep within the bounds of Order and to the Ancient practice of the Churches The Council judged
not only alwayes exempted from all Defaults but also from the very Suspicion thereof and that all kind of Testimonials and Thankfulness is due and owing them for their Capacity Carefulness Diligence Integrity and Singular Love and Zeal unto the Weal and Happyness of our Churches nor cannot in the least be refused them Wherefore this present Order passed for their discharge shall be inserted into the Acts of this Synod that it may be carried into all the Provinces that so none may plead or pretend his Ignorance and Unacquaintedness with the intentions of this present and of the last immediately preceding Synod Monsieur Palot of St Antonine presented a Petition unto this Assembly on behalf of his Brother Palot that it would be pleased to cause all processes commenc't against him by the Lord Malat to cease and that Arbitrators might be chosen on both sides with full power to determine the differences betwixt him and the Churches of this Kingdom Letters also from the Lord Malat were read informing it of the great progress he had made in the Suit against him Whereupon the Synod finding the Complaints and Requests of the said Palot to be unreasonable and that from their former Experience they could only conclude them done on purpose to gain and spin out time and to elude if possible the Prosecutions already begun it voted Thanks to be given unto the Lord Malat for his care and pains and that he be intreated to continue his Travel and Diligence in this Affair and the like thanks were ordered unto Monsieur Arnault for his singular Affection to the Weal of our Churches and the Lord Commissioner Galland was also earnestly desired to befriend our Churches with his kind Assistance at Court and to speak for us unto the Kings Majesty that His Gracious Majesty would be pleased to ordain that Justice might be done us Letters were read from the Lords Marbaut de Massanes Bigot and de Launay Commissioners named by the last National Synod to treat on behalf of all our Churches with Persons capable of bringing the Sieur Palot to give us some reasonable satisfaction And also Monsieur Mestrezat another of those Commissioners made report of what had been done herein as weâ—l by himself as by those others joyned in Commission with him Whereupon all their Actions were ratified and approved In reading that Act of the Synod of Charenton containing His Majesties Answer unto the Sieurs Cottiby and du Bois Saint Martyn Deputed by the said Synod unto His Majesty in which hope was given unto the Churches that the Prohibition issued out against Monsieur du Moulin should be taken away and that he should be restored unto his Ministry in this Kingdom And a Letter to this self-same purpose from the Church of Paris also requesting our Intercession with His Majesty that he would be Graciously pleased to grant unto the Churches the injoyment of their hopes The Deputies of the Isle of France joyned with them in this their request Whereupon it was resolved that His Majesty should be most humbly petitioned to grant leave unto the said Monsieur du Moulin to return into France and to the Exercise of his Pastoral Office in his aforesaid Church and the said Monsieur du Moulin shall be required by Letters from this Synod to joyn vvith the Churches in their Petition for his return and re-settlement in France and that he shall address himself also by a particular Petition of his ovvn unto His Majesty that he may be restored unto his Charge vvherein by the Blessing of God he had such eminent success that so if it may be His Majesty by so many importunate Petitioners may be prevailed vvith to grant us our desires The Provincial Deputies of Lower Guyenne and Poictou being heard it was voted that the Churches of Rochechouart and Limoges should continue joyned unto the Province of Lower Guyenne as they have been heretofore notwithstanding that they were separated from it by a Decree of the last National Synod because they cannot subsist if they be divided nor can the Church of Limoges be united unto Poictou without too much enfeebling the Colloquy of Limousin Maister Peter Guillemin Pastor in the Church of La Bour presented his Petition unto this Assembly that the Summ of Three Hundred Livres granted the said Church by the former National Synods may be continued and that the Summ of Threescore Livres more might be bestowed upon them for the breeding of a young Scholar who may be hereafter capable of serving the said Church and to preach in their Language and that His Majesty may be petitioned that He would grant according to His Edicts Two Places more for Religious Worship unto the Faithful of the said Countrey of Labour It was voted that this Petition in all its Parts and Members should be fulfilled on this Condition that the Scholar to be maintained by them be presented unto the next Synod of Lower Guyenne and that the said Province of the Lower Guyenne do yield an accompt of the said Summ of Sixty Livres unto the next National Synod as also of the Three Hundred Livres granted unto the said Church of La Bour and the Pastor there shall be obliged for the future to assist in Person at the Provincial Synods of Lower Guyenne After the last Canon was voted This Assembly recollected that heretofore the National Synod of Tonneins had granted unto Monsieur Busthonoby Pastor of the Churches in Soules the Summ of Three Hundred Livres to defray the Charges of Printing some certain Books in the Biscayan Language and that since by a Decree of the Synod of Vitre the Province of Lower Guyenne was reimburst the said Summ which they had beforehand advanced to that purpose Whereupon Order was given unto the said Province to call in its next Synod the aforesaid Monsieur Busthonoby to an accompt how he did imploy and dispose of the said Moneys and to bring in that Accompt unto the next National Synod CHAP. XVIII No Minister to Depart the Kingdom without the Kings Leave THE Lord Commissioner declaring that it was His Majesties Will and Pleasure according to Law that none of our Pastors should depart the Kingdom without his Royal License and that in case any Foreign Princes or States desired that any of our Ministers might be either lent them for a time or given to them absolutely during Life that then the said Minister should according to our Laws first obtain His Majesties Licence for his departure The Council resigned it self and all the Ministers of our Churches most fully and freely as they have ever done unto the Laws of the Land This Synod inquiring into the causes obstructing the Execution of those particular Canons that the last National Synod had made for the better Government of the Province of Provence judged that the said Province did justly deserve a Censure in case it cannot vindicate and acquit it self from all impeachments of neglect herein And whereas the Sieurs Crubellier
voted a Decree that the Censure past on the Church of Paris in that Synod of he Isle of France shall be reversed and that the Church of Paris shall be advised precisely to observe the Canons concerning the re-search of Pastors Moreover to comply with their instant urgent Importunities Monsieur Daille is purely and absolutely resigned to them 3. Whereas John Mellier having opposed the Election and Reception of the Sieur John Celaris into the Office of an Elder and brought his Appeal unto this Synod it is remanded back unto the Province of Higher Languedoc who have full power to determine it 4. The Synod ratifying the Judgment of the Province of Xaintonge from whence the Church of Montendre had appealed This Assembly ordaineth that for the future Provincial Synods shall judge soveraignly and finally in all causes about dismembring and conjoining of Annexed Churches 5. And therefore according to this Canon the Appeal of the Church of St. Hillary in the Province of Poictou is declared null notwithstanding what hath been remonstrated to the contrary by the Lord de la Begaudiere 6. For the same reason the Appeal of the Church of St. Fulgentius in the same Province is disanulled 7. The same Sentence was given on the Appeal of the Church of Quissac from the Decree of the Province of Sevennes 8. And for the like reason the Church of Sauve in the said Province having brought an Appeal had it rejected 9. Although the differences about the distribution of His Majesties Liberality granted us to our Churches ought not to be brought before these National Synods yet that the contestations in the Churches of the Lower Guyenne may be terminated the Deputies of that Province are commanded to confer with the R. R. Mr. Belot and de Baux Ministers of the Gospel and with the Sieurs Marlat and la Briere Elders that in case they should hit upon an expedient of accommodating Matters it may be ratified by the Authority of this Assembly not that we would have a precedent made hereof And once again that Ancient Prohibition against our Ministers is now revived That not one of them shall touch a Denier of His Majesties Bounty assigned to and distributed by the Provinces unto their particular Churches because the said Churches ought solely to receive it and it must remain wholly at their disposal and because our Pastors shall not have an uncertain but a most certain and determinate Pension for their subsistence from their Churches 10. The Appeal of Monsieur Perez Pastor of the Church of Cajarre was vacated and the Assembly injoyned the Province of Higher Languedoc to put forth their hand that the said Perez may receive for time coming greater satisfaction from his Church than heretofore And in case the said Church do not fully content him and pay him his just dues betwixt this and the next Synod of that Province they shall be deprived of his Ministry and he shall be assigned to some other Flock yea and though they should give him all possible satisfaction yet shall he not be compelled to serve a Church against his Will whereunto he was not sent but for a time 11. This Judgment past upon the Appeal of the Church of Angles that it was very needless and ill layd the Sentence of their Province being founded on Equity and Charity 12. The Appeal of Monsieur Peter Prevost a Pastor Emeritus is declared null 13. The Church of Bergerac appealed and petitioned that forasmuch as the Sentence of the Province of Lower Guyenne hath been invalidated the Twelve Hundred Livres formerly granted unto their Colledge might be continued The Letters and Memoirs of that Church being read and the Deputies of that Province heard this Decree was made That the Four Hundred Livres given unto every Province for their respectiye Colledges shall be continued unto that of Bergerac until the next National Synod unto which they shall give a clear and good account of what has been done by them for the re-establishment of their Colledge on default of which that Sentence of the Provincial Synod for translating the said Colledge to the Town of Nerac shall be confirmed And as for the remaining Eight Hundred Livres Four Hundred of them shall be detained by the Lord of Candal in his hands and the other Four Hundred shall be accorded to the Church of Nerac but on this condition only that the Town of Bergerac do find out some means for the re-establishment of their Colledge And our National Synods may hereafter give them sensible pledges of their accustomed Love and Kindness 14. Monsieur des Marests suspended the Holy Ministry by the Province of Vivaretz petitioned in his Appeals that they might be obliged to restore him unto the Publick Exercise of his Office and come to an account with him upon hearing the Deputies of that Province this Synod voted that his suspension should be removed and that the said Province should accompt with him for the Moneys owing to him before the Consistory of Alez and that Monsieur Cuper shall pay him presently in ready Moneys Three Hundred Livres out of what might accrew unto the said Province and to repair the want of Charity which those of that Province have been notoriously guilty of towards him they shall for the future take special care to incourage him in his Ministry 15. Mr. George Arbaut formerly Pastor of the Church in Boiscoiran appeared in Person before this Synod to maintain his Appeal But upon hearing the Deputies of the Province of Lower Languedoc by which he was Deposed and Monsieur Paulett Pastor of the Church of Vezenobre who gave in Evidence against him on one of the Principal Articles for which he was condemned the Letters and Acts produced both for and against him having been perused The Synod confirmed the Judgment denounc't against the said Arbaut and declareth him for ever unworthy of Employment in the Sacred Ministry and decreeth farther that he shall not be admitted to Communion in the Sacraments till such time as being toucht with a deep remorse and serious Repentance for his Sin he do fully freely and ingenuously Confess his Offences before that Church in which he constantly resideth 16. Monsieur Beraut Pastor of the Church of Montauban and Professor in that University appealed from a Decree of the Provincial Synod of Higher Languedoc and consequentially from the Actions of the Delegates of that Synod and of the Colloquy of Lower Quercy Letters from the Magistrates in the Sheriffdom or Montauban were read as also from the Four Consuls of the said City The Lords de la Roche and Bardon Counsellors in that Sheriffdom the Lords de la Rose and Auglas first and second Consuls and the R. Mr. Charles a Minister one of those Delegates were all heard speaking of this Affair and Monsieur Beraud also declaring his grievances as also did the Deputies of the Province The Synod did hereupon take unto it self the cognisance of this Case and voted that the R. R. Mr.
the Province of Vivaretz And whereas the Church of Paris lent him already in his great Necessities one hundred Livers they be desired out of pure Christian Charity freely to forgive him that Sum. 28. The Synod taking into consideration the Complaint of the Widow of Monsieur Rossel deceased and the great Losses suffered by the Church of Bedarioux decreed that the Province of Lower Languedoc should pay her in the Stipend allowed her for the Year of her Widowhood and discharge that poor Church from the paiment thereof and take special care that this Widow have some settled Maintenance for the future Moreover an Order was granted that because her Necessities at present were very sore and pressing she should receive fifty Livers which the Lord of Candall is intreated to advance before-hand out of the Moneys accruing unto the aforesaid Province whose Receiver shall be obliged to allow it him on his Account 29. The Synod accepting his Offers promised its best Assistance unto the Reverend Monsieur le Faucheur Pastor of the Church in Monpellier and prayed him to take heart unto himself and couragiously to imploy those excellent Talents and Graces the Lord had bless'd him with in the Refutation of those Heaps of Sophism's piled up by the Cardinal of Perron in his huge Volume of the Eucharist that so the Church of God may be edified by so laudable and profitable a Work and the sorry sophistical Wranglings of the Enemies of God's Truth may be check'd and represt 30. There was granted threescore and twelve Livers unto the Sieurs Maurice de Bloy de Matrimont and Collan to defray the Charges of their Journey unto Montauban which is eighteen Livers apiece 31. Monsier Caper was ordered to pay unto Mr. Moynier Pastor of the Church of Bourniquett immediately seven-score Livers in consideration of his great Losses and this is not intended as a diminution of that Relief which the Synod hath reserved for him when it comes to divide the Monies destinated to the support and maintenance of our Churches in the Higher Languedoc And the Synod of that Province is charged to communicate unto his necessitous Family as they are bound by the Laws of Christian Charity for its Subsistence 32. An hundred Livers were assigned unto Monsieur Baylin Pastor of the Church of Villemur and to be paid him out of the clearest Monies which belong unto the Churches And farther it was voted that when the Dividend should be made of those Monies there shall be a special regard had unto the Necessities both of the said Church and Pastor 33. The Sieurs Crubel and Montanier Pastors of the Churches at Bias and La Corbaride declared and proved before the Synod by authentick Evidences and Memoirs the utter impossibility of their Residence on their Churches because of the dismal and deplorable Condition to which they be reduced Whereupon License was given them to reside at Montauban until such time as it should please God to bless those distressed Churches with Ability for their Resettlement among them and the next Provincial Synod shall take special care that it may be effected 34. The Churches of Soulés and La Bour being at a vast distance from the other Churches of this Kingdom whereby our National Synods have had little knowledg of their Estate and Wants and of that Relief which hath by this and former National Synods been ministred to them The Sieurs Mizaubin and Grenouilleau are ordered to travel thither immediately upon the breaking up of this Assembly and as Visitors appointed by this Synod to inspect their Condition and to inquire into those Differences between the Sieurs Busthonoby and Guillemin and to compose them and to make report of the Necessities of those Churches they being now incorporated with the Synod of Lower Guienne unto it and they shall take care that those Churches do by their Deputies appear at their Synodical Meetings and bring in an Accompt of their disposal of those Monies which have been formerly and may hereafter be allotted them And that Synod is charged to concern it self for the well-being of those Churches 35. The Province of Sevennes having advanced a thousand Livers before-hand for the Churches of Auvergne did request this Assembly that they might be reimbursed A Decree past that the said Province proving those Disbursments they should be repaid accordingly out of the Monies granted by the last National Synod unto those Churches 36. Monsieur Paulet informing this Synod with how great Violence he was forced and driven away from his Church of Vezenobre it was immediately voted that his Cause should be particularly recommended unto the Lords our General Deputies and that when the distribution of Monies shall be made in the close of this Sessions all care and respect should be had unto his Necessities 37. The Lord and Lady of Dangeau complaining that the Synod of the Isle of France had forbidden the particular recommending of them unto God in the Publick Prayers made by the Church of Chartres meeting at the Bridg of Tranchefetus although they had been formerly made for the Lord and Lady of that Place And the Deputies of the Isle of France having declared the Reasons of that Prohibition and justified it by the Acts of two several Synods thô they had also condemned the omission of those aforesaid Prayers and that they would have ordained their re-usage were it not for those many Oppositions they had encountred in it The Synod decreed That the Pastor of the Church of Chartres shall mention in his Prayers and pray particularly by Name for the said Lord and Lady according to the Intention of the Synods of that Province 38. The Sieur Codur writ Letters of Excuse which were read in this Synod as also the Acts of the last National and Provincial Synods of Lower Languedoc concerning the removal of his Ministry out of the Province of Sevennes Whereupon it was decreed that the Province should be censured for their over-much Indulgence to the said Codur and judged that the Gloss put upon the Canon of the Synod of Charenton by one of its Deputies was not in any wise to be admitted because it directly contradicted the Intention of that Synod And it doth now forbid the said Codur to exercise his Ministry either in the Provinces of Lower Languedoc or Sevennes and interdicts the Synods of those Provinces the granting him any License for so doing on pain of censuring the Moderators of those Synods in their private Capacities Moreover the said Codur is once again commanded to obey the Canon of the National Synod of Charenton and to retire himself into the Province of Dolphiny that there he may be provided of a Church And in case he refuse Obedience unto this Order the Synod of that Province is now impowred with full Authority to proceed against him according to the utmost rigour and severity of our Discipline 39. There were six-score Livers ordered to the Lord of La Beguadiere for defraying the Charges of his
