well as in the Pres des Clerks by the Ladies Princes yea and by Henry the Second himself This one Ordinance only contributed mightily to the downfal of Popery and the propagation of the Gospel It took so much with the genius of the Nation That all ranks and degrees of Men practised it in the Temples and in their Families No Gentleman professing the Reformed Religion would sit down at his Table without praising God by singing Yea it was a special part of their Morning and Evening Worship in their several Houses to sing God's Praises The Popish Clergy raged and to prevent the growth and spreading of the Gospel by it that mischievous Cardinal of Lorrain another Elymas the Sorcerer got the Odes of Horace and the filthy obscene Poems of Tibullus and Catullus to be turn'd into French and sung in the Court Ribaldry was his Piety and the means used by him to expel and banish the singing of divine Psalms out of the prophane Court of France The Holy Word of God is duly truly and powerfully Preached in Churches and Fields in Ships and Houses in Vaults and Cellars in all places where the Gospel-Ministers can have admission and conveniency and with singular success Multitudes are Convinced and Converted established and edified Christ rideth out upon the white Horse of the Ministry with the Sword and Bow of the Gospel Preached Conquering and to Conquer His Enemies fall under him and submit themselves unto him O! the unparallell'd success of the plain and zealous Sermons of the first Reformers Multitudes flock in like Doves into the Windows of God's Ark. As innumerable drops of dew fall from the Womb of the Morning so hath the Lord Christ the dew of his Youth The Popish Churches are drained the Protestant Temples are filled The Priests complain that their Altars are neglected their Masses are now indeed solitary Dagon cannot stand before God's Ark. Children and Persons of riper years are Catechised in the Rudiments and Principles of Christian Religion and can give a comfortable account of their Faith a reason of that hope that is in them By this Ordinance do their pious Pastors prepare them for Communion with the Lord at his holy Table Here they communicate in both kinds according to the Primitive Institution of this Sacrament by Jesus Christ himself Sect. 7. Though the Churches of God walked in the Comforts of the Holy-Ghost and were multiplied throughout the whole Kingdom yet were they exercised with Fiery Tryals and underwent most cruel and inhumane Sufferings Satan stormed that his Kingdom was assaulted weakned and subverted this boileth up his Revenge and causeth him to throw out Floods of Wrath against the Church travelling under the pangs of Reformation Hence the Saints of God are imprisoned arraigned for their Lives and condemned by merciless unrighteous Judges for their Profession of the Truth unto the Flames Others are murdered in cold Blood and massacred without any legal forms of Justice in the least And yet in the sight of those cruel Deaths and most barbarous Executions the first National Synod is called and celebrated in the Metropolis of the Kingdom at the very Doors of the Court God inspiring with Zeal and Courage the Pastors of several Churches to meet and consult together about the arduous and most important Businesses of the Reformed Religion Sect. 8. Two things among others were dispatch'd in this Council 1. They publish the Confession of their Faith and tell the King and Kingdom what they believe and practise This was put into the Hands of their Young King lately come to the Crown upon the Death of his Father who though he had sworn to see that famous Martyr of Christ Annas du Bourg Counsellour in the Parliament of Paris burnt yet was at a Tilt by Count de Montgomery a Protestant wounded with a Launce in the Eye and died before he could perform his Oath How Francis the Second entertained this Confession when it was tender'd him is not my Business to relate I shall only give my Reader the Confession itself and I do the rather lay it before him because it is a brief System of the Protestant Religion constantly read at the opening of all their Synods and because of the frequent References unto it in and by all those National Synods which I now publish Sect. 9. The Confession of Faith held and professed by the Reformed Churches of France received and enacted by their first National Synod Celebrated in the City of Paris and Year of our Lord 1559. ARTICLE I. WE believe and confess That there is but one God only whose Being only is simple spiritual eternal invisible immutable infinite incomprehensible ineffable who can do all things who is all-wise all-good most just and most merciful ARTICLE II. This one God hath revealed himself to be such a one unto Men first in the Creation preservation and governing of his works secondly far more plainly in his word which from the beginning he revealed to the Fathers by certain Visions and Oracles and then caused it to be put in writing in those Books which we call the Holy Scripture ARTICLE III. All this holy Scipture is contained in the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament the Catalogue whereof followeth The five Books of Moses namely Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy Item Joshua Judges Ruth the first and second Book of Samuel the first and second Book of Kings the first and second Book of Chronicles otherwise called the Paralipomena one Book of Esdras Nehemiah Hester Job the Psalms Solomon's Proverbs or Sentences Ecclesiastes the Song of Songs Esaiah Jeremiah with the Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonas Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zachariah Malachi Item the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew according to St. Mark according to St. Luke and according to St. John as also the second Book of St. Luke otherwise called The Acts of the Apostles Item the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans one to the Corinthians two to the Galatians one to the Ephesians one to the Philippians one to the Colossians one to the Thessalonians two to Timothy two to Titus one to Philemon one Item the Epistle to the Hebrews the Epistle of St. James the first and second Epistle of St. Peter the first second and third Epistle of St. John the Epistle of St. Jude and the Apocalypse or Revelations of St. John ARTICLE IV. We acknowledge these Books to be Canonical that is we account them as the most certain Rule of our Faith and that not so much because of the common consent of the Church but because of the Testimony and Perswasion of the Holy Ghost by which we are taught to distinguish betwixt them and other Ecclesiastical Books upon which although they may be useful yet we cannot ground any Article of Faith ARTICLE V. We believe That the Doctrine contained in these Books is proceeded from God from whom only and not from men it deriveth
Inhabitants to be brought in to them those Accusations and Informations which are made against them that it may be known and judged whether those Actions be triable in the Provosts Courts or not that so afterward according to the quality of the Crimes they may be by those Chambers remanded back unto the ordinary or judged by the Provosts according to law and reason they observing the Contents of this our present Edict And those Presidial Judges Provosts of Mareschals Vice-Bailiffs Vice-Seneschals and others who judge Soveraignly and without Appeal shall be bound respectively to obey and satisfy those Commands which shall be made them by the said Chambers and all even as they have been accustomed to be done in the said Parliaments upon pain of being deprived of their Offices LXVIII The Proclamations Bills of Siquis and Outropes of Inheritances by which a Decree is prosecuted shall be made in those places and at the hours accustomed if it may be done according to our Ordinances or else in the publick Markets provided that there be a Market in that place in which the said Inheritances do lie but where there is none they shall be made in the nearest Market Town of the Jurisdiction of that Court where a Delivery by Judgment is to be made And the Bills shall be set up and affixed upon the Posts in the said Market and at the entrance of the Auditory of the said place and by this means the said Proclamations shall be good and valid and they may proceed to the interposal of a Decree without stopping at the Nullities which may be alledged on this account LXIX All Deeds Papers Writings Evidences which have been taken away shall be restored and returned back on both sides unto their rightful Owners and Proprietors although the said Papers or the Castles and Houses in which they were kept had been taken and possessed by special Commissions from the late King now dead our most Honoured Lord and Brother-in-Law or by Commissions from our selves or by Command of the Governours and Lieutenants-General of our Provinces or by the Authority of the heads of either Party or by any other means and pretext whatsoever LXX The Children of those persons who had departed the Kingdom since the late King Henry the Second our most Honoured Lord and Father-in-Law upon the account of Religion and the troublesome times ensuing although the said Children were born out of the Kingdom shall be reputed True Frenchmen and Natives of the Kingdom and we have declared and declare them to be such nor have they any farther need of Letters of Naturalization or other provisions from us besides this present Edict notwithstanding all Ordinances to the contrary from which we have derogated and do derogate upon Condition that the said Children born in Foreign Countries shall be obliged within the term of ten years after the publication of this present to come and dwell in the Kingdom LXXI Those of the said pretended Reformed Religion and others who have followed their Party and had farmed before the troubles any Office or Demesn or Gabell or Foreign Imposition or other Rights appertaining to us which they could not injoy because of those troubles shall be acquitted and discharged even as we do now acquit and discharge them of all receits whatsoever of the Income of the said Offices or which they may have paid any where else than into the Receit of our Treasury notwithstanding all Obligations made and passed by them on this occasion LXXII All Places Towns and Provinces of our Kingdom the Countries Territories and Lordships under our Jurisdiction shall use and enjoy the same Priviledges Immunities Liberties Franchises Fairs Markets Jurisdictions and Assises Seats of Justice as they did before the troubles began in the Month of March one thousand five hundred and eighty five and in the preceding years notwithstanding all Letters to the contrary and the Disposals of the said Lordships to other Persons provided that this was done meerly and solely upon the account of the said Troubles Which Assizes and Seats of Justice shall be revived and restored in those Towns and Places in which they were before LXXIII All Prisoners formerly detained by the Authority of Justice or by any other means yea and the Slaves in the Galleys for and upon the account of the said Religion shall be inlarged and set at full Liberty LXXIV Those of the said Religion may not be hereafter surcharged nor oppressed by any ordinary or extraordinary Taxes more than the Catholicks nor above the proportion of their estates and abilities And the Parties which shall complain of their being over-burdened shall appear before the Judges to whom the Cognisance of these matters doth appertain And all our Subjects both of the Catholick and pretended Reformed Religion shall be indifferently discharged of all Taxes which had been imposed both upon the one and other during the troubles by them who were of the contrary Party and not consenting as also the Debts contracted and not paid and expences made without their consent however they shall not be able to redemand the moneys which had been imployed in payment of the said Taxes LXXV Nor is it our intention that those of the said Religion nor others who have followed their Party nor the Catholicks who were remaining in the Towns and Places possessed and held by them and which stood up for them shall be prosecuted for the payment of Taxes Aids Grants Increase and the little Tax imposed by Henry the Second Utensils Reparations and other Impositions and Subsidies fallen and imposed during the Troubles fallen out before and till our coming unto the Crown whether by the Edicts Commands of the late Kings our Predecessors or by the Advice and deliberation of the Governours and States of the Provinces Courts of Parliaments and others from which we have discharged and do discharge them by forbidding the General-Treasurers of France and of our Revenue the Receivers-general and particular their Agents and Dealers and other Intendants and Commissioners of our Revenues to search after molest or disturb them any manner of way whatsoever whether directly or indirectly LXXVI All Chieftains Lords Knights Gentlemen Officers Corporations and Communalties and all others which have aided and succoured them their Widows Heirs and Successors shall be quitted and discharged of all moneys which were taken up and levied by them and their Orders whether they were moneys Royal how great soever the summ might be or the moneys of those Cities and Communalties and of particular Persons their Rents Revenues Plate Sale of Houshold Goods of Ecclesiastical Persons or others Trees Timber whether of and belonging to the Crown or to other Persons Fines Booties Ransoms or moneys of another nature taken by them upon the account of the troubles began in March 1585. and the other troubles foregoing until our Arrival to the Crown without that either they or their Agents imployed by them in the levying of the said moneys or who ever gave them
order now his Majesty willeth and intendeth that notwithstanding it his said Edict of Nantes shall take place in all the Towns and Jurisdictions brought under his obedience by the said Lord Admiral as for all other places of his Kingdom ARTICLE XXII In pursuance of the Edict for reducing the Lord Duke of Joyeuse the said Religion may not be at all exercised in the City of Tholouse nor in the Suburbs thereof nor within four Leagues round nor nearer to it than the Towns of Villemur Carmain and the Isle of Jordain ARTICLE XXIII Nor may it be restored and set up again in the Towns of Alet Fiac Auriac and Montesquiou but yet and if any of the said Religion should petition for a place where it might be exercised the Commissioners which shall be deputed by his Majesty to execute his Edict or other Officers shall out of the places assigned for every one of those Towns assign a commodious place and of safe access to them and which shall not be in distance removed from the said Towns above one League ARTICLE XXIV The Exercise of the said Religion may be restored even as it was granted by the Edict of Nantes within the Jurisdiction of the Court of Parliament of Tholouse excepting always in the Bailywicks Seneschalsies and their Precincts whose principal Seat was reduced under his Majesty's obedience by the said Lord Duke of Joyeuse for which the Edict of 1577. shall stand good and be observed Yet notwithstanding 't is his Majesty's intention and purpose that the said Exercise shall be continued in the borders of the said Bailywicks and Seneschalsies where it was in the time of the said reduction and that the priviledge of Fiefs shall take place in the said Bailywicks and Seneschalsies according to the intendment and import of the said Edict ARTICLE XXV The Edict made for the Reduction of Dijon shall be observed and according to it there shall be no other Exercise of Religion than that of the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church in the City and Suburbs thereof nor in four Leagues round ARTICLE XXVI The Edict likewise for Reduction of the Lord Duke of Mayenne shall be observed according unto which the said pretended Reformed Religion may be exercised in the Towns of Chaalon Seure and Soissons in the Bailywick of the said Chaalons and in two Leagues of the borders of Soissons for the term of six Years to begin from the first day of January 1596 which being expired the Edict of Nantes shall be observed as in all other parts of the Kingdom ARTICLE XXVII Those of the said Religion of whatsoever quality shall be permitted to come and go freely unto and from the City of Lions and unto the other Cities and places of the Government of Lyonnois notwithstanding any Prohibitions to the contrary made by the Syndicks and Sheriffs of the said City of Lion and confirmed by his Majesty ARTICLE XXVIII There shall be but one place of Bailywick ordained for the Exercise of the said Religion in the whole Seneschalsie of Poictiers over and besides those which are at present established and as for the Fiefs the Edict of Nantes shall be followed The said Exercise also shall be continued in the Town of Chauvigny But the said Exercise may not be restored in the Towns of Agen and Perigueux although that by the Edict of 1577. it might have been ARTICLE XXIX There shall be but two places of Bailywicks for the Exercise of the said Religion in the whole Government of Picardy as it hath been before declared and the said two places may not be given within the Bailywicks and Governments reserved by the Edicts made for the Reduction of Amiens Peronne and Abbeville Yet notwithstanding the said Religion may be exercised in the Houses of Fiefs throughout the whole Government of Picardy according as it was decreed in and by the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XXX There shall be no Exercise at all of the said Religion in the City and Suburbs of Sens and there shall be ordained but one place of Bailywick for the said Exercise in the whole Circuit of the said Bailywick however this shall not in the least prejudice the priviledge of Houses of Fiefs which shall hold good according to the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XXXI In like manner the said Exercise may not be in the City nor Suburbs of Nantes nor shall there be any one place of Bailywick ordained for the exercise of the said Religion within three Leagues round of the said City yet notwithstanding it may be done in the Houses of Fiefs according to the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XXXII 'T is his Majesty's Will and Pleasure that his said Edict of Nantes shall be observed from this very instant as to what concerns the Exercise of the said Religion in those places where by the Edicts and Grants made for the reduction of some Princes Lords Gentlemen and Catholick Cities it was prohibited only for a time and till further order And as for those places where the said Prohibition was limited to a fixed certain time the said time being passed the Prohibition shall cease and be of no force ARTICLE XXXIII There shall be given unto those of the said Religion a place for the City Provostship and Viscounty of Paris within five Leagues at farthest of the said City in which they may enjoy the publick exercise thereof ARTICLE XXXIV In all those places where the said Religion shall be exercised publickly the People may be assembled and called together even by found of Bells and they may do all Acts and Duties of the said Religion as the exercise of Discipline the holding of Consistories Colloquies National and Provincial Synods by his Majesty's permission ARTICLE XXXV Ministers Elders and Deacons of the said Religion shall not be constrained to answer before a Court of Justice in quality of Witnesses about matters which were revealed to them in their Consistories when as Censures were to be inflicted unless it were for any matter concerning the King's Person or the preservation of the State and Government ARTICLE XXXVI The Professors of the said Religion who live in the Country may lawfully go unto the exercise thereof in the Cities and Suburbs and other places where it shall be publickly established ARTICLE XXXVII Those of the said Religion may not keep any Publick Schools unless in those Cities and places in which the publick exercise thereof is permitted them and those provisions which were formerly granted them for the erection and maintaining of Colleges shall if need so require be verified and obtain their full and entire effect ARTICLE XXXVIII It shall be lawful for Parents professing the said Religion to provide for their Childrens Education in such a manner as best pleaseth them and to substitute one or more Tutors and Guardians to them by their last Will and Testament or by a Codicil or any other Declaration passed before a Notary or written and signed with their own Hands the Laws Ordinances and Customs
to do any thing for the advancement of Religion unless it were to diminish the numbers of the Churches belonging to those of the Pretended Reformed Religion by interdicting such as had been built contrary to the Orders of the said Edict and by suppression of the Mixt Chambers which were erected only provisionally God having at last granted to our People the injoyment of a perfect Peace and we also not being occupied with those cares to protect them against our Enemies and being able to improve this Truce which we effected for this very end that we might wholly apply our selves to seek out such means whereby we might accomplish successfully the design of the said Kings our Father and Grandfather upon which also we entred as soon as we came unto the Crown we now see and according to our Duty thank God for it that our Cares have at last obtained that end we had propounded to our selves inasmuch as the far greater and better part of our Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion have embraced the Catholick And inasmuch as hereby the Execution of the Edict of Nantes and of whatsoever else hath been ordained in favour of the said Pretended Reformed Religion is become useless we have judged that we could do nothing better towards the total blotting out of the remembrance of those Troubles Confusions and Mischiefs which the progress of that false Religion had caused in our Kingdom and which occasioned that Edict and several other Edicts and Declarations which had preceded it or had been in consequence thereof Enacted than totally to revoke the said Edict of Nantes and the special Articles which in pursuance of it had been conceded and whatsoever else had been done in favour of that said Religion I. We therefore make known that for these Causes and others thereunto us moving and of our certain knowledge full power and Royal Authority we have by this present perpetual and irrevocable Edict suppressed and revoked we do suppress and revoke the Edict of the King our said Grandfather given at Nantes in the Month of April one thousand five hundred eighty and two in its whole extent together with those special Articles ordained the second day of May following and the Letters Patents expedited thereupon and the Edict given at Nismes in the Month of July one thousand six hundred and twenty nine we declare them void and as if they had never been together with all Grants made as well by them as by other Edicts Declarations and Decrees to those of the said Pretended Reformed Religion of what kind soever they may be which shall in like manner be reputed as if they had never been And in consequence hereof we will and 't is our pleasure that all the Temples of those of the said Religion situated within our Kingdom Countries Lands and Lordships of our subjection shall be immediately demolished II. We forbid our said Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion any more to assemble themselves for exercise of their said Religion in any Place or Private House under any pretence whatsoever yea and all real Exercises or such as were in Lordships although the said Exercises had been maintained by the Decrees of our Council III. In like manner we forbid all Lords of every degree the Exercise of their Religion in their Houses and Mannors whatsoever may be the Quality of their said Mannors and that upon pain of Confiscation of Bodies and Goods for those of our said Subjects who shall so exercise their said Religion IV. We command all Ministers of the Pretended Reformed who will not turn from it and embrace the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Religion to depart our Kingdom and the Lands of our Dominion within a Fortnight after the publication of this our present Edict and not to tarry beyond that time or during that said Fortnight to Preach Exhort or perform any Function of their Ministry upon pain of being sent to the Gallies V. Our will is that such of the said Ministers who shall change their Religion shall during their whole life continually injoy and their Widows also after them as long as they remain unmarried the same Exemption from Taxes and Lodging of Souldiers which they injoyed during the time of their Ministry and farther we will pay also unto the said Ministers as long as they live a Stipend which shall exceed by one third the Wages they received for their Ministry and their Wives also as long as they abide Widows shall injoy the one half of their said Stipend VI. If any of the said Ministers desire to become Advocates or would proceed Doctors of the Laws 't is our will and we declare it That they shall be dispensed as to three Years studying prescribed by our Declarations and having undergone the usual Examination and thereby judged capable that they be promoted Doctors paying one half only of those Fees customarily paid to this purpose in every University VII We forbid all Private Schools for the Instruction of the Children of those of the said Pretended Reformed Religion and generally all other things whatsoever that may bear the sign of Priviledge or Favour to that said Religion VIII And touching the Children that shall be born of those of the said Pretended Reformed Religion Our Will is that for time to come they be baptized by the Curates of their Parishes Commanding their Fathers and Mothers for that purpose to send them to their Churches on penalty of being fined five hundred Livers or a greater summ and those Children shall henceforth be brought up in the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Religion And we most strictly Command all the Judges of those respective places to see that this be Executed IX And that we may express our Clemency towards those our Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion who are withdrawn from out of our Kingdom Countries and Lands of our Dominion before Publication of this our present Edict we will and give them to understand that in case they return within the space of four Months from the day of its Publication they may and it shall be lawful for them to enter into the possession of their Estates and to injoy them even as they might have done if they had been always at home whereas contrarily such as within that time of four Months shall not return into our Kingdom or Countries or Lands of our Dominion their Estates abandon'd by them shall be and remain Confiscated according to our Declarations of the twentieth day of August last past X. And we do most straitly again repeat our Prohibitions unto all our Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion that neither they nor their Wives nor Children do depart our said Kingdom Countries or Lands of our Dominion nor transport their Goods and Effects on pain for Men so offending of their being sent to the Gallies and of Confiscation of Bodies and Goods for the Women XI We will and give them to know that all Declarations published against the
particularly promiseth to hinder the out-breaking of Piscator's Notions provided he be not provoked elsewhere by any others This Assembly ordaineth John Earl of Nassau his Letters unto Monsieur Regnault that Lettes shall in its name be written unto the said most Noble Lord thanking him for his pious affection and humbly intreating that Prince to continue his endeavours for effecting of that much-desired Union and to take care that none of his Subjects do break out into bitter expressions and to assure him on the behalf of our Churches in this Kingdom that no person shall be suffered to exasperate Dr. Piscator by any publick Writings as also that if any one hath heretofore done it he had no Commission for so doing from us and it was disowned by this Synod and that we shall take special care to prevent it for the future See the first Synod of Rochel G. Mat. 6. and of Montauban observat upon the Confes Art 4. Th' Article concerning Antichrist to be printed and inserted into our Confession 8. Our Printers shall be once again charged according to the Decrees of the Synods of Montauban and Saumur to put the word Union instead of Unity in the twenty sixth Article of our Confession And all Pastors in whose Churches there be Printing Houses are required to oversee the next impressions that so it be done accordingly 9. That Article concerning Antichrist inserted by the Synod of Gap into the body of our Confession and making the thirty first having been in its order read weighed and examined was approved and allowed by general consent both as to its form and substance for very true and agreeing with Scripture-Prophesie and which in these our days we see most clearly to be fulfilled Whereupon it was resolved that it should continue in its place and that for time coming it should be imprinted in all Copies which should come from the Press 10. That word Superintendent in the thirty third Article shall abide according as it was expounded by the Synod of Gap 11. Whereas the Pastors and Classis of Lausanna Morges c. do demonstrate in their Letters that it would be fit to add unto the close of the thirty third Article after the word Appertaining this restriction as far forth as they be grounded on the Word of God This Assembly hath found it needless and superfluous because that the foregoing words For in Excommunication we ought to follow what our Lord hath declared to us do sufficiently express unto us the aforesaid Restriction 12. Whereas some have remonstrated that it were meet to express in the thirty sixth Article more clearly that Union which the faithful have one with another and which is signified to us in the Lord's Supper But this point having been debated it was judged needless for that the Conjunction of the head with the Members there mentioned did necessarily infer the mutual Union and Communion of the Members one with another 13. The Consistories of Churches in which our Printers live are charged for time to come to have a special care that our Printers do not forget those words of our Lords Institution Take Eat c. And Drink ye all c. according as was Decreed in the Synod of Saumur 14. The Province of Higher Languedoc scrupling the word Lieutenant in the thirty ninth Article This Assembly saw no reason for it but that it might continue in it as importing nothing contrary to what is signified by that word when attributed unto Magistrates by the Holy Scriptures and equivalent to those words which the Word of God doth bestow upon them 15. The Confession of Faith having been read over word by word and in every Member Article and Clause of it it was unanimously approved and sworn to by all the Deputies present in the Synod who promised and protested to live and die in this Faith and particularly in what had been determined according to the Scriptures That we be justified before God by the imputation of that obedience of our Lord Jesus which he yielded unto God his Father in his Life and Death Which said Protestation the Deputies of the Provinces will by the Authority of this Synod cause also to be taken by all the Pastors of their respective Provinces which had sent them CHAP. III. Observations on the reading our Church-Discipline 1. ON the Second Article of the first Chapter after these words of their Doctrine shall be added approved at least by the space of two years since their Conversion and confirmed by good Testimonials from those places in which they live 2. On the fourth Article of the same Chapter that alternative of two or three shall be removed and there shall be mentioned three only 3. No Church shall for the future undertake whatever sollicitations may be made it to examine or ordain those Pastors which are to serve out of this Kingdom but herein they shall conform unto the Discipline and the Decrees of former National Synods 4. After these words in the fourth Article which shall be advised there shall be added without being able during that all whole time to administer the Sacraments that so c. See Synod of Gap 4 Art uppon the Discipline 5. That Article of the Synod of Gap concerning the eleventh Canon of this first Chapter shall be most strictly observed and that it may be better kept for the future in all Consistorial Classical and Synodical Censures diligent inquiry shall be made into the Conversation and Manner of Preaching used by every Pastor and an Oath shall be imposed on the Examinant to speak the Truth to the best of his knowledge and that they may the better answer to every point they shall read unto them the said Article of the Discipline 6. On reading the ninteenth Article the Synod ordered Letters should be written unto the Lords of this Kingdom professing the Reformed Religion that they be intreated when ever they are called from their Houses unto Court or when ever they travel that they would not fail to take their Pastors with them 7. The Synod expounding the twenty eighth Article by these words their Churches being heard doth understand the Consistories and Chief of the people and by these words for certain considerations doth understand whatever may fall out in general and not particularly the proceeds of Censures A Colloquy may lend a Minister for three and the Provinc Synod 6 months out of the Province See the first Synod of Vitré g. Mat. 24. 8. On the thirty third Article where speech is had about the consent of Pastors and Churches in case of Loan of Ministers without the Province It is now decreed that notwithstanding any Appeal to the contrary a Colloquy may lend a Pastor for three Months and the provincial Synod for six 9. The means prescribed by the Synods of Gap and Gergeau to prevent their ingratitude who refuse maintenance unto their Pastors are left to be used according to the discretion and charity of the
for 63 Churches 3205 16 5 To the Lower Languedoc for 73 Churches 4764 5 6 To Poictou for 48 Churches 2137 4 0 To the Isle of France c. for 68 Churches 3027 14 0 To Xaintonge for 169 Churches 3071 4 6 To the Province of Anjou for 29 Churches 1291 4 6 To the Higher Languedoc and Higher Guienne for 94 Churches 4185 7 0 To Orleans and Berry for 36 Churches 1602 18 0 To Dolphiny for 78 Churches 3472 19 0 To Normandy for 53 Churches 2359 17 0 And whereas there will be wanting 33750 Livers to compleat the last Quarter of the said summ of 135000 Livers or whatsoever part of it he may receive shall be actually paid in by him the fifteenth day of August the next year unto every one of the Provinces defalking only one Sous in the Liver and unto such persons as shall be constituted by the said Provinces to receive it for them And if any more Moneys shall be recovered after the said fifteenth day of August the next year he shall pay it in by Bills unto every one of the Provinces according to the Dividend which shall be made by our General Deputies residing with his Majesty provided they will accept of it And this order for the Dividend shall hold good not only for this present year 1607. but also for the year ensuing 1608. yea and till the holding of the next National Synod Dividend There shall be sixty and nine portions paid into the Province of Xaintonge for 54â— Pastors in actual service six Proposans and nine Churches destitute of Ministers There shall be 107 portions paid into the Province of Lower Languedoc for 90 Pastors 5. Churches vacant six Proposans and one Minister Emeritus by reason of his age only five of these portions must go to the Lower Auvergâ—e There shall be 36 portions paid into the Province of Orleans and Berry for 21 Pastors 9 vacant Churches and six Proposans There shall be 68 portions paid into the Province of the Isle of France for 48 Pastors seven vacant Churches two Ministers Emeriti by reason of age and five of those portions are supernumerary There shall 72 portions be paid into the Province or Lower Guienne the Churches of Soullais and Bigorre for 62 Pastors in actual service four vacant Churches five Proposans and one portion granted as an Honorarium to Monsieur Baduel There shall be 29 portions paid into the Province of Anjou for 19 Pastors in actual service for six vacant Churches three Proposans and one Minister Emeritus by reason of his age There shall be paid ninety and four portions into the Province of Higher Languedoc and Guienne for seventy Pastors in actual service six vacant Churches seven Proposans four Pastors Emeriti thirteen of these portions were super-numerary and four of them for the Higher Auvergne There shall be paid in fourty eight portions to the Province of Poictou for thirty nine Pastors in actual service for five Churches vacant three Proposans and one Pastor Emeritus There shall be paid in thirty eight portions to the Province of Vivaretz for eighteen Pastors in actual service five Churches vacant three Proposans and two portions added as an Honorarium to Monsieur de la Faye Pastor of the Church of Aubenas There shall be paid in seventeen portions to the Province of Provence for seven Pastors in actual service seven Churches vacant and three Proposans There shall be paid in seventy eight portions to the Province of Dolphiny for sixty one Pastors in actual service seven Churches vacant eight Proposans and two Ministers Emeriti There shall be paid in fourty portions to the Province of Burgundy Gex and Lionnois for twenty nine Pastors in actual service seven vacant Churches and four Proposans There shall be paid in fifty three portions to the Province of Normandy for thirty eight Pastors in actual service seven Churches to be provided for six Proposans and two Ministers Emeriti There shall be paid in nineteen portions to the Province of Brittany for seven Pastors in actual service seven vacant Churches four Proposans and one Pastor Emeritus CHAP. VII An Account of those summs which the National Synod hath Decreed to be paid out by the Lord of Candal Receiver General of the Moneys given by his Majesty unto the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom IMprimis He shall reimburse the Sieurs de la Noue and du Cross the sum of fourscore and twelve Livers payed down by them for verifying of those Letters Patents discharging all the Ministers of the Reformed Churches in France from payment of any Taxes whatsoever and for the Seal afâ—ixed to those Letters of our Bill of Grievances presented to his Majesty He shall pay unto Mr. Reynault Minister of the Church of Bourdeaâ—x the sum of two hundred and ten Livers for those Reasons expressed in the Synodical Decree He shall pay unto Messieurs du Bois Cargrois and Gigord Professors in the University of Montpellier the sum of 400 l. which were given them by the Synod He shall pay to Mr. Theophilus Bleuet Lord of La Combe the sum of 120 l. for those causes expressed in the Synodical Order He shall pay unto Corneille the Printer in this City six Livers for printing the general Laws of our Universities composed by this Synod There is the sum of eight hundred twenty eight Livers which the said Lord of Candall is to keep in his hands deducting but of it for himself one Sous in the Liver and to pay it in by equal portions unto the Provinces for the first Quarter of this present year 1607. and the said sum shall be allowed him in his Account of Disbursments he producing the fore-mentioned Orders and the Acquittances from the parties to whom he payed it CHAP. VIII Memorials and Instructions given to the Lords of Villarnoul and de Mirande the General Deputies of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom attending upon His Majesty how to bring Monsieur Palot to Account for the Moneys dispensed by by him which His Gracious Majesty was pleased so bestow upon our Reformed Churches FIRST You must take the Oaths of Messieurs de la Nouve and du Cros and then prosecute the said Palot before the Lords of Pontcarre and of Beaumarchais who are the Judges constituted by his Majesty to hear and determine the said Accounts And whereas the said Palot may persist in what he hath formerly urged to avoid all Accounting that the Receivers General upon whom he hath Moneys assigned have not as yet brought in their Accounts or Copies of them that they might be examined and verified and it might be known whether the Moneys of their Accounts have been diverted to other uses to there prejudice of those Assignments you must then inform our Lords the Judges that this is a meer fiction and evasion For if the said Palot had a desire to see those Accounts he might with a wet finger be satisfied Let him but present his Petition unto the Court of Exchequer in
of that place and Elder in the same Church and James Garnier Elder in the Church of Privas 7. For the Province of the Lower Guyenne Monsieur Jeremy Bancons Pastor in this Church of Tonneins and Ezechiel Marmett Pastor in the Church of Nerac together with Francis de Lusignan Baron of Lusignan Governour for the King in his Town and Castle of Puymirol and Elder of the Church there gathered and John de la Nouaille Elder in the Church of Gensac 8. For the Province of Xaintonge Aulnix and Augoulmois Monsieur Louis le Chevelier Lord of la Cappelliere and Jerom Colomiers both Pastors in the Church of Rochel together with Leon de St. Maure Baron of Montosier Elder in the Church of Bene and Peter de Breuil Lord of Fontenelles Elder in the Church of Barbezieux 9. For the Churches in the Principality of Bearn Monsieur John de Dizerotte Pastor in the Church of Olleron and Peter de Nauguey Doctor of Physick Elder in the Church of Lescar 10. For the Province of Anjou Touraln le Maine Condomnois Vendomois and the Lower Parche Monsieur Samuel Bouchereau Pastor in the Church of Saumur together with Eleazar de la Primauday Lord of la Barree Elder in the Church of Bourgueil and Abes dit Val Lord of Villiers the King's Attorney in the Election and Granary of Salt at Chasteaugontier and Elder of the Church there who related unto this Assembly that Monsieur Daniel Coupe Pastor in the Church of Tours their Fellow-Deputy was absent through the opposition of his Consistory which also was confirmed by the Brethren that passed through that Town Whereupon the Synod judged the Authors of his absence highly censurable and cannot approve of the said Coupés compliance with their will to the prejudice of what had been decreed in the Provincial Synod And that a meet Censure according to the merits of the Cause may be duly inflicted on them express order is given to the Pastors and Elders of the Isle of France and Anjou that in their return from hence homeward they shall pass unto Tours and particularly inquire into this fact and by Authority of this Assembly shall pass Sentence on them and all their Charges shall be defrayed by that said Church and they shall make report of their duty herein either in Person or by Letters unto the next National Synod 11. For the Province of Higher Languedoc Monsieur John Gigord Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church and University of Montpellier and John Bansillon Pastor of the Church in Aiguemortes together with Peter de Massanes Councillor for the King and General in the Court of Assistants at Montpellier and Elder of that Church and Henry de Farrell Lord of St. Privat Elder in the Church of Usez 12. For the Province of Sevennes and Gevaudan Monsieur John Bony Pastor in the Church of Sauve together with James de Combier Lord Baron of Fonds and of Serignac Elder in the Church of Juissac and Peter de Sduorin Lord of Pomaret and of St. Andrew de Valborgne Elder in the Church of the same place who presented Letters from Monsieur John Fitz Pastor in the Church of St. John of Gardenengue excusing his absence by reason of sickness befallen him in his Journey which excuse being warrantable was accepted by this Assembly Since there arrived Monsieur Esaiah du Marez Pastor of the Church of Alez who being substituted in his stead and tendering the Act of Substitution unto this Synod he was immediately admitted 12. For the Province of Provence Monsieur Samuel Toussain Pastor in the Church of Luc with Balthazar Geronte Lord of Verages Elder in the Church of Aiguieres 13. For the Province of Dolphiny Mr. Paul Guyon Pastor in the Church of Dieu le Fit and Denys Bouteroue Pastor in the Church of Grenoble together with James de Veze Lord of la Lo Elder in the Church of Montlimart and Francis de la Combe Elder in the Church of St. Marcellin 14. For the Province of Burgundy Lyonnois Beaâ—jolois Brosse and Gex Monsieur Peter Colinet Pastor of the Church of Paray in Charolois and Peter Eliot Pastor of the Church of Arnay le Duc together with John de Jaucour Lord of Villarnou Elder in the Church of Avalon and John Grace Elder in the Church of Lion 15. For the Province of Normandy Monsieur Benjamin Banage Pastor of the Church at Karentan and Samuel de l'Escherpiere Lord of la Riviere Pastor in the Church of Rouen together with Paul du Vivier Lord of Beaumont Elder in the Church of Bayeux and James le Noble Lord of la Leau Elder in the Church of Dies 16. For the Province of Orleans Berry Blezois c. Monsieur Daniel Jamett Pastor of the Church of St Amand in Bourbonnois and Samuel de Chambaran Pastor of the Church of l'Orges and Marchenoir together with Lewes de Courcillon Lord of d'Angeau Elder in the said Church and James de Brissay Lord of Jenonville Elder in the Church of Gergeau 17. There appeared also in this Assembly Stephen Chesneverd Lord of la Millitiere General Deputy of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom who was admitted and had both his deliberative and decisive Votes granted him CHAP. II. An Order about Letters of Deputation See the third Synod of Rochel Art 1. after the choice of the Moderator 2. Vitré Art 1. after the Roll. 1. ALL the Provinces for the future are enjoyned to express the proper names and surnames of the Pastors and Elders deputed by them unto these National Synods and to specifie that particular place wherein they exercise their respective Offices And whereas that failure observed by former National Synods about Submission and Obedience is still found wanting in several Letters of Deputation from divers Provinces it is ordained that it shall be promised in express terms without any condition or modification whatsoever unto all things which shall be determined and decreed by these National Synods CHAP. III. Vrgent Matters 2. THE Church of Paris excused its Consistory and Monsieur du Moulin one of their Pastors about his absence from this Assembly tho' nominated thereunto by the Synod of the Isle of France and offered that if he might have speedy notice of it and this Assembly judged it needful he should yet come unto them But upon debate it was found utterly inconvenient for the said Monsieur du Moulin to appear in person among us or that the cause of his trouble should be examined and judged by this Assembly this being no proper place for its tryal for by such an Anticipation we should imbroil our selves with the Civil Magistrates wherefore the excuses both of the Consistory of that Church and of the said Sieur du Moulin were accepted 3. The Letters of the Lords Dukes of Rohan and Sully and from the Lord du Plessis Marli were received and read in this Assembly all tending to assure the Churches of this Kingdom of their holy Resolution immovably to
