one is not of sufficient ability nor furnished with Fruits of the Earth to entertain him Can the Estate or the Publick suffer any prejudice thereby Do we not see that when Cures are too weak every one to maintain a Curate alone they put two together under one Rector That which is approved amongst Parish Priests how comes it to be criminal amongst Ministers when the poverty of the Flock permits them not to have one person whole and entire unto themselves Besides this poverty of these small P. R. C. is come from no other cause than that the pension of a hundred and thirty five thousand Livers agreed unto by Henry the Great for the entertainment of their Ministers hath for some time ceased to be paid For if they had continued to be paid every Flock might have had its own Minister without annexing any It is not therefore probable that at the same time when the King withdraws his liberality that he will hinder the feeble Flocks in the Country to find out some other means to conserve unto themselves at least a part of the Ministry by joyning themselves to some other Neighbour's Flock which may help its Subsistence Do they alledge the Usage That is all contrary to the Pretence of the Clergy for unto this very day it hath been always seen in all the Provinces of the Realm that the small P. R. Churches have united themselves two or three together for to raise a Pension for one and the same Minister Finally do they alledge the Interest of the Ecclesiasticks Besides that they ought not to be heard in this sort of Affairs because they are the principal parties against whom the complaint is made it seems also that it would be for their interest to diminish the number of the Ministers instead whereof if they hinder them from Preaching in many places they will oblige them in every P. R. Church to use their uttermost endeavour to have a Minister apart which will much augment their number For there is no person who will not resolve rather to sacrifice his temporal commodities than continue deprived of spiritual sood which he supposes needful for his Salvation So that all the Pursuit of the Clergy in this affair will effect nothing but only to incommodate them of the P. R. R. in their Estates and thereby render them less able to contribute to the necessity of the publick These considerations are they which give hope that his Majesty taking particular cognizance of this Affair will leave them of the P. R. R. in the liberty of their Annexes and that in expounding the present Article of the Declaration he will have the goodness to say that in forbidding the Ministers from preaching in divers places he intends not to hinder them from preaching save only in those places where they had not right to exercise according to the Decrees of the Council of the twenty sixth of Sept. 1633 and of June 1635 and May 1652. As for the Residence of the Ministers the Edict doth not only authorise it in every Town and every place of the Realm indifferently in the sixth Article of the Generals and first of the Particulars but moreover hath interpreted himself by a Decree made in Council April 24 1665 by which it is permitted to Ministers to make their Residence with their Families in such Cities Burroughs and Villages near the place of their settlement as they shall choose And without doubt the King intends no otherwise here But notwithstanding because this Article of his last Declaration may receive another interpretation his Majesty will be pleased of his goodness to remove all ambiguity which may be found therein declaring with reference to the Residence of the Ministers that his intention is agreeable to his Decree of 24th of April 1665. ARTICLE XV. The Churches of Foedary Estates As also that they of the P. R. R. who assist at their Synods shall not enter in the Tables of their Churches the places where the publick exercise of their Religion is forbid nor those wherein it is permitted only by the priviledge of the Lord and in his Castle SInce the Churches of the Feodary Estates are established by the Edict as well as those of possession or of Bayliwicks they ought to be comprized in the Tables of the Synods as well as others And they have at all times used this order from the beginning and there is no cause to change an usage so constant and innocent All that they can require of those of the P. R. R. is that in the Tables of their Synods they distinguish their Churches and express which are of Feodary Estates which of Possession and which of Bailywicks whereto they shall yield obedience if it be judged necessary But to require absolutely that they should not put into the Tables of the Synods the Churches Feodary Estates were to make the Ministers of those places so far Independents that they should neither have superiour nor Discipline nor be restrained by any other curb so that they might live after their own fantasie to the prejudice of the Estate it self For the Tables of the Synods are nothing else but the appearances of the Ministers in their Assemblies where every one of them is set