Ressent 547. La Motte Antony de Creze 548. Curban Claudius Marshall 549. Joran Andrew Guerin 550. Lormarin Peter Maurice 551. Riez Andrew Genoyer 552. La coste James Bayly 553. Merindol James Malat. 554. La Charce Andrew Beruard 555. Grasse Peter Mercurin 556. Luc John Durier 557. Soderon John Bernard 558. Manosques Paul Guardinar 559. Velaux James Rescent Fourteenth Province and Provincial Synod of Orleans and Berry divided into three Colloquies having twenty nine Churches and thirty Pastors 1st The Colloquy of Sancerre Gien and Nivernois 560. St. Leonard near Corbigny Stephen Monsanglard 561. Chastillon on the Loing Simon Jurieu 562. Gien upon the Loir Daniel Jamet 563. Chastillon on the Loir Louis Margone 564. Bruion Bennet de la Roche 565. Henry Chemont Dantigny enjoyeth the Ministry of Isaac Babaud 566. Sawerre Paul Alard a Rocheller 567. La Charité John Taby 568. La Scelle and Dolat Anne Poat 569. Despueilles Elijah Semeele 2d Colloquy of Orleans and Blaisois 570. Blois Nicholas Vignier and Paul Testard 571. Romorantin Jacob Brun. 572. Cheleure and Boudara David Horace 573. Boisgency John Guerin 574. Basoches and Denouville Jerom Belon 575. Orleans James Imbert and Durand 578. Chasteaudun James Lancy 579. Dangeau Lewes Tuissard 3d Colloquy of Bourbonnois 580. Argenton Bliseus Saluon 581. St. Amand and Belet Lewis Scoffier 582. Delise Peter Falquet 583. Moudun René Bedé 584. Ambusson William Vignon 585. Gergeau destitute 586. Bourges destitute 587. La Chastre and St. John Verin destitute 588. Suilly destitute Fifteenth and last Province and Provincial Synod of France is the Province of Normandy divided into five Colloquies having thirty five Churches and forty Pastors 1st Colloquy of Roan 589. Roan hath John Maximilian de L'anglé Peter Erondelle and David Primrose 590. Orbes Abraham le Seneschal 591. Quillebaeuf William Cacherat 592. Saucourt Charles De lossat 593. Pont Levesque Stephen Fudes 594. Eureax Peter le Tellier 2d Colloquy of Caux 595. Dieppe Abdias de Mondenis and Moyse * * * The Son of this Cartaud sâ—â—â—â—â—ed his Father and in the Year 1685 he turn'd Apostate Cartaud 596. Boislebec James de Larrey 597. Luncrey and Basqueville Isaac de la Balte 598. Seintet Isaac de la Motte 599. Fescum David Guellode 600. Haure de Grace John Baudowin 3d Colloquy of Caen. 601. Caen John le Boniver Lord of la Fresnay John de Ballehache and Samuel Bochart 602. Baali Samuel Bajeux 603. Bayeneux John le Breton 604. St. Vast Stephen le Sage 605. Trencens Antony le Genevois 606. Geffosse David Chanduret 607. Les Essars John Tappin 4th Colloquy of Falaise 608. Atis Peter Morin 609. Presnat David Bourgat 610. Mezieres Peter Baulran 611. Vire William Blanchard 612. St. Silvain Noah Gallot 613. Condé upon Noireau John Blanchard 614. Falaise Peter Baycux David de Caux a Pastor without a Church 5th Colloquy of Constantin 615. Ste mere Eglife Benjamin Banage and Antony de Lassleur 616. Dulé Mark Maurice 617. St. Lo Vincent Soler 618. Groussy Jeremy Charitier 619. Gaure Jehoiachin le Moyne 620. Cheffresne Isaac de Vennes 621. Chassagne Luke Boquet 622. La haye dupuy destitute 623. Serizi destitute There is in this Province a sixth Colloquy viz. the Colloquy of Alencon but it and its Churches are both omitted in this Catalogue Sixteenth Province and Provincial Synod is the Province of Bearn Which Province being in the Principality of Bearn did always appear by two Deputies chosen by their Synod in the National Synods of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom and were in this of Castres represented by the Lords Peter de Rivall Pastor in the Church of Nay and John de Pommerede Advocate in the Parliament of Navarre Elder in the Church of Morlas but the said Deputies did not bring with them the Roll of the Churches and Pastors in their Province so that they could not be registred CHAP. XXXVIII A Letter of the Church of Geneva to the National Synod of Castres Most Reverend Honoured and Dear Brethren THere has not been a National Synod of the Churches for these many Years last past held in France but that we have made tenders of our Duties to them because of that strict and intimate Communion we have with them all in our common Lord. We have also new Ingagements unto Thankfulness and to abound in Thanksgivings for the infinite Mercies of our God which are Day by Day and from one Year unto another accumulated upon and continued to his Churches the Lord renewing his tender Compassions so miraculously in their Preservations But if ever we had any cause for so doing 't is now that we are in a most extraordinary manner obliged to it for his gracious Providence shines forth with a most admirable Lustre in the defence of your Churches and particularly in the free enjoyment of your Religious Assemblies so that at the many strange Accidents which have befallen you for divers Years together and the Tempests with which the Kingdom of France hath been assaulted and battered the sore and grievous Afflictions of many of our Brethren having astonished our Souls and overwhelmed our Hearts with Sorrows had made us almost despair of ever seeing the comfortable returns of Peace unto your Realm and of Repose and Settlement for your poor afflicted Churches and the Exercise of your most excellent Discipline than which a better was never practised in the Christian World And now in this Calm the Divine Wisdom gathers his Children as the Hen doth her Chickens under his Wings and reneweth the Face of his Church in your Congregations as the Eagle doth his Youth And this Mercy should be the more prized and esteemed by us because it is not in this Day a common Favour and Benefit vouchsafed of God unto all those whom he had once honoured with the knowledg of himself in the Gospel For besides that the subversion of so many Provinces the dismal Desolations or those sometimes flourishing Churches in Germany Bohemia Moravia and the Valtoline are yet continued and the Dissipations and Dispersions are still growing and augmenting and the Judgments of God from Heaven are following one upon the neck of another one dreadful Ravage calling upon another to make haste Therefore we lie prostrate night and day at the Feet of our Heavenly Father adoring his rich Grace in Christ Jesus for setting bounds unto the Fire of his Wrath so that all his Churches are not totally devoured by it And we most ardently beseech his Divine Majesty that as he keeps the Hearts of Kings in his own Hands so he would be pleased to inspire your King with Counsels of Favour and Peace for his People and tender Love unto your Churches that under his Government and Authority the Name of God may be celebrated with Liberty of Conscience and Truth may bring forth Faith in the World and Righteousness from Heaven may yield the Fruit of True and Saving Peace Moreover we do also carry upon our Hearts unto the Throne
have suffered us to have finished what we had begun since we had entred upon it But contrariwise we were censur'd by them and they rejected our Call of Monsieur Daillé without ever giving us any reason for it This most honoured Sirs did exceedingly astonish us and is very bitter to us that after so many Travels we should be blamed for that Action of which we protest before God Angels and your Holy Assembly we had none other end than the Glory of God and the Advancement of his Kingdom nor durst we believe that our Synod could have been guilty of such an Excess unless the Interests and Pretensions of some particular Persons had not been predominant For we are not convinced of having violated any Canon of our Church-Discipline whereas on the contrary those Gentlemen under the pretext of establishing it do sap and undermine its very Foundations For the Discipline having prudently ordained that no Church may call a Pastor from another Province till it have first communicated it unto the Provincial Synod hath thereby provided for two things first For the publick Edification of our Churches and for the maintaining of an holy Union between all the Churches of this Kingdom it doth permit a Church to chuse and call a Pastor to it from out of another Province And if this be permitted unto all the Churches and many of them have made use of this Priviledg it ought more especially be allow'd unto this Church of Paris whose Importance is sufficiently known This hath been our practice ever unto this day nor till now was it contradicted by any Person For thus was Monsieur du Moulin called off from the Service of her Royal Highness the Dutchess of Barr deceased and thus did we call Monsieur Durant from her Highness the Dutchess of Deuxponts The other is that the Discipline would hinder Churches from calling rashly and unadvisedly such Persons whose Doctrine was unsound or Lives scandalous or in whom there was an Insufficieney So that if any Church should call such Persons the Provincial Synod might very justly and warrantably obstruct and hinder it But when-as nothing can be urg'd against the Person called the Synod hath no power to hinder that Call such an absolute Power being condemned by the Word of God And 't is very improbable that the Composers of our Discipline should ever harbour such a Thought or Intention as to impose this Yoke upon our Churches or that they would place Pastors of Churches in worse Circumstances than Scholars who being sought after by Churches and presented unto Synods cannot be rejected whenas they have those Qualities which are requisite for their imployment in the Sacred Ministry Therefore in our Opinion we have not in the least swerved from the Canons of our Discipline For we have called a Person admitted into the Pastoral Office already in our Churches and who hath discharged his Duty with Applause and Commendation and not a Stranger utterly unknown to us And we gave notice of it unto our Synod as soon as possibly we could and craved their Approbation But contrariwise our said Synod breaketh the Links in the golden Chain of Communion between us and our Churches and would deprive us of that Blessing and Franchise wherewith our Discipline hath endowed us and of which we have had the Possession and Enjoyment to this present Day and this without alledging of any other Reason besides their meer and bare Will and Pleasure For in case these Gentlemen should pretend Ignorance of Monsieur Daillé and that they do not in the least know him We answer that they might better have been acquainted with him and inform'd themselves concerning him than to have deprived us of so great a Blessing and to reject a Person whom having once the happiness of his Acquaintance they would most highly caress esteem and value Besides were there any force in this Argument all Pastors might be rejected who are called from out of the Province But should they say the Synod disapproved absolutely of this Call because we were over-hasty in it and that we did not in the first place consult with them about it We answer That we imparted this Affair unto them as soon as possibly we could and in case we did it not sooner it was not out of any disrespect unto them These Gentlemen do very well know with how much Humility and cordial Affection we are wont to treat and deal with them But this must be imputed to the unhappiness of the Times and that Affliction wherewith God had visited us And suppose we had failed in this Particular which yet they will never be able to convince us of What Zeal what Charity is this to punish our Miscarriage with the loss of God's Glory and the Edification of so considerable a Church as ours is And if God had not out of his great Goodness excited the Charity and moved the Compassions of Churches far distant from us the Condition of our Church had been most lamentable for our Synod made no better Provision for us than to send us unto our Colloquy And whenas we thought of addressing our selves to it the very first Church from whom we demanded help gave us this answer That it could not afford us any till such time as the Colloquy had prescribed them the manner How thereby deluding our very Demand For you know Sirs how rarely our Colloquies are held and the trouble we have now-adays to assemble them Therefore whenas the Church of Saumur had the Charity to consent that Monsieur Daillé should come and serve us and the Synod of Anjou imitating their Zeal agreed to this Removal we did not make any scruple of calling Monsieur Daillé to our Assistance in which also the Blessing of God is very visible For this Church receiveth a most singular Edification by his Ministry and we are full of hopes that it will be continued and be daily more and more useful and fruitful and that we have exceeding great cause of praising God for putting it into our Hearts to make such a Choice We beseech you then most Honoured Sirs that considering our Sincerity and Zeal in this Affair but above all the Glory of God and the Edification of our Church you would be pleased to confirm this our Choice and to roll away that Reproach wherewith some would blast our Honours and Office and to take off that Censure which hath been denounc'd against us and to admonish our Province to carry it with more Love towards us In doing whereof you will inspire us with new Courage in the midst of those Travels sustained by us for the Service of our Church and of many others to whom upon all Occasions we are ready to perform all kind of good Offices And we beseech God most Honoured Sirs to preside in your Council by his Holy Spirit to preserve your Persons and to shower down his Blessings upon your Labours Being Paris August 20.1626 Your most humble and most
of our Discipline 7. And forasmuch as the Order and Discipline of our Churches cannot subsist without the being and sitting of Colloquies and Synods your Majesty is most humbly requested to give leave that our Colloquies and Provincial Synods may be assembled in the presence of your Majesty's Commissioners and Deputies according to the ancient Order because the Governours of the Provinces do very much oppose the holding of them and defer their Sessions for a long time together and have hindred divers Provinces from Synodical Assemblies three or four Years together 8. Your Majesty having formerly declared with your own Mouth whenas the National Synod was held last at Charenton in the Year 1623 That it was your Pleasure that those Pastors who were born in other Countries not under your Majesties Jurisdiction should continue in the Exercise of their Office in their respective Churches without ever being disquietted or molested We most humbly beseech your Majesty on their behalf that you would be graciously pleased to grant them your Declaration to this Purpose and also to gratify with the same Favour such as have been received into the Sacred Ministry since the Year 1623 in the presence of your Majesty's Commissioners and Deputies 9. And the Lord Galland having informed this Synod that for the future your Majesty intended to restrain this Favour and only to vouchsafe it to your Majesty's natural born Subjects none others being to be received into the Ministry among us We most humbly beseech your Majesty that this Restriction may be taken off and that your Majesty's wonted Favour may be continued to us in this Particular 10. May it please your Majesty also to repeal those Prohibitions issued out against those very worthy Ministers of the Gospel Mr. Bouterove Banage and Beraud forbidding their personal Presence and Attendance in this Synod and that with your Majesty's License they may having been duly chosen thereunto come into it and take their Place and Vote in it according to their Deputations from their respective Provinces 11. And whereas such as make profession of our Religion are for the most part excluded and deprived of all Offices Charges and Publick Dignities of being Doctors and incorporated into the Colledges of Physicians and of all Employments yea and are not so much as suffered to be Masters in those very Mechanical Arts and Trades in which they had been educated and in which they had served their Apprentiships May it therefore please your Majesty graciously to ordain that they may be indifferently admitted unto those aforesaid Charges and Employments with your other Subjects of the Romish Communion 12. And whereas the Triumphs of your Victorious Arms do proclaim your Majesty's Glory We most humbly beseech your Majesty to augment your own Glory yet a great deal more by extending your Clemency and Pardon unto those many miserable Persons who have been detained for a long time together upon no other score than that of the past Troubles in Chains and Slavery aboard your Gallies and to give forth your Royal Order and Command that they may be delivered and enlarged 13. It hath pleased your Majesty in all those Declarations made by you in favour of your Subjects of the Reformed Religion to promise the Continuance of that Bounty granted us by the late King Henry the Great of glorious Memory and divers times since confirmed by your Majesty to contribute towards the Maintenance of our Pastors and Universities as a Compensation for the Tithes paid by them unto the Curates Yet nevertheless for several Years together we have been totally deprived of this Gratuity and whereas divers Sums of Money had been assigned us for the former Years there yet remains due and unpaid a very considerable Sum amounting to six hundred twenty one thousand eight hundred and twelve Livers And although we have been again and again promised this Grace and Favour and particularly upon the Reduction of the Towns of Lower Languedoc in the Year 1628 and afterward confiâ—med by your Majesty's Answer to our Bill of Grievances at Montauban Yet notwithstanding those very Assignations given us in the Year 1627 have been revoked and those of the three next following Years 1628 1629 and 1630 and for this present Year 1631 are not at all paid in unto us Wherefore we most humbly beseech your Majesty that according to your Royal Promises they may be effectually continued to us and that your poor Subjects of the Reformed Religion may enjoy these Gratuities and be fully satisfied for all the Arrears 14. And whereas your Majesty was pleased upon the restoring the Church-Lands in the Principality of Bearn out of which our Ministers received their Sallaries to assign them a continual Stipend out of the Exchequer and Treasury there and this by the Edict of Restitution which was followed by the Declaration made at Montpellier when you gave Peace unto your Subjects yet nevertheless in prejudice of your Royal Words without any Edict revoking that Assignation past in the making up the Accompts and local Charges of the said Principality the Ministers of the Gospel there have been retrench'd from four hundred and fourscore Livers which they did each of them receive yearly to two hundred and thirty four Livers only yea and this very last Year four thousand Livers more have been taken from them Wherefore may it please your Majesty conformable to your Will declared in your Royal Edicts to stop the course of such Diminutions and to reestablish the aforesaid four thousand Livers which have been retrenched and to continue the paiment of their Sallaries unto the Ministers without ever suffering them to be diverted to any other Uses besides those to which they were designed and appointed in that first Institution made by your Royal Bounty 15. The Deputies who are now sent unto the King are expresly charged most humbly to petition his Majesty that Silence may be imposed on his Lieutenant General in the Parliament of Bourdeaux who hath commenc'd a Suit against the Lord of Vandelincourt Minister in the Church of Marennes and his eldest Son for that their Cause is depending in the Court of the Edict sitting at Agen. CHAP. VII The Deputies return from Court with the King's Answer and Letter to the Synod 16 THE two and twentieth day of this Month those aforementioned Deputies unto his Majesty Monsieur Amyraud and de Villars returned with Letters from his Majesty unto the Synod the Tenour of which followed A Copy of his Majesty's Letter unto the Synod By the KING Dear and Well-beloved WE have seen by your Letter of the 13th Instant and farther understand by word of Mouth from your Deputies and by the Memoirs presented to us the Demands which you have to make us on those Matters debated in your Synodical Assembly and now called by our Writ of Licence to sit at Charenton And forasmuch as we have informed the said Deputies of our Intentions on the greater part of your Demands and that we have given a