to batter it down with force of Arguments and to defend at the same time conjoyntly together the Rights of God and those of the Higher Powers ordained by him CHAP. IX Particular Matters 1. THERE was read an Act of the Colloquy of Higher Agenois in which the Council of Lower Guyenne complained against the Lord of Pujole and against a certain Judgment of the said Colloquy past in his favour because that the said Lord had seriously protested of his sincere intentions to persist in the profession of our Religion they could not imagine that he would admit into his heart such a disloyal thought as to abandon the Sacred Communion of our Churches and to bring the worst of evils upon his Soul in good earnest 1614. The 21th Synod yet nevertheless they did judge the said Lord worthy of the heaviest Censures for his great miscarriages in all his publick actings particularly that instead of demanding in a lawful Assembly the Reformation of those Defaults and Abuses he pretended to have observed in the Council he had as much as in him lay exposed it to the highest contempt and infamy and followed a course notoriously contrary to all Orders which have been until now uniformly obeyed and practised among us with good acceptance and success a matter of very dangerous consequence and which might cause an irreparable breach in our Union Which fault of his he did confess and acknowledge and promised for the future to conform himself to the Canons which are now or hereafter may be established by these Assemblies And Monsieur Ferrand a Pastor was ordered to acquaint this Assembly of it All things duly considered this Assembly approveth of the Judgment of that Colloquy and of the said Lord du Pujol's submission and having once more reiterated the same Remonstrances it drew from him those promises by means of which he was reconciled unto the Provincial Council and to all those who were known to have shared in the scandal that he had given And all the Churches Parties in those disturbances were exhorted to live in Peace and Union for the future which was mutually promised on all sides 2. The Deputies of the Churches of Auvergne remonstrated their deplorable estate and condition earnestly desiring the favour and assistance of this Assembly to help them in their prosecutions at Court that they might be inabled to uphold and continue the exercise of the true Religion at Issoyre and that they may be provided of a Pastor meet for so weighty a work this Assembly ordered the Lords General Deputies to have a most especial care of their concern and to allow them the two hundred Livers which they have received on accompt from the Lord du Candall and they do farther grant them one hundred Livers more and continue unto them their four portions which had been formerly appointed to be paid in unto them free of all taxations and defalcations by the Province of Sevennes and Gevaudan upon the score of any charges ordinary or extraordinary whatsoever and it ordaineth that the Churches of Issoyre shall be incorporated with the said Province from which according to order they shall receive their aforesaid portions and dispose of them towards the maintenance of their Pastors and the remainders thereof shall be expended in defraying their charges before mentioned until the next National Synod 3. The same Deputies for that Province of Higher and Lower Auvergne having petitioned this Assembly to provide them a Pastor for the afore-mentioned Church of Issoyre had granted them Monsieur Babat who was now at full liberty to serve the Church of Issoyre and it s annexed Congregations and to be their own peculiar Pastor who shall be brought over to them with his houshold goods and Library at their charges and they shall furnish him with Moneys and the assistance of an Elder to be present at the Provincial Synods of Sevennes as often as they should be summoned to them 4. The Lord Vicount of Leyran demanding by his Letter sent unto this Assembly 2. Vitré g. m. 11. Two Copies read Dan. and Din. some additions from us unto two hundred Livers which he promiseth for himself shall be paid to the gathering and constituting of a Church at Legran l'Imbrassat and d'Ur there was granted him one ordinary portion and another half extraordinary both free of all charges ordinary and extraordinary from that Province just as it comes from the Dividend made by the National Synod and that said Province shall be accountable for the disposal of those portions unto the next National Synod And Letters also shall be written unto the said Lord of Leyran praising and commending his Zeal and Affection towards the advancement of the Kingdom of God 5. John de Luna and Laurens Fernandez both Spaniards presented themselves Montauban declaring their Abjuration of Monkery and Popery and approving of their Conversation ever since their Conversion as also Stephen Conversett of the Franche Comté who had quitted the Order of the Dominicans and Peter Mercurin a Provincial who had also abandoned Popery This Assembly granted unto the said Fernandez Conversett and Mercurin an hundred and forty Crowns a-piece and farther ordaineth that the said Mercurin shall be put into the Catalogue of Proposans and be first of all employed in the Ministry in Provence And as for John de Luna who desires leave to retire for some time into Holland there be sixty Livers granted him for his Voyage And whereas one called Buisson born in the Lower Guyenne is lately converted from the Popish Religion unto the Reformed thirty Livers are given him towards his relief until the next Provincial Synod wherein he shall be particularly cared for All which shall be paid without making it a Prefident for the future and the Provinces and Pastors are expresly charged and forbidden never to present more unto these Assemblies any such Converts 6. The Sieur Constantin declaring his most miserable estate and craving our charitable Relief in his deep Poverty this Assembly ordained that there should be paid him yearly the sum of an hundred Livers which shall be put to the account of the Moneys distributed to the Province of the Higher Guyenne and immediately 300 Livers were given him to defray his charges in coming unto this Assembly and the Corporation of Bergerac shall be exhorted to augment his Salary as Regent of that Classis in which he serveth 7. The Deputies of the Church of Pons did in the name of its Elders and Heads of Families present their Petition that they might be provided of a Pastor This Assembly ordained that Monsieur Constant who is now freed from the Church of Mazgravier be given unto the said Church of Pons in case that they like of him and he of them And that they may treat hereof the aforesaid Deputies are advised to go to Montauban in which City they may hear and discourse with him about it who having been there they did bring with them the said Constant
to the Decree of the National Synod of Privas the Province of Normandy have payed their debt unto Monsieur Vatablé and the Moneys were deposited for him into the hands of the Deputies of Poictou See the 5th Article after the Roll of names 2 Vitré obs 7. upon the Synod 36. The Letters of the King of great Britain received at the opening of this Assembly and those from the Church of Geneva and those which were since its Session sent from his Highness the Prince Elector Palatine and from the Lord Mareschal Duke of Bouillon to it being read as also the Letters of Monsieur Moulin and Tilenus treating of the difference between them The Assembly deputed certain Pastors to peruse the Inventory transmitted us from the Professor Tilenus and Monsieur du Moulin's Confession of Faith about the effects of the Personal Union who made report that the said Inventory contained certain terms and modes of speech that were uncouth and improper yet imputed unto the said Monsieur du Moulin as his and extracted out of a Conference held with him at Paris whereof they could not make any Judgment unless they had sight of the Original or at least of a Copy of its Acts exactly and well collationed And as for the confession of the said Monsieur du Moulin sent unto this Assembly they do find it for its substance orthodox and wide enough from all suspicion of Eutychianism Nestorianism Samosatenianism and Ubiquitism Wherefore that this difference may be totally extinguished and a most sincere reconciliation effected between the divided Parties this Assembly ordained that all the Printed Copies of the Professor Tilenus his Book and that Manuscript before mention Styled the Inventory as also the Latin and French Books written by the said Monsieur du Moulin relating unto this Question shall be sent to Saumur and deposited with the Lord du Plessis Marly that so the remembrance of this contention may be for ever buried in oblivion And Monsieur du Moulin and the Professor Tilenus are exhorted by this Assembly to meet together on the same day and at the same place in Saumur where the Pastors of the neighbouring Churches together with the Pastors of that Church and the Professors of that University may be summoned in together who with the said Lord du Plessis shall endeavour a firm Union in Doctrine between these two persons and a sincere forgetfulness of all Matters past betwixt them And in the mean while Monsieur du Moulin is exhorted to continue his labors in his Church with that same zeal and greatness of Spirit as heretofore and to take courage and comfort unto himself from that Approbation and Testimonial which hath been and is still given him for the orthodoxy of his Faith and soundness of his Doctrin And report shall be made of these methods and means used by us unto His Majesty the King of great Britain to his Highness the Prince Elector Palatin to the Lord Duke of Bouillon in our Letters of answer to them particularly together with our humble requests unto his Majesty of great Britain to his Electoral Highness the Prince Palatin and to the Lord Mareschal Duke of Bouillon that they would be pleased by their Authority to oblige the said Monsieur Tilenus personally to ingage in this Interview and conference and to command that the before-mentioned Printed Books and Manuscripts which may have past out of this Kingdom into their Dominions may be all called in and suppressed And this also shall be inserted in our answer unto the Church of Geneva 37. This Assembly ordaineth that the portion of the Sieur du Moulin Pastor of the Church at Orleans shall be discharged of all Taxes and Costs upon the Provinces See the 4th Article after the names of the Deputies and paid in unto him full and free 38. Master Hume formerly Pastor of the Church of Duras having found on his return home from Scotland and England his said Church provided of another Pastor and the Province not calling him unto another Church he is declared free by this Assembly to serve in any other place where God shall call him either in the same or in any other Province of this Kingdom 39. This Assembly having been read and heard the Letters and arguments of Achilles Bonhout which prevailed with him not to remove his son from the Jesuites school and that the consistory of the Church of Lions cannot in the least compel him to it doth Judge them null and commands the said Consistory to inflict upon him and all others that shall be guilty of the like scandal the severest Censures of the Church according to our Discipline 40. The Church of Metz by their Letter bearing date the tenth of May and received the second of June petitioned this Assembly to send them such a Pastor out of the Churches of this Kingdom as It Judged would most contribute to their Edification and if It thought good either Monsieur Chevillette Minister of Vitry or Monsieur de la Cloche Minister of the Church of Moysi both of them in the Isle of France This Assembly left the consideration of this matter unto the said Province and prayed them in their next Synod to gratifie the Church of Metz CHAP. X. Of Colledges and Vniversities 1. MOnsieur Joly one of the Pastors of the Church of Montauban made report in this Assembly that for divers months last past he hath took upon him the profession of the Hebrew Language and for the benefit of the University and the assistance of Moniseur Tenant he desires to continue in it requesting that the hundred Livers remaining of the four hundred assigned unto Professors of the holy Language might be granted him Monsieur Tenant receiving only three hundred of those four The Council of the University having joyned with the said Joly in his Petition this Assembly granted them their demand and exhorted the said Monsieur Joly to acquit himself worthily of this his new Employment which he also promised See above 12. obs upon thè former Syn. 2. Monsieur Elias Alba Mayor of Bergerac having on behalf of the Corporation of the said Town performed the Condition proposed to them by this Synod and brought an Act of the Town-house dated the twelfth day of this month by which the whole Bench and Common-Council of that Town assembled together do give him full power to declare that upon our Order for payment of the sum of 1500 Livers out of the Moneys granted by His Majesty unto the Churches of this Kingdom they would yield up their whole Right in the King 's Writ of Grant of the said sum unto the disposal of this holy Synod which also is most humbly petitioned by them to give them the Grant thereof for the maintenance of their Colledge This Assembly commending their submission unto the Ordinance of our Churches and in consideration of their Importunity and for the benefit of their Colledge doth grant unto them the sum of twelve
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
Richard Pastor of the Church of Cheilar John de Blache Lord of Blesset Elder of the Church in Bouffres and John de Roure Advocate Elder of the Church of Aubenas 20. For the lower Languedoc Mr. Laurence Brunier Pastor of the Church of Vsez Michael le Faucheur Pastor of the Church of Montpellier Charles de Bouques Lord of Pons Doctor of the Civil Law and Elder of the Church of Montpellier and Antony de Roques Lord of Clausonne Elder in the Church of Montfrin 11. For the higher Languedoc and Guyenne Monsieur John de Voysin Pastor of the Church of Realmont and Antony Garissoles Pastor of the Church of Puylaurent Paul de Luffee Lord of Maraval Governour of Mavesin and Elder of the Church there James du Puy Deputy-Lieutenant in the Seneschalsy of Montauban and Elder of that Church 12. For â—urgundy Mr. Peter Helliot Pastor of the Church of Arnay le Due Francis Pereault Pastor of the Church of Mascon and Noel du Noyer Elder of the Church of Bussy Monsieur Salmasius was nominated Deputy unto this Assembly but excused himself by Letters as also did Monsieur Guichard and Forest who beigg Elders were both substituted in his place whose excuses were remanded back unto their Province that it might judge of their validity 13. For the Province or Provence Mr. Peter Huron Pastor in the Church of Reis Elias de Glandeviâ— Lord of Anjou Elder in the Church of Puymichel 14. For the Province of Dolphiny Mr. Paul Guyon Pastor of the Church of Dieu le sit Peter de la Croze Pastor of the Church in Courtezon James Bernard Advocate Elder of the Church in Montlimart and Moses du Port Elder of the Church de la Meure the Lord of Champoleon was also nominated in the Letters of Commission but excused himself by Letters unto this Assembly 15. For the Province of Sevennes Monsieur Peter Guillamin Pastor of the Church of St. Andrew de Valborgne Daniel Venturin Pastor of the Church of Vigan John de Vignoles Lord of Bonnet Elder in the Church of Colegnac and John Baldwin Doctor of Laws Elder in the Church of la Salle 16. There came also for the Churches in the Principality of Bearne Monsieur Peter L' abbadye Pastor of the Church of Paw and John de la Coste Lord of Padet Elder of the Church of Moneing In whose Letters of Commission there being wanting the clause of Submission that Article of the Synod of Vitre was read unto them relating to it Whereupon they offering their reasons why they could not intirely subject themselves unto the Discipline of our Churches in France principally because of the present juncture of Affairs They were admitted to a consultive Vote under the limitations expressed in that Act of the Synod of Vitre that it should be left to the Will of the Provinces Whether they should have a decisive Vote in certain Cases concerning the Churches of this Kingdom and this by provision only until the next National Synod 17. The Sieur Chalas one of the General Deputies of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom near His Majesty was present also in this Assembly according to the Charge given the said Lords General Deputies in the last general Assembly held at Loudun and Order of our Church After Invocation of the Name of God the Reverend Monsieur Peter du Moulin was chosen Moderator Mr. Brunier Assessor and Messieurs Vignier and Papillon Scribes CHAP. II. Remarks and Passages of the First Session LEtters were presented from the Lord Duke of Rohan unto this Assembly whereby he assured them of the continuance of his Zeal and Affection to the Glory of God and to the weal and happiness of our Churches for which he had the thanks of the Assembly returned him in their Letters 2. Messieurs des Maretz and Ollyer Pastors of the Church of Alez petitioning to be admitted into this Assembly and to assist at the reading of our Confession of Faith and Church Discipline it was granted them as also unto two Elders whom the Consistory should appoint but as for such Ministers as were not commissionated hither by their Churches and all other Persons the Canons of the Third Synod of Rochel and that last of Vitre should be punctually observed Vitre Act 4. after the List of the Deputyes 3. Every one of the Deputies in this Assembly took the Oath according to the Decree made in the Synod of Privas that they had not brigued their Deputation unto this place neither directly nor indirectly Privas Act. 1. after the Names of the Deputyes neither for themselves nor for any others And this shall be observed in like manner for the future in all our National Synods 4. Monsieur â—uretin Pastor and Professor in Divinity in the Church and University of Geneva having brought Letters from the Pastors and Professors there fully testifying and expressing their Holy Affection to the Churches of this Kingdom and of their most near and intimate communion with us was intreated by this Assembly to give us his presence during his abode in this City and to take place among us and to communicate his Counsels and Votes in matters that should be proposed which he also did And after mature and exact consideration of the several clauses in those Letters tender'd by him an Answer was made unto them 5. The Letters of the Lord * * * But he somtime after revolted Duke of Desdiguieres were also presented unto this Assembly expressing his desire for the advancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Letters of Thanks were ordered to be sent unto His Excellency 6. Monsieur Bansillon Pastor in the Church of Aiguemortes having brought Letters from the Lord of Chastillon and by word of mouth given this Assembly the Protestations of the said Lord after the Heroick Example of his Famous Ancestors to spend himself and Estate in the advancement of Christ's Kingdom was desired to carry back Letters of Thanks from this Synod unto that Noble Lord. CHAP. III. An Act of the Oath of Union subscribed by all the Deputyes both Pastors and Elders The same Oath was Enacted at Tenneins 1014. WEE whose Names are hereunder written Deputies of the Reformed Churches of France assembled in our National Synod in the City of Alez in the Province of Sevennes knowing by experience of what is past that there is nothing more necessary to preserve the peace and wellfare of the said Churches than an holy Union and inviolable consent both in Doctrine and Discipline and their dependencies and that the said Churches cannot long subsist without a good strict and mutual Union and Conjunction of one with another and this better kept and maintained than heretofore Therefore being desirous for the future to remove all seeds of Division and occasion of partialities between the said Churches and to obviate all Impostures Plots Calumnies and Practices whatsoever by which divers Persons ill-affected to our Religion do indeavour its ruine and destruction for
of Orleans Elijah du Bois Esq Lord of Senelieres Elder of the Church of Chasteaudun and John du Four Counsellor to the King and his Judge in the Sessions of Blois and Elder of the Church there For the Province of Anjou Mr. John Vigneux Pastor of the Church of Mans Isaac le Pelletier Pastor of the Church of Vandome George Rabboteau Advocate and Elder in the Church of Pruilly and Samuel Pruchieur Lord de la Mesnerie and of the Waters and Forests in the Sheriffdom of Anjou Elder of the Church of Bange For the Province of the Higher and Lower Poictou Mr. Isaac Caville Pastor of the Church of Cove James Cottiby Pastor of the Church of Poitiers Claudius Gourjault Esq Lord of Venoars Elder in the Church of â—usignun and Michael des Roulins Esq Lord of Bois St. Martyn Elder in the Church of Mouschamp For the Province of Xaintonge Mr. William Rivett Lord of Chauvernown Pastor of the Church of Taillebourg Theodore de â—ignon Judge Assistant in the Town of Rochefoucaut and Elder of the Church there and John Thomas Judge of Mirambeau Elder of the Church there as for Michael le Blanc Pastor of the Church of Rochell and deputed at the same time together with the said Lord of Chauvernown he fell sick just as he came to Paris and departed this Life on Wednesday the Thirteenth of this instant September and was buried the next day in the Church-yard of Charenton aforesaid For the Province of the Lower Guyenne Mr. John Alba Pastor of the Church of Tonneins James Berdolin Pastor of the Church of Duras Seigneron Buffoon formerly Lieutenant in the Seneschally of Castlejaloux Elder of the Church there and Mathias Capduroy Advocate in the Parliament of Bourdeaux and Elder of that Church For the Province of Lower Languedoc Solomon Crubelier Pastor of the Church of Vauvert and John Faucheur Pastor of the Church of Nismes and Professor of Divinity in that University James â—esquet Doctor of the Civil Law and Advocate Elder in the Church of Montpellier and du Mas Doctor of the Civil Law and Advocate Elder in the Church of Lunel absent never came unto the Synod For the Province of Higher Languedoc and Guyenne Mr. Peter Beraud Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church and University of Montauban Peter Savoys Pastor of the Church of Castres John Mauzy the Kings Attorney in the Judicature of Ville â—ongue Elder in the Church of Puylaurens and James Herauldy Doctor of the Civil Law and Advocate Elder in the Church of Figeac For the Province of Burgundy Mr. Isaiah Bayly Pastor of the Church of â—ions James Clerk Pastor of the Church of Sessy Peter de L' Oriol Esq Lord of Zarlac Elder in the Church of Bourg and Albert de Mars Esq Lord of Balenes Elder in the Church of Maringues absent and did not come unto this Synod For the Province of Dolphiny Mr. James de Chambrun Pastor of the Church of Orange Adrian Chamier Pastor of the Church of Montlimart Moses du Port Esq Captain and Constable of the Castle of Lamure Elder of the Church there and Daniel Bois Advocate in the Parliament of Grenoble and Elder of the Church in that City For the Province of Sevennes Mr. James Berlie Pastor of the Church of Quissac Paul Paulett Pastor of the Church at Vazenobre Andrew du Crois Esq Lord of Vazenobre and Elder of the Church of St. German and Calbergue and Anthony Despeces Doctor of the Civil Law and Advocate Elder in the Church of Alez For the Province of the Isle of France Mr. Samuel Durant and Mr. John Mestrezat Pastors of the Church of Paris Peter de Launay Counsellor and Secretary to the King Elder of the said Church and James de Herouard Esq Lord of â—osseuse Elder in the Church of Baillolett The Lord of Montmartyn Deputy General for the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom to His Majesty took his Place and sate personally in this Synod according to the Canon of our Churches in this case provided Eight Dayes after the opening of the Synod there came and craved admission into it The Sieurs Bertrand d' Avignon Lord of Souvigne Pastor of the Church of Rennes and John de Gennes Lord of la Baste Elder in the Church of Vitre Deputies for the Province of Britain and being demanded the reasons of their delay and late coming they answered that it arose hence that their Provincial Synod could not be held early enough because that His Majesty having given Order to some particular Persons to send an Officer who might assist in Person in it they put off his Nomination and Commission so long that they have lost all this time which Excuses of theirs were accepted by the Assembly Twelve dayes after the Synod had sate there came into it Mr. John D' Isserotte Pastor of the Church of Moneings Deputy for the Principality of Bearn who declared that the Letters of Convocation unto this present Synod came not into their Province but very lately so that they could not assemble their own Synod timely enough for the Deputies to meet at the opening of this Assembly and that Mr. Samuel Campaigne Elder in the Church of Olleroon who was deputed together with him fell sick just as they were beginning their Journey so that he had not time to acquaint the other Person with it who was ordered in case of such an Accident to succeed him in this Office and therefore he humbly requested this Synod to accept of these his Excuses which it also did and gave him his priviledge of sitting and voteing in it But forasmuch as in his Letters of Commission the clause of submission was couched in those very self-same terms and under those conditions wherewith the Deputies of the said Principality had been hitherto admitted into these Assemblies and that the Synod of Alez had suffered those Conditions because of the juncture of Affairs then and by provision only until this present Synod therefore this Assembly doth ordain in pursuance of the limitations and restrictions made in the foregoing National Synods the Provinces shall have full liberty to require that the said Sieur D' Isserotte may not in some cases concerning the Churches of this Kingdom not be permitted either his deliberative or decisive Vote and that before the breaking up of this Synod he do produce the reasons why the Churches in the Principality of Bearne have so long deferred their full and intire subjection to the Discipline of the Churches in France and of which this Assembly will consider and give judgment The Sixteenth day after the Synod had sate there came unto it for the Province of Vivaretz Mr. Joseph Villou Pastor of the Church of Chambon Solomon Faure Pastor of the Church of Privas Anthony Perrottin Advocate Elder in the Church of Villeneusve de Berg and John Faure Lord of Champlas Elder in the Church of Tournon near Privas who related that through the delays and difficulties caused by the Governours and
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
you have most worthily discharged yea and in those very National Synods which we have permitted to be convocated by our Subjects of the said Reformed Religion at Charenton aforesaid in the Year 1623 and in our City of Castres in the Province of Albigeois in the Year 1626. We therefore conceived we could not make a better choice than of your self being well satisfied that you will continue to give us the Proofs and Testimonies of your Affection to our Service For these Causes we have commissionated and deputed and we do commissionate and depute you the said Lord Galland by these our present Letters Patents signed with our own Hand unto the said Synod and order you forthwith to transport your self unto the said Synod in the Town of Charenton and therein to assist in Person as our Representative and to propose and resolve on such Matters as have been commanded you according to the Memoirs and Instructions we have delivered into your Hands taking special Care that none other Businesses be then or there treated and debated but such as of right ought to be consulted and determined on in those Assemblies and which are permitted by our Edicts and in case they should attempt any thing contrary thereunto you shall hinder it and by Interposal of our Authority suppress and stifle it and speedily give us Notice and Advice thereof that we may immediately apply such Remedies as will be most needful And for doing hereof we do now impower you by this our Commission and special Commandment in these our present Letters Patents For such is our Will and Pleasure Given at Monceaux the sixteenth Day of August in the Year of Grace one thousand six hundred thirty one and of our Reign the two and twentieth Signed in the Original LOVIS And a little lower by the King Phelippeaux And sealed with the great Seal in yellow Wax CHAP. III. The Lord Galland's Speech to the Synod 23. THE aforesaid Letters Patents having been read by the Lord Galland his Majesty's Commissioner he made this Speech unto the Synod That the King having buried in the Grave of Oblivion all former Actions which had fallen out in the last Troubles to the great Affliction of the Kingdom his Majesty gave him in charge to assure his Subjects of the Religion of his Royal Affection and good Will towards them and that whilst they continued within the Bounds of Duty and abstained from all bitter Reflections against the Government and Repose of the Publick and from all Intelligences and Correspondencies either with Natives or Foreigners and were sorely addicted to the Service of his Majesty they should experience the Kindnesses of a good Father and of a good King in his Majesty and injoy the free Exercise of their Religion and the Liberty of calling and holding their Synods Provincial and National But whereas in divers Years last past the Orders given by him and accepted of by his said Subjects have been differently interpreted His Majesty desireth by reviving them to take away for the future all Grounds of Misconstruction and Misunderstanding 24. Therefore in the first Place His Majesty requireth that whereas Commissioners were established in all Synodical Assemblies both National and Provincial by his Letters Patents in the Year 1623 founded upon the Practice observed in the Primitive Church and the Government of the best-ordered Kingdoms there shall be an intire and absolute Obedience yielded hereunto by his said Subjects of the Reformed Religion and that they do refrain and forbear all Protestations and Remonstrances to the contrary 25. In the second Place By those aforesaid Orders and agreeable to the Laws of the Kingdom it was decreed and enacted That no Strangers should be admitted into the Pastoral Office in any of the Churches which are reserved for natural French-men and Ancients of the Kingdom in bar of whom and to whose Prejudice divers Strangers have been received Wherefore his said Majesty renewing his Ordinance aforesaid doth inhibit his said Subjects to admit into the Ministry any one except a French-man born and as for others who have been admitted since the Year 1623 contrary to it his Majesty promiseth to dispense with them provided Application be made unto him for that Grace And whereas some have made Exceptions against this his general Resolution on behalf of those Ministers who are born in those Kingdoms and Common-wealths or Cities which are the Allies of his Majesty or under his Royal Protection the said Lord Commissioner declared That by Strangers we were to understand all sorts of Persons without Exception who were not born in the Kingdom or out of his Majesty's Dominions and Government although they were Natives of such Kingdoms Common-wealths and Cities as were his Majesty's Allies or under his Protection 26. In the third Place All Ministers are forbidden to depart the Kingdom without his Majesty's Licence and particularly Monsieur Salbert Minister in the Church of Rochel hath not only gone out of the Kingdom without his Majesty's Permission but in Contempt of his Royal Authority Wherefore the said Prohibitions are once more reiterated and reimposed and the said Salbert is injoined by his Majesty to reside in that Place appointed him and he is expresly forbidden all Exercise of his Ministry either in publick or private nor may this National Synod put him upon the Roll of Ministers to be presented by it unto vacant Churches 27. In the fourth Place By the National Synods of Charenton and Castres all Ministers were expresly forbidding to intermeddle with State-Matters yet notwithstanding Monsieur Beraud Minister of Montauban and Professor of Divinity in that University did not only intermeddle with State but military Affairs and was so bold as to maintain by a Book which he read unto his Auditory That Ministers have a Call to bear Arms and to shed Blood which is a Doctrine quite contrary to the Word of God the Decrees of Councils and the Laws of the Kingdom and the more dangerous in this Doctor because he instils these his wicked Notions into the tender Minds of Youth committed to his Charge and Education and 't is much to be feared that he will continue to poison them by such or the like Instructions which are foreign and contrary to the publick Peace and Tranquillity And therefore the said Manuscript is judged unworthy of publick View as being cross to the Word of God And his Majesty hath ordered its Suppression forbidding all Printers and Booksellers either to print or sell it and commandeth all the Members of this present National Synod to censure and condemn both it and its Author CHAP. IV. The Moderator's Reply to this Speech 28. THE Lord Commissioner having finished his Speech Prayers were offered up to God for the Preservation of his Majesty's Sacred Person for the Prosperity of his Government for the Settlement of the publick Peace of the Nation and for the Glory of his Crown And most humble Thanks were rendred unto his Majesty for the Continuance of his
Favour and Royal Benignity towards the Churches who have none nor desire to hold any Intelligence or Correspondence with Strangers but do protest unanimously that they will next and immediately under God depend wholly and solely on his Majesty's Protection and Soveraign Authority And it was resolved that as to the first Particular propounded by the Lord Galland his Majesty's Commissioner that although the Cause of sending those Royal Commissioners into our Ecclesiastical Synods was from divers false Reports spread abroad and taken up against those Synods most unjustly and to their great prejudice and damage and that it had occasioned the former National Synods most humbly to petition his Majesty that he would be pleased to leave the Churches in their ancient State of Liberty yet forasmuch as his Majesty hath ordained that no more Petitions should be presented him to this purpose the Churches do acquiesce in his Majesty's Pleasure sith he will have this his Ordinance inviolably observ'd and this Synod doth yield an intire Obedience to the King's Will and the Order prescribed by his Majesty whereof the Churches hope to reap the Fruits promised them in their Establishment and better Subsistence for the future and approbation of their Innocency and the rather because the last National Synods of Charenton and Castres have already tasted of them and been in a more especial manner aided by the Prudence Equanimity and good Conduct of his Lordship the Lord Galland Therefore a Decree past That conformably to his Majesty's Intention our Synodical Assemblies should subject themselves to a precise observation of his Majesty's Declaration made in the Year 1623 about sending Commissioners unto Synods and Colloquies And his Majesty shall be most humbly petitioned to enjoin those his Commissioners whom he shall be pleased to send into the Provinces not to abuse his Majesty's Name or Authority to the raising of new Difficulties which may deprive the Churches of the Effects of his Royal Bounty 29. And whereas his Majesty by his Declaration of the Year 1623 hath forbidden our Churches to receive into the Pastoral Office such Persons as are born in foreign Countries out of his Jurisdiction and divers Provincial Synods conceived that those Persons were excepted who were born in those States allied unto his Majesty and under the Covert of his Royal Protection wherein also they were confirmed by the Commissioners in whose Presence and no where else some few of those Ministers had been received Now our said Lord Commissioner having at this instant assured us that as it was his Majesty's Intention to comprehend under the name of Strangers all Persons born out of the Kingdom without exception so also that he is pleased to deal favourably with all those who have been admitted since the Year 1623 and to repute them as his natural born Subjects this Assembly intreateth the said Lord Commissioner to continue his good Offices unto our Churches and chargeth the Deputies which shall be sent unto his Majesty to present him our most humble Requests that those aforesaid Pastors may be comprized in that his Act of Grace and that for the future all others so born may be instituted and inducted into the Pastoral Cure of our Churches in the Presence of his Commissioners as if they had been natural born Frenchmen 30. And as for the third and fourth Articles in his Lordship's Speech the Synod hath upon very just Grounds intreated his Lordship to assure his Majesty that the Churches sixing themselves more and more in the observation of those Reglements taken up in the two last National Synods and with which his Majesty is fully satisfied will take all possible care that no Complaints upon those Accounts may be ever hereafter brought unto his Majesty And as for that particular Business of Monsieur Salbert this Assembly deferring all Obedience to his Majesty's Pleasure and leaving the said Salbert in that Estate wherein he is at present doth yet notwithstanding judg themselves bound by the Laws of Charity to have recourse unto his Majesty's Goodness on his behalf And therefore we most humbly beseech his Majesty out of his innate Clemency to remove the Tokens of his just Indignation against him and to let him share and participate in that same Royal Favour which he has vouchsafed and extended unto others involv'd with himself in the Miseries of the late Troubles 31. And whereas a certain Book hath been seen by us bearing Monsieur Beraud's Name whose Preface is already condemned by the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy-Council and that we are required to examine and censure both it and him After hearing of the said Professor Beraud he did ingenuously acknowledg himself the Author of it but also that it was extorted from him by mere Force and through the Malignity of the Times in the late Confusions and that it was never in his Thoughts or Intention to grant a License unto Ecclesiastical Persons to shed Blood and those Words of which he is accused having occasioned an Exposition quite contrary to his Judgment he declareth with all possible Sincerity and as in the Presence of God that he disapproveth of the Ambiguity in which those Expressions are there couched and detesteth from his very Soul the Consequences which are thence deduced protesting that his Belief is intirely conformable to that of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom which have according to the holy Scriptures decided in our former National Synods that Pastors should in no wise intrude themselves into the Administration of State-matters because they he wholly alien and foreign to their Profession and therefore the Argument is more valid that they cannot without contradiction to God's holy Word and the Confession of our Churches founded upon it stretch out their Hands to draw Blood from any one or engage in any military Factions This Assembly therefore confirming the Decrees of former National Synods and grievously censuring the said Beraud for having rashly and to ill purpose used those scandalous Expressions tending to establish an erroneous Doctrine declared once again That it doth reject and condemn that Proposition extracted out of the Book of the said Beraud and forbiddeth him and all other Professors in our Universities and Ministers in our Churches to teach or write any such Doctrine for time to come upon pain of incurring all Ecclesiastical Censures 32. And as for those sharp Words mentioned by his Lordship the Commissioner the Churches are utter Strangers to them having declared the Word of God with all Modesty and Meekness however they have been ill handled in divers Places and tho oftentimes our Adversaries have most licentiously perverted the most innocent Expressions of our Faith to render us more odious and criminal 33. The Lord Galland his Majesty's Commissioner requiring that Monsieur Bastide may be removed from the Church of St. Africk in the Province of Higher Languedoc because his Deportments in the said Church have been destructive to the Publick Peace and Tranquillity The Assembly being informed
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
as by the Grace of God we do make profession of Christianity and of a purer Reformed Religion so also do we hope that God will enable us by his Grace to excel all other his Majesties Subjects in a most perfect Loyalty and Obedience To which let me but add one word more that as we have formerly besieged Heaven with the importunate battery of our Vows and Prayers for his Majesty who now reigneth over us and as we upon God's gracious Answering of us did render to his Divine Majesty most solemn and abundant Praises and Thanksgivings so also shall we continue as long as we live to beg of the King of Kings that he would be pleased to preserve our King and that to the many Victories with which he hath favour'd his Arms he would superadd this ' vantage-Mercy to give him to establish his Kingdom in a long and profound Peace to bless his intended Marriage and that he may see the happy Fruits and Pledges thereof And having Reigned many long Years in all Prosperity and Felicity he may transmit the Scepter received from his Fathers unto the Issue of his own Body who may weild it in all Righteousness as long as the Sun and Moon endure CHAP. V. The Marquess of Ruvigny Sworn General Deputy 1. THIS Assembly acknowleding the Kindness of his Majesty in choosing the Lord Marquess of Ruvigny to succeed in the place of the Marquess of Arzilliers Deceased and to discharge the Office of General Deputy for the Churches of this Kingdom 'till such time as his Majesty should be pleased to grant Liberty for the Calling and Meeting of this Assembly unto which his Majesty permitteth the Nomination of such Persons as are to be presented unto this important Charge and the Lord Commissioner having told us from the King that this Assembly had full Liberty to deliberate about what concern'd the Office of the said Lord of Ruvigny who presented his Majesties Writ for his Election and designation to it offering to resign up his Office unto this Assembly Now after that he had received the Thanks of this Assembly for his great care and pains taken by him for the weal of the affairs of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom this Assembly believed that they could not make a more advantagious Choice than of the Person of the said Lord of Ruvigny who hath been already so very useful and helpful to them Wherefore by a most unanimous Consent of all the Deputies of this Synod he was appointed and they do appoint him to exercise the Office of General Deputy in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom near his Majesty And this Assembly being well assured by the Lord Commissioner that it would be acceptable to his Majesty if he were confirmed in the said Office they administred unto him the Oath which is requisite and accustomed to be taken and then granted him both his deliberative and decisive Votes as all his Predecessors before him ever had in the said Office and his Writ was again returned to him whose Tenour was as followeth 2. THis Third Day of August in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred Fifty and Three the King residing then in Paris and being to provide a General Deputy for his Subjects of the Protestant Reformed Religion that Office being lately void through the Death of the Lord Marquess of Arzilliers after that his Majesty had cast his Eyes upon many of his Subjects he judged that he could not better fill it up than with the Person of the Marquess of Ruvigny Lieutenant General of his Armies who is a Professor of the said Protestant Reformed Religion and endowed with many good and laudable Qualities and who hath given signal Testimonies of his Fidelity and Affection on divers Occasions and of his Abilities and Capacity for his Majesties Service and his Majesty condescending to the most Humble Petition of his said Subjects of the Protestant Reformed Religion he hath chosen and appointed the said Lord of Ruvigny to be the General Deputy of those of the said Protestant Reformed Religion and is well pleased that he reside near his Person and follow his Court in the said Quality and to present unto his Majesty their Petitions Narrations and most Humble Complaints that so he may take such course in it as he shall judge convenient for the Benefit of his Service and the Relief and Satisfaction of his said Subjects of the Protestant Reformed Religion In testimony whereof his said Majesty hath commanded me to expedite this present Writ unto the said Lord of Ruvigny which he was pleased to sign with his own Hands and caused to be countersigned by me his Counsellor and Secretary of State and of his Commandments Signed LOVIS And a little Lower by the King PHELIPPEAVX 3. The Assembly expounding the Act by which the Lord Marquess of Ruvigny was constituted General Deputy declareth that their Intention is that his Lordship shall give his Judgment in all Affairs whatsoever that shall be treated and debated in it excepting those in which he shall be personally and particularly concerned or do relate unto his Office of General Deputy 4. The Sieurs Eustache Pastor and de Mirabel were ordered by this Assembly to go immediately to Court and to prostrate at his Majesty's Feet our most Humble Duties Submissions and Thanks and they were intrusted with Letters unto his Majesty to the Queen to his Eminency to the Lord High Treasurer to the Lord of Vrillieres Secretary of State in whose Division are those of the Reformed Religion and to my Lord of Herual Controller General 5. A Copy of the Synods Letter sent unto the King Sire THE Wisest of Kings to his Command of Fearing God joyned that of Honouring the King they be Two Duties inseparably linked together For Kings in this World do in some Sense hold the very place of God and are his most lively Portraitures in Earth and the steps and degrees of their Thrones do not raise them above the Generality of Mankind but to draw them nearer Heaven These Sire be the Fundamental Maxims of our Creed which we learnt in our Infancy and endeavour to practise during our whole Life and to devolve as an Inheritance unto our Flocks and those Favours which your Majesty vouchsafeth to pour down upon us every Day do more abundantly augment our Obligations to you among which we count this the first and chiefest that your Majesty assureth us by the Mouth of the Lord Commissioner of your Paternal Affection to your Subjects of the Reformed Religion and that you design to continue the effects of your wonted kindness to us as also this priviledge which you have granted us of Meeting together in this place which being a most singular mark of your Goodness we want Words great and emphatical enough whereby to express our resentments and gratitude and how deeply we stand ingaged by this new Favour to devote and consecrate unto your Majesties Service our Lives and Fortunes And the