down by his name and that of the Church he serveth Being therefore it is necessary that the Ministers appear in their Synods according to their Discipline which straitly enjoynes them to be there so it is necessary that the Churches of Feodary Estates should be entred in the Tables of those Societies ARTICLE XVI Correspondence betwixt the Provinces As also in like manner that they of the pretended Reformed Religion may not entertain any correspondence with them of other Provinces nor write unto them under pretext of Charity or other affair whatsoever nor receive appeals from other Synods save only to remit them to the National Synod THe Artifice of the Clergy have fitted this Article expresly to render the inviolable fidelity of those of the P. R. R. suspected of which they have given so essential proofs to the King that this great Prince hath been pleased to testify by publick marks how well he is satisfied therein For in his Declaration May 21 1652. he useth these terms And for as much as our said Subjects of the P. R. R. have given us certain proof of their Affection and Fidelity in these present occasions wherewith we rest very well satisfied And his Majesty may be pleased to remember that in a certain Letter which he wrote in the Year 1655. and which is found in a publick Book whose impression is dispersed into the hands of all the World he makes use of these words which are a perpetual commendation to them of the P. R. R. I have cause to praise their Fidelity and zeal for my Service they on their part not omitting any occasion to give me proof thereof and also beyond all that can be imagined contributing in every thing to the behoof and advantage of
year to year and in some Provinces from two years to two years they cannot without Colloquies held in the meanwhile intervals remedy those previsory and pressing affairs which will be now worse by delay and which for the most part require to be handled in those very places where they happen about which they easily assemble the Colloquies because they are composed of few persons and they not far distant which cannot be said of the Synods Without these little Societies which assemble easily they must suffer Vice and Scandals to take their course without providing against them Their Flocks must remain whole years and sometimes longer without Ministers when death deprives them of those that did serve them In one word so it might come to pass that they of the P. R. R. might have a whole year without Discipline For when persons of bad lives amongst them cannot be reduced to their duty there are none but the Colloquies that are capable to censure them and they will enjoy license and impunity in their sins during a whole year if the Colloquies be abolished or remitted to the times of the Synods only For this is more truly to abolish them than remit them in this manner for the Colloquies have nothing to do when once the Synods are assembled for then all their affairs may be decided in the Synods And this is also to require an impossibility to oblige them of the P. R. R. to hold their Colloquies during their Synods and that in the presence of the deputed Commissioner For there are Provinces that contain seven or eight Colloquies What means then can there be to send the Commissioners to eight places at one time Or if they will that it be done successively how tedious must those Synods henceforth be for regulating as well the general affairs of the Province as the particulars of all the several Classes And where shall they find Commissioners that will have the patience to attend so long time from their houses and to quit their charges and imployments And will the Governors of the Provinces or Lievetenants of the King suffer the Synods to continue their Assembly for many months His Majesty is therefore most instantly besought to revoke this Article which suppresseth their Colloquies and to leave matters of this concern to the terms of the Edict and Usage notwithanding all Decrees and Judgements that have been made to the contrary ART XVIII Assemblies Commissions Deliberations and Letters in the Interval of Synods Neither to make any Assemblies in the intervals of the said Synods wherein during the said interval they may receive any Candidates give Commissions or deliberate of any Affairs by circular Letters or in any other manner on any cause whatsoever on pain of being punished according to our Edicts and Ordinances IT was not enough for the Clergy to assault our Colloquies They were affraid that for want of these ordinary meetings we should attempt a supply by Assemblies extraordinary or by Letters-missives or by some other means Wherefore to the end that they might make it impossible for them of the pretended Reformed Religion to exercise their Discipline which is so formally authorized by the Edict that they might ruine them by Division the Clergy have proposed to have them forbidden all sorts of Assemblies Commissions Deliberations and common Letters for what cause soever on pain of being punished according to