the Provinces but with these Conditions First That they be not bound to send more than two Deputies unto our National Synods Secondly That Judicial Sentences past by and in the Province until now shall not be revoked nor reversed Thirdly That Pastors serving in the said Province shall not be translated into another Province Fourthly That the Appeals of private Persons may not be received in these National Synods The Synod absolutely granting the two first Conditions doth nevertheless exhort the said Province to send equal number of Deputies with the other Provinces unto the National Synod whenas his Majesty shall be pleased to permit one to be held in the Provinces bordering on that of Bearn And as for the two other Conditions provided that the said Deputies shall promise on behalf of their Province to own the Authority of our National Synods and to take out their Appeals in the Form specified Canon the 10th of the 8th Chapter of our Discipline the Synod yieldeth unto their Demand assuring them that it will take a most particular Care of their Edification and as it intendeth not to lose its Right unto divers Pastors born in the Provinces of the Higher and Lower Guyenne who are now actually employed in that of Bearn so also it will never use it to their evident Prejudice but in every Matter and especially in that of removing Pastors either from the Churches they are now serving or from out of the Province the National Synod will give full proof of their fraternal Charity and Affection Article 2. Upon this Debate the Lord Galland his Majesty's Commissioner remonstrated That the Conjunction of the Churches of Bearn with those of this Kingdom and particularly their Submission unto the Discipline of the Reformed Churches of France and the Power of appealing from Bearn unto the National Synods here were Matters of that Nature that they could not be done without the King's Permission because such Conjunctions depend upon Soveraign Authority that the late King Henry the Fourth of happy Memory had already determin'd this Question having in the Years 1602 and 1604 permitted the Churches of Bearn to assist at the National Synods of France hereby to conserve an Union in Doctrine but he also decreed that they should bring in their Cahiers of Complaints distinct from those of France And in the Year 1615 whenas the Political Assembly of Grenoble demanded this Union it was denied in that Answer given to the 22d and 23d Articles in these Words That the late King did never permit nor approve of the Vnion of the pret Reformed Churches of Bearn with those of France nor will his Majesty now permit it until such time as the said Principality shall be re-united and re-incorporated with the Crown of France But yet in the mean while the Deputies of Bearn may bring in their Petitions by themselves which shall be answered according to Reason Against which Answer the Assembly of Rochel having took great Exceptions and in a particular Article at the Conference of Loudun in the Year 1616 there was returned an Order little differing from the Cahier of Grenoble so that the Land of Bearn not having since had any Permission from the King to join it self unto the Churches of France it cannot be done but must be confined to the plain and simple terms of Petition Besides the Consequences of this Union have been formerly resented for the Churches of Bearn shrowded with the shadow and hope of a powerful Assistance were transported to such dismal Excesses as make a very mournful History in that of our Times And all Authors are agreed that the Land of Bearn was originally a Member of the Kingdom of Navarre lying on the other side of the Pyrenean Mountains though subject to our Kings of the Merovingian Line as is evident from Gregory of Tours who relateth that the Bishops of the said Territory came unto the Council of Agde in the Year 506 and to that of Mascon in the Year 588. And the Lord of Bearn acknowledged the Kings and Kingdom of France for his supream Lord and did Homage to them and to their Sovereign Authority But in the Year 1512 Louis the twelfth King of France to make some Compensation for and to sweeten the Loss of the Kingdom of Navarre usurped by Ferdinand King of Arragon granted unto John of Albret and Katharine of Navarre his Wife that the Land of Bearn should enjoy its Charters and Priviledg of Soveraignty until such times as it should be otherwise determined by meet and competent Judges And since that the Country of Bearn hath been accounted a Principality distinct from the Kingdom and independent without any reservation That in the Year 1571 Jane Queen of Navarre set up a Church-Discipline whose Execution is limited within the Bounds of that Principality and the Laws are all enacted and sworn to by the States of the Country and maintained to this very day from the observation whereof the Subjects cannot withdraw themselves nor without the permission of their Prince may they take upon them to constitute Judges in Church or State much less to enlarge the Bounds of Appeals whenas by the Laws of Bearn they are to be terminated by its Provincial Synods and within the Country it self as is in like manner done in the City of Metz and Principality of Sedan And should this Conjunction be admitted Causes would be drawn out of the Province which would be an Innovation of dangerous Consequence to his Majesty's Authority and to this little Province and contrary to its Union which hath preserved the Country in its Laws Forts Customs and domestick Prerogatives The Deputies of Bearn to give some colour unto this Union say That this Union was permitted by the King that it hath been exercised by his Majesty since the uniting of Bearn with the Crown of France that it was approved by the said Lord Commissioner in the National Synod of Castres in the Year 1626. But here are divers Mistakes The Truth is that Henry the Fourth of happy Memory and the King now reigning most gloriously have not permitted nor promised the Union of the said Churches nor was it permitted by the Cahier of the Year 1615. But the Answer unto the Union demanded was deferred till after the Country was united with that of France so that the victorious Arms of his Majesty having subjected the Land of Bearn to his Obedience and the Union of the Country made by his absolute Authority notwithstanding all former Grants and Priviledges the Subjects are bound to have recourse anew unto his Majesty And although by the Cahiers of the Year 1615 the Union of the Churches was put off till the Union of the State yet none may therefore assert that because the State is united with the Crown of France the Union of the Churches must therefore of Right be made also but that it may be obtained there is need of a new Address unto his Majesty that he would by his Sovereign Authority
Actings in the Church of Paillac which he quitted and forsook during the times of the late Commotions 10. The Province of the Isle of France and Church of Paris having related their Proceedings with Monsieur Richer formerly Pastor in the Church of Vandieres This Assembly applauding the Charity of the said Province and particularly of the Church of Paris towards him doth confirm the Judgment denounced against him by the said Province for his Levity and evil Conversation notwithstanding the long-continued Indulgence of that Province to him 11. Forasmuch as the Colloquy of Ambrun was not in a Capacity of taking Cognizance of the Cause of Mr. Genoyer which was recommended to them by the National Synod of Castres This Assembly commissionates the Colloquy of Gapensois finally to determine that matter 12. This Assembly having read the Censure past on Monsieur Persy and ordained that it should be razed out of the Acts of the National Synod of Castres doth commissionate the Provincial Deputies of Higher Languedoc in their Return homeward to pass by Monflanquin and to take Cognizance of the Fact mentioned in the Acts of the Synod of Lower Guyenne And in case the said Deputies cannot execute their Commission they shall give notice of it unto their Province which is impowered in that case to pronounce a final Sentence 13. Although the Deputies of Lower Languedoc have faithfully informed this Assembly how that through the rich and soveraign Mercy of God Monsieur Peyrat was preserved from the very Brink and Precipice of Destruction unto which his many Infirmities and sore Temptations had most lamentably exposed him and declared the Course which the Synod of the said Province had took with him in order to his Recovery and Re-establishment in the Exercise of his Ministerial Office yet doth it nevertheless grievously censure the Provincial Synod for proceeding to his Restoration contrary to the usual and accustomed Forms and Neglect of the Canons of our Church-Discipline 14. Monsieur Aymard Deputy of the Province of Sevennes unto the National Synod of Castres having not discharged the Commission given him by the said Synod This Assembly censuring both the said Aymard for his Neglect and the Province of Sevennes for not calling him to an Account for it doth confirm the Judgment passed by the Provincial Synod of Lower Languedoc against Mr. Tustan 15. This Assembly judging the Neglect of the Province of Sevennes worthy of a most grievous Censure ordains that the Act made in the National Synod of Castres against Monsieur Bony shall abide in full force And whereas the Colloquy of Montpellier hath took Information of the Facts proposed but not decided in the aforesaid Synod it is now fully impowered to proceed against the said Bony according to the Discipline in case he be found guilty and if hereafter there be a Default of rendring an account of Commissions given to the said Province by the National Synods the Moderators of those Provincial Synods shall be suspended from their Office 16. The Province of Berry had Audience given them as to those Matters of their Complaints and Petitions And this Assembly ordaineth that the Decree of the National Synod of Castres shall stand good and that the other past in the Provincial Synod held at Chastillon upon Loir shall be razed out of the Body of their Synodical Acts. 17. The Synod not being able to change any thing in that Canon of the National Synod of Castres concerning Monks exhorteth the Provinces to practise it with all possible Prudence and Charity 18. The Printers of Geneva and Sedan shall be informed by the Church of Paris exactly to observe the Citations already added or that may be hereafter added to the Margents of our Confession of Faith 19. Forasmuch as divers Difficulties are started about the observation of that Canon made in the last National Synod of Castres which ordered that ancient Pastors should always be preferr'd before Scholars who were demanded by particular Churches to be ordained Ministers unto them This Assembly taking off the Commination pronounced in case of Disobedience to that Canon against the Moderators of Colloquies and Provincial Synods and mollifying it in that part thereof which imposeth a precise necessity of giving the Preference unto Pastors doth yet notwithstanding exhort the Provinces to observe this Ordinance as much as possibly they can and not to quit it but at such times whenas they shall be constrained by an evident and most urgent Necessity so to do 20. * * * Another Copy writes Noel Noah Gaultier deposed by the Synod of Burgundy appeared in Person before this Assembly and demanded his Restitution unto the Sacred Ministry presupposing that he had appealed hither but could not get out his Appeal which he designed against the Sentence past upon him The Assembly being fully informed as well of the Causes for which he was put into the Roll of the Deposed as of his Actings against the said Province rejected his Petition 21. George Arband presenting himself before this Assembly and importunately desiring to be restored unto his Ministry from which he had been deposed by the National Synod of Castres he was told by the Moderator in open Synod that there would be nothing altered in the Sentence past upon him but that it should abide still in force against him 22. Now that according to the Decree of the last National Synod of Castres this Assembly proceeded to examine the Reasons brought by the Deputies of the Provinces upon that Question Whether it be lawful and expedient to administer Baptism on Days of ordinary common Prayers whenas there is no Sermon preached and all of them had been duly pondered and debated the Assembly did at last conclude That a Sermon preached either before or after Baptism was not of the Essence of that Sacrament but only a Matter of Order whereof the Church might determine and therefore the respective Churches and Provinces are left unto their respective Usages and Customs provided that they be such as in their best and maturest Thoughts will most contribute unto their edifying 23. This Synod ratifying the Judicial Sentence past by the Colloquy of Anduze in the Cause of Mr. du Cros and Raill doth yet condemn those bitter Expressions used by Mr. du Cros in his Letter written against George Arbaud after his Reconciliation with him 24. The Lord Malet reporting the State of the Process against the Sieur Palot was intreated to continue his Prosecutions vigorously and not to suffer the Cause to be heard before any other Judges than the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy-Council because of the great Prejudice that would otherwise redound unto the Churches 25. Although the Churches of this Kingdom have little cause of Satisfaction from the Province of Bearn by reason of their dilatory Proceedings in the Business of Mr. Mainuelle yet forasmuch as it was granted the said Province that all Judicial Sentences past by them to this day should be valid and not liable
of an hundred and fifty Livers and the Scholar named Martill having been examined in the last Synod of Bearn and found meet and qualified to serve the Church of God in the Sacred Ministry shall receive for his yearly Portion sixty Livers and the Sum of seventy five Livers shall be paid in to the said Mr. Guillemin in Consideration of his Sickness only by the Lord of Candall this Synod not being able to charge it self with the reimbursment of his Expences because it judgeth it an unreasonable thing that Pastors should take long Journies upon none other Errand than to present their Petitions unto the National Synods which might as well if not been better done by inserting them into the Memoirs of the Deputies of those Provinces of which they be Members 42. The Complaint of Stephen du Mas against Mr. Scoffier Pastor in the Church of Lunell is dismissed over to the Consistory of Montpellier which having heard both Parties shall within one Month after the signification of this present Act by that Consistory judg of the pretended Right of the said du Mas by Authority from this Assembly 43. This Assembly ratifying the Decree of the National Synod of Castres concerning Mr. Bicheteau Pastor in the Church of Vrillac and Prosessor of the Hebrew Tongue in the University of Montauban judgeth concerning his Demands notified by his Letters as also by his Son declaring them by word of Mouth that they are not of their nature which ought to be tendred unto the National Synods yet in Consideration of his great Necessities and Losses it was resolved that he should have a Token of this Assembly's Affection and Charity which should be given him whenas the Monies appertaining to the Churches came to be divided 44. The Letters of Dr. Andrew Rivet Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the famous University of Leyden being read a Decree past That in the Answer which should be returned unto him he should be intreated to continue his Care and Kindness to the Weal of our Churches And whereas the laid Reverend Professor is upon the point of being settled in the House of his Excellency the Prince of Orange and his Lordship the Lord Commissioner having remonstrated that he could not be there established without his Majesty's Licence the Lord of Champvernon his Brother is intreated to give him notice thereof 45. The Reverend Pastors of Xaintonge and the Lower Guyenne who were appointed to examine the Works of Monsieur Blondell having made an honourable Report of them this Assembly commended the said Monsieur Blondell for his great Labour Care and Exactness in so painful and important a Subject and exhorts him continually to employ those excellent Gifts and Talents which God hath so abundantly bestowed upon him in clearing up the History of the five first Centuries And whereas the last Synod of Castres had promised to bear the Charges of the Impression this Synod doth now assure him that he shall be fully satisfied in this Particular And that the after-Writings of the said Mr. Blondell may be strictly perused and examined the Provincial Synod of the Isle of France is commissionated to do it and to give their Licence and Approbation that so they may be printed 46. Upon hearing the Report of those Commissioners who were appointed to audit the Receivers Accompts of the Monies collected by his Majesty's Permission the 7th of February 1626 for relieving the Necessities of the Cities of Rochel Montauban and Castres they declared that they had seen and examined that of Monsieur d'Huysseau for the Provinces of the Isle of France Normandy Berry Anjou Poitou Brittain and Xaintonge and his Receipt amounted to the Sum of sixty nine thousand seven hundred and thirteen Livers nineteen Sous and six Deniers and the Disbursment to sixty eight thousand six hundred and thirteen Livers five Sous and eight Deniers so that there remains in the hands of the said Monsieur d' Huysseau eleven hundred and forty Livers thirteen Sous and nine Deniers The Assembly approving the said Audit orders that Monsieur d' Huysseau do pay in the said Debt unto the Lord of Candall who shall divide it between the Churches of Montauban Castres and Rochel proportionably to what they have already received and may hereafter receive according as it was regulated in the National Synod of Castres in doing of which he shall be sufficiently acquitted and discharged of the Monies so received and disbursed by him as he also is now thanked for his great Care Pains and Diligence in his management and execution of the said Office of Receiver And it was farther voted that all his Acquittances sent unto the Churches shall be restored to him if possible it can be done but if it cannot be they are then declared Null and Void 47. Report being made unto this Assembly by those Reverend Divines who were commanded to peruse divers parts of that Treatise upon the Eucharist made by Mr. Faucheur and how exceeding profitable this most Elaborate Work would be unto the Publick by reason of its deep and curious Learning the most worthy Author received the Thanks of the Synod for his singular Diligence and Zeal for God's Glory and Affection to the edifying of God's Church And Messieurs de Croy and Gigord Pastors of the Churches of Beziers and Montpellier are ordered to revise it that as soon as it hath past their Examination and Approbation it may be immediately printed at the Costs of the Churches according to the Intention of the National Synod of Castres 48. Mr. Charron Deputy from the Church of Bergerac related the Causes which obstructed the restitution of their Colledg Whereupon this Synod voted a Continuance of that same Supply which had been formerly granted them for its Support by the last National Synod of Castres and exhorted them to use their best and utmost Endeavours that it may be restored betwixt this and the next National Synod And in case they can effect it sooner the Provincial Synod of Lower Guyenne is ordered to acquaint the Lord of Candall with it who shall pay in unto them the Monies granted by the Churches for the Maintenance of the said Colledg proportionably to what he shall receive from the Monies of his Majesty's Liberality The Synod likewise ordaineth that till the said Colledg be restored the four hundred Livers attributed to the Province of Lower Guyenne for its Colledg and applied by the last National Synod to that of Nerac shall be paid out of the same Fund according to the Intention of the said Synod 49. The Synod of Burgundy is ordered to examine the Accompts of Mr. Gros who was commissionated to receive the Collection granted by his Majesty for the Cities of Rochel Montauban and Castres that so upon the closing of them they may send the residue of the Monies in his Hands unto the Lord of Candall who according to the Sum shall divide it among those Churches in the same manner as he did that of