Effigies Reverendi Viri IOHANNIS QUICK S ti Evangely Ministri an o Aetat 55o. SYNODICON in GALLIA REFORMATA SYNODICON IN Gallia Reformata OR THE Acts Decisions Decrees and Canons Of those Famous National Councils OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES IN FRANCE BEING I. A most Faithful and Impartial History of the Rise Growth Perfection and Decay of the Reformation in that Kingdom with its fatal Catastrophe upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nants in the Year 1685. II. The Confession of Faith and Discipline of those Churches III. A Collection of Speeches Letters Sacred Politicks Cases of Conscience and Controversies in Divinity determined and resolved by those grave Assemblies IV. Many excellent Expedients for preventing and healing Schisms in the Churches and for re-uniting the dismembred Body of divided Protestants V. The Laws Government and Maintenance of their Colleges Universities and Ministers togeâ—â—er with their Exercise of Discipline upon delinquent Ministers and Church-members VI. A Record of very many illustrious Events of Divine Providence relating to those Churches The whole Collected and Composed out of Original Manuscript Acts of those Renowned SYNODS A Work never before Extant in any Language In Two VOLUMES By JOHN QUICK Minister of the Gospel in London LONDON Printed for T. Parkhurst and J. Robinson at the Three Bibles and Crown in Cheapside and the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard 1692. TO THE Right Honourable WILLIAM EARL of BEDFORD BARON of THORNHAVGH Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Middlesex Cambridge and Bedford Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and one of the Lords of Their Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council May it please your Lordship SEals as Coats of Arms an a kind of Hieroglyphicks Those Mother-Churches in the Valleys of Piedmont where our holy Religion hath been conserved in its Power and Purity during that long black night of Popish Superstition and Idolatry had this for their Common Seal A Taper burning in a golden Candlestick scattering its glorious Beams in a Sable Field of thick darkness It is a truth incontestable that most of the European Nations do stand indebted to them for that comfortable Knowledge of the blessed Gospel of our Lord Jesus which is now shining forth in its Meridian-Glory in the midst of them The Famous Waldo of Lions was their near Neighbour and received his most Excellent Instructions together with that Book of Life the Holy Bible from them And Lollard that famous Preacher in England from whom God's Saints and Martyrs with us four hundred years ago were denominated was one of their Barbes I have met my most Noble Lord with another Seal as Illustrious an Hieroglyphick as the former appertaining unto the National Synods of those Renowned and once Flourishing though now Desolate Reformed Churches of France which was Moses's Miraculous Vision when he fed his Flock under the Mount of God viz. A Bramble-Bush in a flaming Fire having that Essential incommunicable name of God Jehovah engraven in its Center and this Motto Comburo non consumor in its Circumference I burn but am not Consumed With this those venerable Councils Sealed all their Letters and Dispatches A sacred Emblem of their past and present Condition Whilst Mystical Babylon Spiritual Sodom and Egypt where our Lord hath been in his most pretious Truths and Ordinances and in his dearest Saints and Members for many Ages successively Crucified did swim in the calm Ocean of Worldly Riches and Grandeurs in the pacifick Seas of secular Felicities and Pleasures Poor Zion in that bloody Kingdom of France hath been in the storms and flames hath passed from one fiery Tryal unto another from Cauldrons of boyling Oyl into burning Furnaces heated with fire seven times hotter than before she hath been driven from populous Cities and the pleasant Habitations of Men unto the cold snowy Lebanon to the high craggy tops of Amana and Shenir to the frightful Dens of Lions and to the horrid Mountains of Dragons and Leopards Why their Heavenly Father should afflict and exercise so frequently and so severely these his Children and Churches he himself informeth them by that weeping Prophet All thy Lovers have forgotten thee They seek thee not for I have wounded thee with the Wound of an Enemy with the chastisement of a cruel one for the multitude of thine Iniquities because thy Sins were increased Why criest thou for thy Afflictions Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity because thy Sins were increased I have done these things unto thee And in truth the mournful Relicks of these Calamitous Churches do justify God in all the evil that is befallen them do condemn themselves and kiss his Rod accepting patiently the punishment of their Iniquity But this Bramble-Bush though always burning is not consumed This is a Miracle of divine Mercy entailed upon them for many Generations I will mention the loving kindnesses of Jehovah and the praises of Jehovah according to all that Jehovah hath bestowed on them and his great goodness towards the House of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his Mercies and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses In all their affliction he was afflicted with them and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the days of old When they passed through the Waters he hath been with them and through the Rivers they have not drowned them and though they have walked through the fires yet they have not been burnt up those Flames have purified and refined but not devoured them And though these last storms like the Fluctus decumani have been the worst and forest yet they have not been without Illustrious tokens of God's gracious presence with them and most merciful providence over them He hath made the Earth to help the Woman he hath spread a Table for their sustenance in the Wilderness and provided for them in their flights dispersions and banishments a most quiet habitation and in this last and greatest persecution that ever did befal them they have found in this Land as well as in other Protestant Countries an inviolable Sanctuary and which cannot but be observed it was in that very juncture when those two smoaking Firebrands Rezin with Syria and the Son of Remaliah were in a joint Confederacy totally to extirpate the blessed Gospel as out of France so out of these Fortunate Islands they met with a safe Harbour in Great Brittain The pernicious Plot was carried on as vigorously here at home against the Reformation as it was cruelly Executed in Kibroth Hattaavah that Land of Graves from whence they fled and where thousands of God's Saints were buried alive When the Bartholomaean Massacre was projected in the last Age there was a design to have tricked over some of our most Noble Patriots unto that unfortunate Marriage in which more Blood was drunk than Wine who should have been Sacrificed together with that Valiant Lord
Admiral de Colligni and the other Protestant Lords And the same design was revived and put again here in practice an hundred and thirteen years after For Popery and Antichristian Tyranny could not be re-established in England but by those old methods which Tarquin the Proud suggested to his Son Sextus for his Restoration viz. The lopping off the Heads of our Chiefest Noblemen Then that Noble Lord the Honour of his Age the singular Hope and Darling of his Country and sincere Professor of our holy Religion your Eldest Son fell a Victim to their Malice and was by their mischievous Cabal as a Stag Royal hunted down unto destruction Our God will sometimes be honoured with the Sufferings of great Personages But then the Nation loseth its best Blood and vital Spirits So that all that feared God in the Land and were true Lovers of their Native Country did deeply sympathize with your Lordship in your sore Affliction for it was not only a meer Personal one to your Lordship but common and general to the whole Church and Nation The good Lord preserve us from seeing any more of those black days and put a period to the Calamities of his poor Churches and turn back their Captivity and gather his dispersed and build up Jerusalem's Walls and make her a praise once more in the Kingdom of France and may the glory of the second House of Reformation there be greater than the first Time was when the Reformed Churches of France had many sparkling Stars in their Firmament many burning and shining Lights in their Congregations many wise and eminently learned Master-Builders in their Temples and Synodical Assemblies some account of whom and of their worthy Atchievements for the edifying of their numerous Auditories in that Faith once delivered unto the Saints in Christian Love and Unity in their Sacred Order and Discipline I do now from Authentick Pieces and Original Papers in this my poor Labour present unto your Lordship Had those Reverend and accomplisht Divines those Noble and Prudent Gentlemen who composed their Holy Councils been this day alive and your Lordships great and generous Bounty extended to their poor Exiles refugeed amongst us been notified to them they would have deposited these their Acts into your Lordships hands as into the securest Archives But what they could not do I presume to do for them most humbly tendring this Synodicon unto your Lordship's Patronage May your Lordship graciously pardon the tediousness of this Epistle and vouchsafe me the Honour May it please your Lordship to be reputed London March 12. 1691 â— Your Lordship 's Most humbly devoted and obedient Servant JOHN QVICK TO THE READER THrough Divine Assistance I have at last finished this very much desired Work and it is now offered unto your view and perusal I hope it will be not a little serviceable to the Church of Christ for whose Edification I have herein laboured It had been Published before now had not the exceeding Colds of January and February hindred the Work and Workmen Notwithstanding all my Cares in overseeing and Correcting the Press yet upon my Revisal I have met in both Volumes with some Errata's Litteral ones are not worthy your displeasure For those which are more material and do pervert the sence I must beg your Patience and to amend them with your Pen according to the ensuing Table ERRATA IN the Introduction correct these Errors Page 1. line 22. dele the. l. 26. read de p. 2. l. 18. r. Bearn l. 24. dele there l. 29. for and r. of the. p. 4. l. 28. r. Fabry p. 15. l. 34. r. Bearn p. 16. l. 4. r. Bearn p. 32. l. 50. after given add him p. 61. l. 10. r. Virtue p. 65. l. 36 4â— r. Seneschalsies p. 66. l. 3. r. Seneschalsies p. 81. l. 3. r. Royan p. 83. l. 24. f. whom r. whence p. 101. l. 50. f. we r. who p. 121. l. 36. insert Septemb. 6. 1666. p. 133. l. 20. r. Gallows p. 145. l. 30. f. them r. us 1st Syn. of Paris p. 5. l. 48. insert Ministers Syn. of Orleans p. 25. l. 47. r. any p. 26. l. 24. r. calleth p. 32. l. 34. r. Officers p. 44. l. 43. dele and. p. 46. l. 26. add a. p. 52. l. 46. add after consented to p. 56. l. 8. f. being r. were p. 63. l. 9. r. avoided p. 66. l. 12. f. are conformable r. harmonical p. 76. l. 27. after dutier read on and blot out the Period l 37. after sent r. them p. 91. l. 26. f. receiving r. reviving p. 92. l. 49. r. asserted p. 109. l. 23. r. Beaujolois p. 111. l. 41. f. who should r. he shall p. 116. l. 5. f. 21. r. 2d p. 119. l. 45. f. suffered r. sufficient p. 120. l. ult r. adhered p. 137. l. 15. r. appointed p. 139. in the Title f. Vitre r. Rochel p. 163. l. 15. f. the r. their p. 169. l. 44. after sooner r. if it p. 218. l. 16. r. also p. 219. l. 38. f. wherein r. in which p. 223. l. 4. dele one p. 267. l. 18. dele All. p. 271. l. 48. dele of after professing p. 289. l. 12. after homeward r. unto p. 301. l. 2. insert after Rochel should p. 315. l. 43. after for dele the. p. 316. l. 24. dele to p. 326. l. 26. put are before ordered p. 329. l. 6. r. reliquiis p. 348. r. 346. p. 346. l. 42. r. briguing p. 377. l. 40. dele one p. 413. l. 13. f. this r. that VOL. II. Page 2. l. 29. r. being p. 3. l. 2. f. Sieur r. Lord. p. 24. l. 11 12. r. aggravating p. 26. l. 6. r. censure f. counsel l. 9. r. counsel p. 26. l. 17. r. and before do p. 31. l. 49. after shall insert be p. 42. l. 15. for due r. done p. 4. l. 7. for of r. at p. 51. l. 30. f. here r. how p. 112. l. 48. f. they r. it p. 114. l. 41. put a Period at Colloquy p. 123. l. 21. r. Provinces p. 129. l. 4. prefix the before Children p. 137. l. 30. f. sooner r. rather p. 145. l. 11. after of dele the. p. 147. l. 144. f. preserving r. persevering p. 160. l. 17. f. that r. the. p. 162. l. 16. after and add that l. 17. after Information add be p. 164. l. 17. f. out r. our p. 165. l. 51. r. Sire p. 170. l. 24. after of dele the. p. 211. l. 43. f. convenient r. consonant p. 212. l. 22 23. r. that the charges of that Process may be defrayed p. 213. l. 52. f. might r. may p. 223. l. 4. r. written after Letter p. 241. l. 38. dele at p. 283. l. 12. r. agree p. 301. l. 6. dele so p. 302. l. 51. f. would r. should p. 326. l. 27. f. the r. your p. 363. l. 30. after another insert might be paid into her p. 419. l. 11. r. Commentaries p. 428. l. 45. r. contain p. 448. l. 6. r. everlastingly p. 455. l. 42. f. might
alone in this Ministry The Lord raised up and Commissionated many other Worthies to labour in his Vineyard and to gather in his great Harvest of precious Souls for the Fields were already white and longing for the Harvest 'T is true they had a most unkind usage and cruel Entertainment from the Popish Priests and Prelates and from the greater part of the Antichristian World For these wise Men among the People that had skill and understanding in the Visions of God and instructed many yet did according to the Scripture-Prophecy fall by the Sword and by Flame by Captivity and by spoil many days among whom the most renowned were Joseph a Disciple of Waldo who Preached in Dolphiny Henry and Eperon who Preached in Languedoc Arnold Hor who Preached in Albigois and Lollard by whose name the Professors of the Gospel were so called here in England these as they lived zealous Preachers so they died most faithful Martyrs sealing the Truth of Christ with their Hearts Blood as did also many thousands of their Followers Sect. 4. For to exterminate these Hereticks as they were then stiled Pope Innocent the Third published his Croisados granting plenary remission of sins to all Persons that would go to this holy War and destroy them Great Kings potent Princes and noble Lords are all invited commanded and animated to persecute them and in case of neglect on their part they themselves are reputed Favourers and Upholders of them and are exposed to the Thunderbolts of Papal Excommunications and to be deprived of their Crowns Kingdoms Dominions and Lives Thus were the King of Arragon the Counts of Tolouse Beziers and Carcassone served who were all cut off by those prodigious Armies mustered up against them They and many Myriads of their Subjects together with them are most horribly butcher'd and destroyed by the Croisado-Pilgrims Sect. 5. But notwithstanding all the Croisado's Slaughters Massacres and most barbarous Persecutions of the poor Albingenses and Waldenses there was not a total extinction of the Truth it was suppressed but not destroyed as Fire buried under much Ashes it doth at length break out with the more vehement flame Its Professors were dead but the Truth lived it lay concealed in the hearts of the Children of these Martyrs who groaned for a Reformation There was a very great propensity in all the Nations of Europe but especially of France unto it The Papal Power had been crampt by the Pragmatical Sanction in that Kingdom The August Parliament of Paris sixed bounds unto it The learned Sorbonists had several of their Divines who disputed against and decried it Lewes the Twelfth threatned to destroy Babylon When Learning was revived by Francis the First in that Kingdom the Reformation had there its Resurrection Pious and good Men passionately desired and Preached up the necessity of it William Brissonnet Bishop of Meaux promoted it in his Diocess James Fabey born at Estaples in Picardy a Man of great Learning and of an Angelical Life laboured hard in it And in the dawn of the Reformation the Doctrine of the Gospel was embraced by several Persons of great Quality Margaret of Valois Queen of Navarre and Sister to the French King was accused for it by the blood-thirsty Prelates unto her Royal Brother She was indeed a Sanctuary unto God's Fugitives a Covert to them from the storm an hiding place from the Tempest In her House Faber now an hundred years old after a most Heavenly Discourse with the Queen at Supper fell asleep in the Lord. Luther a Divine Herald publisheth the Gospel in Germany Zuinglius one year before him and without any knowledge of him or correspondence with him had thundered against Indulgences and began the Reformation in Switzerland A little while after Mr. Calvin is called forth by God to be a glorious Instrument of it in France * * * See the Author of Status Reipubl Relig sab Henr. 2. p 10. 11. sub Carolâ— 9. p. 94. And the Lord owneth him and his Fellow-Servants notwithstanding all the storms of Popish rage and fury against them in this great work Insomuch that the whole Kingdom is inlightned and ravished with it and many of the most eminent Counsellors in that Illustrious Senate the Parliament of Paris do profess the Gospel openly and in the very presence of their King Henry the Second though to the loss of Honour Estate and Life It was now got into the Court and among Persons of the highest Quality Many Nobles some Princes of the Blood dare espouse its Cause The Blood of the Martyrs proving the Seed of the Church and as Israel of old so now the more the Professors of the Gospel are oppressed and persecuted the more are they increased and multiplied Sect. 6. The Reformed form themselves into regular Church-Assemblies separating themselves as the Primitive Christians did from the unbelieving Jews and their Synagogues so from the unbelieving Papists and their idolatrous Worship It was the great care of the first Reformers to preach up sound Doctrine to institute and celebrate pure Evangelical Worship and to restore the ancient Primitive Discipline They set up purity of Worship according to the Scripture Rule The Holy Bible was translated by Olivetan Uncle unto Mr. Calvin and a Minister in the Valleys of Piedmont from the Original Hebrew and Greek into the French Language He had not any assistance nor incouragement unto this work from any great Prince or State and yet finished it in one Year The Lord blessed him in his undertaking wonderfully that he should begin and finish it in so short a time This Star scatters bright Beams of Heavenly Light and Truth into the dark Corners of the Land to the inlivening and comforting of many thousands of Souls Now the Fountain of Life is opened and the Waters thereof flow down in plenteous streams from the Throne of God and the Lamb to the cleansing quickning and refreshing of the City of God This Holy Bible is read in their solemn Meetings in the great Congregations This divinely inspired Scripture is perused and studied by Nobles and Peasants by the Learned and Ideots by Merchants and Tradesmen by Women and Children in their Houses and Families by this they be made wiser than their Popish Priests than their most subtle Adversaries By this they stop the mouths of Gainsayers and put them to silence and confusion Clement Marot a Courtier and a great Wit was advised by Mr. Vatablus Regius Professor of the Hebrew Tongue in the University of Paris to consecrate his Muse unto God which Counsel he embraceth and translateth fifty of David's Psalms into French Meeter Mr. Beza did the other hundred and all the Scripture-Songs Lewis Guadimel another Asaph or Jeduthun a most Skillful Master of Musick set those sweet and melodious Tunes unto which they are sung even unto this day This holy Ordinance charmed the Ears Hearts and Affections of Court and City Town and Country They were sung in the Louvre as
of humanity and Consanguinity CAN. XVI Neither Ministers nor other Members of the Church may print any Books composed by themselves or others concerning Religion nor may they at all publish them until they have first Communicated them unto the Colloquy or if need be unto the Provincial Synod And in case the matter be urgent requiring speedy dispatch unto the Universities or to two Pastors appointed by the Synod who shall attest under their own hands that they have perused and examined the said Writings CAN. XVII They that handle the Histories of holy Scripture in Poems are admonished not to blend or intermingle Poetick Fables with them nor to give unto God the names of a false God nor to add unto nor take any thing from the Sacred Scriptures but they shall confine themselves as near as they can unto the words of it CAN. XVIII Neither the Canonical nor other Books of the Bible shall be transformed into Comedies or Tragedies CAN. XIX Churches which have Printers belonging to them shall advise them not to print any Books concerning Religion or the Discipline of the Church without having first Communicated them unto the Consistory because of those manifold Inconveniencies which have formerly happened upon this account And neither Printers nor Booksellers nor Hawkers shall sell any Books of Idolatry or that be Scandalous stuffed with Ribauldry or Impiety which tend to the corrupting of good Manners CAN. XX. Although Priests cannot lay any just claim or title unto Tyths in regard of their Ministry yet nevertheless they must be paid because of the King's Command and for the avoidance of Scandal and Sedition CAN. XXI According to his Majesties Edict the Faithful shall be exhorted to give none offence by working upon Holy-Days CAN. XXII All Usuries shall be most strictly forbidden and suppressed and matters of Loan shall be regulated according to the Kings Ordinance and the Rule of Charity CAN. XXIII All violence and injurious words against the Members of the Church of Rome as also against Priests and Monks shall not only be forborn but also as much as may be shall be totally suppressed CAN. XXIV Swearers who in passion or levity do take God's holy Name in vain and others who blaspheme the Divine Majesty shall be most severely censured and if after the second admonition they be not reclaimed they shall be then suspended from the Lord's Table And all Outragious Blasphemers Forswearers and such like Persons shall in no wise be tolerated in Church-Communion But immediately for their first offence shall be suspended the Lord's Supper and if they continue in their Ungodliness they shall be publickly Excommunicated CAN. XXV The Churches shall admonish the Faithful of both Sexes to retain Modesty and that most especially in their Habits and shall take care that all Superfluities heretofore committed in them may be retrenched But yet our Churches shall not make any Decree about it because it is an affair properly belonging unto the Civil Magistrate yet may they endeavour by their Remonstrances that his Majesties Edict concerning these matters be more diligently observed CAN. XXVI No Person shall be deprived of Communion at the Lord's Table for wearing any fashion of Apparel which is ordinarily and usually worn in this Kingdom But under this head those ought not to be comprised which carry with them a notorious Badge of Lasciviousness dissolution or over-curious novelty such as naked Breasts Painting and the like with which Men and Women cloath and abuse themselves And Consistories shall do their utmost to suppress these Impieties and shall proceed against the Refractory by Suspension from the Lord's Table N. B. That Clause in the middle of this Canon Printed in another Letter is found in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions of the Discipline yet injoined by the National Synods held at St. Foy 1578. Canon 21. of General Matters The second of Rochel 1581. Art 41. Explaining the 26 Canon in the last Chapter of the Discipline and the Synod of Montauban 1594. Canon 45. of General Matters CAN. XXVII All Dances shall be supprest and such as make a Trade of Dancing or make Custom of being present at Dances having been sundry times admonished in case they prove contumacious and Rebellious they shall be Excommunicated and all Consistories are charged to see that this Canon be most heedfully kept and observed and in the name of God and by the Authority of this Synod that it be read publickly in their Churches And Colloquies and Provincial Synods are exhorted to have an observing eye on those Consistories which shall not perform their duty in this particular that they may be censured N.B. Provincial Synods is left out by pure omission from my other Editions but those of Paris and Quevilly CAN. XXVIII Mummings and Juglings shall not be suffered nor Wassail-days nor keeping of Shrovetide nor Players at Heypass nor Tumblers nor Tricks of Goblets nor Puppet-Plays and Christian Magistrates are exhorted not to permit them because they do feed curiosity and cause a great deal of waste and loss of time Moreover it shall not be lawful for the Faithful to go to Comedies Tragedies Interludes Farces or other Stage-Plays acted in publick or private because in all Ages these have been forbidden among Christians as bringing in a corruption of good Manners but then most of all when as the Sacred Scriptures come to be profaned Yet nevertheless when as in a Colledge it shall be found profitable for Youth to represent any History it may be tolerated provided always that the subject matter thereof be not comprised in the holy Scripture which was never given us for matter of sport but purely to be Preached for our Instruction and Comfort And this also shall be done very rarely and with advice of the Colloquy which shall first have the sight and perusal of the Composition CAN. XXIX All Plays forbidden by the Kings Edicts as Cards Dice and other Games of hazard avarice lasciviousness notorious loss of time or scandal shall be suppressed and the Persons reproved and admonished in the Consistories and censured according to Circumstances No Lotteries can be approved although they were or were not allowed by the Civil Magistrate and the godly Magistrates professing the Reformed Religion are exhorted to restrain them N. B. This last Clause of the Canon is only in my two Editions of Paris and Quevilly CAN. XXX It is a thing purely indifferent to be present at those Feasts and Banquets which are made by those of the Popish Religion when as they are Espoused Married or their Children are born However the Faithful are admonished to use them for edification and seriously to ponder with themselves whether they be Masters of so much strength as to resist the dissolutions and other evils committed at them and especially whether they can reprove them And under these Feasts those are not to be comprised which Priests make at the Celebration of their first Mass for it is utterly unlawful for any one who
always to the said Possessors that they may have recourse at Law against the Proprietors And in those places in which the said Ecclesiasticks shall compel the said Possessors to buy the Land the Moneys accruing from the said purchace shall not be paid into their hands but the said Possessors shall be accountable for them and shall pay interest for them at the rate of five per Cent. until such time as the Principal may be better disposed for the profit of the Church All which shall be done within the term and space of one year And when as that time shall be laps'd if the said Purchaser shall refuse to pay any longer the said rent of Interest he shall be acquitted by delivering up the purchace-moneys into the hands of a sufficient responsible Person by the authority of a Judg. And as for places Consecrated there shall be an especial care taken by those Commissioners who shall be appointed to put this present Edict in Execution according to particular Orders and Instructions which they shall receive from us V. However no grounds nor places occupied in the repairing and fortifying of the Cities and Garrisons of our Kingdom nor any of the materials employed therein shall be claimed or redemanded by those Ecclesiasticks nor by any other publick or private Persons unless the said Reparations and Fortifications shall be demolished by express Orders from us VI. And that we may leave no occasion of troubles and differences among our Subjects we have permitted and do permit all those who profess the said pretended Reformed Religion to live and dwell in all Towns Cities and places whatsoever of this our Kingdom without ever being sued vexed molested or constrained to do any thing upon the account of their Religion against their Conscience nor shall they by reason thereof be examined or searched for in those Houses and places in which they would inhabit they always behaving themselves in all things according to the import of this present Edict VII We have also permitted unto all Lords Gentlemen and other Persons as well Natives of the Kingdom as others who make profession of the said Reformed Religion and have in this our Kingdom and the Land of our Obedience the priviledge of High Justice i. e. Authority to judge and determine in Criminal and Capital matters or a whole Fief of Haubert i. e. to serve us compleatly armed in our Wars as there be many such in our Dukedom of Normandy whether they hold it as Proprietors or as Usufructuaries in the whole or by the moiety or by a third part to have in any one of their Houses of High Justice aforesaid or Fiefs aforesaid which they shall be bound to nominate before every one of our Bayliffs and Seneschals in his or their respective districts for their principal dwelling House the exercise of the said Religion as long as they shall reside in it and in their absence whilst their Wives or their Family or else any part of it is there And although the right of Justice or the Fief of Haubert should be controverted yet nevertheless the exercise of the said Religion may be there performed provided that those persons aforesaid who profess the said Religion be in actual possession of the said High Justice yea and although our Attorney-General himself were the Party against them We do also permit them to have the said exercise in all their other Houses of High Justice or Fiefs of Haubert aforesaid at all times when as they are present in them but not otherwise The whole as well for themselves their Family their Tenants and all other persons whatsoever who shall please to go unto the said Houses for Religious Worship VIII But in those Houses of Fiefs where those of the said Religion have not the priviledge of high Justice or Fief of Haubert they shall injoy the exercise of their Religion for their Families only Yet nevertheless if other persons even to the number of thirty over and above the Family should come thither whether it be upon the occasion of Baptisms or Friendly Visits or otherwise 't is not our intention that they shall be sought after for this provided always those Houses aforesaid be not in any Cities Towns or Villages belonging unto Catholick Lords who have the right and priviledge of high Justice as we our self have and in which the said Catholick Lords have their Houses In which case those of the said Religion may not exercise it in the said Cities Towns or Villages unless it be by Permission and Licence from the said Lords High Justicers and not otherwise IX We do also permit unto those of the said Religion to have and continue the exercise thereof in all Cities and Places under our Obedience in which it had been established and publickly solemnized for sundry and divers times in the year one thousand five hundred ninety and six and in the year one thousand five hundred ninety and seven until the end of August last notwithstanding any Decrees or Judgments to the contrary X. Moreover the exercise of the said Religion may be established and restored in all Cities and places in which it was established or ought to have been established by the Edict of Pacification made in the year 1577. and according to the secret Articles and Conferences made and held at Nerac and Fleix nor shall the said establishment be in the least hindred in the Lands of those Towns and places given by the said Edict Articles and Conferences for the places of Bailywicks or which may be hereafter although they may have been since alienated unto Persons of the Roman Catholick Religion or may be hereafter alienated unto such But yet nevertheless 't is not our mind nor meaning that the exercise of the Religion aforesaid should be restored in those places and dwellings of the said Demeans which were formerly possessed by those of the pretended Reformed Religion in which it had been set up out of pure respect unto their persons or because of the priviledges of those Fiefs if now those Fiefs aforesaid be at present possessed by persons professing the said Catholick Apostolick and Roman Religion XI Moreover in every one of those ancient Bailywicks Seneschallies and Governments and reputed Bailywicks clearly and immediately depending upon our Courts of Parliament We do Ordain That in the Suburbs of one Town over and besides those other Towns which have been accorded to them by the said Edict secret Articles and Conferences and in such Bailywicks where there be no Towns there shall be a certain determined place in a Burrough or Village of the said Bailywicks in which the exercise of the said pretended Reformed Religion shall be publickly performed by all persons whatsoever who will go unto it although that in the said Bailywicks Seneschallies and Governments there be already several other places in which the exercise of the said Religion is established excepting always by the said place of Bailywick newly granted by this present Edict those
said Court and that in every point and particular you keep maintain and observe their Contents even as this our said Edict Ceasing and causing to cease all troubles and impediments to the contrary For such is our Pleasure Given at Nantes this second day of May in the Year of Grace 1598. And of our Reign the Ninth Signed by the King Forget And Sealed on a single Label of yellow Wax SECT XVI N. B. A Learned Advocate of Nismes relates from the Press how that Monsieur de Thou President in the Parliament of Taris and the Lord de Calignon a most Zealous Protestant Chancellour of Navarre drew up this Edict and spent three years about it If De Calignon would but have followed his Master Henry the Fourth in his Apostacy from the Reformed Religion unto Popery he had been made Lord High Chancellour of France But that most Pious Lord refused the Greatest Honour that a Person of the Long-Robe was capable of in France that he might not lose the Eternal Glories of the Kingdom of Heaven SECT XVII This Edict was kept tolerably well for twelve years during the Life of Henry the Great as they called him after his Death And yet there were many infractions of it of which the National Synods held at Gap 1603. and at Rochell 1607. Complained in their Bills of Grievances But no sooner was he sent out of the World by the Parricidal Hand of a Disciple of the Jesuits but the Reformed immediately found their want of him And though they had some sprinklings of Court Holy-water now and then yet the old implacable Malice of the Popish Clergy against them brake out upon all occasions and Louis the Thirteenth who succeeded his Father as another Antiochus at their instigation made War with God's Saints in his Kingdom seized upon their Cautionary Towns took away from them their Franchises deprived their Ministers of those Sallaries for which the Churches parting with their Tithes in lieu of that Money which was to be paid by Tallies out of the Exchequer unto their Pastors had compounded with his Father He devoured brake in pieces and stamped the residue of them with his feet so that their strength was quite gone and they lay at his mercy He could do with them as he pleased But the time of their total ruin was not yet come And God giveth the Churches some mercy in the midst of judgment Hence the French King having other designs in his head and looking beyond the bounds of his native Kingdom he leaves persecuting his Reformed Subjects and that there might be a Calm at home and these oppressed lull'd asleep he issueth out his Edict of Grace and Pardon to them from Nismes in the Lower Languedoc dated July 1629. Which is offered to the Reader 's eye SECT XVIII The King's Edict of Grace and Pardon granted by his Majesty unto the Duke of Rohan and the Lord of Soubize and to all other his Rebellious Subjects of the Towns Champain Countrey Castles and places in the Provinces of Higher and Lower Languedoc Sevennes Gevaudan Guienne Foix and elsewhere together with the Articles Done at Nismes in July 1629. and verified in the Parliament of Tholouse the 27th of August the same Year LOUIS by the grace of God King of France and Navarre to all present and to come greeting That Love we bear unto our Subjects and that Compassion we have for the Miserie 's brought upon them by the Wars and Divisions with which this poor Kingdom hath been a long time afflicted have touched us so sensibly that laying by all Considerations of our Health and the Inconveniences of the Seasons of the Year we have used all means possible to reduce under our obedience those who had departed from it and had been the cause of all these Calamities We hoped that the example of those Cities which returned under our Authority in the Years 1620 1621 and 1622 would have affected them with a sence of gratitude but seeing they were hindred from so doing by their obstinacy or by the violence and artifice of those Factions in which they were ingaged We have invited them by our Declarations to return unto their Duty and by all the most favourable Perswasions that our Subjects could receive We have also prepared great and puissant Armies that by force we might reduce them who being obstinate in their Rebellions were become deaf and blind and not moved with any Arguments and Occasions offered them for their Duty And God hath been pleased to bless us with success and to let us reap and enjoy the fruit of our Arms which the City of Rochel hath first of all experienced as is evident by the Edict that We caused to be made and published upon its reduction The City of Privas in Vivaretz which consided in its situation difficult and as they believed inaccessible in its Fortifications and in the abundance of its Provisions and Ammunitions with which it was replenished priding it self in a long continued Prosperity was so bold as to resist Us and to attend the Battery of our Cannons and the Effort of our Arms and despising the sweet Summons of our Goodness the hatred of the Inhabitants was so great that losing all hopes of maintaining themselves in their Rebellion they had rather abandon their Houses and Estates than seek their preservation in our Mercy of which they might have been assured so that they have lost the very hopes of ever enjoying it and could in no wise avoid their destruction by Fire and Sword which the Divine Vengeance hath excited against them for which reason we have provided by our Letters of Declaration separately expedited that they should not be comprised in this present Edict But this Chastisement having rendred others wiser hath caused that not only the High and Lower Vivaretz but also divers other Towns and Forts have returned unto their Duty and have sworn Fidelity unto Us for which cause We have pardoned them their Rebellion and granted them an Act of Oblivion causing their Fortifications and Walls to be demolished which feeding the foolish confidence of others had occasioned all those Miseries they have since suffered Divers Gentlemen also being touched with the Felicity which they had found in our Favour have had recourse unto it and received it and have quitted the Rebels Party The City of Alez extreamly strong in its situation fortified with Ramparts and Bulworks and of all that the Wit of Man could invent for troubling the Land made semblance as if it would resist and stop the Course and Progress of our Victories but when it saw it self incompassed with our Army our Cannons of Battery ready to make a breach it durst not stand out the first shot lest it should be forced to submission as is ever practised in such like cases by the Laws of War so that the Inhabitants came and prostrated themselves at Our feet and implored Our Favour and Pardon which We graciously bestowed upon them And when as