the rigour of the Ordinances This is a grief uncapable of any consolation to them of the said Religion to see themselves thus treated For God be praised they have done nothing wherefore their zeal to the Kings service ought to be suspected and their adherence to the good of the Estate is immovable Their conduct and their actions speak for them in the one and in the other of these two things and they shall continue all their lives in these sentiments which make one essential part of the Duty of their Consciences In the mean time if they had a design to betray their Country they could not be tyed and chained more strongly than by forbidding them all sorts of Assemblies Commissions Deliberations and Letters Above all this the passion of the Clergy cannot suffer that they should receive Candidates in the Intervals of Synods This is the effect of an animosity whereof the pretence is hard to be imagined For since we are permitted to have Ministers and since we are not hindred to receive them in the Synods what reason can the Ecclesiasticks alledge to forbid them to receive Candidates in the Intervals of Synods in which they think good that they should be examined It is manifest they can render no other reason than their own animosity which carries them on to desire that they of the pretended Reformed Religion may continue oftentimes unprovided of Ministers For if a Minister happen to die immediately after the Session of a Synod it may so fall out that his Church as a Widow shall not only keep a year of mourning but remain subjected also to two years of Widow-hood in those Provinces where the Synods assemble not but from two years to two years And it must needs be that during all this time she be deprived of the Word of God Preached and the Administration of the Sacraments that the sick die there without Consolation and Infants without Baptism This inconvenience being so much more remediless in the terme of the Declaration because by the fourteenth Article Ministers are forbidden to Preach in divers places and by that all means are taken away from a Church that is destitute to have assistance from any neighbour-Minister So a place that hath right of exercise very certain and well known shall hereby be uncapable of enjoying it notwithstanding But this mischief doth not stay here neither For if this Article of the Declaration stand we must speak no more of Synods themselves It will be impossible to call them or execute their Orders For how shall they call them if Letters-missives be forbidden Being this Assembly cannot be called but by circular Letters sent to all the Flocks of a Province to give them warning to cause their Deputies to appear in the place and time designed for holding those Assemblies And how shall they execute their Orders and Acts if Commissions and Letters be forbidden them for the Resolves of Synods are not executed but by these wayes or by deputing Commissioners to carry them to the places Or giving them charge to write letters to the persons concerned to the end they may be reduced to their duty when the Synods do sit no longer Or by Authorizing some Ministers to deliberate with their Consistories and so to conclude those affairs which the shortness of the time permits them not to project and design by the Synods Nay it will not be possible to have Ministers if Commissions have no place any more for Ministers are not installed in their charge nor invested in their Ministry but by means of Commissioners named in the Synods
Notwithstanding the Clergy would not have given themselves the trouble to copy out so long an Article for nothing And this without doubt is their design Namely to cut off the end of this twentieth Article of the Edict in which it is ordained That the inquisition after the violation of the Feasts should not be made by any other than the Officers of Justice And in place of those words they substituted these That the Feasts should be declared by the sound of a Bell or proclaimed by the diligence of the Consuls or Aldermen but this addition is of little benefit instead whereof the end of the twentieth Article is absolutely necessary to repress the ill humour of the Parish Priest and other Ecclesiasticks who will pretend to be Competent Parties against them of the P. R. R. in the not observation of Feasts and who will bring against them an infinity of Suits if they be not excluded from this inquiry by attributing it to the Officers of Justice only Therefore this Article of the Declaration making a breach upon the Edict ought to be expunged to the end that that of the Edict may abide in force ARTICLE LIV. Sale of Meats on dayes forbidden That they of the P. R. R. may not retail or sell Victuals publickly on the dayes which the Catholick Church hath appointed for abstinence therefrom THis Prohibition is needlesly made against them of the P. R. R. For they will not give this occasion of offence to the Catholicks ARTICLE LV. Ringing of Bells That the Bells in the Temples of them of the P. R. R. in the places where the exercise is