Monsieur d' Huysseau and conformable to the Regulation made in the last Synod of Castres 50. Mr. Du Bois a Pastor discharged by the Province of Normandy complaining that contrary to the Decree of the National Synod of Castres the said Province instead of reckoning with him for his Portion assigned by the 24th National Synod held at Charenton in the Year 1623 unto him had ordered that the free Portion granted him by that of Castres in the Year 1626 should be paid in unto him by the Receiver of the said Province The Assembly having heard the Report of the Commissioners nominated by it to examine his Pretensions doth condemn the said Province for not having followed the Intentions of the said National Synod of Castres and ordaineth that out of the best and clearest Monies belonging to the said Province there shall be detained the Sum of eight and fifty Livers and fourteen Sous in the hands of the Lord du Candall who shall pay it unto the said Mr. Du Bois he giving an Acquittance for it And whereas he hath not touch'd a Denier of his free Portion given him by the National Synod of Castres it shall be paid unto him either by the Lord of Candall or his Deputy in the Province of the Isle of France 51. Whereas the first National Synod of Charenton in the Year 1623 had ordained four hundred Livers to be paid in to the Province of Higher Languedoc now the Lord of Candall out of the first Monies that shall be distributed among the Churches shall reimburse the said Province of that Sum. CHAP. XX. APPEALS 1. MR. Nonis Pastor in the Church of Aulas appearing to defend that Appeal brought by the said Church from the Judgment of the Province of Sevennes which had ordered the Inhabitants of La Breauvaise to be incorporated for the future with the Church of Breas After hearing the pretended Grievances of the Church of Aulas and the Petition brought by the Deputy of the Inhabitants of La Breauvaise confirmed by their Letters and by the Letters of the Church of Breaus and the Reasons given in by the Deputies of the Province for their Judgment whereby it was manifest that the Differences between those two Churches of Aulas and Breas are rather bottom'd on the Passions of some particular Persons than on any real Interest of either And whereas by the Canon of the National Synod of Castres the Province of Sevennes was sufficiently impower'd to pass a final Sentence in this Affair this Assembly condemneth Monsieur Nouis for quitting the exercise of his Ministry in his Church and taking upon him the Office of a Sollicitor which might have been better discharged by another and enjoineth the Deputies of the Province of Sevennes to labour a Composition in the most amicable manner of the Differences between both thole Churches of Aulas and Breau and in case they should not be able to compose them then they shall acquaint the Synod of Lower Languedoc therewith before which the Deputies of both those Churches shall appear and receive their final Judgment Moreover the Synod of Sevennes is injoined to see to it that Mr. Berlé Pastor of the Church of Breau and all other Ministers of the said Province do actually and personally reside with their Flocks And forasmuch as the National Synod of Castres had given full Power unto Provincial Synods to judg finally in the Case of Conjunction and Separation of the Churches and their Annexes this Assembly confirming that Canon ordaineth That in case any Difficulties should arise and hinder the Provincial Synods from coming to a final Judgment then those Causes shall be dismissed over to the Synod of the Neighbour Province nor shall they be brought hereafter unto our National Synods 2. This Assembly approving the Zeal of the Province of Burgundy and the Motives inducing them to give Sentence on Monsieur Durand Pastor of the Church of Issurtille doth however take off that Censure of Suspension from him and restoreth him with Honour unto the exercise of his Ministry and ordereth that the Act from which he appealeth and that which follows it shall be supprest because 't is very clear the said Durand had no Design to execute the Sentence denounc'd against himself but that he proceeded in that Business with all simplicity and uprightness wherein he is exhorted to continue and to walk with more prudence and circumspection according to the Counsel of his Brethren 3. This Assembly revising the Judgment given by the Province of Burgundy against Paul Sarazin heretofore Pastor in the Church of Vison declareth That the said Province proceeded in that Matter with excessive Severity and for the future enjoineth that they never insert into the Causes of their Censures Facts not verified and that in no wise they depart from the wonted Forms And farther the said Sarazin is judged worthy of the greatest Censures for abandoning his Church without leave first had and obtained and for being negligent in conserving the Honour of his Vocation whereunto he had been called by God and amending the Sentence from which he doth appeal this Synod removeth him the said Sarazin from his Ministry which he shall not any more exercise 4. The Judgment past by the same Province against Joseph Aubery formerly Pastor in the Church of Coulonges in the Colloquy of Gex is confirmed in every Point and Article thereof 5. Mr. Chacerat Pastor of the Churches of Ponteau de Mar and Quillebeaf having made his Complaints unto this Assembly and praying that Right and Justice might be done him the next Synod of Normandy was ordered to take special care of him and with all love to provide for the Safety of his Person and that his Life may be made comfortable to him And the said Cacherat is exhorted to continue in the Exercise of his Calling with that Zeal and Conscientiousness he hath ever manifested Yet afterward he revolted 6. The said Mr. Cacherat appealing from the Judgment of his Province and declaring the Grievances pretended to have been sustained by him The Assembly representing to him that his Cause was not of their Nature which should be brought before the National Synods did exhort him to rest satisfied with the Testimonial given him unanimously by his Province of his Probity and Fidelity in the discharge of his Ministry and the rather because these Persons whom he accuseth to have done him Wrong being dead 't is utterly impossible that his Province should procure him a more ample Satisfaction 7. Although the Appeal brought by Monsieur Pejus from the Judgment of the Commissioners of the Province of Berry be not of their Nature which are to be brought unto these National Synod Yet nevertheless this Synod taking to it self the cognizance thereof doth confirm that Judgment given by the said Commissioners in all its Articles and censureth the said Mr. Pejus for not acquiescing in it and enjoineth him to yield full satisfaction to it on pain of being suspended
Vivaretz making Report that the said Province was indebted to him the Sum of two thousand one hundred Livers paid by him before-hand unto the Churches for the Relief of their Pastors as is manifest from the Finito of his Account rendred unto the Synod held at Mirabel in the Year 1625. This Assembly to do him Justice upon his Complaint decreed That if he will be pleased to quit his Expences Damages and Interest for Forbearance claimed by him and the Province of Vivaretz restoring him to his Office of Receiver upon the same Conditions that were accorded unto the present Possessor of it that then he shall pay himself the whole Principal in the two next ensuing Years and as for the Arrearages due unto him provided he do make them appear to be real Debts and that he hath not been satisfied for them out of the Obligation given him by the said Province upon the Lands of Toulant and Baffre they also shall be put upon Account in Order to his Satisfaction Article 14. The Province of Higher Languedoc and Monsieur Berauld one of its Deputies were censured for violating the Canons which had taken Care that the Pastors of particular Churches should be deputed unto Synods alternatively and that none should be received into Provincial Synods without Letters of Commission and that no Professors of Divinity should appear in Synods although they were Pastors without being sent thither by their Churches or called by the Synods whenas Matters relating to their Universities or important Points of Doctrine were handled and debated Article 15. The Lords General Deputies are ordered to assist the Churches of Bearn in their Petition presented unto his Majesty for the re-establishing of their Colledg Article 16. Mr. Robertson Principal of the Colledg of Rochefoucauld reporting the considerable Sums he had advanced out of his own Pocket towards the Maintenance of the said Colledg This Assembly ordained That out of the Monies belonging to the Province of Xaintonge upon the Account of that Colledg the Lord of Candall shall keep in his own Hands so much as shall be found due unto the said Mr. Robertson who was praised for his Angular Affection unto the publick Weal of the Churches and is intreated to continue his Affection good Service and Faithfulness therein as formerly Article 17. This Assembly ratifying what was done by the Consistory of Montpellier in the Cause of Monsieur Ginmoux which had been turned over to them by the Synod of Castres in the Year 1626 judgeth that the Complaints of the said Ginmoux were groundless and this shall be signified to him by Letters Article 18. The Deputies of Normandy and Xaintonge petitioning that some certain Sum of Monies taken out of the Churches Stock might be imployed towards the Redemption of many poor Protestants kept in hard Captivity by the Turks This Assembly having no Power to grant them their Request because of that small Stock which is at its Disposal doth advise them to petition all the Churches in those and the Neighbour-Provinces to contribute their Alms liberally for the Comfort and Deliverance of those poor afflicted Christians whole Misery is extream and cries aloud for the Bowels of our Compassion Article 19. The Lady Dutchess of Tremouille having by Letters recommended Mr. Jouars unto the Care of this Assembly and demanded that the Call she had given him to be her Pastor might be ratified by our Authority A Vote passed that the said Lady should be commended for her Piety and exhorted by Letters more and more to continue her Zeal for the Glory of God and the Advancement of his Kingdom Article 20. Mr. Godfroy the Civilian Professor of the Laws in the University of Geneva having writ unto this Assembly that he would compose a Body of Church-History which would discover the Untruths in the five first Volumes of Cardinal Baronius and this in Compliance with that Motion made him by the National Synod of Castres in the Year 1626. A Vote passed that the Thanks of this Assembly should be returned him by Letters and that he should be intreated to bless the Churches with the Fruits of his Promises as soon as possible Article 21. Report being made in this Assembly of the grievous Persecutions undergone by Monsieur de Surville Pastor of the Church of Vigan the Sum of three hundred Livers was immediately voted him for his present Subsistence and to be paid in to him by the Lord of Candall out of the best and clearest Monies in his Hands and out of the rest which we hope to recover another Sum of three hundred Livers more and that one supernumerary Portion out of the Dividend for the Province of Sevennes shall be offered to him free of all Taxes and Charges Article 22. This Assembly considering the Expences that Mr. Chambauld hath been necessitated unto by means of the Accusation brought against Mr. Louis du Bois Order was given unto the Province of Vivaretz to inquire into the Truth of his Complaints that in case they be made good and verified the said Province shall betwixt this and the next National Synod give him one free Portion more to be added unto those supernumerary ones already assigned to him Article 23. The Lord of Candall having freely remitted the Sum of eight hundred Livers which were his proper Right and due unto him from the Sous in a Liver out of the Sum of sixteen thousand Livers granted by his Majesty unto the Churches for defraying the Expences of this Assembly and he having also quitted out of the Reprisals which he might have taken in his Accompt the Sum of fifteen hundred Livers This Assembly did unanimously render his Lordship their most hearty Thanks for his generous and Christian Charities to our poor Churches And there was voted out of the said Sum of fifteen hundred Livers three hundred Livers to be given unto Monsieur de Tremblay Pastor in the Church of Paulin and three hundred Livers more were to be delivered unto Monsieur de la Fon Pastor of the Church of Glenat and Calvinat in Consideration of their pressing Wants and fifty Livers to Daniel Chabord for his Assistance who came on purpose to this Synod to implore our Help towards the Redemption of his Son who hath been ever since the last Troubles kept in Slavery aboard the Gallies and the other eight hundred Livers remaining of the said fifteen hundred shall be paid in to the Lord Ramboullet Elder of the Church of Paris to be imployed by his Agent at Marseilles for the Comfort and Deliverance of the Faithful who for Religion and a good Conscience Kept by them have been there detained in Chains ever since the last Commotions Article 24. Forasmuch as Mr. Duncan hath served in the Profession of the Greek Tongue in the University of Saumur by Order of the Provincial Synod of Anjou which had divided the said Profession betwixt him and Mr. Benoist who did formerly enjoy it This Assembly ordainineth that one half of the Wages
but one Word more and having added that shall conclude The Synod of Nismes decreed That Baptism administred by one who had neither Call nor Commission was null and injoined Pastors not in the least to scruple the baptizing such Children who had Water poured upon them by Women or any other such Persons without Call or Commission to baptize 'T is his Majesty's Pleasure that this Article be amended for such reasons as I shall recite unto you in their very Words from the Original Order Because from hence springeth the Opinion of Re-baptizing for from the Doubt which they make about a Call they oblige themselves to re-baptize all those who were baptized by such Persons whose Call they cannot approve of and of whose Call they make themselves the sole Judges and Arbitrators although the Catholick Church not approving their Call yea not in the least hesitating to declare they have none doth yet notwithstanding approve of their Baptism because it is a Sacrament whose Virtue and Efficacy is ex opere operato and not ex opere operantis so that the Synod did that which did not belong unto them when they invalidated this Sacrament by whom-soever it was administred since the Catholick Church in which they cannot say there hath been a Want or Failure of any Call hath decided this Point and in Case of Necessity hath judged probably of the Infants Disposition therefore all Persons are called and the Word and Water intervening the Church will not have this Act to be any more repeated CHAP. IV. How follow the Synod's Replies and Answers unto the King's Propositions Article 13. THE Commissioner having finished his Discourse which was patiently and attentively heard by the Synod The Synod by the Mouth of its Moderator did praise and bless God with their most hearty and humble Thanksgivings for his infinite Goodness and Mercy in hearing the Prayers of his poor Servants and inclining the King's Heart to grant us this Meeting and to promise us the Continuance of his Favours and Thanks also were returned unto his Majesty for that according to his usual and wonted Kindness he hath vouchsafed us new Expressions of his paternal Affection in his Letters and Writ for our Assembly and in choosing and sending and honouring us with such a Person for his Commissioner as is universally famed for his singular Integrity Prudence and Piety And the said Lord Commissioner was most humbly intreated to assure his Majesty that as the Churches did never in Thought or Deed depart from that Obedience Fidelity and Subjection unto which by the Word of God they stood obliged so for the future they will never aim at any other Mark than their Continuance in it and daily give in new Evidences unto his Majesty and our Lords of his most honourable Privy-Council of the Innocency of our Conversation 15. And whereas divers Reports and Informations have been brought in against some Provincial Synods and sundry particular Persons have been taxed for violating of his Majesty's Ordinances his Majesty is most humbly intreated to consider that the Synod of Nismes is in no wise blame-worthy for it never received any Letters from the Lords of Bearn and as for our Reverend Brother Monsieur Rousselet who is a Native of New-Castle a City belonging to that Canton and subject to those Lords he was invited by their Letters to return unto his own Country and to exercise his Ministry there and to accept of the Professor's Place in Theology then vacant in their University of Lausanna yet did he of his own Accord as soon as he had received those Letters of Call produce and tender them unto his Majesty's Commissioner then present in that Synod of Nismes and also unto several other Officers of his Majesty who all unanimously declared that he did not in the least Tittle or Punctilio decline from his Duty 16. And although his Majesty's Subjects in this Kingdom may resolve what they please as to their own personal Forbearance of Communications and Correspondence with Foreigners yet sith they cannot tie up their Hands who live abroad out of his Majesty's Dominions and Authority from writing what they please and sending it where they please into this Kingdom Yet that it may appear to the whole World that our Churches do not court nor are ambitious of their Familiarity we promise before God for the future that whatsoever Letters are addressed unto the Colloquies and Synods of this Kingdom from any foreign Prince State City or Churches or ever they be opened shall be first of all delivered into the Hands of his Majesty's Commissioners that so by them and from their own Mouths his Majesty may be fully informed of their Contents that so all and every individual Person professing the Reformed Religion and in Communion with us here at home may be discharged and acquitted from all imputation of Faction and Disobedience whatsoever 17. Moreover whereas by our Discipline Colloquies and Provincial Synods are obliged to take care that particular Churches destitute of Pastors be provided for and Causes of this nature are never transmitted to our National Synods unless upon extraordinary Occasions and by way of Appeal And whereas particular Churches are sometimes necessitated to seek abroad out of their Provinces for a Supply of Pastors whenas they cannot be furnished at home yet are these their Researches regulated by the Canons of our Discipline And therefore it was in Obedience and conformity to them that the Synods of Dolphiny and Sevennes did bring their Demands for the Churches of Montlimart and Anduze unto that of Nismes requesting that the Sieurs Cregut and Arnaud might be conferr'd upon them for their Ministers Wherefore his Majesty is most humbly petitioned to take it into his Royal Consideration that they have not in the least swerved from nor transgressed the Orders authoritatively imposed by his Edicts In the mean time forasmuch as the Churches cannot without violating their own Discipline and opening a large Gap unto infinite Disorders and Confusion suffer that Colloquies and Provincial Synods should attempt to prescribe Laws unto one another this Synod doth therefore forbid and interdict all such Assemblies the making of any General Orders whether for Days of Fasting Humiliation and Prayer or for any other Consideration or Account whatsoever excepting what shall be of concern and relating to their own District and Division 18. Moreover we do likewise acknowledg that that Reverence and Obedience which is in all well-governed States the proper Duty of its Subjects can never be too carefully recommended to the People and on the other hand that impious Licence of blaming the Publick Government and Supream Authority cannot be too severely reproved and decried This Synod doth in join all Pastors in their Sermons and Exhortations to press it home upon the Consciences of their Auditories and particular Flocks that they do not in any manner of wise directly nor indirectly depart from that Obedience Fidelity and Respect which are inviolably due unto his