the ensuing Edict given at St. Germans en Laye May 21. 165â— The Declaration of Louis the Fourteenth confirming the Edicts of Pacification Given at St. Germans in Laye May 21. 1652. LOUIS by the grace of God King of France and Navarre To all Persons who shall see these Presents Greeting The late King our most honoured Lord and Father whom God absolve having acknowledged that it was most needful for preserving the Kingdoms peace that his Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion should be maintained in the full and intire enjoyment of those Edicts made in their favour and that they should enjoy the free exercise of their Religion did therefore take a most especial care by all convenient means to hinder their being troubled in the enjoyment of those Liberties Prerogatives and Priviledges granted them by those said Edicts and having to this purpose immediately upon his coming unto the Crown by his Letters Patents dated May 22. 1610. and since his Majority by his Declaration of the 20th of November 1615. declared that he would that those said Edicts should be executed that so he might thereby ingage his said Subjects to continue in their Duty Now we following the example of so great a Prince and imitating him in his goodness we are willing to do the like Having for those very same Motives and Considerations by our Declaration of the Eighth of July 1643. willed and ordained that our said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion shall enjoy all Grants Priviledges and Advantages especially the free and full exercise of their said Religion according to the Edicts Declarations and Orders made on this account for them And for as much as our said Subjects of the said pretended Reformed Religion have given us certain proofs of their affection and fidelity particularly on those occasions which occur'd unto them to our very great satisfaction Be it known that we for these Causes and at the most humble Petition presented to us by those our said Subjects professing the said pretended Reformed Religion and after that we had caused it to be debated in our presence and with our Council We by their advice and from our certain knowledge and Royal Authority have commanded declared and ordained and we do command declare and ordain and 't is our will and pleasure that our said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion shall be maintained and preserved as indeed we do now maintain and preserve them in the full and entire enjoyment of the Edict of Nantes other Edicts Declarations Decrees Articles and Warrants done and dispatched in their favour registred in Parliaments and Chambers of the Edict particularly in the free and publick exercise of the said Religion in all those places in which it was accorded them notwithstanding all Letters and Decrees either of our Council or of the Sovereign Courts or other Judgments to the contrary We willing that the transgressors of those our Edicts shall be punished and chastised as disturbers of the publick peace And we command our beloved and faithful Officers in our Courts of Parliament Chambers of the Edict Bailiffs Seneschals their Lieutenants and other our Officers to whom it shall appertain every one in his place that they do cause these Presents to be registred read and if need be published and that the Contents of them be kept observed and maintained according to their form and tenor And because there will be need of this present Declaration in many and divers places we will that unto Copies duly collationed by one of our beloved and faithful Counsellors and Secretaries there shall be as much faith given as to this present Original For such is our pleasure In testimony whereof we have caused our great Seal to be put unto these Presents Given at St. Germain in Laye the 21 st day of May and in the Year of Grace 1652. And of our Reign the Tenth Signed LOVIS And a little lower By the KING Phelippeaux And sealed with the great Seal SECT XX. Now as well at Court as in the Field each strove to proclaim loudest the Deserts of the Reformed The Queen Mother herself ingenuously acknowledged that they had preserved the Government for herself and the young King This is a Truth that cannot be contested and yet as true as it is what I shall add will seem incredible But the Enemies of the Reformed have told it them an hundred times over and the sequel hath perfectly verified it That this Great Service of theirs in Saving the King and Kingdom was the precise the principal and proper Cause of their Ruine and of all those Evils which have since befallen them For their restless Adversaries the Popish Clergy used all endeavours to envenom the sence of that Important Service of theirs in the Minds of the King and his chief Ministers for they never left suggesting to them That if upon occasion the Reformed could save the State from ruine they might likewise upon another and siding with its Enemies utterly overthrow it That therefore in prudence this Party must be suppressed and what good they had done must be no longer regarded but as an Indication of that Mischief which some time or other they were capable of effecting This diabolical Policy which hinders Subjects from serving their Prince to avoid the pulling down upon themselves and children Chastisements instead of Recompences took immediately with the ungrateful Court. For as soon as the Kingdom was setled in Peace the Design was put on foot of destroying the Reformed and that they might clearly understand that it was their Zeal and Loyalty for their King which had ruin'd them Those Cities which had given the noblest Instances of it were first assaulted Immediately on very slight pretences they fell foul on Rochel Montauban and Milhaud three Towns where the Professors of the Reformed Religion had most signalized themselves for the Court's Interests Rochel was plagued with an infinite number of Proscriptions her best Ministers and Citizens being driven out and exiled Montauban and Milhaud are sack'd by Soldiers These were but particular Strokes and the beginning of those dreadful Woes which followed after SECT XXI 'T will be a difficult matter to give in an exact account of those various methods used for their destruction For the malice of their Enemies was exceeding fruitful in plotting and contriving of mischiefs Every day produced a superfetation of them for twenty Years together I will instance but in a few for it would be an endless work to enumerate all These were some of the chiefest First Law-Suits in Courts of Justice Secondly Deprivations of all kinds of Offices and Employments and in general of all manner of ways for subsistence Thirdly The Infractions of the Edicts under the plausible gloss of explaining them Fourthly New Laws and Orders Fifthly Juggles and amusing Tricks Sixthly The animating and exasperating of the Rabble with Hatred and Rage against them and barbarous Cruelties and Torments These were some of the most considerable Machins which the
that most pious Bishop of Norwich Dr. Joseph Hall gave this Character of him That he was one of the most learned Men that Scotland ever bred He had been formerly Minister of Bourdeaux thence translated to the Professor's Chair of Divinity at Saumur and lastly unto Montauban where he died in the year 1625. But more of him in my Icones 5. Peter Berault the Son of Michael a Son not unworthy his Father who founded the University 6. Anthony Garrissoles who died in the Lord Anno 1651. 7. Paul Charles though he was called to the Professorship in Divinity after Monsieur Garrissoles yet entered he into his rest two years before his Reverend Collegue viz. 1649. 8. John Verdier he died in the year 1668. 9. Andrew Martell he went into exile with his Brethren in the year 1685 and was called to be Professor of Divinity in the University of Berne in Switzerland where he is yet living In his time the University was removed from Montauban to Puy-Laurens in Languedoc in the year 1660. 10. Anthony Peres was called in to succeed Monsieur Verdier immediately upon his death This very learned and godly Divine died in my Neighbourhood in the year 1686. here in King-street near Bunhil fields London This University of Montauban the first and eldest Protestant University of France had subsisted the just age of a Man and then purely out of a design to facilitate its Ruine it was removed in the year 1660. to Puy-Laurens The University of Saumur had its foundations shaken in the year 1675. though it had a quiet and uninterrupted possession of threescore and ten years and was grounded upon the Edict of Nantes and confirmed by other Edicts of Henry the Fourth and of his Son and Successor Lewis the Thirteenth Henry the Fourth comprehended them both in the Gift he made them Anno 1599. And in the Articles of Peace granted by Lewis the Thirteenth to the City of Montauban they were again ratified and he formally promised to continue his Bounty which in truth was no bounty but a Debt for the Reformed compounded with his Father to pay their Tithes to the Popish Parish Priests which they did honestly and justly provided the King would allow such a summ of 135000 l. in good money unto them for their Ministers Schools Colleges and Universities And in his Answer to their Bill of Grievances in the second year of his Reign and of our Lord 1611. Article 19. He granted to the Universities of Saumur and Montauban the same Priviledges Immunities and Prerogatives as the other Universities in the Kingdom enjoyed according to the will and intention of King Henry the Fourth expressed in his Answer to the Bill of Grievances presented him by the Reformed Article the Fourth Yet all these Engagements and Obligations both of Honour and Conscience could not contain the present King nor his Council within any Bounds But that all the Schools Colleges and Universities of the Reformed must be dissolved dissipated and they be utterly ruined SECT XXXIII But we shall proceed one step farther and discover in this short Abridgment how the Faith and Patience of God's Saints was farther tryed and exercised in France before the last deluge of Popish Fury was poured out upon them There were new Laws and Orders as so many new Engines and Racks invented to torment them This is the fourth method devised by them The first of these Orders which appeared was touching the manner of Burial and Interring the dead In those places where the exercise of our Religion was actually established the number of Attendants was reduced to thirty Persons and to ten where it was not Orders were also issued out to hinder the Communication of one Province with another by Circular Letters or any other way whatsoever though it were about matters of Alms and the distributions of Charity There were likewise Prohibitions made of holding Colloquies in the Interval of Synods excepting in two Cases viz. to provide Ministers for Churches destitute upon the Death of their Pastors and the censuring of greater Scandals They despoiled also those places which they called Exercises de Fief of all the Characters and Priviledges of a Temple as the Bell Pulpit and other things of that nature They forbad also the Reception and Ordination of Ministers in any Synods or to have their Decisive Vote in them or to Register them in the Catalogue of those Churches to which they appertained One Decree forbiddeth the singing of Psalms in their private Houses yea and another to forbear singing in their Temples when as their Consecrated Host was carried by in Procession One Decree forbids all Marriages at such times as they be prohibited by the Church of Rome viz. Lent and the Ember Weeks c. By another Decree their Ministers are not suffered to Preach at any considerable distance from their Residence lest they should have the sorry priviledge of an annexed Congregation a poor plurality For one Church being of it self utterly unable to maintain a Minister sometimes two or three would join together to make up a Competency for his subsistence Other Decrees forbid their setling in any places unless sent unto them by their Synod though the Consistories had given them a solemn Call according to their usual Forms Another Decree comes forth to hinder Synods from sending to any Churches more Ministers than were there in the preceding Synod Another Decree prohibits all Proposans Students in Divinity to study in Foreign Universities Other Decrees banish all Foreign Ministers not born in the Kingdom though they had been Ordained in France and spent the greatest part of their Lives in it out of it Another Decree forbad all Ministers and Candidates for the Ministry to reside in those places where Preaching was forbidden or nearer to them than six Miles Another Decree forbad the People to assemble in the Temples under pretence of praying reading or singing of Psalms except in the presence of a Minister placed there by the Synod There was one Decree and that a most ridiculous one Enacted That all the backs of the Seats in their Temples must be removed that so they might be reduced to most accurate and decent Uniformity Another Decree to hinder richer Churches from assisting the weaker in maintaining of their Ministers and other necessities Another Decree obligeth Parents to give their Children who had changed their Religion great Pensions Another forbiddeth Marriages betwixt Persons of different Religions notwithstanding their Scandalous Cohabitation Another prohibiteth those of the Reformed Religion from that time to entertain in their Houses any Domestick Servants who were Roman Catholicks Another maketh them uncapable of being Tutors or Guardians and consequently did put all Minors whose Fathers died in the Profession of the Protestant Religion under the Power and Education of Roman Catholicks Another forbiddeth Ministers and Elders to hinder any of their Flock either directly or indirectly to embrace the Roman Religion or to disswade them from it Another forbiddeth Jews and
to Fountainbleau that we might wait upon the Bishop of Meaux which was a truth had the kindness for us as to order him to come to Paris and if after our Conferences ended with my Lord Bishop of Meaux we could not with a good Conscience hold Communion with the Church of Rome he would then give us when ever we should desire it a Licence for our selves and Families to depart the Kingdom and that finally my Lord of Meaux would charily preserve our Writing which had been presented unto his Majesty We all three accepted the Proposals And had several Conferences with the Bishop of Meaux But this very day we are urged to come to a Resolution and upon our refusal of signing the new Formulary we are plainly told That it is ill done of us to recoil after that of our own accord we had advanced so far and they farther tell us That our own Writing obligeth us to far greater matters than the new Formulary and that we declare in the very beginning of it That of all Evils Disunion is the greatest and that by this our Confession neither Transubstantiation nor any of those other Points debated by us could be a bar to our Re-union and that in effect we do formally re-unite ourselves by our very Writing and that by submitting our selves to the Conduct of Bishops and of their pitiful Curates we do subject our selves to the whole Ecclesiastical Discipline and that we intreating the Higher Powers who went unto Mass to believe our Sentiments to be the same with theirs who desired the Cup we were engaged at the same time to do as they did even to wait for that Reformation which was universally desired and which the King incessantly pursued as having resolv'd that the Cup should be delivered unto the People in the Sacrament And thus they boast we are caught by our own Writing which was left imprudently enough in the hands of my Lord Bishop of Meaux and which they say also at the same time is in the King 's This is the truth of our present Estate and for which we conjure you most dear Brother to send us as soon as possible your advice lest c. WE whose Names are here-under written being fully perswaded that among Christians there cannot be a greater mischief than to be divided one from another especially when as the providence of God has made us all Subjects to our King who is the most glorious Monarch in the whole World and being unmeasurably grieved that we are bound to depart his Kingdom and to subject our selves unto the authority of strangers whom we can never own for our Soveraign Lawful Princes Do declare That from this very day we can promise my Lord the Bishop of Meaux that we will subject our selves to the Sermons and Even-Songs used in the Catholick Church thereby giving a sensible demonstration of our Union with the Archbishops Bishops and Curates of France We also intreat That we may be absolutely believed to be in the same Sentiments with the Higher Powers who in conformity to the Liberties of the Gallican Church gave in divers Articles as our Historians relate to my Lord Cardinal de Joyeuse concerning the Council of Trent and until such time as they may be established by the King's Authority and signed by the most Reverend Clergy of France in the sence of the second Article of the last Edict verified in Parliament the 22d of this instant October we most humbly beseech his Majesty to grant us the liberty of abiding within his Kingdom in quality of poor private persons we calling God to witness by our Oaths That we will do nothing against his Majesty's Declarations but contrariwise we shall endeavour by our example to keep the People within those bounds of Fidelity and Obedience which we all owe unto the King and our Superiours I suppose those Articles were the same which had been demanded by the Cardinal of Lorrain and the other French Ambassadours in the Council of Trent as they be mentioned by De Mezeray in his 3d Tome p. 1470. viz. That an Ecclesiastick Person should hold but one Benefice That the Mass being finished Prayers might be celebrated in the Vulgar Tongue That the People might Communicate in both kinds That all Pastors should be capable and obliged to Preach and Catechise That the abuse crept in among the Common People in the Worshipping of Images might be removed SECT LV. Now the Ministers have left the Kingdom and vast multitudes of their People steal away after them as well as they can But the King and Haman the French King and his Cabal sit down and drink whil'st that Paris as Shushan of old and all other places in which the Reformed remain are in great perplexities In every Province whithersoever the King's Commandment and his Decree came there was great Mourning among the Protestants Fasting Weeping and Wailing and many lay in Sackcloth and Ashes Yet among the Sighs and Groans or God's poor Saints who mourn for the Desolations of Zion the Ruines of their Temples and Sanctuary the loss and reproach of their Solemn Assemblies the Prophanations of their Holy Sabbaths their deprival of Religious Ordinances the banishment of their Pastors the dissipations of their Churches and the total extirpation of the pure Evangelical Religion and cannot be comforted the Popish Clergy the Monks and Jesuits have their Jubilees and Triumphs and the Pope sends a Letter to the King congratulating him for his Zeal against the Hereticks in his Kingdom and for repealing the Edict of Nantes It spake this Language The Pope's Letter to the French King congratulating him for Abolishing the Edict of Nantes Innocent the XIth to our dearest Son in Christ Lewes the XIVth the most Christian King of France Our dearest Son in Christ SInce above all the rest of those illustrious Proofs which do abundantly declare the natural inbred Piety of your Majesty that Noble Zeal and worthy the most Christian King is most conspicuous with which being ardently inflamed you have wholly abrogated all those Constitutions that were favourable to the Hereticks of your Kingdom and by most wise Decrees set forth have excellently provided for the Propagation of the Orthodox Belief as our beloved Son and your Ambassadour with us the Noble Duke de Estrées hath declared to us We thought it was incumbent on us most largely to commend that excellent Piety of yours by the remarkable and lasting Testimony of these our Letters And to congratulate your Majesty that Accession of immortal Commendation which you have added to all your other great Exploits by so illustrious an Act of this kind The Catholick Church shall most assuredly record in her Sacred Annals a Work of such Devotion towards her and celebrate your Name with never-dying Praises But above all you may most deservedly promise to your self an ample Retribution from the Divine Goodness for this most excellent Vndertaking and may rest assured that we shall never cease to pour
of tools to build his House 'T is the very Character of Hell to force Men to Mass by Fire and Sword by Dragoons Plunder and Tortures And none but the Devil would spirit Men unto such actions and they who use them are undoubtedly his proper Imps and Agents And that you may keep up your abhorrency of Popery never forget this Continually set before your Eyes all its Deformities and never look on them or it through those false Glasses which the Doctors of Lies do now adays represent them to you You see their Temples full of Images before which they bow down and worship contrary to the express Commandment of God Thou shalt not make unto thy self any graven Image thou shalt not bow down thy self before them And flatter not your selves with this that possibly you may not be obliged thereunto for the people with whom you are do it and you partake in this their Sin of Idolatry at leastwise if you do not abhor it both with heart and mouth Set before you that Idolatrous Worship performed unto Creatures and in particular that Honour which being due only unto God is yet nevertheless given unto the Mother of our Saviour Jesus Christ and unto Saints and then remember those dreadful words As I live saith the Lord I will not give my glory unto another And remember also that Idolaters are in the Van of those that shall never inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Consider that Sacrifice ordained by their Church and wherein you must adore a bit of Bread Do not think you shall escape by this foolish suggestion We only adore Jesus Christ who is in Heaven For the Pagan Idolaters might have used the same plea That when they kneeled before their Idols they lifted up their Hearts to the true God Never be reconciled with them for that great wrong they do your Souls in robbing you of the Cup which is but one half of the Sacrament when as Jesus Christ hath given you the whole of it Never accustom your selves to that barbarous Language which keeps you from understanding your Religion and leaves it only to be gazed at with your eyes Keep up a perpetual aversion for that vain heap of Pagan and Jewish Ceremonies which are in a direct line of opposition to the purity and simplicity of Christianity But know 't is not enough that you detest all these things with your Heart you must also condemn them with your Mouths Your Judgments herein must not be concealed you must be ever and every where ready to confess the Truth And therefore as often as you shall have occasion declare openly without guile or reservation that you abhor that Worship unto which you are compelled to be present Never go to Mass unless they drag you to it by main force and whil'st they force you to it declare publickly that you do not in the least with your heart consent thereunto and if by the same violence wherewith they brought you to it they keep you at it yet manifest by your Actions that you have not any belief nor respect for those false Mysteries Keep carefully your Books of Piety of Devotion and of Controversie and read them with singular diligence and attention Preserve them by hiding and conveying them from the reach and search of your Persecutors Above all keep as your most precious Jewels the most Holy Bible and suffer every thing rather than suffer your Bibles to be snatcht away from you Read them daily and with the greatest devotion Concerning your poor Children 'T is true they will be ravisht out of your Arms and led to the Catechistical Exercises of the Priests and 't is to be seared this will be done with so great violence that 't will be impossible for you to hinder it yet as soon as they shall be returned from them never fail to destroy what those Priests have built up Instruct them in the Truth and infuse into their Souls a sacred abhorrency of the Romish Religion And this you may do by causing them to read carefully those places of Holy Scripture which are contrary to it Never forget nor spare any pains or expence in procuring from foreign Countries Books capable of instructing and strengthening you and when as the Priests shall have robb'd you or your own cause others to be brought you whatever rates you pay for them The poor Country Peasants and Mechanicks in Towns and Cities by reason of their ignorance are expos'd to greatest dangers But the strong ought to support the weak and you must earnestly endeavour each others edification This you may do as you travel into your Country-houses as you walk in the Streets yea when as you meet one another in your Shops there being none by you of the contrary Religion Supply these poor People with Books for their Instruction and exhort them without ceasing to bear up against all discouragements and never to let loose their hearts unto Idolatry but contrariwise to detest and oppose it by their discourses Maintain a continual Correspodence among your selves and perfectly know one another principally those who love the Truth and mutually incourage one another in your Resolutions never to forsake it If you can at any time meet together secretly by Night in the Retirements of your Houses let it be for the reading of God's Word and of good Books capable of instructing you but above all for Prayer Proper Prayers for your condition shall be sent you from foreign Countries By reason of that commerce and communion you are necessitated to hold with the Papists endeavour also after their Conversion Who knows but that God may have ordained this sore Persecution for this very end that you should carry the light of the Gospel into the very bosom of Popery in order to its destruction But take heed unto your selves For should you be dumb dogs and dissemblers and counterfeit the Papists before the Papists God will give you up to a reprobate sence So then forbear not speaking unto the Papists when you meet them but entertain them with Discourses of Religion And speaking to them of the violence offered unto your Consciences give them a lively pourtraict of the Deformities of their Religion and Purity of your own shew them the Vanities and Impurities of their Worship of their Idolatry and sottish Opinions And labour powerfully by all means their conversion And that this may be successful order your Lives with the greatest accuracy and circumspection 'T is visible that the sinful disorders and miscarriages of your Conversations have brought upon you those fearful Judgments from God under which you are now groaning There was no kind of worldliness in which you were not ingag'd such as rich Houshold-Goods Vessels of Silver Tapistry Feasts Gluttonies Idle Days Plays Pastimes Cloth of Silk and Gold Rings Pearls and Jewels If you be wise your first Reformation must begin here all these must be rejected sell your Tapistries your Silver Vessels wear the plainest Woolsteds have nothing to
LVIII There were nine and twenty National Synods celebrated by these Churches within the space of one hundred Years they met in this order and at the times and places mentioned in this ensuing Catalogue 1. At Paris May 25. 1559. 2. At Poictiers March 20. 1560. 3. At Orleans April 25. 1562. 4. At Lyons Aug. 10. 1563. 5. The 2d at Paris Octob. 21. 1565. 6. At Vertuil Septemb. 1. 1567. 7. At Rochel April 2. 1571. 8. At Nismes May 8. 1572. 9. At St. Foy Feb. 2. 1578. 10. At Figeac Aug. 2. 1579. 11. The 2d at Rochel June 28. 1581. 12. At Vitré May 26. 1583. 13. At Montauban June 15. 1594. 14. At Saumur May 13. 1596. 15. At Montpellier May 26. 1598. 16. At Gergeau May 9. 1601. 17. At Gap May 18. 1603. 18. The 3d of Rochel March 1. 1607. 19. At St. Maixant May 26. 1609. 20. At Privas May 23. 1612. 21. At Tonneins May 2. 1614. 22. The 2d of Vitré May 18. 1617. 23. At Alez Octob. 1. 1620. 24. At Charenton Septemb. 1. 1623. 25. At Castres Septemb. 15. 1626. 26. The 2d of Charenton 1631. 27. At Alanson May 27. 1637. 28. The 3d of Charenton 1654. 29. At Loudun Novemb. 10. 1659. The next National Synod was appointed to be held in the City of Nismes but when that will be Peloni Palmoni the wonderful Numberer can only and most certainly inform us THE ACTS DECISIONS and DECREES OF THE First National Synod OF THE Reformed Churches of Christ IN The KINGDOM of FRANCE HELD At PARIS in the Year of our LORD 1559. The Contents of the Acts in this Synod Chap. I. The Lord of Callonges Minister in the Church of Paris Moderator Eleven Churches send their Deputies to the Synod Chap. II. General Matters The first Draught of the Church-Discipline in Forty Canons Chap. III. Particular Matters Twenty Five Cases of Conscience resolved 1559. First Synod THE First National Synod Henry the Second died the tenth of July 1559. SYNOD I. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The Decrees of the National Synod celebrated in Paris the Five and Twentieth Day of May in the Year of our Lord One thousand five hundred fifty and nine and in the Sixteenth Year of Henry the Second King of France CHAP. I. Monsieur De Morell Lord of Callonges was at that time Minister of the Church of Paris Publick Matters FRancis de Morell otherwise called De Callonges presided and there assisted at it on behalf of the Reformed Churches of France the Pastors of Diep and St. Lo in Normandy of Paris of Angiers of Orleans of Tours of Chastelherand of Poitiers of Xaintes of St. John d' Angeli and Marennes CHAP. II. The First CANON I. NO Church Discipline Cap. 6. Art 1. nor Church-Officer be he Minister Elder or Deacon shall Claim or Exercise any Jurisdiction or Authority over another In every Synod there must be a President chosen His Office in the Synods II. A Moderator shall be chosen by general Consent in every Synod who shall give Notice of the Days and Places of Meeting and of the Sessions of the Synod And he shall gather the Suffrages and declare which is the greater Number and pronounce the Synodical Decisions Moreover he shall see that Order be observed in Speaking without confusion and impose Silence on such as are eager and contentious and in case of Disobedience he shall cause them to withdraw that Advice may be taken how to Censure them Moreover he shall preside at the Censure of every Person and make the Remonstrances As also to give Answers in case of Counsel demanded or unto Letters sent unto the Synod yet therein always observing the Advice of the Assembly And he himself also shall be subject unto Censures The Office of the Moderator shall expire with the Synod and the next Synod is at liberty to chuse him or any other A Pastor may bring with him an Elder unto the Synod III. Ministers that are sent unto the National Synod may bring with them one or two Elders or Deacons but not more and those chosen by the Body of their Consistory who also shall have their Votes in the Synod As for the Elders and Deacons of that Church where the Synod shall be assembled they may be present also and speak in their Order yet to avoid confusion two of them only shall have Power of Voting in it And no Person shall depart from the Assembly without leave first had and obtained IV. National Synods shall meet according to the Necessities of the Churches and in them there shall be an amicable and brotherly Censure of all its Members The Lord's Supper to be administred at the end of every National Synod and at the closing up of the Synod the Lord's Supper shall be celebrated to testifie their Union not only by the Ministers and Elders of the Synod but in general with that whole Church V. The Ministers with one Elder and Deacon at the least from every Church in all the Provinces of this Kingdom shall meet together once a Year and choose such a Time and Place as shall be most convenient for their Synodical Assembly The manner of Receiving a Minister VI. No Minister for the present shall be chosen by one only Minister or by his Consistory but by two or three Ministers and their Consistories or by the Provincial Synod or by the Colloquy which in those Places where they be already established shall be if possible called together for this purpose And the Elect-Minister shall be presented unto the People for their Approbation but in case there be opposition the Consistory shall judge thereof and if neither part do consent the whole shall be Reported to the Provincial Synod which shall take Cognisance thereof as well for Justifying of the Minister as for his Reception provided the major part of the Consistory and People do consent thereunto No Minister may be sent unto the Synod wâ—â—hout sufficient â—owers VII Ministers shall not be sent from the Churches without Authentick Letters or some other sufficient Testimonials from those Places whence they come and if having no such Commission they should offer themselves to be Received they shall not be Admitted unless their Conversation be fully known and upon what Account they have quitted their Church And in case of opposition they shall be dealt with as was before determined The Elect Deputy must subscribe the Confession of Faith VIII The Deputies Elect shall subscribe our Confession of Faith both in their own Churches in which they were chosen as in those also from which they be sent and their Election shall be confirmed by Prayers and Imposition of Hands by the Ministers yet without Superstition or Opinion of Necessity How Intruders into the Ministry are to be proceeded against IX Such as shall intrude themselves into the Ministry in those Places where the Ministry of the Word of
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
Brethren having been heard on this Affair reporting his continual Rebellions against the Consistory of the said Church for near six Months together The Council doth injoyn the Consistory to call the said Joequin before them and to give him a very severe Reproof for the sorementioned Crimes and in case of his Contempt and continued Rebellion to depose him from his Office of Deacon without delay as also to cut him off from the Communion of the Church and to denounce him publickly Excommunicate until such time as he shall have given publick satisfactory Evidences of his Repentance The End of the Synod of Orleance Thus Subscribed in the Original Chandieu Lord of La Roche President of the Council Le Masson Lord of La Fountaine Scribe of the Council THE ACTS DECISIONS and DECREES OF THE IV. National Synod OF THE Reformed Churches of Christ IN The KINGDOM of FRANCE HELD At LIONS in the Year of our LORD 1563. THE CONTENTS of this SYNOD CHap. I. Moderator chosen Chap. II. Of Synods in Five Canons Chap. III. Of Consistories in Five Canons Chap. IV. Of Censures Two Canons Chap. V. Of Ministers Three Canons Chap. VI. Of Baptism Three Canons Chap. VII Of Marriage Four Canons Chap. VIII Of Interest for Money Chap. IX Of Hereticks and Schismaticks and Vagrants Chap. X. Of the Lord's Supper Chap. XI General Matters Chap. XII A Case of Conscience about the Marriage of Cousin-Germans Chap. XIII A Book Censured See also Cap. 9. Chap. XIV Particular Matters A Delinquent Minister Censured Chap. XV. Advice to the States of Languedoc Chap. XVI Very many curious Cases of Conscience resolved Chap. XVII Memorials for the Service of the Churches Chap. XVIII Distinction of the Provinces Nine at first Chap. XIX Books Censured Chap. XX. Vagrants and Deposed Ministers Registred Chap. XXI Cases of Conscience 1. About Marriage 2. Consistories 3. Baptism 4. And the Lord Supper Resolved by Mr. Calvin and sent unto the National Synod of Lyons at their desire THE Synod of Lions 1563. Synod IV. SYNOD IV. Articles concluded on in the National Synod held at Lions the tenth of August 1563 in the third Year of the Reign of King Charles the Ninth CHAP. I. Mr. Virett was a most Eloquent Preacher and Calvin's Colleague at Geneva See the Catalogue of his Works in Du Verdier's Bibliotheque M R. Peter Virett Minister in the Church of Lions was chosen Modederator and Scribe CHAP. II. Observations Additions and Annotations upon the Church-Discipline Of SYNODS ARTICLE I. AT the Opening of all National and Provincial Synods the Canons of our Church-Discipline shall be read and for the future Provincial Synods shall send unto the National those Articles and Canons composed by them for the Government of their respective Provinces and all the Churches in their District ARTICLE II. The Canons of the three former National Synods held at Paris Poictiers and Orleance shall be reduced into a Body and this Order shall constantly be observed at the end of every National Synod ARTICLE III. Every Sentence of Excommunication confirmed by the Provincial Synod shall be for the future stable and valid IV. None other Articles of Discipline shall be divulged but those which were composed by common Consent of all the Deputies ARTICLE V. The Deputies of the Provinces shall not depart from the National Synod without carrying home with them the Resolutions and Decrees of the Synod signed and attested by the Moderator and Scribe CHAP. III. Of CONSISTORIES ARTICLE VI. ALtho' it may be convenient in weighty and important Business of the Church to call into gether with the Consistory some of the most discreet and judicious Members of the Church though they be not in actual Office in the Consistory yet nevertheless there ought not to be any other ordinary Assembly or Form of Council for Church-Matters excepting the Body of the Consistory which hath been chosen and settled by the Church to these very ends and purposes who be Persons in publick Offices which the others are not ARTICLE VII A Civil Magistrate may be a Member of the Consistory provided it do not hinder him in the Exercise of his publick Office nor be prejudicial to the Church VIII Professors of Divinity may be admitted Members of Consistories and deputed unto Synods ARTICLE IX Consistories are left at liberty to receive as Members into them both Father and Son and two Brothers at the same time unless there be something which may hinder it of which the Provincial Synod shall take Cognisance ARTICLE X. Although the Body of the Consistory may advise and admonish disagreeing Persons to terminate their Controversies and Suits at Law yet that very Consistory shall never consent to be the Judge or Arbitrator of those Controversies betwixt Persons at Variance about worldly Goods and Estates but in case any Members of the Church not of the Consistory shall be employed as Arbitrators in those Differences then the Members of the Consistory may assist them with their particular Advice but always in their private Capacities CHAP. IV. Concerning CENSVRES ARTICLE XI IF any Officer of our Reformed Churches shall have committed Idolatry in times of Persecution they shall be deposed from their Office and before they be admitted to communicate at the Lord's Table they shall do publick Penance And as for private Persons who have offended in the same manner they also shall undergo such a Penance as the Consistory shall judge meet The whole to be managed with Christian Moderation according to the Discipline ARTICLE XII Ministers who scandalize the World by marrying basely and unworthily the Brethren in this Synod are all of one Mind and Advice That Consistories shall proceed against these Delinquents in such a manner as may prevent all Scandals for the future CHAP. V. Of MINISTERS ARTICLE XIV MInisters though settled in one Church may be lent unto other Churches for some time for their Instruction and Comfort And whenas our Proposans are called unto the Ministry they shall be settled in some one particular Church there constantly to remain yet Synods shall have Power to remove Ministers from one Place to another for some certain Reasons and Considerations provided their Churches do consent unto it according to the Discipline ARTICLE XV. Here must be inserted the Fifth Canon of the National Synod of Orleance viz. Ministers shall not quit their Churches nor joyn themselves unto any other without the Authority of the Provincial Synod or consent of the Neighbour-Ministers or that Church unto which they were sent XVI Whenas a Minister is to be chosen not only the Consistories of that Church but the Neighbour-Ministers also shall with the Colloquy pursue that Election CHAP. VI. Of BAPTISM ARTICLE XVII MInisters shall admonish their Flocks to compose themselves withall possible Reverence at the Administration of both the Sacraments ARTICLE XVIII Women alone shall not be admitted to present Children unto Baptism ARTICLE XIX If a Person come to Years of Discretion was never baptized and shall
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
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
a Professorship in the Universities determined 6. Pecuniary matters may be determined by another Province 8. two Deputies shall be sent and no more from contending Churches 12. Such at Marry Popish Wives shall bear no Office in the Churches 13. Two Canons about Monkes 15 16. The Baptism of Midwives null 18. Three cases about Marriage 19 20 21. Orders about Scholars Pensioners 24 Elenchus novae Doctrinae supprest 25. Professors of Divinity shall finish their course in three years 31. Cases about accused persons 37 39. Chap. VI. Of Accompts A Dividend of 135000 Crowns among the Churches and Universities and General Deputies Chap. VII Other Accompts of Moneys to be paid by the Lord of Candal Chap. VIII Memorials and Instructions given to the Lords General Deputies Chap. IX Appeals Two divided Churches healed 1 2. The Appeal of a Deposed Minister rejected 15. A great contention composed 19. Chap. X. Particular matters 3. Non resident Pastors ordered to their Churches 1 2. A great contention composed 6. Monsieur Primrose Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux recalled into Scotland 9. Dissentions in a Church made up 19. A case of Witchcraft 21. A case about a Donative 22. Moneys of two Churches for the Exiles of Salluces 23 24. A case about a Childs Baptism 35. The Insolency of a Capuchin Fryer 37. A poor Minister relieved 39. Censures taken off from a Church and Minister 43. A Petition to the King 52. Chap. XI Particular matters relating to the Isle of France Chap. XII The Roll of Deposed Ministers Chap. XIII Orders about Legacies Chap. XIV Political Acts the King's Letter to the National Synod 4. Chap. XV. The Lord of Candals Accompt The Third Synod of ROCHELL SYNOD XVIII 1607. In the Name of God Amen Acts of the National Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Kingdom of France held at Rochell the first day of March and continued till the two and twentieth day of April in the Year of our Lord One thousand six hundred and seven CHAP. I Names of the Deputies and Synodical Officers Monsieur Beraut chosen Moderator Monsieur Merlin Assessor Scribes Monsieur Andrew Rivet and Monsieur Roy. THERE appeared in it as Deputies from their several Provinces the Pastors and Elders hereafter named For the Province of Xaintonge Aunix and Augoulmois Monsieur George Pacard Minister in the Church of Rochefoucaud Master James Merlin one of the Pastors of the Church of Rochel Monsieur Arthur de Partenay Lord of Genouille Elder in the Church of Tonney-boutonne and Mr. Daniel le Roy Elder in the Church of Xaintes with Letters from the said Province Mr. Gigord was a man of most singular Piety holy in his Life happy in his Death He died full of Peace and Joy in Believing ravished with the consolations of Gods Spirit For the Province of Lower Languedoc Master Christopher de Barjac Lord of Gasques Pastor of the Church of Vigan and Master John Gigord Pastor and Professor in the Church of Montpellier and Tristram de Brueis Lord of St. Chappe Elder in the Church of Nismes and Stephen du Vergier Ordinary President in the Chamber of Accounts of Languedoc Elder in the Church of Montpellier with Letters of Commission from their Province For the Province of Orleans Berry Blesois and Nivernois Master Joachim du Moulin Pastor of the Church of Orleans and Master Nicholas Vignier Pastor of the Church of Blois together with the Lords Daniel de St. Quintin Baron of Bellet Elder in the Church of St. Amand and Michael de Launay Lord de Filaines Elder in the Church of Blois Mr. Joachim du Moulin was the godly Father of that excellent man of God Mr. Peter du Monlin impowered with authority from their Province For the Province of the Isle of France Picardy Champagne Brie and the Land of Chartres Master Francis de Lauberan Lord of Montigny Pastor of the Church of Paris and Master Tobias Yoland Pastor of the Church of Vitry le Francois and Paul de Charites Lord of Plessis Chennelle Elder of the Church of Chartres commissioned by Letters from their Province For the Province of Lower Guienne Perigord and Limousin Mr. Paul Baduel Minister of the Church of Castillon Mr. Gilbert Primrose Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux together with John du Puis Lord of Cazett Elder of the Church of Castillon and Mr. Stephen Manial Elder of the Church of Bourdeaux For the Province of Anjou Touraine and the Maine Monsieur Abel Bede Pastor of the Church of Loudun and Master Peter Solomeau Pastor of the Church of Vandosme together with James Ridouett Esquire Lord of Sanzay Elder of the Church of Bauge and Bartholomew de Bruges Elder of the Church of Loudon For the Province of Higher Languedoc and Higher Guyenne Master Michael Beraud Pastor and Professor in the Church of Montauban Daniel Raphin Pastor of the Church of Realmont John de Periott Elder of the Church of Montauban and Peter Philippin Elder in the Church of St. Antonine For the Higher and Lower Vivaretz and Velay Monsieur John Valeton Pastor of the Church of Privas and Master Christopher Gammon Elder of the Church of Nonnay bringing with them Letters of excuse for not having sent the number of Deputies prescribed by the Canons of former Synods which were in no wise admitted and therefore the said Province was censured However their Deputies were received for this time This Assembly declaring it should not be made a president for future neglects as also that if in time coming they did not send the full number of four Deputies they should have no power of Voting and this in pursuance of what had been decreed in the National Synod of Gap For Provence Monsieur Daniel Chanforan Pastor of the Church de la Coste and Peter Texier Elder of the Church of Lormarin with Letters of excuse for not having sent the number above-mentioned which because of the paucity of Ministers in their Province was for this time only received And they were enjoined for the future to send four Deputies or to incorporate themselves with some other Province For the Province of Higher and Lower Poictou Master James Clemencean Minister and Pastor of the Church of Poictiers and Andrew Rivett Pastor of the Church of Touars together with Samuel Mauclerc Lord of Marconny Elder of the Church of Poire and Belleville and Monsieur Joseph des Fontaines Elder of the Church of Mesle Mr. Perriâ— writ the History of the Albingezses He dedicated the Second Part to the Duke of Candale Eldest Son of the Duke of Espernon who became a Protestant For the Province of Dolphiny Mr. John Paul Perrinâ— Pastor of the Church of Nians and John Vulson Lord de la Columbiere Pastor of the Church de la Mure together with Charles de Veze Lord of Coucy Elder of the Church de Dieu le fit and Lord of the said place and Francois de la Combe Elder of the Church of St. Marcellin For the Province of