permitted cease to Ring from Holy Thursday at ten of the Clock in the morning untill Holy Saturday at mid day as those of the Catholicks are wont to do IF the Bells of those of the P. R. R. were rung at divers hours of the day If they were in great number to make much noise or had a shrill sound or had an harmonious chime like those which are heard on the Feast dayes and upon occasions of Joy it would be thought less strange that they would impose silence on them so long as those of the Catholicks are silent But those Bells which are never more than one in every Temple and which ring not but one moment in the day to give notice of the hour of the Sermon and whose sound is exceeding simple there is no more reason to cause the Bell to cease which calls to the Temple than that of the Clock which tells the hour of the Sermon and Prayers ARTICLE LVI Bells in Temples in places of Citadels and Garrisons That in Towns and Places where there are Citadels or Garrisons by our Order they aforesaid of the P. R. R. may not assemble by the sound of a Bell nor place any in their Temples THe same design which the Clergy have already made appear in divers Articles is remarkable also in this It is this that they would bring the Fidelity of those of the P. R. R. into suspition as if there were some cause to fear that they would make use of their Bells as a signal to betray the Places where there were a Citadel or a Garrison But the knowledge which his Majesty hath of their inviolable zeal and faithful affection which they have unto his Service will cause him to pierce through all the vain Clouds of unjust suspitions which they would give him and to revoke an Article so injurious to his Subjects whose obedience is without reproach and who deserve not in this point to be treated otherwise than the rest of their fellow Citizens and Country Men. ARTICLE LVII Judgment of the validity of Marriages And being we have been informed of certain actions occurring not yet decided by any Decrees to prevent altercations and differences betwixt our Catholick Subjects and those of the P. R. R. We ordain that the Marriages made and contracted in the Catholick Churches or before their proper Rector shall not be judged but by the Officials of the Bishops who may take Cognizance of their validity or invalidity And if the said Marriages be made in the Temples of those of the said Religion or before their Ministers in this case if the Defender be a Catholick the said Officials shall have the Cognizance thereof in like manner and if the Defender be of the P. R. R. the Royal Judges shall have the Cognizance thereof and by Appeal the Chambers of the Edict THis is a rude blow which the Clergy would reach the Edict of Nantes in favour of the Officials of the Bishops For the Edict in the 41 Article of the Particulars had ordained that the Cognizance of Processes concerning Marriages should appertain to the Judges Royal and by Appeal to the Chambers of the Edict then when both Parties are of the P. R. R. not attributing the Cognizance to the Officials but when the one of the Parties is of the C. A. R. R. And so much the more if he be Defendant But the Article of the Declaration is contrary hereunto in two manners For first It wills that the Marriages which are made before the Parish Priests or in the Catholick Churches should be judged by the Officials of the Bishops though the Defendant be of the P. R. R. Secondly this Article is couched in such sort that even when both the Parties are of the P. R. R. It gives to understand that notwithstanding if their Marriages were made in the Churches of those of the C. A. R. R. or before their Papish Priests it should belong for all that to the Officials to take Cognizance and Judge thereof Thus here they of the P. R. R. who are in no sort at all justifiable by the Ecclesiasticks are subjected unto their Tribunals and what may they expect from Judges prejudiced and passionate but rigorous condemnations This Article then takes them of the P. R. R. out of the hands of the Kings Judges to put them in the hands of the Officials This is properly to repeal the Edict whose settlement in this matter is so Just and so Reasonable that the new Commentator who hath imployed all his Spirits to endeavour to take away this Sacred Buckler of the Edict from them of the P. R. R. hath notwithstanding said nothing at all to elude this 41 Article of the Particulars on the contrary he hath elsewhere confirmed it by the conference of Fleix on the 23 Article of the Generals So also the usage hath alwayes been hitherto conformable to the Edict They of the P. R. R. have hitherto never pleaded in causes Matrimonial but before the Judges Royal and those of the Chamber of the Edict This is therefore an innovation which the King out of the design which he hath to cause the Edict of Nantes to be exactly observed without doubt cannot suffer ARTICLE LVIII Tythes infeoft That Criminal Causes in which the Ecclesiasticks are Defendants may be handled before the Royal Judges and the Stewards and in