County of Vaux and that the Provincial Deputies of Burgundy had delivered in their Opinion concerning him this Synod could not grant him his Request yet nevertheless received with Joy the good News of his Repentance and Conversion unto the Lord and he was exhorted to confirm himself more and more in it and to continue in the Grace of God 14. The Province of Lower Guyenne is injoined to make use of their Authority upon Monsieur Perery and to see that he do actually reside with his Flock and in case he continue refractory and disobey their Order that they do then immediately censure him according to the utmost Rigor and Severity of our Discipline 15. The Practice of the 3d Article of General Matters in the last National Synod is recommended unto all the Churches 16. Complaints having Been brought against divers Pastors Non-Residents in the Colloquy of Lower Quercy unto the last National Synod and those Complaints together with the Letters of those Ministers apologizing for themselves having been dismissed to the Colloquy of Albigeois and the Synod of Higher Languedoc to judg of their Case now the Sentence pass'd upon them was revised in this present Synod and this Assembly being willing to support and incourage them in their Ministry did once more ordain the Colloquy of Albigeois to renew their Informations and to examine afresh the pretended Inability of those Churches and to urge and induce them by all kind of Arguments and those the most forcible to perform their Duties and to bring in an Account hereof unto the next National Synod 17. The Appeal of the Church of Nerac which refused to defray the Charges the Church of Agen were at in the Removal of Monsieur Vignier is dismissed over to the Judgment of the Province of Lower Guyenne because it is not of the Nature of those Affairs which do depend upon National Synods 18. That Judgment given by the Province of Dolphiny in the Cause of Monsieur Aymier is ratified by this present Synod 19. Forasmuch as the Province of Vivaretz hath given their Consent unto it this Assembly permitteth for this time that the Church of St. Estienne in Forest be incorporated with the Province of Burgundy 20. The Promise made by the last National Synod unto the Province of Bearn about the Ministers born in it and imployed in divers Churches of this Kingdom is again confirmed and the said Province is exhorted to acquiesce and rest satisfied therewith 21. Whereas the Adjunction of the Church of Valence unto that of Soyon is indispensably needful for the Subsistence of this latter the Synod injoineth the said Church to incorporate it self with it as it hath done formerly and this Act shall be notified unto them by the Deputies of Lower Languedoc of Sevennes and Provence as they return in their way homeward 22. The Deputies of Vivaretz remonstrated that the Article concerning Monsieur Perrier's Account was left out in that Copy of the last National Synod which was brought down unto their Province and that it were sit the said Accompt should be revised This Assembly ordaineth that the said Province do apply it self unto that of Dolphiny which shall summon the said Perrier before them and judg finally of the Merits of the said Remonstrance 23. The Synod of Lower Guyenne shall cite Monsieur Bustanoby before them that he may accompt with them about the Imployment of the three hundred Livers delivered unto his deceased Father by the National Synod of Castres and they shall make Report thereof unto the next National Synod A penitent Minister seeking and petitioning to be restored is denied but with Advice to betake himself to some other Calling 24. SAmuel du Fresné deposed from the sacred Ministry by the Consistory of Vienna and Synod of Higher Languedoc presenred himself unto this Assembly and with a Shower of Tears implored the Pardons and Bowels of the Church whom he had offended by his Fall But upon Perusal of the Acts of his Deposition and the 51st Article of the Discipline which depriveth them of all Hopes of Restoration who are fallen into such Crimes of which he stands convicted The Assembly advised him to betake himself to some other Calling and to repair the Scandal he had given by his Perseverance in true Repentance and the Practice of Godliness 25. Forasmuch as in that Information brought in against the said du Fresné there were several over-curious Questions and very ill-becoming the Gravity of Ecclesiastical Persons the Province of Higher Languedoc is charged to make Remonstrance thereof unto the Parties who drew up those Articles of Information against him and to put to their helping-Hand that no such Matters be done for the future 26. Whereas the Holy Apostle in the 8th Verse of the 3d Chapter to the Romans saith expresly that their Damnation is just who say Let us do Good that Evil may come thereof and that 't is neither consisting with Reason nor the Integrity of our Christian Profession to prefer the Consideration of our little temporal Losses and Concerns unto the Duties of Conscience This Assembly cannot therefore admit of those Excuses alledged by the Consistory of the Church of Rochel for neglecting the Execution of the first Article of General Matters in the foregoing Synod and therefore doth once more renew its Injunction that all the Churches do conform themselves unto the Practice thereof and judgeth the Consistory of the said Church of Rochel worthy of the sharpest Censures and farther ordaineth that Letters be written unto the Faithful in the said City to convince them of the Greatness of their Sin and of the Scandal which their Connivency and unsufferable Cowardice hath given unto all the Churches of this Kingdom and they be adjured by the Compassions of the Living God and the Religious Resentments of sincere and devout Christians to hold keep and observe strictly precisely and inviolably the sincere Profession of God's Saving Truth in its Purity and Power without swerving or derogating from it by any Actions either directly or indirectly contrary thereunto 27. All our Universities are exhorted to conform themselves as much as in them lieth unto the Observation of that Article of the last National Synod which recommended the Profession of Metaphysicks to the Professors of Philosophy CHAP. XIII Bearn incorporated with the Churches of France 28. THE Deputies of the Province of Bearn having declared that their Synod doth accept the Union of the Churches of this Kingdom under the Conditions granted them by the National Synod of Charenton in their Observations upon the first Article of that of Castres and that they do from this Instant submit themselves unto all our National Synods that shall be held hereafter and they promise also that they will allow of all Appeals brought by the Pastors Elders and Churches of their Principality unto these our National Synods and farther that they consent for the future to exercise their Discipline in all Points according to the Canons of the Discipline
have promised to lay themselves out unto the utmost 5. The Church of Plessis appealed requesting that their Pastor Monsieur de Montigny might actually reside in the Town of Plessis according to the Discipline and the Canons of our National Synods and that the Sentence of the Isle of France which had dispensed with him might be disannulled and reversed This Assembly judged that the said Sieur de Montigny was of right obliged to reside at Plessis and ought not to be dispensed with yet nevertheless his Church is intreated to allow him four Months in the Year to attend his private Affairs at his House of Albon provided he do not discontinue the Exercises of his Ministry 6. Monsieur Fabas was heard in his Complaint about the non-executing of that Decree of the last National Synod which had authorized and commissionated the Colloquy of Condommois to take Informations and pass a Judgment of the Contents in the Letters written by those Gentlemen Mr. de la Fitte Gillot and Belard unto Monsieur D' Abadie and Pommarede during their Abode at Charenton and the Defence of Monsieur Rivall upon whose Report those Letters were written and to the Remonstrance of the Colloquy of Condommois who have not acquitted themselves of the Commission given them because the said la Fitte and Gillot refused to submit unto their Judgment and to the Excuse of the Province of Bearn that their Union with the Churches of this Kingdom was not at that time ratified and that they were not obliged to defray the Expences of the Deputies charged by the said Colloquy of Condommois to inform themselves of the Facts of some particular Persons but only those Persons who were concerned This Assembly declareth those Accusations brought in by the said Rivall and Belard against the said Fabas to be null and for this Reason because the first was grounded upon a Report spread abroad from a pretended Accusation brought by a particular Person who afterwards denied it and was proved to be false by all the Persons mentioned in it And the second consists of an ill-taken Equivocation alledged by one only Witness who ought not in any wise to be admitted it being expresly against the Prohibition of the Apostle 1 Tim. 1.5 19. Nor had the Colloquy of Pau any reason to grant a Commission unto Monsieur Rivall to take Information against Monsieur Fabas who opposed his Institution and Induction into the Church of Morlas and by consequence was a professed Party against him and Mr. la Fitte and Gillot have to no good purpose and only upon the single report of the said Rival spread abroad a groundless and unproved Accusation against a Minister of the Gospel Nor should the Province of Bearn have tolerated such Proceedings nor have permitted the Church of Morlas to be divided whenas they could have remedied it by fair and gentle Means according to the Word of God and the Order of our Discipline And whereas Mr. Rival and Bellard have defamed a Minister of the Gospel and occasion'd by their manner of Proceedings a great deal of unjust Reproach to be laid upon him which cannot in the least be justified the said Fabas Rival and Bellard are all enjoined to live in Peace and Brotherly Union and to forbear all Civil and Criminal Prosecutions made or hereafter to be made before the Magistrate upon the score of their Differences and to put a period and final issue unto those which are already begun whereunto the said Fabas and Rival have promised submission respectively and entred already into mutual Articles and Bonds for so doing 7. The Province of Bearn complained of and accused the said Sieur Fabas of rebellion against the Canons of our Discipline and of unlawful Proceedings whereby he designed to invalidate the Censures of the Church and that he did de facto most odiously traduce them before the Civil Magistrate Whereupon the said Mr. Fabas was heard complaining to the contrary and accusing the Province of Bearn for that they did without any lawful Cause remove him from his Church and deprive him of his Ministry in it and have not assigned him any other and have since suspended him the Exercise of his Ministry because he had appealed from their unrighteous Censure And secondly for that divers particular Members of the Church of Morlas after they had unjustly reproached him had divided that poor Church and abstained schismatically from the Exercises of Religion performed in it Whereupon the Acts of the Synod of Bearn and of the Colloquy of Pau were perused as also the Proceedings of the Lords in the Parliament of Navarre at the Petition of the said Fabas and of sundry others belonging to the Church of Morlas and the Inquisition made by the Commissioners of the said Parliament who were sent to Morlas to learn and sift out the Sentiments and Opinion of the said Church there were read also the Letters of the Consistory of the Church of Morlas humbly requesting that Monsieur Fabas might be continued in his Ministry among them and those of Mr. Bellard and other Elders and particular Persons demanding of the Consistory that he might be removed elsewhere This Assembly confirming the Ministry of the said Mr. Fabas in the Church of Morlas judgeth that the Province should not by its Rigour have enforced him to make use of those extraordinary Courses which he did in his own just Defence nor should it have favoured by its connivency the Disunion of those particular Persons who have separated themselves from the Body of the Church of Morlas whereas they should have according to their Duty reconciled them with the rest of their Brethren much less ought they to have took that Course they did to suspend the said Fabas after he had appealed And the said Mr. Fabas ought not in Duty to have departed from the Forms prescribed by our Discipline because the way of appealing unto superiour Ecclesiastical Assemblies was wide open to him And therefore the said Province is injoined for the future to refrain all violent Proceedings contrary to the Discipline and to apply out of hand suitable Remedies whereby the Schism in the Church of Morlas may be cured and the Members thereof reconciled among themseives and with their Pastor Mr. Fabas and all others are to acquiesce and rest contented with the Ways prescribed by the Discipline forbearing all Proceedings contrary to it and bringing those their Differences into Ecclesiastical Assemblies there to be composed And whereas some particular Members of the Church of Morlas have complained against the said Mr. Fabas their Passion and bitter Expressions are condemned and they be exhorted to mind their present Duty which is by a mutual Reconciliation to heal the Breaches and restore the Peace of the Church of God All which shall be signified unto them by Letters from this Synod 8. Monsieur Chorets a Member of the Church of Paris complained unto this Assembly of a Judgment past against him by the said
the said Lord Chabassier had decreed That the Censure justly pronounced against Mr. Poujade Minister in the Church of St. Hippolyte should be razed out of the Acts of the Provincial Synod held at Alez ordaineth That the said Censure shall be again inserted into the Body of the Acts of the said Synod and that the Contents of this Ordinance may be ratified and become more valid all Pastors who extraordinarily assist any vacant Churches are enjoined to rest satisfied with the defraying of the Charges of their Journey and sojourning in it as hath been hitherto constantly practised in all the Provinces and they be strictly and expresly forbidden to exact so much as one Farthing from any one of those Churches because they receive their Maintenance and Sallaries from their own particular Churches unto which they stand related And whereas the said Poujade hath appealed from the Synodical Decree made at Anduze this Assembly declareth That the said Synod had most just occasion to charge the Consistories of Sauve and Manobles to watch over the Deportments of the Consistory of Nismes and the said Consistories shall be assisted and strengthned if need be with the Presence of the Neighbour-Pastors and they be authorized to cite the said Poujade before them that he may give in Answer unto all Articles which shall be brought against him and to prosecute him according to the nature of the Facts whereof he shall be found guilty even unto Deposition from the Sacred Ministry and it shall be denounced to him that in case he refuse to appear before the said Consistory that he is now this very instant suspended his Ministerial Function 19. In explaining the Sense of that Judgment past upon Monsieur Deschamps above in the fourth Article of Appeals this Assembly declares That Ministers and Elders may concert among themselves in Consistory such Matters as they shall esteem and think to be most needful for the admission or exclusion of any Pastor of a Church but they may not come to any final Resolution till they have first of all consulted with the Heads of Families duly called and Members of that Church which Resolution of them all shall be determined by plurality of Suffrages according to the Order observed in all well-regulated Assemblies and under the direction of the Consistory 20. The Assembly received the Appeal of the Faithful of Boisgency and disannulled the Sentence of Suspension from the Lord's Table pronounc'd against them by the Synod Berry because the Church of Mer whereunto they had joined themselves is well able to subsist of it self without any Relief or Assistance from them And farther it doth ordain That the said Inhabitants shall have the Priviledg of taxing themselves to all Church-Rates and Charges and out of that Tax whatever it be that they do or shall promise to pay annually unto the Church of Mer there shall be deducted the Sum of fifty Livers which shall go to the discharging of the Arrears of Wages owing by the said Inhabitants of Boisgency unto Monsieur Guerin who was formerly their Pastor till the whole Debt be paid according to the Accompt stated and concluded the 18th day of April in the Year 1632 unless there shoul be a necessity of revising it 21. Although the Appeal brought in by the Inhabitants of St. Roman and of Val Francesque be not receivable yet the Assembly out of special Favour took cognizance thereof and decreed That Letters should be writ unto them exhorting them to mutual Peace and Union in the Worship of God and the Ordinances of Religion with those of Val Francesque 22. Monsieur Pejus was heard declaring his Grievances and petitioning for his Re-establishment in the Church of Mer and for payment of his Arrears due unto him from the said Church James Martincau deputed by divers Members of the same Church adhered to his Demands There was heard on behalf of the Church of Mer the Lord de la Bordechabin sent by the Consistory as also the Provincial Deputies of Berry The Acts of the Provincial Synods from which the Appeal was formed were seen and perused the Judgments of the Commissioners sent by the Church of Mer and Boisgency the Letters of Monsieur Jurieu resigning his Ministry to the Disposal of the Synod the Memoirs of the Church of Mer representing the Poverty whereunto they be at present reduced and sundry other Considerations which yet did not in the least reflect upon the Honour of Mr. Pejus's Ministry and other Memoirs from divers Heads of Families who desire he may be settled again among them and the Letters and Memoirs from the Church of Argenton petitioning that he may be absolutely given to them for their Pastor After which the Synod rejecting all the Appeals and confirming the judicial Sentences of the Province of Berry decreed That the Censures pronounced against Monsieur Pejus should be razed out of the Body of the Acts of those Synods and that his Ministry is now granted unto the Church of Argenton and exhorteth the Church or Mer aforesaid and the Province to give him all Satisfaction or to provide better for him and all Caballings of particular Members in the Church of Mer are interdicted them and forbidden And whereas the said Monsieur Pejus claimeth Arrears of Wages owing to him forasmuch as the Church of Mer protesteth that by Reason of their deep Poverty for these five Years last past they are utterly disabled from maintaining two Pastors and that they express and restify a more than ordinary Respect and Affection to Monsieur Jurieu and that the Province being obliged by this their Protestation had provided for him for the present till they could do more and better for him and till such time as the matter of his Appeal was determined had lent him unto the Church of Boisgency which had exhibited to him as great and good a Maintenance as he could have had from the Church of Mer and by his Refusal of such a comfortable Imployment he had thereby deprived himself of that Assistance and Relief they had so charitably procured him his Petition was rejected 23. Letters being read from James de Valleroux Lord of la Gayerie and the Acts produced by him and the Censures denounced against him by the Consistory of Vertueil Colloquy of Augoumois and Synod of Xaintonge the Synod approving of those Censures râ—jected his Appeal 24. Mr. Daniel Loquet heretofore Elder and Reader in the Church of Barbezieux having sent neither Letters nor Memoirs to defend his Appeal from the Sentence of the Synod of Xaintonge the said Appeal was declared null But afterwards the Letters of the said Loquet before the Synod broke up were presented to it who dismissed his Cause to be finally judged by the Consistory of Bourdeaux 25. None appearing on behalf of the Church of Vangeau to maintain their Appeal opposing the sending of Monsieur Twiscard by the Province of Berry unto the Church of Chamerolles and Bandaroy it was declared null 26. The Appeal