Elder also of the same Church Lower Gayenne Perigart and Liâ—â—â—sin Burguâ—dy and Gix. For the Province of Burgundy and Baylywick of Gex Monsieur Peter Colinett Pastor in the Church of Parey le Moynean and Anthony le Blanc Pastor of the Church of Lions with James de Jaucourt Lord of Rouvray Elder of the Church of Chastillion seated upon the Seyn and John le Gras Elder of the Church of Lions whose reasons having been heard inducing them to transfer their right of calling the National Synod unto the Province of Poictou as was decreed by the last Article of the Synod of Rochel they were accepted and approved And they demanding that the priviledg of Convening the next Synod might another time be granted to them answer was returned that in due time they should be considered when as they could present us with a commodious and safe place Higher Languedoc and Guyenne For the Province of Higher Languedoc and the Higher Guyenne Monsieur William le Nautonnier Lord of Castelfranc Pastor in the Church of Venez and Mark Antony Benoist Pastor in the Church of Montauban with George du Bourg Senior Elder in the Church of Isle Jourdain and Levy de Barsac Lord of Breuil Elder in the Church of St. John du Breuil which said Lord du Bourg neither appeared in person nor sent his Excuse for Non-appearance whereof the Province shall have notice given it For the Province of Brittany Mr. David Richer Brittany Pastor of the Church of Blain and Andrew le Noir Lord of Beauchamp Pastor of the Church of Roche-bernard with Louis d'Avangour Lord du Bois de Cargrois Elder in the Church of Nants and Elias de Goulevez Lord of Loudauinieres Elder in the Church of Vielle Vigne For the Province of Normandy Mr. Abdias Denis Lord of Mondenis Normandy Pastor of the Church of Fescamp and Benjamin Banage Pastor of the Church of St. Mere Eglise with Charles de Fouquerett Lord de la Haye Elder in the Church of Rouen and John de la Rey Lord of Narsouquett Elder in the Church of Montivillier The Isle of France Beausse Picardy and Champagne For the Province of the Isle of France Beausse Picardy and Champagne Monsieur Samuel Durant Pastor of the Church of Paris and John Baptist Bugnet Pastor of the Church of Compeigne with Gideon de Serres Lord of Pradett Elder of the Church of Paris and James de Harderet Lord de Bijanette Elder of the Church of Blainville But the said de Bijanett neither appeared in person nor sent his excuse for non appearing whereof the Province shall have notice given them Orleans Blesois Berry and Nivernois For the Province of Orleans Blesois Berry and Nivernois Mr. Stephen de Mont-sanglard Pastor of the Church of Corbigny and Samuel de Chambaran Pastor of the Church of Lorges and Marchenoir with Francois Semelle Elder of the Church of Corbigny and Josiah Perrinett Elder of the Church of St. Amand. Anjou Tourain and Mayne For the Province of Anjou Touraine and the Maine Monsieur Samuel Boucherean Pastor of the Church of Saumur and Daniel Couppe Pastor of the Church of Tours and together with them Toussainct Lord of * * * Leard Leard Elder of the Church of Bauge with whom was deputed Bartholomew de Barge Elder of the Church of Loudun who yet neither appeared in person nor excused his absence by any Letters unto the Synod whereof notice shall be given unto the Province Xaintonge Aunix and Augoumois For the Province of Xaintonge Aunix and Augoumois Monsieur John Merlin Pastor of the Church of Rechel and Paul Bonnett Pastor of the Church of Saujon together with Arthur de Partenay Lord of Genouille Elder of the Church of Tonnay Boutonne and Peter Babouett Elder of the Church of Saujon But the Lord of Genouille being absent by reason of sickness Elias Glatinon Elder of the Church of Augoulesme being substituted in his stead was personally present at this Synod and afterward the said Lord de Genouille being recovered and coming to it the other returned unto his own habitation Higher and Lower Poictou For the Province of Higher and Lower Poictou Monsieur Jonas Chesuean Pastor of the Church of St. Maixant and Andrew Rivett Pastor of the Church of Touars together with Rene de Caumont Lord of Fiebrun Elder of the Church of Sansay and Stephen Chesneuert Lord de la Miletiere Elder of the Church of Talmond General Deputy Moreover the Lord de Mirande one of the General Deputies of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom appeared personally in this Synod and had his place and priviledge of voting in it according to the former Decrees passed in favour of those our said Deputies There also offered himself Monsieur d'Or Sedan one of the Pastors of the Church of Sedan with Letters from the Mareschall Duke of Bouillon and from the Pastors of the Principality of Sedan and Raucourt craving to be received into this Assembly to have priviledge of voting in it as well as the other Deputies But the Assembly gave them the self same answer which had been given them by former Synods that forasmuch as the said Churches were incorporated with the Colloquy of Champagne and the Provincial Synod of the Isle of France they judged it in no wise fit to grant them their demand Only they were Suffered as other Pastors not deputed unto the Synod to be present when points of Doctrine and Discipline were Debated but should not be otherwise heard in any other matters propounded by them than speaking by the mouths of the Pastors and Elders deputed by their Province And the said Churches were Censured for importuning the reception of this R. person among us because of their private deputation given to him after that an Order had past to the Contrary in the last National Synod And Letters shall be writ unto the Lord Duke of Bouillon to intreat his Highness that the order of our Churches may not in the least be interrupted but most inviolably observed yea and in those affairs which do more especially concern his own Principality Prayers being ended Monsieur Merlin was chosen Moderator and Monsieur Ferrier Assessor and Monsieur Rivett a Pastor and the Lord du Pradell an Elder were chosen Scribes of the Synod It was also decreed for the future that Pastors and Elders who were not deputed by their Provinces should not be admitted into the National Synods but only when as the Confession of Faith and Discipline should be read and observations made upon them during the said reading and that they should be excluded from all other affairs both General and Particular and this Ordinance should serve as a Declaration of the mind and sence of foregoing Synods about those Articles and Canons relating unto the said Pastors and Elders Non-commissionated And the Provinces shall be admonished that for great and weighty reasons they do henceforward by their own authority retain
But because of the general complaint of the Provinces that we have too great a number of Universities we cannot permit the Erection of any new ones besides the Colledge of Bergerac according to the description given us of it will render those inexcusable who send their Children unto the Jesuites because it is as well supplied and furnished with Regents to instruct our Youth in Grammar-Learning and Philosophy as the best of our Adversaries 7. The Province of Dolphiny is exhorted to rest contented with their own proper stock for the same reasons as were alledged in the case of Bergerac only one hundred Crowns are allotted to them as to those Provinces which have no Universities 8. My Lord the Duke of Sully acquainting this Assembly with his design of setling a Colledge for the benefit of the Churches of this Kingdom in the Town of Gergeau untill such time as that of Boisbelle built by him be compleatly finished The Synod applauding his noble pious design consents that there shall be setled upon this Foundation five hundred Crowns yearly to be taken out of the Moneys granted us by his Majesties liberality on this condition that the said Colledge be governed by the same Laws and Orders with the others formerly erected in this Kingdom 9. Although the Universities of Montauban Nismes Montpellier and Sedan have not done their duties about their Accompts as they were charged by the last National Synod yet for some certain considerations this Assembly suffers them to receive from the Treasurer General the Moneys ordered them by the said Synod but on this condition that if they do not bring in an exact Accompt unto the places appointed they shall forfeit their priviledges of being Universities 10. We leave it to the Prudence of Academical Counsels to determine at what times our young Students having perfected their Course of Philosophy may be admitted to make their Proposition without tying them up to a fixt and limited term because of the vast difference between the parts of some and the great and apparent progress of others in humane learning And they may judge also whether it be convenient that the censures past upon our Scholars should be done in their presence or in their absence only and to be reported to the Proposan by the Moderator 11. The Universities and Colledges are injoined strictly to examine our Students in Philosophy as soon as they have finished their course of two years and all Rectors and Professors are forbidden to create them Masters of Arts unless they be found capable and this self same order shall oblige Professors of Divinity for their Schollars that they do not make them Licentiates in Divinity but upon the very self same terms 12. Those Provinces which had an hundred Crowns a-peice granted them by the last National Synod of Rochel for the erecting of Schools and have not produced their Regents Acquittances in this Synod are charged to bring them unto the next on pain of losing their Priviledges 13. The Province of Anjou tendering by Monsieur Bouchereau one of their Deputies the Accompts of Moneys ordained for the maintenance of the University of Saumur This Assembly having audited them decreed that the five hundred Livers expended in building of Galleries for conveniency of the Professors and Scholars in their Temple shall be born by all the Churches of this Kingdom because of the poverty of that Church and their faithful and prudent management of the said Moneys received by them And upon a full view of their Accompts it appeared that the Officers Regents and several Professors of that University had been paid their Stipends to the first day of April past and that the Sieurs de Trochorege Professor of Divinity Birgam Professor of the Hebrew and des Rochers Principal of the Colledge were paid theirs before hand by way of advance unto the first day of July next coming And all this being deducted from the Accompt aforesaid Master Philip Pineau Receiver of the said Moneys stands indebted to the said University in the summ of one thousand two hundred thirty nine Livers nine Sous and two deniers which shall be imployed for the maintenance of the said University in such manner as shall be hereafter ordained And the evidences of the said Accompts shall be kept by the Province of Anjou but the Originals shall be transmitted to the Archives of the Church and Consistory of Rochel CHAP. VIII Of Particular Matters 1. THE Sieurs Cerizier an Elder Guerin and the Senior du Moustier Deputies from the Church of Loudun petitioned that two Ministers might be given them for Pastors out of the Synod of Poictou This Assembly not approving their searchings abroad in several Synods especially in that of Poictou for supplies hath sent them back to their own Province to be provided there according to the Discipline And it being told them that Monsieur Fleury was at liberty to quit his Church in their Province they demanding him he was accordingly given them for their Pastor 2. The difference between Monsieur Constantin and the Province of Xaintonge about Moneys claimed by him from them is dismissed over to the Synod of Poictou to be finally determined by them 3. The Church of Orleans requesting a supply of Moneys to the defraying of those extraordinary Charges they have been at by reason of their divisions This Assembly turned them over to their own Province who should provide for them out of the common Stock distributed among them 4. The Province of Upper Guyenne shall judge whether the Sieur Girard may Preach in the Church of Mauvoisin he being imployed by its Pastor without breaking of their Peace And in case it may be done the Prohibition past against him in the Synod of Gergeau shall be taken off the File 5. Mr. Castelfranc and Benoist Pastors and Mr. Barjac an Elder are ordered by this Assembly to acquaint the Lords President Judges and Counsellors of the Court of Castres from their personal knowledge of what past in the Synod of Gergeau that Monsieur Ferrier Minister in the Church of Nismes did neither by word or deed in the least derogate from their true and due honour and to confirm this their Message Letters shall be written in the name of this Assembly unto the said Lords 6. The Accusation of Ascanius Allion against Monsieur Cante is again remanded back unto the Province of Dolphiny to consider of it and what is to be done in it after their having heard the new matters of fact which the said Ascanius pretends to bring in as Evidence against him And this Assembly orders Monsieur Videl to give him twelve Crowns out of the Moneys collected for the Poor of the Valleys and six Crowns more to be given by him unto Joshua Faravel of the Marquisate of Saluces 7. Mr. Roy formerly an Elder in the Church of Xaintes renewed again his complaint for that the Order of the last National Synod about changing the Eldership in the said Church hath been only in
part and not totally and entirely observed nor was that Reparation given his Wifes honour who had been affronted when as God-mother she presented a Child to Baptism as was ordained by the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge This Assembly judgeth that for the first of these the Consistory of the said Church is justly consurable having but in part performed what was enjoyned them and they be once again commanded to fulfil the whole Article and in case of their not doing it the Synod is charged to proceed against the said Consistory by all Church Censures And for the second point complained of by him this Assembly by and with Consent of the Deputies of that Province and of the said du Roy doth send it back unto the Synod or to the Delegates of the Colloquies of Xaintonge who shall by Authority from us judge finally of it 8. The Sieur Rochers at present Minister of the Church de la Chese in Poictou representing his very great wants and complaining both of the Church of Gardonne and the other Congregations in Perigord annexed to it for being indebted to him all the Moneys granted us by His Majesties Liberality for part of which he gave an Acquittance the same day that he had his Licence of departure by the Colloquy of Perigord and yet that very part is detained from him by the Province of Lower Guyenne This Assembly having heard the Deputies of that Province and the Sieur Charron offering satisfaction should be given him by those particular persons who were behind-hand in Arrearages to him or else in present ready Money or in that which was equivalent it did advise him to accept of the offers made him and by way of advantage the Lord du Candal was ordered to pay him an hundred Livers which shall be abated in Account from the Province of Lower Guyenne and shall be deducted by the said Sieur Rochers if so be that the Province of Xaintonge unto which he is dismissed do find that there be two years of the King's Bounty owing to him And whereas the Church of Saueilles is also indebted to him the Province of Poictou is ordered to examine the matter and to see that he be fully satisfied 9. The Church of Marennes petitioning that the Sieur Richer the younger who was now freed from that Church wherein he Ministred in the Province of Champagne and Brie might be presented to them for their Pastor This Assembly grants that the said Richer may preach among them until such time as Monsieur de Chabosselay their Pastor shall return unto them And the Colloquy of the Isles shall judge of what may be best expedient for the said Church and whether the said Richer may be confirmed in it and in case he be not employed there he shall be at full liberty to dispose of himself elsewhere 10. The Church of Paris petitioning by the Sieurs Durand and du Pradel that Monsieur Ferrier might be either sent or absolutely given them for their Pastor This Assembly weighing the reasons urged by the Church of Paris for it and those of the Deputies of Nismes and Languedoc against it Judgeth that they cannot equitably dispose of the Ministry of the said Ferrier Yet on the other hand considering the great importance and needs of the Church of Paris it intreats the Church of Nismes to lend their said Minister Monsieur Ferrier for one year or to resign him up wholly to them for life when as they shall be particularly requested to it by the Church of Paris An Order concerning Ministers born in Geneva but settled in the Churches of France that neither the Lords nor Ministers of that City can pretend any right unto them 11. The Lords and Pastors of the City and Church of Geneva sent their Letters unto this Assembly demanding that the Sieurs Chauve and le Faucheur whom they claimed as their own might be returned to them to exercise their Ministry among them After hearing the Provincial Deputies of the Lower Languedoc and Vivaretz and understanding they had none other Title to them than that of their Birth which also the Churches of France hath unto divers Pastors that have and now do actually serve the Church of Geneva This Assembly judged that their right unto them was not considerable and therefore intreats the Lords and Ministers of the City of Geneva that they would not for the future lay any claim or pretend any right unto them they being lawfully established Pastors in this Kingdom according to the Discipline of our Churches by which the Pastors are fixed and appropriated unto their Flocks immediately upon their Ordination All which shall be notified unto the Seignory and Ministry of the said Church and City of Geneva 12. The Church of Chastelheraut petitioned this Assembly to provide them a worthy Pastor they being utterly unable to procure one It was ordered that they be assisted for six months by the Neighbour Ministers and by the Colloquy of Higher Poictou and particularly by Monsieur Clemenceau Pastor of the Church of Poictiers for the first month beginning with the first of July and the second by Monsieur Monestier Pastor of the Church of Saujon by Monsieur Forent Pastor of Chauvigny the third by Monsieur Mestayer Pastor of Lusignan the fourth by Monsieur Cuville Pastor of Couche the fifth and by Monsieur Favre Pastor of Vigean the sixth 13. Remonstrances were made on the one hand by the Churches of Maringues and Paillac and on the other by the Church of Issoire this last complaining that whereas two portions of four had been formerly assigned to them now in the last National Synod they were taken from them without their knowledge or ever being heard speak for themselves and given unto those of Maringues and Paillac as also that they could never get a Minister setled among them by the Synod of Lower Languedoc but only the lone of one and him too at excessive Rates and Charges After hearing the Deputies of Lower Languedoc the Assembly ordained that for time to come the Churches of Maringues and Paillac should be joyned to the Province of Burgundy and in the distribution of its moneys four portions shall be assigned unto the said Churches according to the decree of the National Synod of Rochel And as for the Church of Issoire it shall remain incorporated with the Province of Lower Languedoc untill the next National Synod In which three portions of the Kings Moneys shall be allotted to it And the two Provinces into which the said Churches are dismissed shall provide Pastors for them as soon as possibly they can 14. The affair of the Sieur Drouet Pastor in the Church of Pont le Evesque in Normandy is remitted over to the same Province he having produced no Appeal from it 15. The Petition of the Inhabitants of Vertueil craving Relief from the Judgment given against them in this Assembly for their conjunction with those of Villefaignan and equally to injoy the Ministry of Monsieur Comar is
hundred and fifty Livers and three Sous By the Province of Normandy one thousand Livers By the Province of Xaintonge one thousand thirty six Livers All which said sums of Money shall be delivered into the Consistory of the Church of Grenoble and distributed according to the advice of those Colloquies named in the Provincial Synod of Dolphiny and the Accounts of the said distribution shall be brought in to that Synod and by it tender'd unto the next National Synod and the other Moneys already received or hereafter to be received from the Provinces not mentioned in this Act shall de disposed of in the same manner 2. The Lords Governors of our Cautionary Towns are intreated by this Assembly and shall be exhorted by the Pastors of those Churches whereunto they do belong to bear their part and share in all charges and expences for the common publick concernments of our Churches and to bepaid out of the Moneys which are assigned them and particularly to allow a Sous in the Liver of those Moneys which have been formerly given to our Lords the General Deputies who be discharged from that defalcation As also to bear part in the losses of the years 1604 1605 and 1606 their whole part amounting but to two thousand four hundred twenty seven Livers and six Sous 4. Report being made of what was offered by the Lords du Pradel Rocheblave and Ricard about the Commission for Receiving our Moneys granted by his Majesty to the Churches of this Kingdom This Assembly having well pondered all those matters and circumstances and heard the Lord du Candal speaking of the said Commission which was grounded on the Contract of Gap which he hath most faithfully discharged judgeth that they cannot in the least remove the said Lord du Candal from his Office and Trust but confirm and continue him in it yet nevertheless thanks were returned unto the said Lords du Pardel Rocheblanc and Ricard for their singular affection and respect to the well-being of our poor Churches 4. It is decreed that the former Order in the distribution of Moneys according to the number of Pastors in each Province shall be observed excepting only when as the poorer Provinces are to be gratified by reason of the number of their Churches the portions assigned to them not being sufficient for them Henceforward in all Rolls brought from the Provinces unto these National Synods for their portions of Money to be distributed among them no other names shall be allowed of Pastors but such as are in actual service or that be disabled by age or infirmities together with those of our Students in Divinity without mentioning the Churches unprovided for And it 's left unto Synods to take care of the poorer Provinces to order for them according as they shall see needful These Original Acts and Decrees of the National Synod of St. Maixant begun the 25th of May and ended the 19th of June 1609. were thus signed by Merlin Moderator Ferrier Assessor Scribes Rivet and Pradel CHAP. XII A Catalogue of the Churches from whom there it Allowance given out of the King's Moneys till the next National Synod 1. THE Province of Xaintonge hath sixty four Pastors in actuals service one portion for Monsieur Picard six Proposans in all 71. 71. 2. Anjou hath 21 Pastors in actual service three Churches vacant and three Proposans in all 27. 27. 3. The Higher Languedoc hath 74 Pastors in actual service five Churches to be supplied two portions for Foix one portion for Jouarre seven Proposans in all 84. 84. 4. Orleans hath 25 Pastors in actual service five vacant Churches and six Proposans in all 36. 36. 5. Dolphiny hath sixty four Pastors in actual service three Emeriti eight vacant Churches eight Proposans in all 83. 83. 6. Normandy hath thirty Pastors in actual service two Emeriti six vacant Churches six Proposans and one portion supernumerary in all 51. 51. 7. Provence hath seven Pastors in actual service seven vacant Churches three proposans and three supernumerary portions in all 20. 20. 8. Brittany hath 8 Pastors in actual service six vacant Churches four Proposans two supernumerary portions in all 20. 20 9. Burgundy hath 29 Pastors in actual service six vacant Churches three Proposans three supernumerary portions and four portions for Maringues and Paillac in all 46. 46. 10. Vivaretz hath twenty three Pastors in actual service five vacant Churches three Proposans one portion for the Church of Vaurdy two supernumerary for the Church of Aubenas in all 34. 034. 11. Lower Guyenne hath 65 Pastors in actual service two portions for Mr. Baduel one vacant Church and five Proposans in all 73. 073. 12. The Lower Languedoc hath 95 Pastors in actual service six Proposans three portions for Issoire one supernumerary for Maruegues in all 105. 105. 13. Poictou hath one and forty Pastors in actual service four vacant Churches three Proposans in all 48. 048. 14. The Isle of France c. hath 47 Pastors in actual service two Emeriti two vacant Churches seven portions for Mantes and Fountainbleau six Proposans in all 64. 064. In all 762. CHAP. XIII An Account of the Dividend in the three first Quarters For our Universities Montauban 2450. Saumur 4190. Montpellier 1250. Nismes 1250. Sedan 1500. nbsp 10640. To our General Deputies at Court 01650. To the Pastors of Churches  l. s. d. In Provence 2508 18 6 In Brittany 2508 18 6 In Burgundy 5380 10 6 In Vivaretz 4055 03 6 In Lower Guyenne 8302 10 6 In Lower Languedoc 11526 16 0 In Poictou 5601 08 6 In Xaintonge 8141 14 6 In Anjou 2982 01 6 In Higher Languedoc 9277 09 6 In Orleans and Berry 4276 01 6 For the Colledge of Gergeau 1508 00 0 In Dolphiny 9467 01 0 In Normandy 5932 15 0 In the Isle of France 7368 11 6 The total sum is 88960 10 0 In these sums are included the hundred Crowns given to every one of the Provinces for their respective Schools and Colledges to wit to Provence Brittany Burgundy Vivaretz Lower Guyenne Poictou Xaintonge Berry Dolphiny Normandy and the Isle of France The Quarter of October for our Pastors  l. s. d. Provence 0885 16 06 Brittany 0885 16 06 Burgundy 2037 08 00 Vivaretz 1505 18 00 Lower Guyenne 3233 05 04 Lower Languedoc 4650 11 09 Poictou 2126 00 00 Xaintonge 3144 14 00 Anjou 1195 17 04 Higher Guyenne 3720 09 04 Orleans 1594 09 04 Dolphiny 3676 03 06 Normandy 2258 17 00 The Isle of France 2834 13 00 The total sum is 33750 00 00 The Assembly having long waited for news of the Sieurs Ferrier Fiefbrun and de Malleret whom they had Deputed unto his Majesty about that affair before mentioned and committed to their management but finding that they passed the time limited them and being now resolved to conclude this meeting did give order unto the Lords our General deputies to prosecute that business at Court and to present his Majesty with our most humble petition about
strict and severe exercise of the Discipline and for not executing the Judgment of the Colloquies and Synods of their Province given forth on this occasion And the said Consistory is enjoyned to see to it that the said Gouze and all his Partners do make satisfaction as in reason they are bound unto the said Sieur Loupiat for the injuries they have done him And in case they so do the said Loupiat shall be intreated to desist from all prosecutions at Law against the said Gouze but in that matter we leave him to his liberty And the said Loupiat at the next Election shall be received into the Eldership according to the Canons of our Discipline And as for the said Gouze we do not conceive him qualified at present for the Office of an Elder 36. The Province of Lower Languedoc assembled at Florac to provide a Pastor for the Church of Meruez fit for their service did lend the Sieur Ollier Pastor of the Church of St. Andrew de Valborgne Whereupon the said Church brought their Appeal into this National Synod Which having heard the whole matter did approve of the Loan made by the aforesaid Provincial Synod but withal gave them to understand that when as the six Months for which he is lent shall be expired that then the said Sieur Ollier shall return again unto his Church of St. Andrew de Valborgne CHAP. VIII His Majesties Proclamation of Pardon BEFORE we proceed unto General matters we shall first exhibit his Majesties Letters Pattents concerning their Pardon who have held Provincial Political Assemblies since that National one which was convened at Saumur in the year 1611. LOUIS by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre To our Beloved and Trusty Counsellors sitting in our Court of Parliament and of the Edict Greeting When God called us to the Government of this Kingdom to Wear the Crown and weild the Scepter of our Ancestors we took up a fixed resolution to follow that form and order in management of State Affairs which was Established by the Deceased King our most Honoured Lord and Father whom God absolve Believing that we could not better secure the Kingdom which he had left us than by imitating his example who had raised it from the deepest desolation to the highest Pinnacle of Glory And we have met with that success and happiness herein that none of our Subjects have had any the least occasion to complain of us For we have took such an effectual course in the Administration of our Government that we have given general satisfaction unto all Persons whom God hath Subjected to us and particularly unto those of the Pretended Reformed Religion for we have not only graciously answered their Petitions and Bills of Grievances which they had presented to us but we have also sent divers Persons of Quality into all the Provinces of this Kingdom with Commissions and Authority to see the Edict of Nantes executed in all its Articles and particular Orders and other Priviledges Granted and Accorded in the Reign of our Deceased Lord and Father to them and in all other cases whatsoever in which it might be executed that so by this means we might free them from all fears and apprehensions of troubles which have been formerly the grounds and pretences used by those our said Subjects for holding extraordinary Assemblies without our Royal Permission and would have made others of a different perswasion to suspect and grow jealous of them Wherefore we being most desirous to provide against those evils and to preserve that Peace Union and good correspondence most Happily Established and kept up by the Edict and its exact observation we do by and with the Advice and Consent and in the presence of the Queen Regent our most Honoured Lady and Mother and of the Princes of our Blood and with the Princes and Officers of our Crown and being fully assured of the good Will in general of our said Subjects of their zeal and fidelity to our service and designing to deal favourably with them We have of our mere and special Grace Plenary Power and Royal Authority remitted and abolished we do remit and abolish by these Presents their offence committed by them who have called or assisted in person at those Assemblies aforesaid which have been held without our Permission in sundry Provinces of this Kingdom and also of all matters fore-passed or done in Consequence of them and we will that they be all fully acquitted cleared and discharged from them and we expresly forbid our Attorney general and his Substitutes in any wise to make any Inquiry Suit or Prosecution for them Yet nevertheless that we may prevent for the future the Licentious calling of such Assemblies forbidden by the Edicts and special Orders made on these accounts by the Late King our most Honoured Lord and Father in the Obedience of which 't is our Will and Pleasure that those our said Subjects shall continue and in pursuance of the eighty second Article of the Edict of Nantes and of the Ordinance of the fifteenth of March 1606. at also of that Answer given the nineteenth of August next following unto their Bill of Grievances presented by the General Deputies of the said Religion the Extracts of which are fastned unto these Presents under the Seal of our Chancery We have prohibited and do prohibit and forbid all those our said Subjects of the said Religion for the future to make any Congregations or Assemblies for treating or debating of holding any publick Assemblies without having first got our Royal License and Permission expresly to this purpose upon pain of being punished at breakers of our Edicts and Disturbers of the publick Peace However we do give them full Liberty of holding their Consistories Colloquies and Provincial and National Synods at hath been formerly granted to them but with this condition that they admit none other persons into them but Ministers and Elders to treat of their Doctrine and Church-Discipline upon pain of losing their Priviledge to hold these Assemblies and on all Moderators of answering for it in their private and personal Capacities And we do command that these our present Letters Pattents be read and recorded and that you cause those our said Subjects to enjoy the benefit of their contents and farther that you see them exactly and punctually observed in the whole extent of your Jurisdiction without permitting or suffering them in the least to be transgressed Moreover we command and enjoin all Governors and Lieutenant Generals Particular Governors and their Lieutenants in the Governments of our Provinces and Cities of their Jurisdiction and the Mayors Bayliffs Sheriffs and Consuls of them to see that they be very carefully kept and observed And the first of our Beloved and Faithful Counsellors and Master of the Ordinary Requests of our Houshold and Counsellors in our Court of Parliament in those places and others our Justices and Officers to make informations of those transgressions aforesaid and to give us
persevere in our Faith and Discipline and to adventure their Estates their Lives and Fortunes for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ expressing also their great desire that all the Members of our Churches might be preserved in a sweet and perfect Concord After thanks given them in the person of their Messengers Letters were ordained to be written unto each of them applauding their Zeal and Religious Affection and exhorting them to perseverance in this their godly Resolution and farther to assure them that this Assembly will do its utmost endeavour that their pious desires of uniting all the Members of the Church may be accomplished 4. This Assembly being informed that Mr. David Hume formerly Pastor in the Church of Duras in the Lower Guyenne was lately returned from his native Country of Scotland and as he passed through England his Majesty of Great Britain had charged him with a Letter to be delivered to us concerning differences sprung up in our Churches on several points of Doctrine The Assembly ordained that before it was read unto us a Copy thereof should be transcribed and sent unto the Lord de Rouvray our Deputy General at Court that so in case we should be suspected there he might immediately discover that it was nothing of State-Affairs but only a Point of Doctrine which concerned all the Reformed Churches gathered in divers Kingdoms and Republicks To Communicate in which Matters we had all freedom ever promised us and as for those of another nature we would never intermeddle with them unless we had an express and new permission from the King 5. Monsieur Hume being called in did by word of mouth relate what was given him in charge by his Majesty of great Britain who advised this Assembly as from him to procure and maintain a firm Union in points of Doctrine among the Pastors Professors and others the Members of our Churches without quarrelling with the Divines of Germany or any persons teaching otherwise who handled the point of Justification in a different manner from us and particularly that we would silence that controversy risen up between the Sieurs du Moulin and Tilenus and yet to prize and value those Gifts which the great God hath so plenteously bestowed upon them for his Churches Edifying Assuring us farther of his Majesties good will affection and purpose to defend the Churches of God and particularly ours Which also was the substance of his Letter See afterwards the 18th observ on the Synod of Privas This Assembly returned their most humble thanks unto the King of Great Britain speaking by the said Mr. Hume the bearer of his Letters and put off their consideration and resolutions about this affair unto its proper place viz. then to be debated when as the Acts of the Synod of Privas shall be reviewed 6. The Deputies of the Council for the Province of Lower Guyenne craving leave to be heard in this Assembly about matters of great importance which they were ordered to declare unto us being introduced they began to vindicate and justify the means used by them in their prosecution of the violations of the Edict by which their Churches had exceedingly suffered whereof they gave many and particular instances in divers Articles and concluded with an earnest suit unto this Assembly that we would by all lawful means prevent divisions among our selves and so obviate the Plots and practices of the enemies of our Religion in the present State of affairs which are now upon the wheel Whereupon the Assembly did assure them of that favourable construction it put upon their good intentions and on their proceedings as reported by them and of the ways and means they had used and it farther promised that every one of the Deputies of this Synod should remonstrate the same unto their respective Provinces that so none ill opinion might be taken up or entertained to their prejudice And as for those remedies craved by them for hereafter against our common publick evils and their particular sufferings the Assembly knoweth none more proper and fit than what is offered us viz. the next General Assembly granted us by their Majesties who therefore shall be most humbly thanked for it and yet most earnestly and humbly intreated to change the place of their meeting and to defer the time thereof unto the twentieth day of August next that so the Provincial Assemblies may sit the longer and have the more time and leisure to intend and perfect our desired Union And this Assembly seeth it self obliged to procure it because of what has been already Proposed and advanced which also it will do by all lawful and possible means And as for the Modifications and restrictions of the Writ it Judgeth that they ought to be sent over to the mixt Provincial and General Politick Assemblies which the Deputies unto this Synod shall every one of them at their return represent unto their respective Provinces and Monsieur de Rouvray our General Deputy shall be written unto out of hand to present our most humble thanks as also our before-mentioned Requests unto their Majesties that so this Assembly may receive an answer before its dissolution CHAP. IV. Observations made on Reading the Confession of Faith Article 1. THERE being found some difference about the 6th Article of the Confession in the Latin and French Copies the first restraining that approbation which had been determined in the Mystery of the Trinity unto the four first ancient Councils but the others extending it indefinitely unto the ancient Councils This Assembly decreed that nothing should be altered in the French Edition of it Art 2. On the 8th Article Because that in divers Copies there was a Typographical Error which altered the very sence of the Article Exprimant que Dieu fait Convertir au lieu de dire qui'l Scait Convertir this Assembly exhorts the Pastors of those Churches which have Printers to admonish them that they get some Judicious Person to oversee and correct the press that we may not be troubled any more with complaints of this nature and that once for all our Confession be Printed with the greatest exactness according to the Copies revised in the last National Synods and the like notice shall be given to the Pastors and Professors in the Church of Geneva Art 3. On the 9th Article instead of these words qui'l y ait there must be read qui'l ait Art 4. Montaubaâ— obs 6. Saumur obs 1.3 Rochel obs 13. On the 39th Article towards the close of it the words of Institution shall be added according to the Decree of former National Synods in the express terms of St. Matthews Gospel Take eat c. Art 5. The Confession of Faith of the Churches in this Kingdom having been read word by word was approved in all its Articles by the Deputies not only for themselves personally but generally for all the Provinces represented by them and by whom they were commissionated and all of them swore for themselves and for
concord of our Churches in that Doctrine which notwithstanding the many evil times have past over us hath been preserved until now in its purity among us The other is that by continuing the Oaths injoyned by the last Synod of Privas you take the most proper and effectual course to heal the wounds which our unhappy divisions have these years last past made in the Vnion of our Churches and I see no Expedient more likely to suceed than unanimously and with joynt consent to agree and pitch upon one General end whereunto all and every one shall direct and aim I Salute most humbly every Member of your Assembly and beseech God Almighty to assist and fortify you by his holy Spirit for his own glory and for the Vnion Restauration and Propagation of his Church From Saumur April 20. 1614. Your most humble and most affectionate Servant Du Plessis The Duke of Rohan's Letter to the National Synod Assembled at Tonneins Sirs THOSE strong obligations which the Churches of France have laid upon me do ingage me to seek out all occasions whereby to testifie my gratitude 'T is this which causes me to write at present and to crave this favour of you to believe that I shall never forget those assistances I received from you in the last Synod of Privas and particularly from divers Churches of this Kingdom yea and from those I have never known Certainly Sirs I shall Confess it freely that the effects of your kindnesses have exceeded my services yet I hope that for the future you will know you have not have obliged an ungrateful person And that what you have kept for me shall be always chearfully employed for your selves We are fallen into such a time as need extraordinary Prayers unto God for his Guidance and Counsel We have been much afflicted since the Assembly of Saumur by divisions sown and fomented among us The Synod of Privas knowing it to be the most compendious Course for our Ruine did indeavour to prevent it But divers persons being unacquainted with our malady then there could not be a thorough cure effected But now every one knows it and may contribute something thereunto For my part I think it no difficult matter for us to use the true Remedy which consists in an entire re-union of all our Members that so we may be but one Body and the more fit to serve God the King and our Country and the more able to divert our enemies from enterprizing upon us from whom also we might take away the very will of doing it by its impossibility This Sirs is a work well-worthy of your Assembly I exactly conformed to the desires of the last Synod and I do now again renew my promises of observing your Orders not only in that but in whatsoever else you shall judge to concern the glory of God whom I ardently beseech that he would preside in your Councils and to give me that grace never to abuse his favours conferred upon me but that employing whatever I have received from his divine Majesty to the advancement of his Kingdom I may consecrate the remainder of my days unto his service My Lord Baron of Montausier hath particular orders from me to acquaint you with my intentions and proceedings and especially with that journey of the Lord of Hautefontain taken by my command unto his highness the Prince I desire you would believe him in what he shall inform you as if it were my self and I shall always approve my self to you all generally and particularly Sirs From St. John d' Angely this 24. of April 1614. Your most Humble and most Affectionate to do your service Henry of Rohan A Letter from the Lord of Caumont to the National Synod of Tonneins Sirs I Well hoped to have had strength enough to have been personally present with you and to have injoyed the honour and contentment of saluting your Holy Assembly and to have given you my self by word of Mouth the assurance of my fidelity and affection unto whatsoever the service of my God obligeth me for the support of his Churches and the advancement of his Glory But being at present detained by important businesses which the Sieur de Mailléz shall inform you of I intreat you therefore most humbly to be pleased with my absence and to believe that no person in the World is more ready to expose his life and the Lives and Estate of all his with greater chearfulness and willingness for Gods cause and yours than I shall be to adventure mine and the lives and fortunes of all mine And I pray God that by his Holy Spirit he would be pleased to preside in the midst of you and to conduct your Holy Wills in such manner as he knows to be most expedient for his Glory the Weal Repose and Conservation of his Church whereof having the honour to be a Member I shall ever remain in its Communion and subject my self wholly in all things unto it under the priviledge of the Edicts and the authority of their Majesties intreating you to lay your Commands upon me and to be assured that in whatsoever I may serve the publick and every one of you in particular you shall have evidence of my obedience and loyal affection The Lord follow you most Reverend Sirs with his choicest Favours and Benedictions I am From Paris May 2. 1614. Your most Humble and Affectionate Servant Caumont A Letter from the Lord of Chastillon to the National Synod of Tonneins Sirs MY past actions which through Divine Grace no Man hath just cause to complain of are I believe sufficient proofs of that care I ever had for the re-union and good intelligence of the great men of this Kingdom professing the true Religion and the fear of God as also of that respect I paid unto the desires of the last National Synod of Privas intimated to me by their Letters and what I have since done both at Court for our general concerns and since my return in this Province to conserve your Lives and Priviledges enjoyed by you during the reign of the late King will testifie that the true blood of the late renowned Lord Admiral de Chastillon is in my Veins and that I have managed all publick affairs fallen into my hands with all uprightness and justice as the Sieurs Gigord and Codur who have been Eye-witnesses of my deportments can more fully inform you if they please Sirs this my Letter drives at none other end than to let you see what deference I have for you and that my whole life shall be employed in the service of the Churches and I beseech you to believe that besides it and the service of the King and your preservation and advancement there is nothing in this world more dear unto me And if I can do you in my station any particular service either here or elsewhere you shall always find me ready for it Had it been as easy for me to have been personally present with you as