about an Hundred Years agoe before any Edict was granted in favour of our Religion and was presented by them unto Francis the Second who then Reigned to give his Majesty a reason of their Hope and account of those Corruptions which they firmly believed to be in that Faith professed and Retained by the Church of Rome and that therefore it needed Reformation Insomuch as none of out French Protestants did at first nor can they now without being guilty of gross Prevarication change that form of Expression which hath from its very beginning been inserted into our Confession whereby to declare sincerely and in truth their common Belief authorised in the Year 1561 by the Edict of January and since by that of Nantes granted us by Henry the Great and Confirmed by the Late King and his Majesty now reigning Thirdly The whole Roman Catholick Creed was never nor can ever be truly qualified an Abuse and Deceit of Satan seeing that both the Church of Rome and the Protestants have no difference about the Doctrin of the Trinity and of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus which are the principal points of Christianity yet together with these Fundamental Verities and own'd by all Christians in France Germany and elsewhere there have been divers other Articles of Faith brought into the Romish Creed to which we cannot yield any Assent or Consent such are those of the Intercession of Saints of Purgatory of the Pope and sundry others which though they have been in Vogue in that Church for many Ages have notwithstanding been constantly opposed and contradicted by all Protestants both in France and other Countries So that should we abandon the Profession of our Faith permitted us by the Edict and that Confession we have made and declared of it with all Imaginable Sincerity and Truth in the Presence of God who searcheth our Hearts and cannot endure Hypocrisie nor an Evil Conscience we should render our Selves Guilty of a most inexcusable Imposture we should dissemble and Counterfeit in Religion and utterly ruin all our Hopes of Heaven and Everlasting Life by means of a Sacrilegious Profession not in the least believed by us Wherefore it is the hope of our pour Churches that his Majesty imitating the Examples of his Predecessors who granted to their Faithful Subjects the Liberty of their Consciences will the rather favour us with his Royal Support and Protection for that open Profession we do make of our Faith than if we had dissembled it or kept it secretly and close in our own Bosoms or uttered it in Ambiguous and Equivocating Expressions which would have turn'd our Religion into a Cheat and through a Fallacious Compliance full of Fraud and Imposture would have perfidiously Betray'd the Holy Faith of our Fellow protestants and be the Bane of our own Consciences Fourthly As to the Printer of Geneva he does not depend on the National Synods of this Kingdom nor hath he any Orders from us nor received any Command from his Superiors to use those Terms which he did and we wish he had forborn them though yet he Speaks and Prints nothing but what is the common Sense and Opinion of all Protestants in Europe who have all unanimously from the very first with One Consent impugned that Council of Trent as to the form of its Convocation the Proceedings Decrees and Anathema's thereof which also sundry Roman Catholick Princes have done who by their Ambassadors made and entred their Solemn Protests against it and its Decrees So did the Emperor Charles the Fifth from whom our King is Descended by his Mother's Side by the Lord of Mendoza So did Henry the Second by the then Lord Abbot of Bellozonne who was afterward Bishop of Auxerre And so did Charles the Ninth by Monsieur Ferrier who describing this Famous Assembly resembled it to a Scorpion pricking the French Church and used an Expression every way at Emphatical as that of the Geneva Printer whose Liberty is yet so displeasing unto their Majesty Fifthly Nor have our Churches been ever so unmindful of their Duty and Subjection as audaciously to assume unto themselves a power of being Judges in their own Cause and doing themselves right But the naked truth of the matter is this that being favoured with his Majesties Declaration which ratified the Edict of Nantes and those secret Articles and Concessions included in it which had been granted by our former Kings several particular Churches being restored unto their Ancient Right fully and compleatly they believed that it was no Crime on their part to make use of them according to the Intention of his Majesty Sixthly And it was upon this Innocent Supposition and which had not in it any the least tendency unto Disobedience against the Publick Government that the Exercise of our Religion accustomarily performed at Ribaute for Seventy Years together without any Interruption being violently hindred by the Lady of that Place and Monsieur Arnaud Pastor of Anduze who was invited by the People offering himself to Minister to them for their Edification according to the ancient Practice was driven away by meer Force by a Company of Soldiers commanded thither by the said Lady and he thereupon was imprisoned by Order from the Lord Lieutenant of Languedoc and notwithstanding his Appeal unto the Court of the Edict yet he was actually Condemned for which Grievance he is now prostrate at his Majesties Feet humbly imploring his Majesties Clemency and Justice according to the Edict Seventhly The Provincial Deputies of Lower Languedoc for the acquitting and discharge of their Churches which hath sent them do maintain that those Three Cities of Nismes Vsez and Montpellier having deputed the Sieurs Peyrol Vestrie and Fournier to tender in their Names with all possible speed their First and Bounden Duties unto his Majesty and their most Humble and Unfeigned Thanks for the grant of his Declaration They did also Petition for his Majesties Protection and Justice and with the lowliest Submission and Respect they demanded also a Reparation of the Infractions of the Edict according to the constant practice of our Churches so that they cannot be perswaded that those said Cities are fallen from the Duty which becomes good Subjects and whereunto they are obliged by their Consciences Nor are they at all to be blamed for Addressing themselves unto his Majesty against the Prohibition of the Lord Intendant though he used his Majesties Name directly contrary to his Majesties Intention notified to us and to the World by his publick Declaration Eighthly Nor is the City of Vsez guilty of violating the Edict no not in that particular Capitulation with his Majesty nor doth it need a new Grant for an ancient Usage which was never taken from them by any Previous Inhibition That Bell of which there is so much Noise and so loud Complaints made unto his Majesty was ever placed in the Steeple of the Temple from its first Foundation and continued there till a little before the Capitulation when the
of Sevennes who are to see him satisfied ARTICLE 3. The Petition of the Province of Sevennes concerning the Church of Dourbiez shall be brought before the next Synod of Higher Languedoc which is entreated to take it into their particular Consideration ARTICLE 4. This Assembly declareth that those free Portions which were by the National Synod of Castres put upon the Dividend of the Province of Sevennes to be distributed among the Churches of Auvergne having not been payed into the said Province it is not at all accountable for them ARTICLE 5. Whereas the Widow of Monsieur Garnier deceased complaineth that the Wages of her late Husband were not paid him by the Church of Lorges The Sieur de Clesles Elder of that Church and Deputy of the Province of Berry answereth That there was a course already taken for the discharge of that Debt and he promised that the Quarter of Messac should bring in their portion without delay unto the next Synod of Berry and the said Synod is enjoyned to see this Widow fully and entirely satisfied ARTICLE 6. The Sieur de la Lause petitioned by Letters that his Son-in-law the Sieur Boronet might be set at Liberty from his serving the Churches in the Province of Xantonge because of his great Age and that he needs him to look after the Concerns and Affairs of his Estate and Family An Order passed that this Petition of his should be carried unto the next Synod of Xaintonge which is charged to take it into their Godly Consideration and to deal with him according to the Rules of Charity and Equity ARTICLE 7. The next Synod of Berry shall take Cognisance of the Petition of the Sieur Gueren and in case he be oppressed the Province of Burgundy is ordered by their final Judicial Sentence to redress his Grievances ARTICLE 8. Letters written by Monsieur Percy Pastor of the Church of Monflanquin and Deputy for the Province of Lower Guyenne were read in which he gave an Account of those Causes which hindred him from attending on this Synod as also the Titles of those Works begun by him in defence of the Truth This Assembly admitted his Excuses and ordered him to carry the Manuscript Copies of his Works unto the Provincial Synod which shall carefully examin them that so with their Approbation they may be published ARTICLE 9. The Sieur Daubus Pastor of the Church of Nerac Petitioned by Letters that this Assembly would be pleased to constitute some certain Commissioners to examin a Book written by him and presented to the Synod of Lower Guyenne and which was now brought hither unto this Nationa Synod It was Voted that the said Manuscript Book of his should be examined by Commissioners chosen in the Synod of that Province who having approved of it should take Care about it's Impression and Publication ARTICLE 10. This Synod being well informed both by the Letters of Monsieur Falquett a Pastor Emeritus and by the Speech of Monsieur Taby of the deplorable Estate whereunto he is reduced An Ordinance passed That the said Falquett should be recommended to the Charity of the Churches who have hither relieved him with oar desire that they would be pleased to continue their Offices of Love and Christian Kindness to him And this Ordinance shall be sent unto the Church of Maringues whether the said Mr. Falquett is ordered to retire ARTICLE 11. According to those respective Letters written by the Pastors and Consistories of the Colloquies of Rouan and Caux the Siâ—urs de L'Angle and Guesdon having petitioned that those two aforesaid Colloquies might be sundred to make up each of them a particular Synod the Sieurs Basnage and Caillars who spake for the four Colloquies of the Lower Normandy which opposed this Separation being also heard The Assembly after a mature Debate and serious Consideration of the Reasons pro con of the Conveniences and Inconveniences which might ensure upon this dismembring and for denying or granting their Request made this Decree That the Separation demanded by them could not be allowed And whereas the said Sieurs Basnage and Caillard have on their side requested that without any respect had unto that distinction of Higher and Lower Normandy this Assembly would be pleased to ordain that whenever an Election should be made of Deputies unto the National Synods that it might he carried by Number of Persons and Plurality of Suffrages and not by that Custom of deputing one tor the Higher and another for the Lower Normandy It was again resolved that the ancient Custom should not be abrogated nor that any thing should be innovated in the Form and Manner of their Elections ARTICLE 12. The Complaint of Monsieur des Marez in his Letters was brought hither by the Deputies of the Lower Languedoc and exaggerated by their Remonstrances in this Synod whereunto the Deputies of the Province of Vivaretz also did make Reply in their own Defence Upon hearing of both Parties the Consistory of Montlimard which was accepted by both Parties for their Umpire was empower'd with Authority from this National Synod to determin finally of this Affair ARTICLE 13. Report was made by the Deputies of Normandy of a Suit at Law commenced by a certain Head of a Family belonging to the Church of Rouen against a Woman espoused without their Permission or the Consent of his Parents unto his Son This Assembly decreed that the Son who by reason of this difference had been suspended the Lords Table should humble himself unto his Father and by all the Ways and Duties of Submission and Reverence endeavour to regain his Favour and Blessing and the Father shall be intreated and conjured by the Consistory to limit a certain time when he will put an end unto this Process Which term being laps'd the Son shall be received unto Communion at the Lord's Supper ARTICLE 14. The Complaint of Monsieur Gravier shall be brought before the next Synod of Burgundy who shall take Care about it ARTICLE 15. Whereas Monsieur de la Fite hath represented that there was a Clause inserted into the Act of the Synod of Alanson fram'd upon the Account of the Sieur Fabas and which concerned both him the said La Fite and the Sieur Gillott Advocate in the Parliament of Navarre this Assembly decreeth That the said Sieurs shall appear before the Provincial Synod of Lower Guyenne which is to determin finally of this their Affair ARTICLE 16. That Act made in the Synod of Lower Guyenne held at St. Foy on behalf of Monsieur Larigorrie shall be executed according to its Form and Tenor and the said Sieur Larigorrie is according to the Intention of that Synod recommended to the Charity of the Churches of Lower Guyenne that from them he may receive the assistance promised to him ARTICLE 17. Till the Meeting of the Provincial Synod of Berry unto which the Sieur L'Eufant shall present himself to be examined the Church of Bâ—â—â—â—e shall be supplied by the Pastors of Orleans Blois Chasteaudun Mâ—â—â—â—â—noir
be none other Affairs debated in it than such as are warranted by the Edicts and that a Commissioner whom his Majesty shall be pleased to appoint do assist in Person in the said Synod as hath always been practised In testimony hereof his Majesty hath commanded me to expedite this present Writ which he was pleased to sign with his own Hand and caused to be conntersigned by me his Counsellor and Secretary of his Commandments and of his Treasury Signed LOVIS And a little Lower PHELIPPEAVX There appeared in the said Assembly with Letters of Commission from the Provinces which were read by the Sieur Des Loges and the Sieur de Fresnay Elder of the Church of Loudun and the Sieur de Mâ—â—sonâ—als these Persons following 1. For the Province of Normandy the Sieurs John Manimilian de L' Angle Pastor of the Church of Rouan and Samuel Boschart Pastor of the Church of Caen accompanied with the Sieurs Daniel Guesdon Elder of the Church of Rouan and Peter de la Musse Esq Lord des Roquettes Elder of the Church of Caen. 2. For the Province of Higher Guienne and Higher Languedoc the Sieurs John Louis Joussauld Pastor of the Church of Castres and Theophilus Arbussy Pastor of the Church of Milhaut accompanied with the Sieurs John de Besnes Esq Lord of Laseron Elder of the Church de Beraux and Master John Brassart Advocate in Parliament and Elder in the Church of Montauban 3. For the Province of Burgundy the Sieurs Amedeus de Chandieu Pastor of the Church at Pont de Velles and Peter Mussard Pastor of the Church of Lyon accompanied with Master Samuel Gentis D'anthial Advocate in Parliament Elder in the Church of Chaalons and Master Phillebert de Sage Advocate also in Parliament Elder in the Church of Autan 4. For the Province of Lower Languedoc the Sieurs David Eustache and Isaac de Bourdieu Pastor in the Church of Montpellier accompanied with the Noble Francis de Toulonge Lord of Foissac Elder in the Church of Vsez and Master Philip Besse Doctor of the Civil Laws Advocate and Elder in the Church of Beziers 5. For the Province of Orleans and Berry the Sieurs John Perâ—â—ult Pastor of the Church of Orleans and John Taby Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of the Church de la Charite accompanied with the Noble Denis Papin Counsellor to his Majesty and Receiver General for the Demeans of the County of Blois and Master Paul Tonnois Lord of Champs Advocate in Parliament Elders in the Church of Orleans 6. For the Province of Sevennes the Sieurs Henry Bâ—udan Pastor of the Church de la Salle and Stephen Broche Lord of Mejannes Pastor of the Church of St. Hippolite accompanied with Edward de Charlot Esq Lord and Baron of S. John de Gardonenque Elder in the Church of the same Place and Peter de Gallieres Esq Lord of Pont d' Arti Elder in the Church of Merveil 7. For the Province of Brittain the Sieur Isaac Guitton Pastor of the Church of Sion accompanied with Monsieur John de la Rochelle Lord of Mornay Elder in the Church of Roche Bernard 8. For the Province of Poictou the Sieurs Stephen le Blois Pastor of the Church of Fontenay le Compte and John Chabrol Pastor of the Church of Thouars accompanied with Sir Peter Prevost Knight Lord of La Javeliere Elder in the Church of Chantonnay and Puybelliard and Charles Prevost Esq Lord of La Simonie Elder in the Church of Champagne and Mouton 9. For the Province of Provence the Sieurs John Bernard Pastor of the Church de Velots and Marvelle and John Morius Esq Lord of Espasson and of La Bastide Elder in the Church of Manosque 10. For the Province of Anjou Touraine Le Maine Loudunois Vandosme and the Greater Perche the Sieurs Moyses Amyraud Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church and University of Saumur and James de Brissac Lord des Loges Pastor of the Church of Loudun accompanied with the Sieurs Daniel de Goyett Doctor of Physick Elder in the Church of Angiers and Master Stephen des Landes President in the Extraordinary Assizes of Vaudomois and Elder in the Church of Vandome 11. For the Province of the Isle of France Brie Picardy Champagne and the County of Chartres the Sieurs John Daille Pastor of the Church of Paris and Benjamin Tricotell Pastor of the Church of Calais accompanied with Master Thierry de Marolles Advocate in Parliament and Judg in the Praesidial Court of Vitry Elder of the Church in that Town and Peter Loride Lord of Galiniers Advocate in his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and Elder in the Church of Paris 12. For the Province of Xaintonge Aunix and Augoulmois the Sieurs John Gommarc Pastor in the Church of Vertueil and Isaac Marchand Pastor in the Church of St. John d' Angely accompanied with John de Morell Esq Lord of Thiac of Vigier and of Salle and Francis Lacons Esq Lord of Courelles and Elder in the Church of Cognac 13. For the Province of Dolphiny the Sieurs Adrian Chamier Pastor of the Church of Montlimard and Alexander Dize Pastor of the Church of Grenoble accompanied with Master Francis Goudran Advocate in the Parliament of Grenoble and Elder in the Church of Grenoble 14. For the Province of Lower Guienne the Sieurs John Riccotier Minister of Bourdeaux and Jeremiah Viguier Pastor of the Church of Nerac accompanied with Master Jacob Maysonnais Advocate in Parliament and Elder in the Church of Bourdeax and with Sir James de Laumont Knight Marquess of Baisse Caumont Elder in the Church of Nerac 15. For the Province of Bearn the Sieur Arnald de Cazamajore Pastor of the Church of Olleron 16. For the Province of Vivaretz Velay and Forrest the Sieurs Isaac Homel he Died a most constant Faithful Martyr Pastor of the Church of Sajon and Valance and Peter January Pastor of the Church at La Gorse accompanied with Sir James D' Arlande Kt. Lord of Mirabel and Elder in the Church of Villeneufve de Bergues and with Master Timothy Baruil Doctor of the Civil Laws Advocate and Elder in the Church of Privas The Provinces of Bearn and Dolphiny shall inquire into the Causes why the Sieurs de Labadie Elder in the Church of Luibeite and Deputy for the Province of Bearn and de Montelar Elder in the Church of Beaufort Deputy for the Province of Dolphiny have absented themselves from this Assembly and shall give an Account thereof unto the next National Synod The said Sieurs des Loges and du Fresnay Elder of the Church in Loudun did together with the Lord Marquess of Rouvigny General Deputy gather the Suffrages of all the Deputies in this Assembly in Two Bills in Writing each of them having One for the Election of the Moderator Assessor and Scribes and there were chosen by plurality of Votes the Sieur Daille for Moderator the Sieur de L' Angle Assessor and the Sieurs Des Loges Pastor and de
Goodness that when the Office of General Deputy became void by the Death of the Lord Marquess of Arâ—illiers that his Majesty was pleased to fill it up with the Person of my Lord Marquess of Ruvigny a Noble-man endowed with all Qualities requisite for it and who will undoubtedly discharge it faithfully And if our Churches had chosen for themselves as was accustomed they could never have made an Election more advantagious And we also have cause enough to be thankful unto his Majesty for granting us the Liberty of Deliberating about his Confirmation in this Office without imposing on us in this juncture any Force or Necessity And for as much as our Churches are intirely satisfied with the care and pains which the said Lord Marquess of Ruvigny hath taken in our Affairs and that they believe he will always continue to acquit himself most worthily in this Imployment and because his Majesty hath given us to understand that it would be very pleasing to him that he should be Confirmed this Assembly not knowing how or where to make a better Choice do continue him in this Office and resign into his own Hands the Writ by which he was Establish'd and after that Solemn Protestation which he hath made unto this Assembly of discharging his Deputation with all possible care and faithfulness we gave him his Priviledge of Sitting and his deliberative and decisive Votes among us as all General Deputies his Predecessors have had according to his Majesty's desire And the Act hereof shall be inserted afterward into the Body of the Acts of this Synod As for the rest This Assembly being purely Ecclesiastical we know very well that none other matters but such as are Ecclesiastical and which concern the Religion and Discipline of our Churches ought to be treated in it and we are absolutely resolved that we will not in any wise swerve or depart from the Rules of our Duty and Callings nor will we suffer any other Assembly whatsoever to be held wherein any of our affairs shall be debated or any Election made of Deputies And we believe that there is not so much as One Man among us who is one of our Members that hath the least inclination thereunto And as for the Proclaiming of General Fasts by the Provincial Synods it being expresly Ordained by our Canons that the Province whose right it is to call the National Synod may publish a General Fast if there be a necessity for it and the King having permitted us the Exercise of our Discipline and the putting of our Canons in Execution This Assembly hopeth that his Majesty's Equity and Goodness will not deprive us of the Power and Liberty to reduce them into act and practice And the rather because our extraordinary humbling of our selves before God is not design'd only for this end that we may obtain from his Sovereign Mercy a peculiar Blessing on those of our Communion but also we do then wrestle with our God for the prosperity of the whole Nation and for the Preservation of his Majesty's own Person And as for that Discreet Carriage required from our Ministers in the Exercise of their Pastoral Office in their Books and Sermons printed or preached in Defence of our Religion our Fathers before ever the Exercise of our Religion was permitted by the Edicts and in the very midst of Fire and Faggot had Christian Charity in that great Esteem and Commendation that they by a most plain and Express Article of our Discipline did prohibit the Usage of any injurious reproachful Terms which might in the least exasperate Men's Spirits so that the Times in which we now live being more calm and peaceable through the Grace of God and the Goodness of our King his Majesty may be fully assured that on this Account he shall always find us yielding a most perfect Obedience a most exemplary Moderation And it were to be wished that the Preachers in the Romish Communion were as circumspect then should we not be so much torn in pieces as we are continually by them both in Print and Pulpit But as for those Words Antichrist in our Liturgy and Idolatry and Deceits of Satan which are found in our Confession they be Words declaring the Grounds and Reasons of our Separation from the Romish Church and Doctrins which our Fathers maintained in the worst of Times and which we are fully resolved as they through the Aids of Divine Grace never to abandon but to keep faithfully and inviolably to the last Gasp Whilst his Majesty's Predecessors were pleased to permit our Churches the choice of Foreigners for their Pastors we made use of that Priviledge and none of our Synods either Provincial or National ever knew one of them to deport himself otherwise than a Native of this Kingdom all of them when invested with the Ministry in our Churches have lived and acted and preached as natural born French-men But since that Interdiction made us by the late King of Glorious and Immortal Memory we never received any but have utterly forborn it and we have most humbly petitioned his Majesty now reigning that he would be pleased to put a distinction between those who are wholly Strangers and others who tho the Sons of Strangers are yet born in the Kingdom and are under the Protection and Government of his Crown and whom our Parliaments in all Questions about Inheritances and Successions to them and other Priviledges of this Nature have equalized with all other his Majesties Subjects And although some of them have been Educated in Commonwealths yet their Religion learns them to subject themselves with all Reverence to the Superior Powers under all Forms of Government whatsoever and that Protection which they have from this Kingdom doth incline their Affections upon Principles of Gratitude and Interest unto a Monarchical Government And in case his Majesty should be pleased to allow them the Exercise of their Ministry among us in this Kingdom as we most humbly petition his Majesty so to do he would have full and clear and sufficient Proof of their Loyalty in his Service As for Letters which may be sent by Strangers unto this Assembly although there is none of our Religion in any Nation that doth sollicit us unto Actions contrary to our Duty and in case they should go about to do it all and every Individual Member of this Assembly at the first sight of such a Letter would reject the Motion with Horror and Execration And we cannot but acknowledge that in some respects as for publick Orders sake the Lords Commissioners deputed to us and set over us by his Majesty are to receive and dispose of them according to his Majesty's Will But yet as to matters concerning our Religion we hope that his Majesty will suffer us to hold Communion and Correspondence with our Brethren For other Letters coming from his Majesty's Subjects to this Assembly and relating to Ecclesiastical matters wherein they be concerned his Majesty having graciously permitted us
Foreign Parts without the Kingdom and that he should not suffer them to be divulged or sold in this City of Loudun and this he did that neither the Parties concerned nor the Synod it self should complain that without those Paperâ— Pieces and Writings they could not come to a perfect knowledge of the bottom of this Affair and to judge aright of it In pursuance hereof and for these Considerations before mentioned the said Lord Commissioner declared that he did now also give full Liberty to all the Deputies who were in this Synod Judges of this matter to peruse those aforesaid Papers and Evidences as they should think meet and according to the Priviledges granted by his Majesty to his Subjects of the Reformed Religion by the Edicts and according to the Discipline received in our Churches and approved in France by the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom but without allowing them to subject themselves to any Foreign Authority Jurisdictioâ—◠〈◊〉 Judgments or to send Monsieur Morus unto any other Judges than â—â—ose of his said Kingdom to be tried by them and to undergo their Judicial Sentence this being contrary and prejudicial to his Majesty's Authority to his Ordinances and Edicts as also to the Weal and Rights and Priviledges of his Subjects All which it was his Lordships Pleasure should be inserted into the Act containing the Judgment of this National Synod upon this affair The Sieur Papillon Advocate in Parliament and Elder in the Church of Paris being admitted to produce his Arguments in defence of those Appeals brought both in his own Name and in that of Monsieur Beauchamp an Advocate and Elder also in the same Church from the Judgments given in the Synod of the Isle of France held at Ay in May last of this Year now current 1659 by which Monsieur Morus was conferr'd upon the Church of Paris to be their Minister and from those Members of the Consistory of that Church who had Ordered the said Mr. Morus to be confirmed in it notwithstanding their Appeal and for refusing to give him leave which he had demanded to pass into Holland according to his promise there to justifie himself from those Imputations laid upon him and for that they censured him the said Papillon for Appealing from them He was heard in this Assembly and the Assembly took notice of what he urg'd on behalf of his Appeal and heard him patiently in whatever he had to offer against those Judgments aforesaid And also Monsieur Morus was heard defend himself and explaining matters relating to him as were the Deputies of the Province of the Isle of France and those of the Consistory of the Church of Paris in defense of their Judgment and in their demand of the Ministry of the said Monsieur Morus And there was heard the Report made by the Committee appointed for a more exact Reading and Verification of all Papers and Writings and what Judgment had been past on the Excuses and Denials of both sides the Examination of this important business ate up several Days This Assembly having rightful Authority to judge herein and the rather for that the Synod of Nimeguen whose Act was now Read had remitted the whole unto the Prudence Discretion and Charity of this Assembly to do in it what it should conceive would most contribute to the Glory of God the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ and the upholding of that Holy Correspondence which hath always been betwixt the Reformed Churches of France and those of the United Provinces did take and retain the cognizance of this affair unto it self and declared that it found no cause obliging it to condemn the said Sieur Morus nor to blast the Reputation of his Person or Ministry but on the contrary that it had sufficient Reasons to dismiss him justified from all those grievous Slanders and Accusations which were brought into this Assembly against him Wherefore it declareth him innocent of those crimes which were imposed on him and having perused those advantagious Testimonials given him by the Magistrate Pastors and Professors of Divinity in the City of Geneva by the Pastors and Professors of Divinity in the City of Middleburg by the Burgomasters and Curators of the City and Illustrious School of Amsterdam and by divers Pastors and sundry other private Persons whose Names and Probity are celebrious and well known to this Assembly and considering the great Edification which the Church of Paris receiveth from his Ministry and their vehement desires urged with the greatest importunity that he may be continued to them this Assembly doth Establish and Confirm him in the said Church to discharge the Office and perform the Duties of an ordinary Pastor in it And making Reflections upon what hath been transacted in the Synods of La Ferte au Col and D'Ay and in the Consistory of the Church of Paris on occasion of the said Monsieur Morus it censureth that Synod of La Ferte for having judged the said Monsieur Morus when he belonged not unto them nor was under their Jurisdiction and only because an Impeachment against him had been brought before them and for that they never exacted of him in order to his Induction into the Church of Paris but a simple License of departure from the Curators of the Illustrious School of Amsterdam without making mention of his Testimonial from the Church And the Synod of Ay is censured for assuming to themselves a power of judging the competency or incompetency of the Synod of Tergou over which they had none Authority and that in speaking of that Synod they used very unbecoming Expressions and reflected unhandsomly upon their Judgment and confirming the Censures issued out by the said Synod of La Ferte against the Consistory of the Church of Paris it doth ordain that the Canons of our Discipline about the Election and Confirmation of Pastors shall be observed with greater exactness than hath been done in this Call given unto and Reception of Monsieur Morus by the Church of Paris And as for the Sieur Papillon the Assembly hath taken off the Censures inflicted on him by the Consistory of the Church of Paris and doth fully acquit him from it and declareth that there was no reason for denouncing any Censure against Monsieur Beauchamp And after grave and serious Counsels and Admonitions given unto Monsieur Morus about his Conversation which was not managed with that circumspection as was requisite and advice unto him to be more careful for the future that the mouth of Calumny which hath been wide and loud open against him may be stopped he was injoyned more particularly to look to it that he offended no Man by his Words or Writings and that he labour to the utmost of his Power to preserve Peace and to calm and reconcile the Spirits of Men of all Perswasions to himself and to regain their Love and Amity from whom he is departed 19. It being represented unto this Assembly that their Act made about Morus Mr.
hath been by some Persons misinterpreted and that therefore they would be pleased to explain their Sense and Intentions of it This Assembly did explain it self thus That by those grievous Crimes and Accusations whereof there is mention made in their Act they understood all matters whatsoever relating to the Purity of Life and Conversation of the said Monsieur Morus of all which he was absolutely judged innocent And as to those other points whereof he was impeached as some sharp Words spoken or written against his Brethren the Assembly declareth that the Remonstrances and Counsels were given him upon this account and which having been accepted by him he was also in this respect absolved and Discharged 20. Monsieur Plassay formerly Pastor of the Church of Niort presented himself to this Assembly complaining that the last Synod of Poictou held at Fontenay le Conte had suspended him without any lawful cause from his Ministry and for that a Committee of that Synod did in pursuance of that Suspension most unjustly depose him notwithstanding the Appeal which he had brought against his Suspension and he petitioned that he might be restored with Honour unto the Exercise of his Office There joyned with him in this his Complaint and Petition the Sieurs Bellebat and Tristan Deputies of the Heads of Families in the said Church of Niort and requested that he might be restored and continued in his Ministry among them as was more amply specified in their Appeal from the Decrees of their Provincial Synods held at Lusignan in the Year 1657 and at Fontenay aforesaid in the Year 1658. Monsieur de la Place Deputed by a certain number of the Elders of that Church was heard opposing the Demand both of the said Monsieur Plassay and of those two before-mentioned Deputies and craved a Confirmation of the Decrees of those Synods and of their Committee and complained that the Conversation of the said Monsieur Plassay did render him unworthy to be received into the Holy Ministry The Deputies of the Province of Poictou were heard also speak whatsoever they thought meet on this occasion And the Report of the Committee being made and Letters and Acts concerning this affair being read the Assembly judged that those who opposed the continuance of Monsieur Plassay in his Ministry to the Church of Niort are worthy to be Censured because they have testified too much bitterness and passion against the said Mr. Plassay as also for that they did not express that tender care which they ought unto the Edification of the Church of Niort who professed that they were very well satisfied with his Ministry opposing themselves to the sense and sentiment of the People and this too in ways diametrically opposite to Christian Charity and the Discipline practised in our Churches Moreover the Assembly judged the Province of Poictou to have deserved Censure for having in the said Synod of Fontenay removed Mr. de Coignac from the said Church of Niort without any cause alledged as they did also the Sieur de Plassay from it without hearing either him or the said Church and for that they suspended him from his Ministry with very much precipitancy without any reason assigned by the said Synod yea and without so much as citing him to appear before them And it injoyneth the said Synod to abstain from such Proceedings as these for the future And as for those Inhabitants in whose Names the Sieurs de Bellebut and Tristan have here appeared this Assembly disapproving their Rebellion to the Orders and Canons of our Ecclesiastical Assemblies to which all Church-Members owe Submission and Obedience and those extraordinary courses they have taken on several occasions by which they have violated the order of our Discipline and that Reverence which they were bound to pay unto their Superiors and more especially for that to redress their grievance they did contrary to the Canons of our National Synods apply themselves unto Secular Judges to the Civil Magistrates which very fact of theirs is expresly forbidden by our Discipline whereas they should have contented themselves with their Appeal unto the Superiour Assemblies which were allowed them and therefore these have incurred the sharpest Censures And whereas Monsieur Plassay hath been found by this Assembly deeply ingaged in the most violent proceedings of those Inhabitants before-mentioned and among the rest in that undue recourse unto Secular Judges and that he is convicted of Rebellion against our Church Discipline having exercised the functions of his Ministry after that he was suspended and deposed directly contrary to our Canons a fact in it self so heinous that it deserveth the severest and utmost Censure This Assembly cannot but condemn these Actings of the said Mr. Plassay although 't is evident he persisted but a very little while in his Rebellion and that he hath forborn the Exercise of his Ministry for about Fourteen Months or thereabout and yet being desirous to support him it Decreeth that he shall be sharply censured and reproved but that the Sentence of Deposition inflicted on him shall be taken off and that he shall be restored unto the Exercise of his Ministry but with this restriction that he do not for Three Months time perform any of the duties thereof which term being expired he shall enter again upon them in the said Church of Niort and in which this Assembly doth confirm and settle him exhorting him to employ himself with the greatest care and diligence that is possible and to look more narrowly unto his ways and deportments and to shew forth that gravity which becometh his Calling and Profession and to seek after their Friendship who may be averse to him And finally as to Monsieur de Coignac this Assembly confirms him also in the said Church of Niort and could do no less considering what it oweth unto his Age and Merit And that this present Ordinance may be notified unto the said Church the Sieurs Marchand and de la Forest Pastors and the Sieurs de Thiac and de Courcelles Elders in the Province of Xaintonge are charged to visit that City and to endeavour the Peace of that Church and to reconcile those particular Members of it which are at variance one with another and these Deputies together with Mr. de Plassay are intreated to do their utmost for the effecting of this good work and that in the mean while in the presence of this Assembly they do give mutually to each the Right Hand of Reconciliation The business of Monsieur Amyraut and D'Huisseau 21. The Sieur D'Huisseau Pastor accompanied with the Sieurs de Haumont Benoist and Favre did Petition for themselves and on behalf of other the Heads of Families in the Church of Saumur that Monsieur d'Huisseau might be confirmed in his Ministry unto the said Church they Appealed also from the Decrees of the First Synod held at Beauge in the Year 1656 and at Saumur in the Year 1657 and at Previlli in the Year 1658 and from the