which he was threatned that if he once more offended in the like manner he should be proceeded against with greater severity The Synod also that commissionated them was censured for assembling themselves irregularly and not observing the Rules and Orders which are usually and necessary to be observed in such Synodical Meetings And sith it appears there be very many and great Divisions in that Province the Province of Lower Languedoc is charged to Commissionate some certain Pastors and Elders who by the Authority of this Assembly shall assemble the Synod of the said Province and meeting with them shall use their utmost power and indeavour to appease their troubles and to reunite those that be divided and to restore and settle Order in those Ecclesiastical Assemblies 17. The twenty second day of May there came into this Assembly for the Province of Higher Languedoc Monsieur John Josion Pastor of the Church of Castres and James * * * Joly afterward turned Apostate Joly Pastor of the Church of Milland together with James de Laureney Baron of Mombrun Provost of Figeac Elder in the Church of Cajars and John de la Viale Counsellor for the King and Lieutenant Criminal in the Seneschalsey of Quercy and Montauban The excuses urged by them for their delays were rejected and their Letters of Commission judged defective And all these four Deputies did take and swear and subscribed for themselves and those who Commissionated them the Oath of Union the Confession of Faith and our Church-Discipline 18. All and every one of these Deputies swore and protested before God Privas Art 1. after the Election of the Moderator Alez Art 3. ibidem that they did not use any indirect nor underhand-dealing nor did any other for them procure as they knew their Deputation nor did they know that any of their Collegues had brigued his or their Election unto this Assembly CHAP. II. Rules and Orders about By-standers and Spectators in the Synod 1. WHereas the Letters of Commission brought by the greater part of the Provincial Deputies do exceedingly differ in that Clause of Submission due and owing by the Churches unto the Decrees of our National Synods And for that very much of our time is spent and wasted in examining and debating of them It is now decreed that for the future All the Provinces should confine themselves unto the words and substance of this ensuing form We promise before God to submit our selves unto all that shall be concluded and determined in your Holy Assembly to obey and execute it to the utmost of our power being perswaded that God will preside among you and lead you by his holy Spirit into all truth and equity by the Rule of his Word Tonneins Art 1. after the Roll of the Deputies for the good and edification of his Church to the glory of his great name which we most humbly beg of his Divine Majesty in our daily Prayers 2. Whereas divers Pastors and Elders chosen by the Provinces have not appeared in their own Persons but by their Surrogates in this Synod the Provinces shall be advertised to take Cognizance of their Excuses and to pass Judgment on them by the Authority of this Assembly 3. The Provincial Deputies of Brittain Tonneins at the â—nd and underneath g. m. 36. did give an Account of their Calling the National Synod unto this place because the Province of Bearn had resigned their priviledge unto them which the last National Synod held at Tonneins had conferred upon them This Assembly approved of what was done by them but yet told them it had been requisite on their part to have been more diligent and careful in acquainting the Provinces more early of the time and place of meeting by their Letters of Advice and Summons And this Advertisement shall serve for all the Provinces that when as any one of them shall have the charge and priviledge of Indicting our National Synods they may so order matters as to free and acquit themselves of all blame and complaint in this particular 4. Monsieur Petré Pastor of the Church of Vitré Petitioned for his Church and Consistory that he together with the Elders of the said Church might be permitted to sit in this Assembly whilst the Confession of Faith and the Ecclesiastical Discipline were reading The Synod granted it for himself and for two Elders chosen and named by the Consistory and unto those other Pastors who having leave from their Churches to attend the Synod about the concerns of their Churches 3. of Râ—chel Art 3. after the Elect. of the Moder St. Maixant the same Alez ibid. or their own private business as also unto Proposans But as for others who would intrude themselves that Canon of the National Synod of Rochell in the year sixteen hundred and seven shall be strictly observed 5. As soon as the Assembly was form'd and setled the first thing they Voted was an Address unto his Majesty to testify the Joy of all our Churches Below g.m. 29. for those many and wonderful Blessings which God hath graciously vouchsafed Him and to protest unto his Majesty from all the Deputies of the Provinces here Assembled and from all the Churches of this Kingdom that we are and ever will be his most humble most loyal most affectionate and most obedient Subjects and Servants And to this purpose there were deputed from among the Pastors Messieurs Hesperien and Bouteroue and from the Eldership Messieurs de Balene and de Moussac who had Letters given them to present unto his Majesty together with a particular Message which they were to deliver him in the name of this Assembly Of which the Lords Deputies who are now sitting in the Town of Rochel shall have notice given them and Letters shall be sent to the Lord du Candall to furnish these our Deputies with a supply of Monies to defray the Charges of their Journey 6. The Oath of Union of all the Churches of this Kingdom Priâ—as Art 4. after the Elect. of the Moderat under our most humble obedience due unto the King was renewed sworn and subscribed by all the Deputies in this Assembly both for themselves and the respective Provinces from whom they were Commissionated CHAP. III. The Confession of Faith THE Confession of Faith of these reformed Churches in the Kingdom of France was read word by word from the beginning to the end and approved in all its Articles by all the Deputies as well for themselves as for their Provinces that sent them and all of them sware for themselves and Provinces that they would teach and preach it because they believ'd that it did perfectly agree with the Word of God and they would use their best endeavour that as it had been hitherto so it should be ever more received and taught in their Churches and Provinces CHAP. IV. Observations on reading of the Church-Discipline Containing matter of advice given unto certain Provinces 1. THE Deputies of Anjou
of the Fifth Chapter a Question was moved by the Province of Provence Whether a Person that was never called to the Office of an Elder might warrantably read the Word of God and the Common-Prayers unto the Church in the Ministers absence especially in lesser Churches which have no Consistories nor any Persons fit to read This Assembly judgeth that the Consistory hath full liberty to choose any one whom it conceiveth meet to read the Scriptures and Prayers although he be not in the Eldership provided he be of sufficient years and unblameable Life and that he have subscribed the Confession of our Faith and Church-Discipline 13. At the reqâ—est of the Province of Sevennes to these words in the Sixteenth Canon of the Fifth Chapter Fathers and Mothers who marry their Children shall be added these following Tutors Guardians and all other Persons instead of Parents who dispose of their Orphans and Minors in Marriage 14. These words as much as may be shall be rased out of the Ninth Canon of the Twelfth Chapter And in all the Provinces Pastors shall be obliged to administer the Cup as well as the Bread unto every individual Communicant without distinction of Persons as also they shall use meet words in the Administration of both the Elements to quicken the Hearts and Spirits of the Communicants at the Lords Table And express Order is given to all Provincial Synods that they take special care that Pastors do not in the least transgress this Canon 15. On the Third Canon of the Thirteenth Chapter the Province of Normandy desired That all the Churches of this Kingdom would conform themselves to their Custom That Espousals before Marriage should be Celebrated by Ministers with Prayers and Exhortations to the betroathed Persons to prepare them for that Holy Estate whereunto they be called The Assembly though it praiseth and approveth of this their practice and of them that observe it yet did not judge meet to oblige all Persons necessarily thereunto but leave the faithful unto their liberty 16. On the Fifth Canon of the same Chapter there was made this reflection That whereas there is a great difference in divers Copies of our Church-Discipline that Canon which was made by the National Synod of Privas shall be inserted word for word into the Body of our Discipline To witt Henceforward all promises of Marriage and Espousals shall be made by words de futuro nor shall such promises be reputed as firm and undissolvable as the words de Praesenti because the words de praesenti do not promise Marriage but do effectually accomplish it Nevertheless those words de futuro shall not be dissolved without very great and lawful cause Wherefore the Custom of some certain Churches is condemned who celebrate Espousals by the Ministerial Benediction of their Pastors with gift of Bodies by words de praesenti For by such a Solemnity we cannot but account the Parties to be truly and actually Married and that the Publication of Banes is thereby preposterous done after Marriage and another Solemnization of the Marriage in Gods Church is needless However we cannot disapprove of Ministers officiating at Espousals or that they should pray for and Exhort the Parties betroathed to mutual Love Concord Fidelity and the Fear of God but we would have them leave those other Formalities which serve only to render a Bond indissolvable which oftentimes we be constrained afterwards to break by reason of Oppositions made at the Publication of the Banes and for divers other Impediments which may happen For this cause all the Churches shall hereafter utterly abandon that custom of Solemnizing Espousals in the Temple with those Formalities resembling Marriage and they shall conform themselves unto the other Churches of this Kingdom 17. On the Sixteenth Canon of the Thirteenth Chapter the Province of Anjou demanded Whether we should suffer the Banes of Strangers as Germans Scots or any others to be published in our Churches without having Certificates from their Country which will be very difficult to obtain and possibly may be counterfeit This Assembly leaveth the matter wholly to the prudence of Consistories and to act therein as will be most expedient ordaining however that if possible they should get Certificates 18. On the same Canon the Province of lower Guyenne requested that another might be made for the right ordering of Banes which are mostly attended with Titles full of vanity Tins Assembly conceiving that such an Ordinance would not take well with Persons of Quality doth therefore advise them to keep as much as possibly they can within the bounds of Christian Modesty and Simplicity Above the 1. Synod of Rochell Observ 59. 19. The Seventh Canon of the Fourteenth Chapter shall be couched in these words Neither Counsellors nor Attorneys at Law may plead in such Causes as tend to the suppression of the word of God preached nor to the setting un of Mass nor in any wise shall they be suffered to give Counsel or Assistance unto the Romish Church-men in those Causes which have a tendency directly or indirectly to the oppression of the Church See Synod of Orleans Act. 22. 20. The Province of Normandy demanding that the Eleven Canon of this Fourteenth Chapter might be a little mollified This Assembly ordained that it should abide in its full and whole Power according to what had bin decreed in the Synod of Tonneins 21. On the Sixteenth Canon Synods Paris 1. Act. 29. Colloquies and Consistories are Exhorted to watch over Ministers and other Persons who shall publish their Works and not first of all communicate them in Manuscript to be perused and approved by the Divines thereunto appointed and the Transgressors of this Canon shall be most severely censured The Articles of our Discipline having been read and diligently considered were sworne to by all the Pastors and Elders Deputed unto this Assembly both in their private and publick Capacities and they promised for themselves and Provinces to see them faithfully and carefully observed CHAP. VI. Observations made on Reading the Acts of the last National Synod held at Vitre 1. THAT Article enjoyning Monsieur Rivett to compose an History of those Remarkable Providences which had befallen our Churches 〈◊〉 observ 〈◊〉 upoâ— the 〈…〉 being read together with his Excuses by Letters for non-performance the Provinces not having communicated to him their Memorials as they were ordered This Assembly commands that Letters shall be dispatcht to Monsieur Buffon Lieutenant General of Casteljaloux exhorting him to prosecute this great Work undertaken by him of writing the History of our times and that he would be pleased before it go unto the Press to impart it unto the Synod of his Province and all the other Provinces be charged to send unto him their Memoirs 2 Pâ—â—â— Obâ—arv 2. upon the Synod of â—â—â—â—ins 2. In reading that Canon of Tonneins inserted into the last Synod of Vitre which gave leave unto Elders in Consistory the Pastor being excepted against to suspend
Pastors and Elders Deputed unto this Assembly have sworne and protested joyntly and severally that they consent unto this Doctrine and that they will defend it with the utmost of their power even to their last breath The Form and Tenour of which Oath together with the Deputies Names subscribed shall be added to the close of this Article that the consent may be rendred the more Authentick and Obliging to all the Provinces And this Assembly ordaineth that this very Canon be printed and added to the Canons of the said Council and that it shall be read in our Provincial Synods and in our Universities that it may be approved sworne and subscribed to by the Pastors and Elders of our Churches and by the Doctors and Professors in our Universities and also by all those that are to be ordained and admitted into the Ministry or into the Professors Chair in any of our Universities And if any one of these Persons should reject either in whole or in part the Doctrine contained in and decided by the Canons of the said Council or refuse to take the Oath of Consent and Approbation This Assembly decreeth that he shall not be admitted into any Office or Imployment either in our Churches or Universities Moreover this Assembly conjureth by the bowels of Divine Mercy and by the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant all Ministers Pastors of Churches to whom the Cure of pretious Souls is committed that they would walk together evenly and harmoniously in one and the same way that they abstain from all idle unprofitable and curious Questions that they do not pry into the Sacred Ark of Gods hidden and unrevealed Counsels and Decrees above or beyond what is recorded in his written Word the Holy Scriptures of Truth but rather that they would humbly own and acknowledge their ignorance of those profound and unfathomable Mysteries than intrude themselves into things unlawful and that they would so order their Discourses and Sermons concerning Predestination that it may promote Repentance and Amendment of Life consolate wounded Consciences and excite the practice of Godliness that by this means all occasions of Disputes and Controversies may be avoided and we may abide united in one and the same Faith with our Brethren of the Netherlands and other Churches of our Lord Jesus without the Kingdom as maintaining together with them and contending for one and the same Faith assaulted by the same common Enemies and called to one and the same hope through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XII The Forme of the Oath taken in the National Synod and which is to be administred unto all the Members of Provincial Synods I N. N. do Swear and Protest before God and this Holy Assembly that I do receive approve and imbrace all the Doctrines taught and decided by the Synod of Dort as perfectly agreeing with the Word of God and the Confession of our Churches I Swear and Promise to persevere in the Profession of this Doctrine during my whole Life and to defend it with the utmost of my power and that I will never neither by Preaching nor Teachings in the Schools nor by Writing depart from it I declare also and I protest that I reject and condemn the Doctrine of the Arminians because it makes Gods Decree of Election to depend upon the mutable Will of Man and for that it doth extenuate and make null and void the Grace of God it exalteth Man and the powers of Free Will to his destruction it reduceth into the Church of God old ejected Pelagianisme and is a Mask and Vizard for Popery to creep in among us under that disguise and subverteth all Assurance of Everlasting Life and Happyness And so may God help me and be propitious to me as I swear all this without any Ambiguity Equivocation or mental Reservation Sworn and Subscribed by Peter du Moulin Pastor of the Church of Paris Deputy for the Isle of Franse and Moderator of the Synod Laurence Brunier Pastor of the Church of Vsez Deputy for the Province of lower Languedoc and Assessor of the Synod Nicholas Vignier Pastor of the Church of Blois Deputy for the Province of Orleans and Scribe of the Synod Thomas Papillon Elder in the Church of Paris Deputy for the Isle of France and Scribe of the Synod Isack de Juigne Pastor of the Church of Vassy and Deputy for the Province of the Isle of France Picardy c. Samuel de L'Escherpiere Pastor of the Church of Roan Daniel Massys Pastor in the Church of Caen Antony Bridon Elder in the Church of Feschamp James de Montbray Elder in the Church of Conde Deputies for the Province of Normandy Ezechiel Marmet Pastor in the House of the duke of Rohan Philip de Vassaut elder in the Church of Roche Bernard Deputies for the Province of Britain Daniel Jammen Pastor of the Church of St. Amand John de Bennes Elder in the Church of Gien Galliot de Cambirs Elder in the Church of Romorantin Deputies for the Province of Orleans Samuel Bouchereau Pastor of the Church of Saumur Matthew Cottiers Pastor of the Church in Touns George Rabbotteau Elder in the Church of Pruilly Deputies for the Province of Touraine John Chauffepied Pastor of the Church of Niort John Carre Pastor of the Church of Chastelheraud Giles Begaud Elder of the Church of Mountagu Deputies for the Province of Poictou Daniel Chanet Pastor of the Church of Ars John Constans Pastor of the Church of Pons Peter Paâ—quet Elder in the Church of Rouchfoucauld Peter Promentin Elder in the Church of St. John de Angely Deputies for the Province of Xaintonge James du Luc Pastor of the Church of Casteljaloux James Privat Pastor of the Church of Chastillion Francis Joly Elder in the Church of Bourdeaux John Guillim Elder in the Church of Grateloupe Deputies for the Province of lower Guienne David Agard Pastor of the Church of Valance Daniel Richard Pastor of the Church of Cheilar John de Blache Elder in the Church of Biuffres John de Rouvre Elder in the Church of Aubenas Deputies for the Province of Vivaretz Michael le Faucheur Pastor of the Church of Montpellier Charles de Boaques Elder in the same Church Anthony de Roques Elder in the Church of Montfrin Deputies for the Province of lower Languedoc John de Voysin Pastor of the Church of Realmont Antony Garrissoles Pastor of the Church of Puylaurent Paul de Luppe Elder in the Church of Mauvoisin James du Elder in the Church of Montauban Deputies for the higher Languedoc Peter Helliot Pastor of the Church of Arnay le Duc Francis Perreauld Pastor of the Church of Mascon and Noyer du Noyer Elder in the Church of Bussy Deputies for the Province of Burgundy Peter Huron Pastor in the Church of Riez Elias de Glandeves Elder in the Church of Puymitchel Deputies for the Province of Provence Paul Guyon Pastor of the Church 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
draw up the Form of the said Petition and Address and the Deputies of the Provinces who have any Memoirs on this Subject are commanded to communicate them However this Synod being willing and desirous to give clear full and unquestionable Evidence or their Duty Obedience and Loyalty unto His Majesty they admitted the said Lord Augustus Galland among them that he might be an Eye and Ear-Witness of the Integrity and Uprightness of their Proceedings and Deportments assuring themselves that His Majesty having perused their most humble Petition and Address and seeing and acknowledging the Sincerity and Loyalty of these Assemblies he would be graciously pleased out of His Royal Goodness to reinstate us into our former Liberties and Priviledges Every one of the Deputies in this Assembly according to the Decrees of former Synods did Swear and make Oath that he had not brigued his Deputation to it neither directly nor indirectly neither for himself nor for any other And this Oath shall for the future he taken by all the Members of our National Synods CHAP. IV. Approbation of the Confession of Faith THE Confession of our Faith being read word by word and most carefully attended to and consider'd in all its Points and Articles was unanimously approved by all the Deputies present in the Synod who did all promise and swear that by the Grace of God they would live and die in this Faith and that they vvould cause the said Oath to be taken in every one of their Provinces and that to the utmost of their povver they vvould procure and endeavour its Observation The Confession of Faith being finished This Assembly that they might testifie as they vvere bound their most sincere Respects and Duty unto His Majesty did Depute the Sieur de Chambrun and Mestrezat Pastors and de Jurlatt and Rabbotteau together vvith the Lords our General Deputies unto His Majesty to tender their most humble and thankful Acknowledgments Submissions and Duties unto His Majesty and in the Name of all the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom to make protestation of their most unviolable Fidelity and perpetual Obedience and unvvearied faithful Service unto His Majesty CHAP. V. Observation on reading of the Discipline 1 WHEN as the Fourth Canon of the Fourth Chapter was read several of the Provinces requested that some certain and proper means might be found out vvhereby to prevent those Frauds vvhich are usually committed in Attestations The Synod judging it needless to make any Additions unto the said Canon doth enjoyn all Consistories and Pastors carefully to examine both those Attestations and the Persons that bring them that they may receive from their ovvn Mouths a Testimony and Confession of their Religion and an Evidence of their Knovvledge and Understanding in it 2. On the Sixteenth Canon of the Fifth Chapter the Deputies of Poictou demanded Whether such as having been Married after the Popish manner or having so Married their Children and being aftervvards convinced of their Sin and testifying their Repentance for it might be discharged from their Publick Suspension This Synod judging that this Censure is become almost indispensably necessary to retain them vvithin the bounds of Duty vvho are othervvise but too prone to lavish out into such like or vvorse Offences doth ordain that the Canon be most strictly and exactly observed And the rather because that vvithout such a suspension the Scandal given unto the Church of God cannot be sufficiently repaired 3. On the Twelfth Canon of the Ninth Chapter instead of those words After which shall be celebrated the Lords Supper these only shall be inserted and the Lords Supper shall be celebrated That so the time of its administration may be left wholly to the power of Synods 4. In reading the Eleventh Canon of the Thirteenth Chapter of the Discipline the Province of Xaintonge moved whether a Man who had married his Wifes Neece might be admitted to Publick Penance and to the Peace and Fellowship of the Church The Synod judging such a Conjunction incestuous declares That as long as they continue to cohabit together as Man and Wife the Man shall not be received neither to the one nor other 5. On the Sixteenth Canon of the Thirteenth Chapter the Province of the Isle of France requested that hereafter in all Certificates to be given by our Consistories that the Banes of Marriage had been published in their Churches it might be expresly inserted that the said Banes were published in those Churches where the Parties contracted are either well-known or else held their personal residence for the greatest part of their time The Synod enjoyneth all Pastors to express in such Certificates that the Parties contracted do usually reside in those Churches where their Banes aforesaid were published 6. On the Fourteenth Canon of the Fourteenth Chapter the Province of Dolphiny requesting that after these words In the Colledges of Priests Monks Jesuits and Nuns there might be added and other Popish School-Masters The Synod ordains that nothing shall be added unto the said Canon yet notwithstanding doth it forbid all Parents to take any Person into their Houses of a contrary Religion to instruct their Children Moreover it leaveth it to the prudence of Consistories Colloquies and Provincial Synods to make such Canons as they judge will best suit with the Condition of the Churches under their Conduct and Direction 7. The Canons of our Discipline having been read and seriously considered All the Pastors and Elders Deputed unto this Assembly did for themselves and for their respective Provinces with their hands lifted up to Heaven swear that they would keep and observe it and see to the best of their power that it should be kept and observed by all their Principals who had sent them 8. Letters from the Pastors and Professors in the Church and University of Geneva were read in Answer unto those of the last National Synod by which they assure us of their Unanimous consent and agreement with us not only in the Essentials of Religion but also in outward Circumstantials and Ceremonies and as an Evidence hereof they have imbraced that advice given them by the aforesaid Synod ever at the Lords Supper after the words of Institution and Distribution of the Sacred Elements to add a word of Exhortation and that whereas heretofore they had only used unleavened Bread in conformity to their Neighbour-Churches in the Canton of Bearne now out of Love and Conformity to us and ours they did and would for the future use Common Bread at this Holy Sacrament And whereas their Elders had formerly assisted their Pastors in the Delivery and Distribution of the Calice they had resolved that it should be done by the Pastors only Adding over and above very many other kind expressions of their endearing Love and fraternal Union with the Churches of this Kingdom Upon which this Assembly resolved that an Answer should be returned them fully testifying our mutual Affection and high and reciprocal Esteem and Honour for them CHAP. VI.
Observations on reading the Acts of the National Synod of ALEZ 1 WHereas in their Reflections on our Ecclesiastical Discipline the said Synod of Alez had enjoyned all the Provinces to see that the Twelfth Canon in the First Chapter of the Discipline concerning Catechising should be strictly observed This Assembly repeats the same injunction and chargeth the Provincial Synods to make report unto the next National Synod whether this Canon hath been carefully observed or not 2. And as the said National Synod of Alez so doth this also Decree and Enioyn all Consistories to read that Canon made at Privas about Moderation in the habits of Pastors and their Families and it doth enjoyn all Colloquies and Synods to put forth their helping hand for its better observance and to see that all Consistories do read it once a year in their Assemblies and to make report hereof unto the next National Synod 3. On that Canon of the same Synod injoyning Pastors to deliver the Cup as well as the Bread at the Lords Table Divers Provinces requesting that those words As much as may be which had been razed out by the Synod of Alez from the Ninth Canon of the Twelfth Chapter of our Discipline might be again restored This Assembly considering that the far greatest part of the Churches in this Kingdom do conforme themselves unto that Canon of the said Synod and that very many Churches both abroad and at home have since acquiesced in it that also such an observation as this contributes more to the Dignity and Reverence of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and tends very much unto the Edification of the Communicants therefore doth it injoyne all the Churches to observe most uniformely that Canon of the said Synod of Alez CHAP. VII Reflections on their Observations passed upon the Acts of the Notional Synod of VITRE 4 THat Canon prohibiting Ministers intermedling with State-Matters in their Pulpits and Sermons framed by the Synod of Vitre and reinforced by that of Alez shall be read in their Consistories and all Provincial Synods are expresly charged to see that it be put in Execution and to bring good proof of their Obedience Care and Diligence as to its observation unto the next National Synod 5. On that Canon commanding Pastors to reside in their Churches This Assembly decreed that after the Twelfth Canon in the First Chapter of our Church-Discipline there shall be this immediately inserted All Ministers shall actually reside in their Churches on pain of being Deposed from their Ministerial Office CHAP. VIII On the Chapter of APPEALS This Codur Apostatized afterward in his Old Age and was therefore Deposed by the Synod of Loudun 1659 6 WHEN as that Canon was read concerning the Church of Ganges and Monsieur Codur formerly Pastor of it The Assembly understanding by the Provincial Deputies of Sevennes that the said Province could not in all this time provide a Church for the said Codur It doth now decree that the said Province shall present him unto one between this and their next Synod and in case of their neglect the said Codur is injoyned to wait upon the Synod of Dolphiny which is ordered by this Assembly to assign him a particular Church where he may profitably imploy himself in the Ministry and not rust in Idleness See of this Tuffan Syn. of Alez Appeal 63. and the Roll of Apost in the second Synod of Charenton 7. The Canon concerning the Church of St. Laurence and Monsieur Tuffan their late Pastor suspended by the Synod of Alez and whose Suspension was prolonged till the sitting of this Synod but under this condition that he might be restored unto his Ministerial Office if so be the calling of this National Synod had been deferred for any longer time This Assembly being informed by the Deputies of Lower Languedoc that the said Tuffan hath ever since his suspension demeaned himself with very much Humility and Modesty and suffered very great hardships in the late troubles for which reasons he had been restored unto his Office in the last Synod held at Vsez according as it had pleased the aforesaid Synod of Alez to concede it had the said Province then and there received the News of the Calling of this Assembly Wherefore this Assembly approving fully the Decree of the Synod at Vsez and confirming the said Tuffan again in his Ministry doth overlook that Formality omitted by the said Synod which should have tarried till the time prescribed by the Synod of Alez were totally expired and farther it doth mitigate the rigour of the Canon of that Synod and permits the Synod of Lower Languedoc to assign unto the said Tuffan a particular Church in the Colloquy of Nismes or any one near unto it but still with the consent of the said Colloquy CHAP. IX On the Chapter of GENERAL MATTERS 8 THAT Canon concerning Attestations given unto Proposans shall be read in Consistories Colloquies and in all University Councils and the Provincial Synods shall so exert their Power that it be most strictly observed 9. That Canon about Means and Maintenance for our Ministers and the keeping up of the Holy Ministry shall be read in all Consistories which are exhorted to procure its Execution and Observation as much as in them lyeth 10. On those words in the form of Excommunication In the Name and by the Authority of our â—ord Jesus and by the Authority of the Pastors and Elders assembled in Colloquy and of the Consistory of this Church The Provinces of Anjou and Poictou demanded whether a particular Consistory might not proceed to Excommunication without the advice and consent of the Colloquy This Synod judged according to our Church Discipline that Consistories might warrantably do it provided there were no Appeal Yet nevertheless because of the great importance of this Action the Consistories are exhorted to get it strengthened by and with the Approbation of the Colloquy at least with the advice of the Neighbour-Pastors if it may be had 11. The Province of Berry requesting that the said Forme might be inserted into the Body of our Discipline and that another Forme might be drawn up to be joyned with it for the Restauration of a Penitent Excommunicate The Synod leaving it to the prudence of Ministers and Consistories to use such a Form in the Reception of Penitent Excommunicates as they shall judge most convenient for Places and Persons ordaineth that the aforesaid Form of Excommunication shall be incorporated with our Discipline and placed immediately after the Seventeenth Canon of the Fifth Chapter and those words which before concluded it shall be razed out viz. Vsing this or any other Form as shall be advised by the Consistory Instead whereof shall be inserted these My Brethren this is the Fourth time c. CHAP. X. On the Chapter of PARTICULAR MATTERS 12 ON that Canon about composing an History of the Albingenses This Assembly having been well informed of the Learning and Abilities of the Sieur du
the grant of the half supernumerary Portion for the future which was allowed them by the Synod of Alez The Letters of the said Elders having been perused and the Deputies of the Province heard This Assembly confirms the past Payments and ordains that for the future the supernumerary Portions granted unto the said Province shall be wholly at their own disposal 37. Monsieur Le Pin Elder in the Church of Issurtille appealed from the Judgment of the Synod of Burgundy held at Gex in this present year but his Appeal was declared null and desert 38. That Appeal of the Elders of Aubenas and Annonay from the Judgment of the Provincial Synod of Vivaretz which had reunited the Colledge parted before betwixt those Two Cities and resettled it at Privas was declared null and void CHAP. XIV Of GENERAL MATTERS 1 THE Sieurs de Chambrun and Mestrezat Ministers of the Gospel de Jarlan and Rabboteau Elders who together with our General Deputies had been commanded by this Synod to wait upon His Majesty being now returned made report that they delivered unto the Lord Chancellor unto the Lord de la Vieuville and to the Lords Principal Secretaries of State the Letters of this Assembly of whom they had a very gracious and kind Reception and every one of those Lords assured them of the Kings sincere intentions to conserve the peace of the Kingdom and particularly for His Subjects of the Reformed Religion provided that they persisted in their Duty and Obedience and farther they advised the Pastors and Elders of this Synod upon their return unto their respective Provinces who had sent them that they would deal effectually with them to continue in their due Obedience After this they were introduced into His Majesties Presence who was then attended with My Lord Chancellor and the other Lords of the Privy Council to whom they delivered the Letter of this Assembly and assured His Majesty in the Name of this Assembly and of all the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom whom they represented of their Loyalty Submission and Obedience whereunto they were obliged by their Birth Religion and Benefits conferred upon them by His Majesty And farther they returned their most humble thanks unto His Majesty for that Peace he was pleased to vouchsafe unto his Subjects of the Reformed Religion and did with a most profound Humility petition His Majesty that they might through his Royal Goodness and Justice evermore enjoy and possess it Whereupon His Majesty did with his own Mouth give us this Answer That if his Subjects of the Reformed Religion did carry themselves well and lived in that Duty and Obedience which God and Nature required of them he would continue to them the Priviledges of his Edicts and that My Lord Chancellor should tell us his mind more amply and at large After which My Lord Chancellor bespake them in these words That His Majesty having been well informed of the Actions and Deportments of the Synod till now was exceedingly satisfied But that His Majesty would discover unto them his mind upon two points the first whereof concerned Foreign Pastors That it was His Majesties Will That the Churches should not serve themselves in the Ministry of any other Persons than such as were born in the Kingdom and were his Natural Subjects for some private reasons which he needed not to tell them but one of them was very evident because his Natural Subjects who are such by their Birth would be more tied unto his Service than any Foreigners The other related to the last Synod held at Alez yet was it not in the least intended by His Majesty to impair or alter the Liberty of the Churches with reference to their Faith or the Exercises of their Religion either in Doctrine or Discipline but it was very displeasing unto His Majesty that the National Council of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom held at Alez should oblige all Pastors by their Corporal Oath to approve a Doctrine defined in a Foreign State And that though His Majesty giveth protection to the Religion yet you must not mistake him he intends it not for a Novel and Exotick Faith When as his Lordship had finished his Discourse The said Deputies did most humbly petition His Majesty graciously to hear them upon those two points which His Majesty having favourably granted They declared as to the first That it was true That now as for a long time ago the Churches of this Kingdom had made use of some Foreign Ministers but that they ever had this honour to have kept themselves within the limits of all Duty and Service to His Majesty and that during the War His Majesty had left unto the Churches their Pastors without informing himself of their Country or Nation But since His Majesty did us the favour as to acquaint us with his Will and Pleasure in a time or Peace that we must have no Strangers to officiate in our Churches it would be so far from preserving our Churches that it would leave some of them destitute and some others desolate and allay very much of the tast and sweets of that ê™eace we now enjoyed Moreover that among those of the Church of Rome in this Kingdom there were a multitude of Ecclesiasticks of other Nations which enjoyed the most honourable and profitable Benefices and Dignities of the Gallican Church wherefore His Majesty was most humbly petitioned that he would be pleated not to make this severe distinction between his Subjects so as to permit those of one Religion to use Strangers and to deny it unto the other And as for the Second Point It was a truth that the Synod of Dort made up of the Deputies of divers Reformed Churches had decided some certain points of Doctrine whereby to oppose the Errors which troubled the Churches of the Netherlands But that this Decision did most harmoniously agree with the Confession of Faith in the Churches of this Kingdom and which had been presented to His Majesties Predecessors So that the substance of the Doctrine asserted arid maintained by that Synod was not new and that there was nothing novel in it excepting its Formality and Application as a Fence and Boundary to keep out divers Errors that were then rising and breaking in upon us So that His Most Excellent Majesty was most humbly intreated not to believe that his Subjects had any such design as to make him the Patron and Protector of a Novel and Foreign Doctrine After that the Deputies had finished their Discourse they were commanded to withdraw that His Majesty might consider and deliberate about what had been said by them and being a while after called in again My Lord Chancellor told them as to the first head that His Majesty having heard the Matters that were propounded by them would not remove the Foreign Pastors from their Flocks in this Kingdom who were now in Office and at present actually imployed But it was his pleasure that for the future no more should be
of Lower Guyenne The Sieurs John Mizaubin Pastor of the Church of Sainte Foy and James du Fort Pastor of La Bastide in Armagnac together with Mr. John Joan Lord of Loullan Advocate in the Parliament of Bourdeaux Elder in the Church of Duras and Mr. Isaack Grenouelleau Advocate also in the same Parliament and Elder of the Church of Castelsmoron in Albrett For the Province of Xaintonge the Sieurs John Constans Pastor of the Church of Pons and David Belot Pastor of the Church de la Rochechalais together with John Besne Esq Lord of Angoulins Elder in the Church of Rochell and Elijah Marlat Advocate in the Parliament of Bourdeaux and Elder of the Church of Mirambeau For the Province of Poictou The Sieur Peter de la Vallade Pastor of the Church of Fontenay la Conte and Isaac du Soul Pastor of the Church of Lusignan accompanied with Gilles Begaud Esq Lord of La Begaudiere Elder in the Church of Montague and James Coxdel Lord of Soignon Elder in the Church of St. Maixant For the Province of Anjou the Sieurs Daniel Couppe Pastor of Loudun and Stephen le Bloy Pastor of the Church of Anger 's without any Elders because those who were Commissionated fell sick on their Journey which Excuse was admitted For the Province of Orleans and Berry The Sieurs John Guerrin Pastor of the Church of Baugency and John Taby Pastor of the Church of La Charite accompanied with James Pasquier Counsellor and Comptroller for the King in the Town of Baugency and Elder of the Church there and Peter Longuet Advocate in the Parliament of Paris and Elder in the Church of Issoudun For the Province of Normandy The Sieur John Baunier Lord of La Fresnage Pastor in the Church of Caen and Peter Erondelle Pastor in the Church of Roan Accompanied with Peter du Pertuis Esq Lord of Eragny Elder in the Church of Gisors and Mr. Francis Quillel Lord of La Briere Counsellor and Assessor in the Vi-County of Alenson and Elder of the Church gathered in that City For the Province of the Isle of France The Sieurs John Mestrezat Pastor of the Church of Paris and David Blondell Pastor of the Church of Houdan Accompanied with John de Gravelle Esq Lord of Beauterne Elder in the said Church of Houdan and Isaack d' Huisseau Elder in the Church of Paris For the Province of Bearn The Sieurs Peter Rivall Pastor of the Church of Nay and John de Pommarede Advocate in the Parliament of Navarre Elder in the Church of Mourlans who not having inserted in their Letters of Deputation that clause of submission required by the former National Synods were told that for this time they were born withal on those Conditions expresly mentioned in the Canons of the last National Synod but for the future they should not be admitted into these Assemblies nor have a consultive Vote in them excepting only when as the Confession of our Faith should be read in which indeed and nothing else they retain Union with our Churches The Second of October the Lord of Montmartyn General-Deputy for the Churches of this Kingdom unto His Majesty came into this Synod and took his place and voted in it according to the Canons of our Churches and the usual practise of former National Synods After Invocation of the Holy Name of God in Prayer Monsieur Chauve was chosen Moderator and Monsieur Bouteroue Assessor and Messieurs Blondel and Petit Scribes CHAP. II. The Kings Writt for the Calling of the Synod and ordering of Matters in it AS soon as the Synod was formed and the Election of its Officers past the Lord Galland presented His Majesties Letters Patents which being read they were transcribed and the Copy inserted into the Acts of this Synod the Tenour whereof was as followeth The Kings Letters Patents Louis by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre to our Beloved and Trusty Counsellor in our Councils of State and Privy Council and Attorney General for our Dominion of Navarre the Lord Galland Greeting We having permitted according to our Edicts our Subjects professing the P. Reformed Religion to convocate and keep a National Council in our City of Castres in the Province of Languedoc this next September that they may as usual take care about matters of Discipline appertaining unto their Religion wherefore it being needful that there should be present in the said Council a Commissioner from us who might watch over our said Subjects that they do not treat of any other Affairs but such as are allowed them by our Edicts and knowing by past Experience that we could not pitch upon a more Worthy Person than your self of whose Fidelity and Affection to our Service Sufficiency and Abilities we are very well satisfied and remembring your singular care and vigilancy manifested in the last National Synod held at Charenton by our said Subjects in the Moneth of September and Year of Our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Three to the general contentment both of us and them also For which causes we have Commissionated Deputed and Ordained and do Commissionate Depute and Ordain you by these presents to go unto our said City of Castres and to sit in the said National Council in our stead and as our Representative and personally to be present at all their Consultations and Resolutions and to see use and exercise our Authority that nothing be proposed or debated but what doth truly concern the Discipline of the Religion aforesaid according to the Tenour of our Edicts and Declarations and particularly of those made and published by us in September Sixteen Hundred Twenty Three about their holding of Colloquies and Synods and you shall look to it also that none of our Subjects do keep any private Conventicles in that our said City You shall also have a special care that nothing be moved or debated in the said Council but what may contribute to the benefit of our Service and the upholding of our Authority and preservation of the Peace of our Kingdom And in case there should be any actings contrary hereunto we command you immediately to suppress them and in our Name and Authority to Act or to make such interdictions and prohibitions as you shall judge needful of which as generally of all Matters transacted in the said Council you shall form a good and ample verbal process That it being brought unto us upon your return we may advise of what shall be most expedient for our Service and the Tranquillity of our Subjects And for the doing hereof we impower you with full Authority and give you our Commission and especial Warrant by these presents For such is our Will and Pleasure Given at Nants Another Copy has the Tenth day this Twentieth day of July in the Year of Grace One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Six and of Our Reign the Seventeenth Signed Louis And a little lower By the King Philippeaux And Sealed with Yellow Wax CHAP. III.
the Year 1623 deducting only out of it those particular Sums which have been employed on the Service of this present Synod and which he was desired to advance before-hand out of such Monies as might be lying by him by virtue of his Office as Treasurer of our Churches 6. Mr. Cooper representing that some Receivers of the Provinces might scruple the taking as ready Mony the Promises of the Deputies unto this Synod for those Sums he had paid in unto them This Synod being very well satisfied that the said Monies were paid in by way of Advance by the said Mr. Cooper for the Lord of Candall decreed That every Receiver of the Provinces should be accountable unto the said Mr. Cooper of all and every particular Sum and Sums which have been furnished and given unto the said Deputies for the Charges of their Journey and to give him all necessary Acquittances and Discharges without making any the least Difficulty or Scruple upon any account score or reason whatsoever 7. There were chosen by plurality of Suffrages the Sieurs Blondell and Banterne to tender unto his Majesty the Names of those Persons whom the Synod had pitch'd upon to be their General Deputies that so out of their Number his Majesty might chuse whom in his great Wisdom he best approved And these two-mentioned Pastors had Letters also from the Synod unto the King 's most excellent Majesty and to the Right Honourable the Lord Keeper and to the Lord of Herbaut CHAP. XXXIII 1626. The 25th Synod The Copy of that written Letter by the Synod unto the King concerning the Nomination of our General Deputies N.B. IN all the Councils and Synods their Letters and Acts are written and drawn up by their Officers either the Moderators or Scribes but in my best Copy out of which I have this ensuing Letter it is said to be writ by Monsieur le Faucheur Pastor of Montpellier 'T is true he was Con-deputy for the Province of Lower Languedoc with the Moderator in this Council SIRE BEing informed by your Majesty's Writs and by Word of Mouth from the Lord Galland your Majesty's Commissioner unto our Synod of your Majesty's Pleasure about the Nomination of General Deputies for our Churches to reside at Court Although this be a Matter no ways belonging to our Vocations and that hereby to our very great grief we are disappointed of those Hopes which your Majesty's Declarations and former Writs had given us that we should shortly enjoy a General Assembly Yet nevertheless that we might in this as in all other our Actions express that profound Deference and perfect Obedience we yield unto your Majesty's Commandments we have proceeded unto this Election confiding in your Majesty's Royal Promise That whenas your weighty Affairs of State will bear it you will then accordingly issue out your Royal Warrant and Order for the summoning a General Politick Assembly Wherefore we have nominated the Lords de la Suze de Clermont and de Beaufort and the Lords Bazin Texier and du Puy Persons well known to us for their singular and unstained Loyalty Fidelity and Affection to your Majesty's Government and Service and to the Publick Peace of your Kingdoms And we have ordered the Sieurs Blondel and de Banterne to wait upon your Majesty and to give your Majesty a most faithful account hereof that so your Majesty having prick'd out two of them whom your Majesty best liketh our Churches may have notice of it and make their Applications to them and by their Mouths declare unto your Majesty our just and real Grievances which shall ever be attended with Protestations of our most loyal and cordial Obedience unto your Majesty And we most humbly supplicate your Sacred Majesty to grant them a favourable Audience and to extend your Royal Compassions unto the best and most innocent of all your People who though they serve your Majesty with greater ardor and chearfulness than any other of your Majesty's Subjects yet notwithstanding shall never enjoy the Sweets and Happiness of your Government in case those bitter Pressures and Calamities under which they be now labouring and groaning should be but of a little longer duration and continuance And as for our selves Sire we do in the most solemn manner profess unto your Majesty that let our Condition be what it will Happy or Miserable yet are we through Grace resolv'd to live and die in a most inviolable Fidelity to your Majesty's Person and Government But we hope that whenas your Majesty shall be truly informed of the sincerity and willingness of our Obedience and of those unworthy Treatments we have received from the Malice of our Enemies your Majesty will not only remunerate us here or there but in all the Provinces of your Kingdom and you will judg us rather worthy of your Protection and to be shielded by your Royal Justice and Goodness than to be exposed any longer unto our sore Oppressions and exceeding great Miseries In confidence of this Great Sir we address our selves unto our God to whose Throne of Grace Night and Day the Sighs of our Souls under our deep Afflictions are ascending that he would be pleased to preserve your Majesty's most Sacred Person and to establish the Glory of your Scepter and to inspire your Royal Heart with motions of Pity and Compassions for us which may afford us farther occasion of blessing his great and glorious Name and give us ever to live under so just and merciful a Monarch and that he would pour upon your Crown the richest and choicest of his Heavenly Benedictions From the City of Castres Nov. 5. 1626. These SIRE Are the Vows and Prayers of your Majesty's most humble most faithful and most obedient Subjects and Servants the Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Churches in France assembled in their National Synod and for them all Chauve Moderator Bouterove Assessor Scribes Blundel Petit CHAP. XXXIV A Dividend made between the Provinces of the Sum of two hundred five and twenty thousand Livers granted by his Majesty to the Reformed Churches of France for the Year 1627 and the following Years until the next National Synod According to which Dividend the Lord of Candall shall make paiment of the said Sum of 225000.l. in pursuance of that Agreement tranasacted betwixt him and the National Synod of Gap OUT of the three first Quarters of the said Sum amounting to one hundred sixty eight thousand seven hundred and fifty Livers these Sums following in their respective order are thus to be distributed First To Universities and Colledges Secondly To the Lords General-Deputies compleating their Pension Thirdly To our Pastors and Churches in the fifteen Provinces Fourthly To the Pastors extraordinarily assisting in this Synod First To Universities and Colledges there shall be paid  l. s. d. 1. To the University of Sedan 4000 00 00 To the Colloquies of Gex for their Colledg including the 3600. l. ordered them by the King and an hundred Livers for the Colledg in
all 4400 00 00 To the Inhabitants of Bergerac for their Colledg 0400 00 00 The total Sum is 8800 00 00  l. s. d. 2. To the University of Montauban 1626 The 25th Synod for two Professors in Divinity one of Hebrew another of Greek and two of Philosophy 3000 00 00 More 850 Livers to them until the next National Synod 0850 00 00 The total Sum is 3850 00 00 3. To the Universities of Nismes for two Professors in Theology one in Greek another in Hebrew 2200 00 00 4. To the University of Saumur for two Professors in Theology one in Hebrew another in Greek and two in Philosophy 3000 00 00 To the Principal of the Colledg an hundred Livers 0100 00 00 To the first Regent four hundred Livers 0400 00 00 To the second three hundred Livers 0300 00 00 To the third two hundred and fifty Livers 0250 00 00 To the fourth two hundred and ten Livers 0210 00 00 And to him of the fifth and sixth Classes two hundred and ten Livers 0210 00 00 For the Door-keeper and Beadle sixty Livers 0060 00 00 The total Sum for the University of Saumur is 4530 00 00 5. To the University of Die six hundred Livers 0600 00 00 Secondly To make up the Pension of the Lords General-Deputies three thousand three hundred Livers 3300 00 00 The total Sum of these six Particulars is 23280 00 00 Thirdly To the Pastors and Churches in the fifteen Provinces of this Kingdom and to those in the Principality of Bearn 1. To the Province of Xaintonge for fourscore and six Portions and one half Portion viz. for fifty nine Pastors in actual Service taking in Monsieur Ferrand's half Portion four Churches to be supplied five Proposaus three Pastors Emeriti i. e. discharged 3 Emeriti fifteen supernumerary Portions more 400 l. for a Colledg In all the Sum of twelve thousand two hundred sixty and seven Livers two Sous and three Deniers 2267 02 03 2. To the Province of Normandy for 59 Portions to wit two and forty Pastors in actual Service three Pastors Emeriti discharged 3 Emeriti six Proposans five vacant Churches to be supplied two supernumerary Portions A free Portion for Quillebaeuf and four hundred for the Colledg In all the Sum of 88351 18 00 3. To the Province of Higher Languedoc for 132 Portions to wit for sixty five Pastors in actual Service two Professors in Theology each of them an half Portion free for the ease of their Churches 5 Emeriti five Pastors discharged among whom Monsieur Bicheteau is counted as a Professor seven Proposans seventeen vacant Churches to be supplied six and thirty supernumerary Portions which shall be distributed among the desolated Churches and impoverished Pastors of whom in particular these four Mr. Moynier Tolosain Cuhusac and Baulx the younger shall each of them receive a free Portion the Church of Minerbois another free Portion and four hundred Livers for the Colledg of Castres is in all the Sum of eighteen thousand three hundred and thirty six Livers six Sous eleven Deniers 18336 06 11 4. To the Province of Sevennes for 77 Portions to wit fifty seven Pastors in actual Service among whom Monsieur Rossell shall be reckoned till the next National Synod 1 Emeritus one Pastor discharged three Proposans two vacant Churches to be provided for fourteen supernumerary Portions five of which shall be free of all Charges for the Churches of Auvergne to Mr. Paulett one to the Church of Courban one to Nuega one to St. Andrews one to the Church of Serverette one to the Church of Quissac one to Lantrize one and four hundred Livers for the Colledg The whole Sum is ten thousand seven hundred fourscore and four Livers nine Sous six Deniers 10784 04 06 5. To the Province of Dolphiny for 110 Portions to wit for threescore and fifteen Pastors in actual Service 4 Emeriti four Pastors discharged eight Proposans seven vacant Churches to be supplied sixteen supernumerary Portions of which these following shall be delivered free of all Charges to the Church of Ambrun one to Barraux one to Vares one to Romans one to Guillestre one to Loriol one to Tullette an half Portion two to Monsieur Chámier one to Monsieur Piotay and four hundred for the Colledg The whole Sum is fifteen thousand two hundred thirty five Livers and three Sous 15235 03 00 6. To the Province of Berry for 42 Portions to wit for eight and twenty Pastors in actual Service 2 Emeriti two Pastors discharged three Proposans four vacant Churches to be provided for five supernumerary Portions whereof two shall be paid in free of all Charges unto Mr. Guerryn and four hundred Livers for the Colledg is in all six thousand sixty and four Livers ten Sous and four Deniers 6064 10 04 7. To the Province of Anjou for 36 Portions to wit for two and twenty Pastors in actual Service 3 Emeriti three Pastors discharged three Proposans four Churches to be provided for four Portions supernumery is in all four thousand five hundred fifty and five Livers one Sous 4555 10 00 8. To the Province of Vivaretz for 51 Portions to wit for four and twenty Pastors in actual Service 3 Emeriti three Pastors discharged among whom is Monsieur Desmaretz three Proposans four vacant Churches to be provided for seventeen Portions supernumerary whereof these following shall be paid in free one to Monsieur de la Motte one to Monsieur de Vinay one to the Church of St. Stephen one to that of Cheilas one to Velleneufve in Berg. There shall be also taken out of the aforesaid Portions three hundred Livers which were granted unto the Sieur du Bois and four hundred Livers for the Colledg which amount in all to the Sum of seven thousand two hundred seventy and seven Livers nineteen Sous and three Deniers 7277 19 07 9. To the Province of Burgundy for 41 Portions viz. two and twenty Pastors in actual Service 2 Emeriti two Pastors discharged four Proposans three vacant Churches to be provided for and ten Portions supernumerary two of which shall be given unto Bourg free of all Charges two to Paillac two to Maringues one to Moulins and four hundred to their Colledg In all five thousand nine hundred twenty and nine Livers six Sous and five Deniers 5929 06 05 10. To the Province of the Isle of France for sixty two Portions to wit three and forty Pastors in actual Service three * * * 3 Emeriti Pastors discharged four Proposans twelve Portions supernumerary and four hundred for the Colledg The whole makes up the Sum of eight thousand seven hundred sixty and one Livers fourteen Sous and three Deniers 8761 14 03 11. To the Province of Poictou for sixty three Portions to wit seven and forty Pastors in actual Service two Pastors out of Employment 2 Emeriti two more discharged two vacant Churches to be
Holy Work and as you have been made a Spectacle to Men and Angels so do you persist to hold forth the Light of the Gospel in all Pureness and to fight the good Fight with the Weapons of Righteousness on the right Hand and on the left taking all possible Care that no Root of Bitterness do spring up which under the Shadow and Pretext of subtle Questions may weaken or diminish the Union of all your Members and whom 't is most indispensably needful you should firmly cement in an Uniformity of Confession to avoid those dreadful Distractions which will infallibly arise from a Diversity of Opinions and Affections All the Reformed Churches as far as ever we could learn were filled with Joy at those solid Declarations made in your National Synods against revived Pelagianism and at that singular Care taken by those venerable and Holy Councils to exclude it out of your Churches Now he that lowed those Tares in God's Field is not asleep but is still at Work wherefore there is need of continual Watchings there must be no relaxing of your Circumspection lest you should lose the things which you have wrought But we may forbear insisting any longer on this Argument nor is there any reason that we should exhort you to continue in your godly Purposes and Resolutions Sith your great Zeal is a most powerful Example to excite others It 's enough that we have thus opened our Hearts unto your Reverences and have largely experienced the harmonious Uniformity of your Holy Thoughts and Intentions And forasmuch as by these late Troubles some famous Universities have to our unspeakable Grief suffered very sad Eclipses and Interruptions we shall do our best and utmost Endeavour to keep burning that little Candle which the Goodness of our God hath lighted up in our poor Candlestick And our most honoured Magistrates have resolved to continue their Incouragement and Maintenance of our School and University which from its first Foundation had none other Design or End than to prepare Instruments who might be another Day capable of edifying God's Church And they conceive themselves at this time more especially concerned and obliged to serve your Churches because 't is but the Repayment of an old Debt We owing the Original of our Academy unto the worthy Labours of some of your most eminent and famous Ministers besides your favourable Respects have been exceeding serviceable to it in its Growth and Progress and they do receive with singular Consolation the Assurances of your good Will both from the Letters of the last Synod at Charenton and from your sending of Students hither to whose Advancement in Learning and Godliness we shall most willingly contribute whatever God hath imparted to us that so we may return them to you well improved and furnished with those requisite Talents for the Ministry in the Temple of the Lord. Moreover we do return you our most hearty Thanks for your kind Remembrance had of our Church in times past and we do bless the Lord for the Expressions of his Majesty's Love and Kindness towards our City which is a Continuance of those Royal Favours we have ever received from the Crown of France and consonant to his former Declarations that he would not exclude the Natives of this Town in case according to your excellent Discipline they should be called out unto the Ministry in the Churches of his Kingdom And we are so very well satisfied of your Love unto us that it the aforesaid Declaration should not be notified unto some of the Churches yet by your means it shall be so for the future and this will be a renewed Pledg and Confirmation of your ancient fraternal Charity and Affection to us Whereupon we do most affectionately salute in the Lord your Holy Synod and tender you our most humble Service intreating the Continuance of your good Will unto us and that you would strive together with us in your Prayers for us as we do continually recommend you unto our God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Word of his Grace and to his Spirit of Consolation and all your Churches Persons Labours and your whose sacred Assembly to his most blessed Protection beseeching the great Shepherd of Souls that he would daign to preside in the midst of you and make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you what is well pleasing to him and accumulate upon you his best and most Heavenly Benedictions to the Glory of his Holy Name And subscribe our selves Most Honoured Lords and Brethren Your most affectionate Brethren and most humble Servants in the Lord the Pastors and Professors in the Church and University of Geneva and in the Name of them all Prevost Diodati B. Turretin Du-Pan The Superscription was thus To our most Honoured Lords and Brethren the Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Churches of France assembled in their National Synod at Castres The Answer of the Pastors and Elders in the National Synod of Castres unto the Letter of the Right Reverend Pastors and Professors of Geneva Most Honoured Lords and Brethren AMong the Consolations which the Goodness of our God hath granted us in this Place this which we have received from your Communion in Spirit with us and those cordial Affections which you have expressed to us have been therefore the more acceptable because that as we rejoice in the Lord so we cannot but be thankful to him for that after so many Troubles and Desolations we be yet permitted to assemble from all Corners and Quarters of this Kingdom to the upholding settling and confirming of his Holy Worship You also are come in by your Letters to bear your Parts in this sacred Harmony augmenting by the Union of your Hearts with ours the rich Blessing which the Prophet hath compared to that precious Oil poured out upon the Head of Aaron and to the Dew which descends from Mount Sion and this too with such an Efficacy that the bare hearing of your sweet Consolations and Holy Counsels hath by a most secret and powerful Motion sensibly operated upon us and raised up the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Head in us who doth unite us though many Members into one Body in the Lord. We do therefore imbrace you in our God and accept thankfully of your Prayers and Holy Affections giving Thanks unto our Heavenly Father that as you have piously confess'd it he made us an Example of his Compassions and having saved us out of divers Perils and Distresses he hath preserved us our Lives by no less a Miracle than that of old when as he preserved the Bramble-Bush from being consumed in the midst of those Flames of War which ravaged our whole Country Nor can we sufficiently adore his singular Loving Kindnesses that although the Sins of his People had so far provoked his Wrath as to throw down all our Fences and to demolish all our Fortresses and to wither that Arm of Flesh in which we had so
very much confided yet he hath supported and doth still support by his own Almighty Arm the People of his Covenant confounding their Hopes who promised themselves no less than the utter Ruin of all our flourishing Churches upon the Change of their temporal Estate they not considering that the true Religion is kept up in the Hearts of God's Elect by the Efficacy of that Spirit of Life which having raised Jesus Christ from the Dead doth give Power and Virtue to the Faithful to triumph over all the Forces and Assaults of the World yea and of Death it self To this Occasion of Thanksgiving we will add another which is more particular viz. That since the Peace was ratified God hath filled our Hearts with Gladness by saving his Majesty to whose Clemency we owe our Peace from a great and horrid Conspiracy plotted against him by his perfidious Enemies and ours also The Lord grant that the lively Sense of his Benefits may make us groan for having sinned against him and inflame us with his Love and that we to whom he hath committed the Government of his House may be Pattners of Zeal and of every Christian Vertue and by the Light of sound Doctrine and of an Holy Life we may dissipate and drive away those black and dark Vices wherewith our Flocks have provoked his Anger for certainly we have very great Cause of Humiliation being as yet under the Cross and his Majesty's Edict in divers Points and Articles being not as yet executed observed or performed and the Malice of our Enemies increasing the Number of those Infractions and thereby the Measure of our Sufferings all which is ordered by the most holy wise Providence of our God for our Correction For as of old when he extended Mercy unto Jacob wrestling with him yet with a Blow from his own Hand he made him lame and halt ever after even so also now in these Deliverances from our past Miseries and Confusions which it hath pleased his Divine Grace to vouchsafe us yet hath he left divers Wounds on the Body of our Churches whereby to provoke us unto Repentance and to quicken us unto more Intenseness and Fervour in our Prayers and Supplications for the exciting of his Bowels of Compassion towards us We do acknowledg the free Grace of our God to be our truest Refuge and Sanctuary and that a Christian Patience and submissive Waiting for the Effects of his wise Providence will be our most assured Remedy against all the Evils that can befal us And we have this Consolation got by long Experience of the Vanity of all human Means and Aids that 't is in our Days as it was in ancient Times when God saved and restored his People it was not done by Might nor Power not by Arms nor by Swords and Bows but by his Spirit This self-same Spirit which levelled the great Mountains before Zorobabel and brought them into Plains worketh as powerfully now as heretofore so that we often see those very Mountains of Dangers and Difficulties which were raised up against his People reduced unto nothing giving us therefore a clear and full Knowledg of his great Name that he is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in Working Moreover we do give you farther assurance that it is our Intention That those who are called of God to serve and Minister before him in his House shall wholly and absolutely attend thereunto We well knowing that whilst with Moses in the Mount they give themselves to Prayer and apply themselves wholly to their Ministerial Work and Duty they will attract upon their People the Blessing of the Lord and they will be mighty with God for the throwing down of strong Holds and of every high thing that exalts it self against the Knowledg of God And whereas you remind us of that great Contentment you received at the sight of that Universal Harmony of our former Synods in Points of Doctrine and rejection of Errors which had troubled divers Churches we conceive our selves bound to promote the continuance of your holy Joys and Thankfulness unto God forasmuch as in this Assembly there was found but one Heart and one Soul to maintain the Confession of Faith and the Discipline of our Churches by which we know that the Lord will preserve his Heritage in this Kingdom he himself keeping up this Sacred Mound and Hedg by his own special Benediction whilst he hath broke to pieces that which was Terrene and Carnal in sundry places Yea 't is our hope that as heretofore he made his Ark triumph in Captivity and Dagon to fall down prostrate before it even then whenas Israel was most despicable so also in the midst of the Churches Sufferings shall his Gospel triumph over Superstition And as the Cross of his Son the Lord Jesus got the Victory over the World so shall the Cross of his Children which is also that of Christ be the Confusion of their Enemies This is most honoured Lords and Brethren our Consolation amidst the Ruins and Desolations of the Church of God in divers Regions of Europe which is intimated to us in your Letters Let us therefore lift up our Hands and Hearts unto our God that he would be pleased to take pity on the great and sore Afflictions of Joseph and that he would make Jerusalem a Praise and Renown in the whole Earth for his own Name 's sake Of which we have the more and greater Hopes because those great and violent Attempts of Satan do learn us that the time of his Confusion draweth near and we know that the Lord never humbleth nor casteth down his poor Church but with a design of exalting it and he layeth his Children as it were dead in their Graves that he may confound the World by raising them again from the Dead And inasmuch as amidst such horrible Afflictions God hath made your Church and Common-wealth a glorious Example of his Protection and of the Miracles of his Providence we render to his Divine Majesty from the bottom of our Hearts all possible Thanks and Praises and particularly for this that as your Golden Candlestick hath never wanted burning and shining Lights so also your University ceaseth not to educate and prepare for the Service of many Churches many fit and well-furnish'd Instruments for the Work of the Ministry In which we own and acknowledg the Zeal and Piety of our Lords your Magistrates to whom we do wish from the Lord of Lords all sorts of Benedictions And we praise God that through the goodness of our King we enjoy our ancient Priviledges of serving and building up the Churches in this Realm by their Ministry who owe their Education to your worthy Labours and Instructions and all our Provinces shall be as to their Profit so to your Contentment fully and sufficiently informed hereof at the return of their respective Deputies And in the mean while we most affectionately thank you for your singular care in cultivating and improving those many young and tender
the Lords William Rivet Lord of Champrernown Pastor of the Church of Taillebourg and Peter Richer Lord of Vaudelincourt Pastor of the Church of Marennes accompanied with the Lords Denys Pasquett Esq Lord of Large Baston Elder in the Church of Angoulesme and Charles Constant Comptroller for his Majesty in the Election of St. John d'Angely and Elder of the Church in that City 8. For the Province of Brittain the Sieurs Josua de la Place Pastor of the Church of Nantes assembling for Religious Worship at Suffé without an Elder for the Lords Daniel de la Tousche Lord of la Ravardiere Elder in the Church of Ploer and Daniel Chastaigner Lord of la Grolliere Elder in the Church of Vielle vigne who was substituted in his Place did both send their Letters of Request that they might be dispensed with for their non-Attendance at the Synod and their Excuses were admitted and accepted 9. For the Province of Lower Guyenne the Sieurs James de Berdoline Pastor of the Church of Duras and Charles d'Aubus Pastor of the Church of Nerac accompanied with the Lords John de Mazilieres Advocate in the High Court of Parliament of Bourdeaux Lord of Grave and Elder in the Church of Nerac the Lord John Aymé de Friginet Advocate also in the same Parliament and Elder of the Church of Bergerac was chosen but fell sick and therefore was excused and in his stead there appeared Isaac de Geneste Lord of la Tour Advocate in the same Parliament and Elder in the Church of la Sauvetat who was substituted by the Suffrages of the Provincial Synod in his stead 10. For the Province of Vivaretz the Sieur Daniel Richard Pastor of the Church of Cheilar and Louis Santel Advocate and Elder of the same Church The Province excused it self for sending but two Deputies and their Excuses were admitted for this time and they were injoined for the future never to omit the Clause of Submission which was not sound in their Letters of Deputation tendred by them unto the Council 11. For the Province of Sevennes the Sieurs Moses Blasehon Pastor of the Church of St. Andrew de Valborgne and Antony Vincent Pastor of the Church of Merneys together with Stephen de Billanges Lord of Blanqfort and Elder in the Church of Vigan and Claudius d'Airebeldoze Esq Lord of Clairan Elder in the Church of Canoblet 12. For the Province of Anjou the Sieurs Matthew Cottiere Pastor of the Church of Tours and Moses Amyraud Pastor of the Church of Sanmur and Professor of Divinity in that University together with the Sieurs Philip Niett Counsellor of the King and Warden of his Majesty's Salt-garners in the said City of Saumur and Elder of the Church there and Josiah Poize Advocate in Parliament Elder of the Church at Previlly 13. For the Province of Dolphiny the Sieur Peter Pittard Pastor of the Church of Alben with the Sieur Francis de Montauban de Rambault Esq Lord of Villars Elder in the Church of Gap and the Sieur Stephen Gilbert Advocate Elder in the Church of Die the Sieur Denis de Bouteroue Pastor of the Church of Greenoble though chosen â—id not appear because of his Majesty's Prohibition yet afterwards he obtained leave to assist in this Council as will appear by its Acts and Records 14. For the Province of Lower Languedoc the Sieurs Michael le Faucheur Pastor of the Cuurch of Montpellier and John de Croy Pastor of the Church of Bezieres together with the Sieurs Peter Cheyron Advocate and Elder in the Church of Nismes and Andrew Bruneau Advocate and Elder in the Church of Bagnols 15. For the Province of Higher Languedoc the Sieur Timothy Delon Pastor of the Church of Montauban with the Sieurs Peter de Villette Lord de la Jongniere Elder in the Church of St. Antonine and Paul Constans Counsellor for the King and Elder in the Church of Montaubon Master Peter Beraud Pastor of the aforesaid Church of Montauban and Professor of Divinity in that University did not appear at first because of his Majesty's Prohibition but afterward when it was taken off he did accordingly take his Place in this Council 16. For the Province and Principality of Bearn there appeared the Sieurs Peter Labadie Pastor of the Church of Pau and John de Pommerade Advocate in the Parliament of Navarre Elder of the Church in Morlas 17. For the Province of Normandy the Sieurs Abdias de Mondenis Pastor in the Church of Dieppe together with Laurence le Fevre Advocate in the Parliament of Normandy and Elder in the Church of Rouan and John Cardell Lord of Marettes Counsellor of the King and his Comptroller in the Election of Alencon and Elder of the Church in the same Place and the Sieur Benjamin Basnage Pastor of the Church of Quarentin though chosen yet did not at first appear because of his Majesty's Prohibition but as soon as it was taken off he came and took his Place in the Synod as will appear in the following Acts. 18. For the Province of the Isle of France the Sieurs John Mestrezat Pastor of the Church of Paris and David Blondell Pastor of the Church of Roussy together with the Sieurs John de Gravelles Esq Lord of Banterne Elder in the Church of Houdan and Charles Mayland Advocate Elder in the Church of Montdidier 19. The fifteenth Day of September the Lord Marquess of Clermont General Deputy for the Churches of this Kingdom unto his Majesty came according to the usual Order of these National Synods and took his Place in it having Precedency given him according to his Degree and Quality and as it was afterward decreed in the eleventh Article of General Matters 20. Prayers having been offered up unto God Monsieur Mestrezat Pastor of the Church of Paris was by Plurality of Votes chosen Moderator and Monsieur Jamet Assessor and Monsieur Blondel Pastor and Monsieur Armet an Elder Scribes of the Synod CHAP. II. The King's Letters Patents 21. AS soon as the Officers of the Synod were chosen his Majesty's Letters Patents were read a true Copy whereof is here inserted 22. Louis by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre to our beloved and trusty Counsellor in our Privy Council and Council of State and Attorney General for our House of Navarre the Lord Galland Greeting We having given leave unto our Subjects professing the pret Reformed Religion to hold a National Synod at Charenton near our City of Paris the first Day of September next in which the Deputies of all the Provinces in this our Kingdom shall meet and consult about Matters concerning their Religion and we being to choose a Person sufficiently qualified and of approved Loyalty who may be present in the said Council as our Representative and Commissioner and calling to Mind the many Services you have done us in sundry and very weighty Imployments with which we have intrusted you both at home and abroad within and without the Kingdom all which
the National Synod of Rochel the 18th in order held in the Year 1607. on the Discipline by which at the Request of the Province of Dolphiny the said Article had been explained The Assembly gave leave unto Provincial Synods to extend the Loan of Pastors unto the term of a full Year notwithstanding the Churches from whence those Pastors were borrowed had entred their Appeal against it 4. Upon the 4th Article of the 2d Chapter the Province of Poictou was advised to observe that Canon framed by the 24th National Synod held at Charenton in the Year 1623 which had ordained That the Children of Ministers should not he preferred unto the Pensions unless caeterus paribus they were equal in Merits with the other Competitors 5. After those Words in the 8th Article of the 5th Chapter As also all Sentences of Suspension those shall be added which were given by the Consistory and were not declared before the Congregation shall be binding although the suspended Person had made his Appeal either to a Colloquy or Provincial Synod 6. In Obedience to those Remonstrances made by his Lordship the Lord Commissioner the Provinces are exhorted to come prepared to the next National Synod in which it will be debated whether any thing shall be changed in the 19th and 20th Articles of the 5th Chapter before mentioned 7. The Word Gypsys the French call them Bohemians shall be razed out of the eleventh Chapter because the two others do sufficiently explain it 8. Those Words as also the Names of Office such as Baptist Angel Apostle shall be struck out of the 4th Article of the fore-mentioned 11th Chapter as being useless and now not practised in the Churches 9. The Deputies of Xaintonge upon that same Article reporting that divers Persons according to the Custom of the Country did give Names unto Children in Baptism which occasioned ridiculous Raillery and foolish Jesting and that it would be needful to redress it The Synod gave Liberty unto that Province to use such Means as they judged best and most expedient to effect it 10. The Lord Commissioner remonstrated on the 18th Article of the same 11th Chapter that the Register of Baptisms Marriages and Interments of the Members of all the Churches should be yearly brought into those Courts of Judicature whereunto our respective Churches do belong The Synod unanimously concurred with his Lordship and injoined all the Provinces to see that it be accordingly observed and performed 11. Upon the Remonstrance of the Lord Commissioner instead of those Words at the close of the first Article of the 13th Chapter Shall give such Advice unto the Parties as may be convenient there shall be inserted according to the Intentions of the Synod of Vertueil in the Year 1567 and of Montauban in the Year 1594 these Words The Consistory shall advise the Parties to apply themselves unto the Civil Magistrate 12. These Words Nevertheless the Parties shall be exhorted not to depart from the Words and Promises de futuro without great and lawful Causes shall be inserted into the fifth Article of the same 13th Chapter and the Clause beginning thus All Promises shall be razed 13. At the Request of the Lord Commissioner this Clause was added to the end of the 13th Article of the 13th Chapter Vnless that such a Marriage were authorized by the Civil Magistrate 14. Upon the Remonstrance of the Province of Xaintonge the Synod decreed That such as in conformity to the 18th Article of the same 13th Chapter did cause their Banes to be published in the Temples of the Popish Religion should carry a Certificate of their being of the Reformed Religion unto that Church which was nearest the Place of their Abode and where their Banes also shall be proclaimed that so all Surprizals may be prevented 15. These following Words shall close up the 22d Article of the same 13th Chapter Vnless the Magistrate hath interposed with his Judicial Sentence to the contrary 16. Upon the 2d and 11th Articles of the 14th Chapter the Synod approved of that Sentence given by the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge which judged that the Faithful ought not to desire their Parties of the contrary Religion to swear by the Te igitur and Cross 17. The Assembly not being able to add or change any thing in the 4th Article of the 14th Chapter giveth Licence unto the Province of Normandy to establish for its own particular Service such Orders as it shall judg most fitting for the Edification of the Churches in their Division 18. The Lord Commissioner requiring that for the future no Book might be published till it had been first examined by Divines appointed unto that very purpose this Assembly did thereupon ordain That the 16th Article of the said 14th Chapter of the Discipline shall be couched in these Terms Ministers nor any other Members of these our Reformed Churches may not cause any Books concerning Religion which are either made by themselves or any others to be printed or published till such time as they have first communicated the Manuscript Copy unto the Colloquy or if Occasion so require unto the Provincial Synod and in case the Matter be urgent unto the Vniversities or unto two Pastors nominated by the Synod who shall give an Attestation under their own Hands that they have examined the said Manuscript 19. The Lord Commissioner acquainted the Synod that his Majesty had sent him divers Books and Treatises on several Subjects fraught with injurious and intolerable Expressions and therefore required that they should be censured according to their Deserts Whereupon the Synod requested the said Lord Commissioner that those Books might not be at all look'd into because they were printed many Years ago and the greater part of them when their Authors were enforced to it by the bitter Provocations of others professing a contrary Religion And the Synod having together with his Lordship took all possible care in the foregoing Canons to prevent the printing of all offensive Books for the future the Provinces shall use all possible Care and Circumspection that his Majesty should not have any the least occasion to complain of us With which Answer his Lordship remained satisfied and judged it not meet that any particular Censure should be applied unto those Books as he had at first demanded 20. The whole Book of Church-Discipline having been read over the Deputies of the Provinces did in their own Names and in theirs who had commissionated them sign it promising solemnly that they would observe it and see it exactly observed by their respective Provinces CHAP. XVI Observations made in reading the Acts of the 25th National Synod held at Castres in the Year 1626. CHAP. XVII A great Debate about incorporating the Churches of Bearn with those of France opposed by the Lord Commissioner Article 1. THE Province of Bearn having charged its Deputies to submit it unto the Discipline of the Churches of this Kingdom and to the Authority of our National Synods as the rest of
be pleased to enact such Laws about it as will be most agreeable to him And the Synod wanting this Sanction of Royal Authority the Union now desired is null nor can the said Lord Deputies gather from any one act of his Majesty that he approveth of the Union of the said Churches since the submission of Bearn And if in any Cahiers presented by the Churches of France since the Union of that Country the Petitions of those of Bearn have been made use of against the reservation set down in the Cahier of 1615. This Error must not be drawn into practice because the Churches have not to this very day made any absolute Declaration of Union and such important Actions require Concessions and solemn Declarations and Preliminaries animated by Verifications in the Parliaments of Paris and of Pau. Nor ought the presence of the Deputies of Bearn in the political Assemblies of this Kingdom where they laid the first Foundations of their Attempt against his Majesty's Authority and which hath been since most exemplarily chastised be made a Precedent nor ought the appearance of the Ministers of Bearn in the National Synods of France before and since the establishment of Commissioners who were imposed in the Year 1623 be took as an advantage to them in any-wise because they appeared upon doubtful and uncertain Conditions not as to the Point of Submission to the Discipline of the Reformed Churches of France or unto the National Synods or for the drawing of Appeals without the Limits of that Principality all which were contrary to the Laws made by Jane Queen of Navarre but only to testily their Union in Doctrine which is evident by perusing the Acts of those Synods The first Synod unto which the Deputies of Bearn presented themselves was that of Rochel in the Year 1607 and the Quality of the Times gave an occasion for it And as that Introduction was a meer Novelty there being but one Minister sent so they were enjoined for the future to commissionate together with him an Elder In the Year 1612 four Deputies assisted in that of Privas but this their Presence was floating and wavering nor had it any other end than to testify their Consent and Union in Doctrine as his Majesty had willed them so to do in the Year 1602 and 1604. They came also unto that of Tonneins in the Year 1614 under the same Conditions and they then had granted to them the priviledg of calling the next National Synod which was a great expression of Love unto that Principality and an oblique Means to bind them more strictly to the Discipline of France And because the Churches of Bearn would not submit themselves thereunto they resigned their right of Convocating the National Synod unto the Church of Vitré in Brittain where also it conven'd accordingly in the Year 1617. And in the six and thirtieth Article of General Matters there passed this Decree This Assembly doth not conceive it meet considering their present Circumstances that the Churches of Bearn should subject themselves to the Church-Discipline of this Kingdom nor that they should depend upon these National Synods But nevertheless they shall give in their final Resolutions what they intend to do unto the next National Synod and in case they be of the same Mind then as they are now this Assembly declared That their Deputies may have the priviledg of sitting and voting in the National Synods of this Kingdom upon this condition that they shall first have leave given them by the Provinces to give in their Suffrages in such Cases as concern the Churches of this Kingdom which Terms are totally contrary to the Pretensions of the said Deputies and evidently prove that their admission into the Synod was wholly precarious and only to testify their mutual Church-fellowship And in the Synod of Alez called in the Year 1620 whenas the Deputies of Bearn had remonstrated that they could not wholly subject themselves to the Discipline of the Churches of France because of the present juncture of Affairs they were admitted under that restriction of the Synod of Vitre That they shall first have leave from the Provinces to vote in certain Cases concerning the Churches of France and this too with this Proviso that it should only be till the next National Synod An Argument unanswerable of the Difference between the Church-Discipline of Bearn and that of this Kingdom although the Deputies to ingratiate themselves with this Synod do urge that they be both alike one and the same Thus I have given you the true History of this Union till the Conquest and Submission of Bearn at which time by special Letters-Patents his Majesty granted unto the said Principality that they should be maintained and live under their own particular Laws Which Laws are partly made up of the Constitutions of the Lady Joan Queen of Navarre who had enacted That all Differences in Church-Matters should be finally determined within the Province Since the Submission of Bearn the Churches have lived under the same form and never pretended to be united to those of France but by virtue of his Majesty's Answer to the Cahier of the Year 1615 or some others of a later date For in the Synod of Charenton September the 2d in the Year 1623 upon the appearance of the Deputy of Bearn an Ordinance passed as formerly That according to the Restrictions of former Synods the Provinces have liberty to demand that the Deputy of Bearn shall not have power of voting in some certain Cases concerning the Churches of this Kingdom and that before the Separation of this Synod he shall produce the Reasons for which they defer their plenary Submission to the Church-Discipline of France And this is another certain Mark of the Difference between the Discipline of France and that of Bearn In the last National Synod held at Castres in the Year 1626 which was four Years after that of Charenton because in their Letters of Commission there was wanting the Clause of Submission required by the foregoing Synods the Deputies of Bearn were told in open Synod that for this time they were admitted but for the Conditions expressed in the Acts of the last National Synod they should not for the future have a consultive Vote in the National Synods of this Kingdom excepting only at the reading of the Confession of Faith in which they were united with the Churches of France Until that time the Churches of Bearn neither pretended nor demanded Union with the Churches of France nor till then did his Majesty's Commissioners contend with them about it but now whenas against so many preceding Instances to the contrary they demand without his Majesty's permission to be admitted it cannot it ought not to be granted to them CHAP. XVIII The Reply made by the Deputies of Bearn unto this Opposition of the Lord Commissioner 3. BUT the Deputies of the Province of Bearn return'd this Answer That the Union of the Churches with those of this Kingdom in