not be put to the Costs and Charges of Postage of Letters and Packets which by Reason of this his Employment he must of necessity be at in receiving from and sending to the Churches and with this condition that the said Sieur Loride shall be bound to give an Account once a Year unto all the Provinces by Letters directed to one of their chiefest Churches of all things concerning them and their Affairs And in case the Provincial Synods should not approve of the payment of the said Sum of Three Thousand Livres a Year the said Sieur Loride decalred that he would be contented with a Moiety of his Salaries and Fees for all Suits and Processes in our businesses before the Council A Tax of Three Thousand Livres assessed upon all the Provinces hereunder named to be paid into the Sieur Loride de les Galinieres for managing the Affairs of our Churches intrusted with him  l. s. d. The Province of Normandy is taxed the Sum of 400 00 00 The Province of Higher Languedoc and Guyenne 300 00 00 The Province of Burgundy 060 00 00 The Province of Lower Languedoc the Sum of 300 00 00 The Province of Berry 100 00 00 The Province of Sevennes 150 00 00 The Province of Provence the Sum of 050 00 00 The Province of Poictou 160 00 00 The Province of Brittaine 060 00 00 The Province of Anjou 100 00 00 The Province of the Isle of France 450 00 00 The Province of Xaintonge 230 00 00 The Province of Dolphiny 200 00 00 The Province of Lower Guienne 300 00 00 The Province of Bearn the Sum of 060 00 00 The Province of Vivaretz 080 00 00  3000 00 00 All which Sums amount in the Total to Three Thousand Livres which shall be payed by each of these Provinces according to this rate in case the Provincial Synods shall agree unto it CHAP. XI Particular Matters 1. THE Deputies of the Province of Berry complained against Monsieur du Prat Pastor of the Church of D'Angeau that whereas he hath been setled in their Province for above Six Years yet in all this times he would never own the Authority of their Synod nor submit himself unto it This Assembly decreed that he should appear in person at the next Synod of that Province and give a Reason of this his Carriage and undergo its Judgment and in case he pretend any Grievance he shall appeal unto the Synod of Anjou who shall by Authority from this Assembly take Cognizance and give Judgment in it but till the meeting of that Synod of Anjou he shall stand bound by the Judgment of that of Berry 2. The Provincial Deputies of Normandy moving that this Assembly would in their Wisdoms take some care to remedy those Disorders which are fallen out in the Church of Alanson through the long continuance of Elders in their Office And a Memoir being read containing the Requests of some certain Members of the said Church that there might be a certain time limited when Elders should quit their Office that so they may not perpetuate themselves in it This Assembly remanded back their Petition unto the Synod of Normandy according to the Canon of the National Synod of Tonneins which assigned the cognizance of such matters as these unto Provincial Synods and that Provincial Synod shall take care in it according to their Prudence having first made an exact inquiry into the true state of the said Church 3. Monsieur Gualtier Pastor in the Province of Xaintonge presented himself to this Assembly declaring that he had finished his work upon the Discipline of our Church Monsieur Larroq did after effect and Print it as he had written the last National Synod held at Charenton and that he had another design in Hand which was a Treatise of the Harmony of the Articles of our Confession of Faith Liturgy and Church Discipline with that of the ancient Church and in special with the Decisions of the Councils of the Gallicane Church The Assembly applauded his Zeal and ordered him to apply himself unto his Province of Xaintonge to which he shall produce his work and they shall dispose of it according to the Canons of our Discipline And in the mean while he and his Labours were recommended unto God praying that the Father of Lights would enrich him with all needful gifts to the accomplishing of his great design and to shour down his Heavenly Benediction upon his Person and Undertaking 4. The Sieurs Priouleau Pastor of the Church of Rochel Berual Elder le Toncille and de la Chapeliere Heads of Families in the said City appeared as Deputies from that Church with a Petition unto this Assembly requesting that Monsieur Gilbert Pastor of the Church of Mesle might be conferr'd upon them as their Minister and they back'd their Petition with very many and weighty Arguments The Deputies of the Church of Mesle were heard who did as importunately Petition that their Minister the aforesaid Monsieur Gilbert might be continued with them And the Provincial Deputies of Poicton persisting in that Resolve made in their last Synod of their Province that they did not judge it any way fit to grant them their Request Now although this Assembly doth highly value that Church of Rochel and it's Petitions yet nevertheless it doth not count it reasonable to deprive the Church of Mesle of a Pastor who is so very useful and needful to them 5. This Assembly did for divers causes thereunto moving them without intending it a Precedent for the future receive the Informations given by one part of the Elders and Heads of Families in the Church of Calais although they ought according to the Canons of our Discipline to have been carried unto the Synod of the Isle of France and took cognizance of those Troubles wherewith that Church hath been agitated about the settling of a Second Pastor in it The Sieurs Tricotel and Peter du Croix a Deacon in the Quarter of Guisnes and James Barrizeau of the Lower Town of Calais Deputies from another part of that Church had audience given them and there were read Letters and Memoirs from Monsieur de Montigny Pastor who was sent unto the said Church by the Synod held at Ay this present Year The whole Affair having been heard and debated a Decree past that the Sieur de Montigny shall if it so please him exercise his Ministry in the said Church till the meeting of the next Synod of that Province which will be within Six Months at the farthest And before that time the Church of Calais shall choose a Pastor by plurality of Votes in a lawful Assembly called and directed by their Consistory according to the order of our Discipline either fixing their choice upon the Sieur de Montigny who received a most Honourable Testimony in this Assembly or upon any other whom they shall judge most proper for their Edifying And by th' Authority of this Assembly one of the Pastors of Dieppe and
debated them shall pass a befitting Censure upon the guilty and delinquent Persons 22. Although the Appeal of the Church of Sumaine was judged unworthy of our Acceptance yet the Province of Sevennes is exhorted to take into their Christian Consideration the Necessities of the said Church and to establish such Officers in it as are most capable of promoting its Edification and not to suffer Churches of such great Importance to be left any long time destitute of Pastors but that they be immediately supplied either from within or without the Province 23. Monsieur de Fabas Pastor of the Church of Morlans declared his Grievances in his Appeal and the Deputies of the Province of Bearn produced the Reasons inducing their Synod to pass Censure upon him After that both Parties had promised Subjection to the Judgment of this Synod Monsieur de Fabas was censured by this Assembly for his extraordinary and irregular Proceedings and his Appeal being admitted the Province of Bearn was exhorted tor the future never to remove any Pastors from their Churches till they had first consulted their Churches according to the Canons of our Discipline and it ordaineth that since the Sentence of the Provincial Synod was barely provisional it shall stand and be in force till the Meeting of the next Synod by which the said Monsieur de Fabas shall be restored unto his Church of Morlans and Monsieur Rivas who serveth it at present shall be provided of another Church which may be more to his Conveniency and Comfort And till the sitting of the said Provincial Synod the said Monsieur de Fabas may live where he doth and serve the Church of Nay and in case the time of holding the said Synod should be prorogued beyond the term of one Year beginning from the time of calling the said Synod that then the said Monsieur de Fabas is declared to be restored unto the said Church of Morlans 24. This Assembly Censured the Church of St. Hyppolit for those tart and injurious Expressions used in their Letters against the Pastors of the Province of Sevennes and disannulling their Appeal doth confer Monsieur Buera upon that Church to be their Minister whom they formerly requested with a great deal of Love and Importunity and it setteth the said Mr. Buera free and at Liberty from his Province the Deputies of the Province of Lower Languedoc having thereunto consented and Monsieur Bel is licensed to exercise his Ministry at St. Hippolyte in Conjunction with Monsieur Buera until the next Provincial Synod which shall provide another Church for Monsieur Bel and Monsieur Falgueroles is commanded to depart from St. Hippolyte and to reside in the midst of his own Flock on Pain of being Censured according to the 13th Canon in the 1st Chapter of our Discipline And whereas the said Falgueroles is accused by divers Memoirs brought into this Assembly all those Papers were deposited into the Hands of the Deputies of Sevennes with an express Charge and Injunction unto the Synod of the said Province that the said Synod do make Inquiry into the Truth of them and then to proceed to Judgment and to bring an Account hereof unto the next National Synod 25. Although Mr. Benoist hath just Cause of appealing from the Sentence of the Synod of Anjou which had invalidated the Judgment of the University-Council of Saumur for dividing the Profession of the Greek Tongue between Monsieur Duncan and the said Mr. Benoist who having exercised the said Profession before its being suppress'd might warrantably demand to be restored to it yet nevertheless because both these Gentlemen are frequently hindred and diverted by their Practice of Physick from the said Profession and for that the publick Interest requireth all University-Offices should be conferred upon unincumbred Persons who may be free and at Liberty regularly to discharge them without any Interruption by other Functions and Business This Assembly disannulleth those Appeals of the said Benoist and Duncan and confirmeth that Sentence of the University-Council and of the last Synod of the said Province and ordaineth that the Deputies of the said Province of Poictou in their Return homeward shall visit the City of Saumur and endeavour to accommodate and reconcile the divided Parties who are exhorted to live in all good Concord and Friendship and to give publick Evidence of their having buried in oblivion all Resentments of past Differences 26. The Provincial Deputies of Bearn made report that they had received Letters from the Deputies of their Synod and from Mr. Belard Elder of the Church of Morlans containing divers Complaints against Monsieur de Fabas Whereupon the said de Fabas was called in and answered unto all the Articles mentioned in the said Letters And the Assembly persisting in their former Judgment noted in the 23d Appeal where the said de Fabas had purged himself from all Matters objected against him did farther ordain That there should be delivered to him and to the Deputies of Bearn Copies exactly collationed of those Letters produced against him And as for the Original as soon as it shall have been marked it shall be carried by the Lords of Aubas and Masselieres Deputies of the Lower Guyenne unto the Colloquy of Condommois which is expresly charged to make inquiry into that Accusation so obliquely brought in against the said de Fabas and raising Suspicions of him as if he intended to revolt from the true Religion and had received to this purpose Letters from the Monks of Morlans that in case he be found guilty of this Wickedness he may be prosecuted according to the Canons of our Discipline but if not that his Accusers may be condemned to give him all befitting Satisfaction And whereas in the Margent of one of the said Letters it is said that the Colloquy of Nay hath begun its Process against the said de Fabas upon supposition of having deserted his Church this Assembly being not able to believe that the Churches of Bearn would be so extreamly weak as to proceed against them who had appealed from the Judgment of their Synods unto this decreeth That Letters shall be written both to the Colloquy of Nay and to the Synod of Bearn to advise them to be very careful that the Union of the Churches in their Province with those of this Kingdom be not wounded directly nor indirectly by any Actions contrary to Christian Charity And whereas extraordinary Processes have been managed and carried on against the said Mr. de Fabas or may be now begun or finished they be all declared to be in very truth and deed as this Synod doth now declare them to be null and void and undertaken contrary to our Church-Discipline 27. The Appeal of the Church of Bergerac opposing the Incorporation of the House of Tiraqueau with the Church of Cours was rejected and the Judgment of the Province of Lower Guyenne confirmed according to the Canon of the Synod of Castres which dismisseth such and the like
Causes over to the Provinces to be finally decided by them CHAP. XX. General Matters Article 1. IT having been reported in this Assembly that the Magistrates in divers Places have commanded the Professors of our Religion to hang their Houses and light out Candles on that Festival that goes by the Name of the Holy Sacrament and that several Persons thrô a deplorable Infirmity have so much forgotten themselves as to observe an Ordinance which obliges their Consciences to yield unto the Creature that self-same Honour which is due unto the Creator This Assembly wanting Words with which it may express its just Grief and Resentment for such an inexcusable Cowardliness doth adjure the Consciences of those Persons who have fallen into Sins so repugnant unto true Piety by the Fear of the Living God by the Zeal of his Glory by the Bowels of his Mercy in the Son of his dearest Love and by that special Care the Faithful ought to have of their Salvation that they would revive their Zeal and shew themselves Loyal Followers of the Faith and Constancy of their Fathers and testify by their Perseverance in Well-doing the Sincerity and Soundness of their Repentance and of their Affection to the Service of God Moreover the Consistory of those Places where such Scandals do fall out is injoined to rebuke them with an holy Vigour who give such an evil Example and all Synods are to proceed against them with all Ecclesiastical Censures and if they be Pastors and Elders who by their Connivance and Dissimulation have or for the future may favour such Offenders they shall not only be suspended but deposed also from their Offices CHAP. XXI An Act for a Publick National Fast 2. FOrasmuch as after a most desolating Drought which hath reduced the greatest part of the Provinces of this Kingdom to an extream Famine the Hand of God lifted up against us is not yet called back but continueth to visit his People by contagious and mortal Diseases which have overspread the whole Land and are every day more and more growing upon us This National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France assembled by his Majesty's Permission at Charenton acknowledging that the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven and poured but upon the Face of the Earth because of the Ungodliness of Men and of the Impenitency and Hardness of their Hearts to prevent the dreadful Judgment of this great and righteous Judg who resisteth the Proud and giveth Grace unto the Humble and to turn away the Floods of his Vengeance and to excite the Bowels of his fatherly Compassions and to impetrate from his Divine Bounty the continuance of his gracious Favours for the Prosperity and Repose both of Church and State doth exhort all the Faithful to bring forth Fruits worthy of Repentance and to cast off the unfruitful Works of Darkness and to return unto the Lord with broken humble and contrite Hearts And to this purpose it ordaineth That a Fart shall be celebrated in all the Churches of this Kingdom the first Day of January next following which shall be signified by the publick reading of this present Act. 3. Forasmuch as divers Provinces have craved Advice how we shall proceed against those Persons who occasion scandalous Reports prejudicial to the Peace of the Church and may hereafter propound Terms of Accommodation by mingling and blending of both Religions into one This Assembly recommendeth unto all the Churches the observation of that Canon which was made two and thirty Years ago in the National Synod of Montpellier whose Tenour followeth Syn. Montpel gen mat v. Forasmuch as 't is the Duty of all the Faithful heartily to desire the Reunion of all the Subjects of this Kingdom into the Vnity of Paith for the greater Glory of God for the Salvation of millions Souls and the singular Repose of the Common-wealth yet because of our Sins this being a Matter rather of our Desires than Hopes and that under this Pretext divers profane Persons do openly attempt to blend and mingle both Religions together All Ministers shall admonish seriously their Flocks not in the least to hearken unto any such Notions it being utterly impossible that the Temple of God should hold Communion with Idols as also for that such Wretches design only by this Trick to debauch easy credulous Souls from the Belief and Profession of the Gospel And whoever attempts such a Reconciliation be it either by Word or Writing shall be most severely censured CHAP. XXII An Act in favour of the Lutheran Brethren 4. THE Province of Burgundy demanding Whether the Faithful of the Augustane Confession might be permitted to contract Marriages in our Churches and to present Children in our Churches unto Baptism without a precedaneous abjuration of those Opinions held by them contrary to the Belief of our Churches This Synod declareth That inasmuch as the Churches of the Confession of Ausbourg do agree with the other Reformed Churches in the principal and fundamental Points of the True Religion and that there is neither Superstition nor Idolatry in their Worship the Faithful of the said Confession who with a Spirit of Love and Peaceableness do join themselves to the Communion of our Churches in this Kingdom may be without any abjuration at all made by them admitted unto the Lord's Table with us and as Sureties may present Children unto Baptism they promising the Consistory that they will never sollicit them either directly or indirectly to transgress the Doctrine believed and professed in our Churches but will be content to instruct and educate them in those Points and Articles which are in common between us and them and wherein both the Lutherans and we are unanimously agreed 5. If any Persons shall be hereafter deputed unto the Court by the National Synods during their sitting they shall be accountable for all Monies received by them for the defraying their Expenses whether those Sums do arise from their respective Churches or from his Majesty's Liberality that so whatever good Monies come in clearly unto the Churches being remitted into their common Stock may be disbursed to their common Profit and Advantage by Order of these Synods 6. Whereas contrary to his Majesty's Royal Word given unto the Deputies of the National Synod of Charenton in the Year 1623 That Strangers employed in the Service of the Churches of this Kingdom should be continued those Reverend and Learned Pastors Mr. Martinius and S. Sharpius are commanded to depart the Province of Dolphiny The Lord Commissioner is intreated immediately to issue out Letters Patents that may effectually hinder the execution of those new Orders and that all Foreigners received into the Ministry among us both before that time and since may not in any wise be molested or obstructed in performance of the Duties of their Charge and Calling 7. The Lord Commissioner declaring that it was his Maiesty's Intention that for the future our National Synods should beheld in this Place and nowhere else This Assembly in