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
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
slandering and calumniating us and by divers Pamphlets and Libels fraught with lying Stories do their utmost Endeavour to make the Loyalty and Fidelity of our Churches to be suspected and called in question and that there is an absolute Necessity we should justify our selves not only by Sermons preached in the Pulpit and by Books composed and published from the Press unto the whole World to this very End and Purpose but also by our most humble Remonstrances unto his Majesty that he would be pleased graciously to account all the Members of our Churches as his most obedient and loyal Subjects and to have an intire Confidence in their Fidelity unto his Service the Welfare of his Estate and the Augmentation of the Glory of his Crown The Assembly imbraced this Remonstrance as a sacred thing consonant to Reason and Justice and perfectly correponding with those Propositions tendred us from his Majesty by the Lord Commissioner and ordained That all Pastors in the Churches of this Kingdom should give all religious and conscientious Satisfaction herein according to the Word of God and the Confession of our Faith which are punctual and most express on this Subject Article 7. Whereas for divers Years last past War and Mortality have overspread with a Deluge of Woes the far greatest part of Europe and made the unrepenting Nations sensible what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the Hands of the Living God justly incensed against those hard-hearted Sinners who despise the Riches of his Grace the Abundance of his Goodness and Long-suffering The National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France assembled by the King's Permission in the Town of Alanson beholding in the continual Plagues with which all the Provinces of this Kingdom are scourged evident Threatnings of new impendent Judgments Wherefore that those affrightful and approaching Storms may be averted and the Bowels of God's fatherly Compassions may be moved and that we may obtain from his infinite Mercies and Goodness the Preservation of his Majesty's sacred Person a Blessing upon his Armies the Return and Re-establishment of Peace and Prosperity in the State and a quiet Settlement for his poor afflicted Church tossed with Tempests and not comforted We do exhort all the Faithful by a deep Humiliation of Soul and a sincere and serious Conversion of Heart to seek after the Help Grace and Favour of God And to this Purpose the Synod decreeth That a publick Fast shall be kept and solemnly observed in all the Churches of this Kingdom on Thursday the nineteenth Day of November next coâ—â—ing which shall be notified unto them by reading of this present Act. Article 8. That the Purity of Doctrine may be intirely preserved and all Misunderstandings between Pastors Professors and Churches may be avoided and to prevent those many Inconveniences which would thereupon happen and to tie and maintain more strictly and strongly the spiritual Bonds of brotherly Charity and Union among the Faithful This Synod doth most rigorously forbid on Pain of all Church-Censures yea and of Deposal from their Ministry all Pastors of Churches and Professors in our Universities to treat of in their Sermons Lectures or Writings those curious Questions which may occasion the Fall or Stumbling either of Students in Divinity or private Christians it being most necessary that both they their Scholars and Flocks should keep themselves to the Simplicity and Plainness of the Holy Scriptures and to the common Expedition of the Orthodox Creed grounded thereupon and approved by the National Synods particularly by that of Charenton held in the Year 1623. They be also forbidden the using of any new Expressions subject to ill Constructions and Misinterpretations or contentiously to dispute one with the other upon such Questions or Interpretations or to draw reciprocally the Saw of Controversy betwixt them in Polemical Writings nor shall they violate directly or indirectly the Canons made either in this or former Synods about printing of Books for whose Contents the Licensers of the Press shall be responsible as much as the Authors unto the Provinces And those Provinces within whose District and Jurisdiction our Universities lie shall take a most especial Care of them and see them visited from time to time by Persons chosen to that Purpose and to oblige all Professors both in Philosophy and Divinity to send every six Months unto the Examiners of Books in the Neighbour-Provinces one or two Copies of the Theses disputed and defended in the publick Schools And the Neighbour-Provinces are impowered with full Authority together with those in which our Universities are erected to take a particular Knowledg of their Estate And in case any Pastor or Professor or any Member of our Churches in reading or perusing the Books printed with Licence of our Examiners shall find any matter of Importance which they shall count worthy of Reprehension we order that they apply themselves to the Authors of the said printed Discourses or to the Examiners and Licensers of them and to demand Satisfaction from them and in case they refuse to give it then they shall address themselves unto their Colloquies and Synods And that Church and Province out of which the said Complaint cometh forth is forbidden as are also all other Persons whatsoever from intermeddling with this Affair or to take upon them to judg and decide it or to inflame this Controversy or to spread it farther but according to the Canons of our Discipline they shall leave and resign it intirely unto those Assemblies to whose Jurisdiction the Authors of these Disturbances do belong and against whom the Opposition is formed Article 9. The Lord Marquess of Clermont our General Deputy and the Sieurs Ferrand Gigord and Cerisy who were particularly delegated to lay at his Majesty's Feet the most humble Supplications and Complaints of our Churches having immediately after their Return from Court delivered his Majesty's Letters and given an Account of that gracious Audience and most kind and favourable Reception they had from his Majesty and our Lords his principal Ministers of State and how well they approved of the Conduct of this present Synod and had promised that as soon as it was concluded and separated an Answer agreeable to our Desires expressed in the Cahier presented to them should be given us and that they would assign for the defraying the Charges and Expences of this Synod the same Sum of Monies as was granted unto the last National Synod which was also confirmed by my Lord Commissioner who had received Letters concerning it and required that this Assembly would dissolve it self speedily The Synod having testified their great Satisfaction in the Wisdom Faithfulness and Affection manifested by these their Deputies in their whole Negotiation and finding that they had Hopes given them by his Majesty that his poor oppressed Subjects of the Reformed Religion should sense and experience the comfortable Effects of his Sacred Royal Promises and that according to his wonted Goodness he would take care that they
that by his means they may as soon as possible have the Honour of waiting upon and Saluting His Majesty and Present Him with the Letters of this Assembly and shall follow His Orders when and after what manner they ought and may speak unto the King and to the Lord Cardinal and to the Lord Chancellor And having paid their Duties to the King the Lord Cardinal and to our Lord the Principal Ministers of State they shall give them to understand with what Respect and Thankful Acknowledgments we have received from the mouth of the Lord de St. Marc His Majesty's Commissioner in this Assembly those assurances given us in His Majesty's Name for preserving us the Privilege of His Edicts and to continue to us His Royal Favours But they shall not conceal that all the Members of this Assembly were exceedingly surprized and astonished that immediately after those aforesaid Assurances given us by the Lord Commissioner he made such Proposals to them as had no agreement at all with these Promises of His Majesty's good Will unto us as when He declared That he was charged by the King to forbid all Ministers to serve their annexed Congregations which tends to the utter Ruine of the far greatest part of our Churches and depriveth a vast multitude of the Professors of our Religion of their Spiritual Consolation As also when he propounded as from the King That it was his Majesty's desire That we should ratisie Baptism Administred by Midwifes and others who have no Call so to do which is formally contrary to our Belief They shall also insist on this That His Majesty be acquainted and from their own Mouths with that Rigorous Decree of the Council concerning the hanging forth of Tapistry and Adorning of our Houses on that Festival which they call by the Name of The Holy This being a matter directly contrary to the Edicts made in our Favour They shall take care also to Petition our Lord the Cardinal and the Lords of the Council and especially the Lord de Buillon That they would be pleased to supply this Assembly with Moneys for the defraying of our Charges and Expences during the Sessions thereof as hath been always accustomed to be done by His Majesty And the rather because for a very long time notwithstanding His Majesty's Promise we have not received one Farthing of His Bounteous Liberality The Assembly leaveth it to the Prudence of these our said Deputies either to prolong or shorten their abode at Court according to the Success of their Negotiation and they be ordered to acquaint us upon all occasions of what is necessary to be done by us CHAP. XXVI 3. Monsieur Ferrand's Speech made unto my Lord the Cardinal Duke of Richelieu My Lord SIth that in our days and under the Incomparable Wisdom of Your Government Peace and Justice are so Gloriously preserved that the Greatest Monarch of the Vniverse is not only known to be the Just King but also the King of the Just by the strict Observation of His Edicts and Sacred Orders The Ministers and Elders Assembled in a National Synod under the Favourable Authority of His Majesty and the Good Counsels of Your Eminency have took the Boldness to send us unto His Majesty as to the Common Father of His Subjects to render to Him Their most unfeigned Thanks and to Present Him Their most Humble Requests and in all Humility to demand His Royal Protection against those Violences which do every day Rob and Spoil us of His Favours and have most expresly charged us to Implore on this Account the Succours and Assistance of Your Eminency And that Experience we have formerly had hereof filleth our Hearts with Hopes for the future Because the Stedfastness of God and the King's Word are visible in the Face of Your Eminency You being Their most lively Protraiture We cannot be ignorant My Lord That Your Eminency is that Intelligence who moves this admirable Monarchy with the greatest Regularity That Assistant Spirit of this Great Body which heretofore was like one of the Floating Islands but now Your most Admired Conduct hath bound it so fast with the Chains of the Royal Authority that in the Greatest and most Astonishing Tempests it abideth firm and immovable And it will be with France as with the Land of Licia which tho' subject unto Storms and dreadful Earthquakes yet no sooner are those Tempestuous Winds which caused them dissipated but that the Inhabitants thereof do enjoy for Forty Days together 〈◊〉 most Wonderful Calm and Tranquility but these days of our Tranquility shall be Prophetical a Year for a Day and may Your Eminency's Life be prolonged to a full Century of those Years And we do protest in the Presence of God that we own our selves bound Eternally to Obey His Majesty by the Laws of our Birth and Conscience and for His Majesty's Favours continually accumulated upon us And therefore we do Address our Prayers without intermission unto the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth that he would be pleased to keep his Anointed as the Apple of his Eye His Majesty being the very Heart and Life of His Kingdom and that he would take from our days to add unto His and to add unto Yours also My Lord whom we reckon next to God and the King our surest Sanctuary hoping for some Rays and Beams of Your Eminency's good Will to be imparted to us that may quicken us under those disconsolating Troubles with which we are menaced and be a most meet and proper Remedy for those Afflicting Evils which press in sore upon us from every part and quarter of the Land And Your Eminency's Reward for this signal goodness of Yours extended to us will be the continuance of that Glory You have most justly acquired in all Christendom and we shall beg of God in our Prayers and may the Divine Majesty actually fullfil them to pour down upon Your Eminency an abundant Confluence of his best Blessings and that we may obtain this Consolation to be believed by Your Eminency that with all sincerity of Heart and Soul we are My Lord Your Eminency's most Humble and most Obedient Servants Banage Moderator of the Synod Coupe Assessor Blondel and de Launay Scribes CHAP. XXVII A Copy of the Bill of Grievances presented unto His Majesty by the Sieurs Ferr and Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux Gigord Pastor of the Church of Montpellier and De Cerisy an Elder Deputed by the National Synod of Alanson May the 7th 1637. unto the King SIRE THe Deputies of Your Subjects of the Reformed Religion Assembled by Your Majesty's Permission in a National Synod at Alanson do most Humbly Petition That according to Your wonted Goodness and Justice continued to them You would be pleased to vouchsafe us the enjoyment of Your Edicts and Declarations of Peace which have to their very great prejudice been broken and violated in every Article and particularly in divers places of Your Kingdom nor can we get our Damages repaired
fears that it will ever take with or go down in your Churches or Spirits and makes us believe that all these little Projects will be resolved into their first Principles of wind and smoak to the sole prejudice of the Vanity of the Undertakers Accept most Reverend and Honoured Brethren in good part these thoughts so freely Communicated to you from your Loyal Sister which owes you her All and can pay you but Little excepting the deep sorrows of her heart for the general Calamities of the Church and her continual Sighs and Cries unto Almighty God for the Peace thereof and that he would be pleased to return with his Majesty and Glory unto the many thousands of Israel and re-edifie his ruinated Zion and above all to continue his Grace Protection and Benediction upon you All with whom she is most intimately united and perfectly conjoin'd in the firmest and most antient bonds of an Holy Love which together with her most earnest Cares and devoutest Prayers she doth continually offer up unto the Divine Majesty for the Health and long Life of your Sovereign Lord the King for the prosperous success of his Affairs for the re-establishing of Peace and Tranquillity in his Kingdom in which both ye and we are so very much concerned and by means whereof we cannot but hope that our poor afflicted Brethren in Foreign Provinces may also through the Grace of God meet with Peace and Settlement May the good hand of the Almighty make your Assembly a blessed Instrument of your Peace Union and Perseverance in the Truth and fullfil all our Desires and Prayers for the Consolation of all his Churches and that you may be the first who shall enjoy the Fruit of your Labours by the Witness of God's Holy Spirit in your Hearts and the happy effects of your Holy and Prudent Debates and Counsels We conclude all with the tender of our most Humble Faithful and Cordial Services and Affections and of our most intire Union with you in Spirit which we most humbly beg of the Lord to Sanctifie and Consummate in its full and total Perfection in the Kingdom of his Glory Your most Humble and most Affectionate Brethren and Servants in the Lord the Pastors and Professors in the Church and University of Geneva and for them all From Geneva April 26. 1637. Diodati Tronchin Chabray Prevost and Pauleint CHAP. XXIX The Testimonials of divers Doctors and Universities unto the Treatise of Monsieur Rivett against the Books of the Sieurs Amyraud and Testard To the most Honoured and our most Excellent Colleague Andrew Rivett Professor of Divinity WE did read with singular delight your Remarks on the Writings of Monsieur Amyraud Pastor and Professor at Saumur which we had seen sometimes before and we have found them exactly agreeing both with the Holy Scripture in all Articles of Faith and in those wherein our National Synod of Dort had declared its Judgment and therefore we approve of your Writing as being very Learned and Moderate and count it Worthy of Praise from all Orthodox Divines and we doubt not in the least but that this your Labour will be most acceptable unto the now approaching National Synod of France and will be useful and serviceable for the suppressing and putting a period by due and proper ways unto these late Controversies which some certain Pastors affected and addicted unto Novelties have to their shame raised in the French Churches to the great Offence of very many Godly Persons From Leyden March 14. 1637. Your Reverences most Affectionate Colleagues Johannes Polyander Antonius Wallaeus Antonius Thysius and Jacobus Triglandius Extracts out of a Letter sent by Mr. John Bogerman to Mr. Andrew Rivett from Franequer Feb. 7. 1637. HAving thus concerted that Affair among our selves we now Write you our present Judgment which in this Paper is Transmitted to you begging of God with all our heart That he would bless your Holy Labours and behold in the Son of his Love your distressed Churches of France which have been hitherto as a Pure and Chaste Virgin and have kept inviolably their Oath of Fidelity unto the Truth but now-a-days begin to be troubled with impure Errors and of a very dangerous Heterodoxy My Colleagues could not read that French Book of the Professor Amyraud because they don't understand the French Tongue therefore did I most Faithfully make those Extracts which you see out of his Writings Our ears could not suffer with any Patience those Novelties of a double Predestination unto Salvation and of a certain general knowledge by the light of Nature of the Mercy of God to all Men and of another particular knowledge of the same Mercy unto particular persons of a double Decree of God without any knowledge of Christ The good Lord be merciful unto these Brethren and according to his infinite goodness grant that they may have but one and the same Mind and the same Language with all the Churches of Christ and may he ever watch over you to keep and preserve you for many long years yet to come to the Glory of his Great Name and the Edification of his Church To that most Excellent Person our most Dear Brother in Jesus Christ Master Rivett Greeting SIR HAving received your Writing together with the Books of this 21. of January we perused them very diligently and were grieved in our hearts that the Seeds of new troubles were sowen in your Churches of France Thus Satan who is always the same and like himself endeavours by vile Errours to obscure the Lustre of the Truth and continually discovers himself a most mortal Enemy of the Grace of God And Oh that our most Gracious God whose great Benignity towards us deserveth our everlasting Praises would deign to preserve your poor Churches of France from all their Enemies and from those woful troubles attending on them These Attacks of the Adversary are ill-boding signs of some sad Events which may betide them unless they be resisted with singular Prudence and an immovable Resolution in their first beginnings and that they be stifled in the Birth For what is it that Men are hammering out of this multitude of Errors but a certain new Arminianism Pelagianism and Socinianism That odd and ridiculous Opinion of Vorstius concerning the changeable Decrees is once again digged out of its Grave and brought upon the publick Theatre yea and that spurious Doctrine of the Jesuits condemned by the School-men themselves appears bare-faced before the World Alas How many points incompatible one with another are there to be found in Monsieur Testard his Book For his latter Theses subvert the former and so far are these Pamphlets from conciliating Peace that to the contrary we believe the Adversaries are more exasperated by them animated and strengthened to Combat with us and that Saying of Monsieur Beza may be justly applied to this Script He would have forged a Peace but he hath forged out Dissention Sir You are very well acquainted with the Man and therefore
we Judge it your Duty to examine his work and censure it and to return it back unto us that we also may add our consent unto your performance What you have already done discovers a Holy Religious and Charitable Affection to the Service of God and to the Edification of the Churches in your Native Countrey Your Remarks upon his Errors are very clear your Confutations of them exceeding Solid and the Admonitions you have ministred unto our Brethren express a great deal of Christian Charity and what you have done in this matter is highly pleasing to us and we cannot but Esteem and Honour you the more for your singular care in defending the Truth and conserving the Peace of God's Church and we Praise and Applaud your Pious Zeal for the Service of God and of his Church And what Man fearing God but will cherish in you these good Dispositions and your Praise-worthy Labours May our God who hath breathed into you these Divine Motions and Affections maintain them in you And the Lord grant that the Churches of France may acknowledge with due respects and thankfulness your Zeal and approve of your Writing and may remove those Errors which you have detected to them from among them and watch over them that they may not gain ground in the midst them for they have a tendency to Exclude our Lord Jesus Christ from being a means of Salvation And further we do with all our hearts beseech the God of Bounty and Mercy that he would lengthen out your days unto many years to the benefit of our Belgick Churches and of those in the Kingdom of France that he would preserve you from all evil and accumulate upon you his best Blessings Amen From Franequer this 15. of February 1637. Your most Affectionate Servants and Brethren Johannes Bogermannus Dr. of Divinity and chief Professor in this Vniversity Menardus Sertaunus S. S. Theolog. Dr. and Professor Johannes Majomus Dr. and Professor Letters from Monsieur Altingius to Monsieur Rivett and the Approbation of the Church of Groninguen SIR IT was very late when the Pacquet you sent me was received by me having opened it I found therein closed three Books written by certain Pastors in France in love with Novelties the Disciples of Mr. Cameron deceased together with your Animadversions upon their Doctrines briefly Collected by you Indeed as I am exceedingly desirous of the Peace and Concord of God's Church which we do more need now than ever so was I as much sadned and dejected that those Brethren and others of their Perswasion should go about to change the Doctrine Established in France and the Netherlands against Arminius and his Followers and trouble the Repose and Tranquility of all our Churches and grieve weak Consciences especially those who have no insight into these matters and others of the same Nature I doubt not but that your Churches of France will find out a convenient and speedy Remedy in this their approaching National Synod that may prevent this growing evil according to the laudable Canons of their Discipline and preserve others from its Infection I approve and commend your singular Care and Diligence for those Churches and that tho' you be at a distance from them yet you do so seasonably assist and help them I have Communicated the whole unto Monsieur Gomarus who was very much pleased with your Considerations and who did not only read the Writings you had stitched with them but extracted divers things as I also have done to be of use to me in case I should hereafter be called out to give my Judgment on these points You have here added a form of Approbation brief indeed but harmoniously agreeing with that of the Professors at Leyden and which as we hope will be sufficient enough for the present If you desire any thing more you need only hint it to me nor use or urge any Arguments with me for so doing I pray you to inform me whether Monsieur Capel is a Partner in these Novelties for I have held with him a most intire sincere and inviolable Friendship more than thirty years I must confess ingenuously unto you that I could never well enough understand that Merit of the Covenant of Nature which contains the Foundations of Pererius his Faith Could I have met but with a Messenger any one day of this last week I had sent the whole unto Monsieur Bogerman which God willing I shall do by the very first opportunity The Lord preserve you my most Illustrious and Dear Brother and whom I Honour with my whole heart and the Lord lengthen out your life many a year for the Service of his poor Church and give down his Heavenly Blessing upon your worthy Labours to the Glory of his Great Name From Groninguen Decemb. 27. 1636. Henricus Altingius The Form of Approbation WE have Read and Examined in the fear of God the Theological Considerations of that most Famous Divine Monsieur Rivett upon the Abridgement of the Doctrine of Nature and Grace which as they do clearly repeat that Orthodox Consent settled against the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians by the Synod of Dort in Holland and of Charenton in France so be they also meet and fit for their singular Prudence Moderation and Charity to stop the Progress yea and wholly to suppress those unhappy Controversies which are lately started by some certain Pastors who be more in love with Novelties and Subtilties than with plain and simple Verity They have shown a great deal of Imprudence in raising them and have also Scandalized the Churches and Universities of France We beseech God through our Lord Jesus That he would give his Blessing from Heaven unto the Designs and Labours of this Man of God and that he would Sanctifie us all and keep us in the Truth From Groninguen this 27th of December 1636. Francis Gomarus Doctor of Divinity and Professor in that University Henricus Altingius S. T. P. The Original of this present Formulary of Approbation being in my Custody in case any one should call in question the Truth of the Copies thereof I shall produce it at any time for their satisfaction I could not get the first Copy which I took from the Original and sent back to be Subscribed by those Reverend Persons who had Signed the Original to be Subscribed because some of them were then absent from the City of Groninguen and because I was necessitated to dispatch this second Copy so suddenly that it could not possibly be attested by them But in case the first Copy should not be delivered to our Reverend Brethren yet nevertheless I hope they will credit these which in the presence of God I do avouch to have been most Faithfully extracted from the Original From the Hague in much haste this 17th of May 1637. Andrew Rivett CHAP. XXX A Letter of Monsieur du Moulin Pastor and Professor of Sedan sent unto the National Synod of Alanson in the year 1637. concerning the Books of the Sieurs
Church of Beaulieu and Abraham Homel Elder of the Church of Soyon Article 10. For the Province of Berry the Sieurs John Taby Pastor of the Church of la Charité Daniel Jurieu Pastor of the Church of Mer Henry de Chartres Esq Lord of Clebes Elder in the Church of Marchenoir and Simon Milhommeau Lord of Barandieres Bayliff of Chastillon upon the Loin and Elder of the Church in that Town Article 11. For the Province of Poictou the Sieurs James Cottiby Pastor of the Church of Poictiers John Chabrol Pastor of the Church of Touars Sir Charies Gourjaut Knight Lord of Panieure Elder in the Church of Mougon and Peter Pesseurs Attorney Fiscal of the Dutchy of Touars and Elder of the Church in that City Article 12. For the Province of Bretaign the Sieurs John Boucherean Lord of La Masche Pastor of the Church in Nantes and Samuel de Goullaines Esq Lord of the Landoviniere Elder in the Church of Viellevigne Article 13. For the Province of Higher Guyenne and Higher Languedoc the Sieurs Anthony Garrissoles Pastor of the Church of Montauban and Professor of Divinity in that University Peter Ollier Pastor of the said Church Substituted in the place of Monsieur John Grasset Pastor of the Church of Viane who was hindered by reason of Sickness Anthony Ligonuiere Councellor and Secretary to the King Elder in the Church of Castres and John Darassus Councellor for the King in the presidial Court of Montauban and Elder of the said Church Article 14. For the Province of Lower Languedoc the Sieurs John de Croy Pastor of the Church of Beziers Abraham de Lare Pastor of the Church of Cauvisson the Noble Mark Dardouin Lord of la Caumette Elder of the Church of Nismes and the Noble James de Brueis Lord of Bourdie Elder in the Church of Blanzac Article 15. For the Province of Burgundy the Sieurs Peter Bollenat Pastor of the Church Assembling at Vau Salomon Roy Advocate in the Parliament of Dijon and Elder of the Church of Bussy and Francis Armet Advocate in Parliament and Elder of the Church of Loches the Sieur John Viridet was hindered by a very sore Sickness from coming unto the Synod Article 16. For the Province of Provence the Sieurs Francis Vallanson Pastor of the Church de la Coste and the Noble John de Castellane Lord of Caillez and Rigan Elder in the Church of Manosques 3. The Sieurs Drelincourt Pastor and le Coq Elder of the Church of Paris were chosen together with the Sieur Caillard Elder of the Church of Alanson and the Lord Deputy-General to gather the Suffrages of the Deputies in this Assembly which were taken in written Billets by each of them for Electing the Moderator Assessor and Scribes which was done Successively those Officers being Chosen one after another and by plurality of Billets Monsieur Garrissoles was chosen Moderator Monsieur Basnage Assessor and Monsieur Blondel and Monsieur le Coq Scribes and took their Seats in Order as they were Chosen CHAP. II. As soon as these Officers of the Synod were chosen the Lord of Cumont Councellor for the King in His Council of State and Parliament of Paris Deputed by His Majesty presented Letters Patents which did Commissionate him to Represent His Majesty in this Synod These being read were inserted into the Register of the Acts of this Synod The Tenor and Form of which is as followeth 4. A Copy of the King's Letters Patents containing His Majesty's Commission to Monsieur de Cúmont Lord of Boisgrollier LOUIS BY the Grace of God King of France and Navarré To Our Beloved and Trusty Councellor in Our Councel of State and Court of Parliament at Paris the Lord of Cúmont Greeting We having Granted our Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion to hold a National Synod in the Town of Charenton near Paris on the Six and Twentieth day of December next coming Composed of all the Deputies of the Provinces of Our Kingdom to Treat of Affairs concerning their Religion and being to make choice of a meet Person and of approved Fidelity to Vs who may preside in the said Assembly as Our Commissioner and Represent Vs in it We knowing the Services you have rendered Vs in sundry Honourable Imployments with which We had intrusted you which you have most Worthily and Faithfully discharged We thought We could not choose a fitter Person than your self being well assured that you will continue the Testimonies of your Affection unto Vs and Our Service as aforesaid Wherefore by Advice of the Queen-Regent Our most Honoured Lady and Mother We have Commissionated and Deputed you and We do Commissionate and Depute you by these Presents Signed with Our Hand to go unto the Town of Charenton and to sit in the said Synod there Assembled and to Represent Our Royal Person in it and to Propose and Determine whatever matters We shall give you in Command according to those Memoirs and Instructions We have now delivered unto you and you are to take heed that none other Affairs be there debated but such as ought to be in those Assemblies and which are permitted by Our Edicts And in case the Members of the said Synod should attempt to do any thing contrary thereunto you shall hinder them and interpose therein with Our Authority and give Vs speedy and timely notice of it that such course may be taken to prevent those inconveniencies which would arise as We shall Judge to be most convenient For the doing whereof We give you Power Commission and special Commandment by these presents Given at Paris the 28th of November in the year of Grace One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Four and of Our Reign the Second Signed in the Original LOUIS And a little lower Phelippeaux The Speech of the Lord Commissioner unto the Synod together with his Propositions and Complaints made in Their Majesties Name against divers Churches Messieurs AS it is a very great Honour to me to be Commissionated by His Majesty to assist in your Synod and to acquaint you with His Will and Pleasure so also have I a great deal of Joy and Satisfaction to behold this Illustrious Assembly chosen out of all the Provinces of this Kingdom and that I can tell you by word of Mouth what was expresly Charged and Commanded me by the King and the Queen His Mother which is to assure you of Their Good Will unto you and Protection of you and of all your Churches and of the intire Execution of the Edicts of Pacification so long as you continue your selves within those bounds of Duty Subjection and Fidelity which you owe unto Their Majesties they being the Higher Powers set over you by God intrusted with the Supream Authority and your Lot and Portion being the Honour of Obedience to Them whereunto you stand Obliged by your Birth the Dictates of your own Conscience and the Favours you continually receive from Their Majesties and by all kinds of Considerations both General and
confirm the Covenant of Grace propounded to us in the Gospel Ministry Answ Yes Quest How many Sacraments do you believe that there be in the Christian Church Answ Two Baptism and the Lord's Supper Quest Do you desire to be instructed in the Nature and Use of Baptism which you now demand of this Church of Christ Answ Yes Then the Minister shall say Our Lord sheweth us in what Poverty and Misery we are all born when he telleth us that we must be born again For if our Nature must be renewed that it may enter into the Kingdom of God then 't is evident that it is universally depraved and accursed whereof he admonisheth us that we may be humbled and displeased with oar selves and by this means doth he prepare us earnestly to petition for his Grace by which all that Corruption and Malediction of our first Nature may be abolished And we are not capable of receiving it till we be first emptied of all Confidence in our own Vertue Wisdom and Righteousness that so we may pass Sentence of Condemnation upon all that is in us And look as he remonstrateth unto us our miserable Estate so also doth he comfort us with his Mercy promising to regenerate us by his Holy Spirit unto newness of Life which will be the earnest of our entrance into his Kingdom This Regeneration consisteth of two Parts First that we deny our selves not following our own Judgment Will and Pleasure but resigning our Hearts and Understandings to be led Captive by the Wisdom and Righteousness of God and so mortifying our selves and all our fleshly Members here below we do then follow the Divine Light and take up our Complacency in Obedience unto his good Will and Pleasure revealed to us in his Holy Word and subject our selves to the Guidance and Government of his Holy Spirit Now the Accomplishment of both these is in our Lord Jesus whose Death and Passion is of such Vertue that by communicating in it we are as it were dead to Sin that so our carnal Affections and the Desires of our Flesh may be mortified In like manner by the Vertue of Christs Resurrection we rise up unto newness of Live which is of God inâ—smuch as his Holy Spirit doth guide and govern us and work in us those Works which are well-pleasing to him Yet the first and chiefest Point of our Salvation is that by his Mercy he freely pardons all our Sins not imputing them unto us and blotteth out the remembrance of them that so they may not be brought in Judgment against us All these Benefits are conferred upon us when he is pleased graciously to incorporate us into his Church by Baptism for in this Sacrament he testifieth unto us the Forgiveness of our Sins And to this purpose hath he ordained the Sign of Water thereby to signifie unto us That as this Element cleanseth away the Filth of the Body even so will he wash and purifie our Souls that there may not appear the least Spot upon them In the next place it holdeth forth unto us our Renovation which standeth as was said before in the Mortification of our Flesh and in that Spiritual Life which he effecteth in us So that we receive a double Grace and Benefit from God in our Baptism provided we do not disannul the Vertue of this Sacrament by our Ingratitude First That we have a most certain Token and Testimony that God will be a propitious Father to us not imputing our Sins and Offences to us Secondly That he will assist us by his Holy Spirit that we may be enabled to combat with the Devil Sin and the Desires of our Flesh until we have won the Victory and so enjoy the Liberty of his Kingdom which is a Kingdom of Righteousness For as much then as these two things be accomplished in us by the Grace of our Lord Jesus it followeth that the Vertue and Substance of Baptism is treasured up in him And indeed we have no other Laver but that of his Blood nor any other Renovation but what is in his Death and Resurrection which as he communicateth his Riches and Benedictions to us by his Word so also doth he distribute them abroad among us by his Sacraments And in this appeareth the wonderful Love of God towards us that these Graces bestowed on us having before the Incarnation of our Lord Redeemer been as it were locked up among the Jewish People and the Partition-Wall which separated between Jews and Gentiles being broken down by his Death he hath and doth shed abroad upon Mankind the saving Waters of his Grace in such abundance that now there is neither Jew nor Greek neither Male nor Female neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision nor any outward Condition of Men that can exclude them from that great Salvation which is in him and which the Lord Jesus will have preached unto all Nations And the Covenant of his Peace is now ratified by Baptism according to the Commission which he hath given unto his Apostles saying Go ye and preach unto all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Quest And is it not true my Brother that you desire to be Partaker of this Grace by Baptism Answ Yes Quest But forasmuch as he that entreth into the House of God must look unto his ways lest he should prophane the Sanctuary and presume according to that Saying of the wise Preacher to offer the Sacrifice of Fools and ungodly Persons and that he ought to be clean purged from all Leaven of Error and Malice do you not detest from your Heart all Errors contrary to that sound Doctrin taught in our Churches Answ Yes Quest Forasmuch as we are now about to administer the Sacrament of Baptism unto you do you not protest to live and die in the Faith of our Lord Jesus which you have now confessed before us and to adorn it with an Holy Life and Conversation and to direct all your Thoughts Words and Actions to the Glory of God and the Edification of your Neighbour and to submit your self to the Order and Discipline of our Church in Conformity whereunto this Holy Ordinance must be inviolably maintained Answ Yes This being done the Minister shall add Let us call upon God that he may be entreated to give his Blessing to this present Holy Ministration O Lord our God! The most wise and merciful God! We praise and bless thy Holy Name for that Grace which thy good Hand hath deigned to bestow upon this thy Servant who lay in the profound Darkness of the Shadow of Death but is now enlightned by thee thou having caused the Day-Spring from on high with his quickening and saving Brightness to arise and shine in upon him drawing him from a most deplorable hardness of a stony Heart to mollifie and soften him delivering him from the Bonds of Death and restoring Life unto him Lord as thou hast took away the Veil that was upon his
Face and called him to the Knowledg of thy self the only True God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent and animated him with a Spiritual Courage to make a publick Confession this Day of thy Holy Faith and that Hope which thou hast begotten in his Soul and granted him this Grace to offer himself in thy Presence unto this Holy Sacrament of Baptism the Seal of thy Covenant the Pledg of the Remission of our Sins and the Token of our Admission into thy House by a Supernatural New Birth So most blessed God we beseech thee to dart in upon him more and more the Beams of thy Mercy to forgive him all his Sins to purge his Conscience with the precious Blood of the Lamb without Spot who taketh away the Sins of the World O cause him Lord to feel the Almighty Vertue of his Propitiation Let thy Holy Spirit sanctifie him and make him a new Creature that he dying unto Sin may live unto Righteousness and putting off the Old Man with his Works he may put on the New Man who is renewed in Righteousness and true Holiness And as we are now pouring upon his Head the Waters of thy Sacrament so we beseech thee more especially to pour down upon him the Gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit Receive him into the Number of thy Domesticks and honour him with the Adoption of thy Children Give him Grace that during his whole Life he may devote himself entirely unto thy Service and yield that Obedience and Religious Worship to thee which is thy Due and his Duty And let him persevere faithfully in thy Holy Covenant for ever-more that as we do now receive him in thy Name into the Communion of thy Church Militant so thou mayest another Day exalt him into the Bosom of thy Church Triumphant and gather him at his Death unto that general Assembly of the First-born whose Names are written in Heaven Hear us O merciful Father that this Baptism which we do now administer to him according to thy Sacred Ordinance may produce its Fruit and Vertue in him as thou hast declared in thy Holy Gospel to us for the sake of thy dear Son in whom thou art well-pleased even our Lord Jesus Christ who hath commanded us to call upon thee saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. Then the Minister addressing himself to the Sureties who present the Catechumen shall say My Brethren As you have charitably employed your selves in the Instruction and Edification of this our Brother and are Witnesses of tha Baptism which he shall now receive through our Ministry so do you not promise before God and this Sacred Assembly to continue more and more to strengthen and confirm him in the Faith and to stir him up unto all good Works Answ Yes This done the Minister speaking unto the Catechumen who upon his Knees waiteth for Baptism shall say Forasmuch as we have received these Evidences of your Faith pouring Water upon him N. I Baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen The Conclusion of the Form of Baptizing Strangers from the Covenant of God whether Pagans Jews Mahometans Anabaptists or any other Infidels who had not been before baptized 11. If in Churches served by divers Pastors any one of them be disabled either through Age or some other Infirmity from administring the Cup yet shall he always distribute the Bread in the Lord's Supper unto the Communicants and this Canon shall be observed in all the Provinces without exception 12. Whereas in many of the greater Churches of this Kingdom it hath been found requisite for their more general edifying to handle the Sunday's Catechisms by way of Common-Places in Divinity and not by familiar Questions and Answers And to promote their Instruction who are well grown in years they have substituted extraordinary Catechisings on certain Days immediately preceding the Lords Supper we approving their Practice do notwithstanding exhort the rest of the Churches to conform themselves unto the Order prescribed by the Discipline as much as possibly they can And in case they cannot every Lords Day Catechise their Children yet shall they chuse out some days of the Week peculiarly for this Exercise especially before the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is to be administred and the Provincial Synods are ordred to see this punctually observed in every Church of their Jurisdiction and to give an Account thereof unto the next National Synod 13. To explain that Canon of our Discipline which bindeth Pastors in their ordinary Course of Preaching to expound some one particular Book of Holy Scripture from the beginning to the end thereof this Assembly declareth that the Intention of the National Synod which decreed that Canon was not thereby to debar or hinder any Pastors from edifying their Churches by expounding of any Books or Texts of Scripture particularly chosen on extraordinary occasions as of the Lords Supper c. nor to impose upon them any necessity of prosecuting the Exposition of the same Book which was the Subject of their Lord's Day Sermon upon the Week Days in which the far greatest Part of the People are taken up with the Occupations of their Secular Callings and Families that they cannot attend upon such Sermons and so would be deprived of their chiefest Edification but in this respect to leave all Pastors to their Liberty 14. Henceforward the Moderators in Synodical Assemblies and the Deputies which shall be sent from the Provinces in their Name to assist in National Synods shall be chosen as the Canons of our Discipline have determined not by the Churches but by Plurality of Suffrages of the Provinces And in case any absent Person should be elected yet this shall not abridge the Pastors of their Liberty in Voting 15. For the better Understanding the Third Canon of the Ninth Chapter of the Discipline This Assembly declareth that the Memoirs wherewith every Province intrusteth their respective Deputies ought to be resolv'd in their Provincial Synods by plurality of Votes and signed in the said Assemblies by the Moderators and in case this be omitted there shall be no more regard had unto them than unto Motions made by Private Persons who had no Order nor Commission and propounded such matters of their own Head 16. Upon the Eighth Canon of the Ninth Chapter of the Discipline it was decreed that the Moderator of the Synod having propounded the Matters of Discipline which are to be debated shall defer the giving of his Suffrage till all the Deputies have given theirs and he having gathered their Votes shall then at last have the Casting Voice CHAP. X. Observations made on Reading the National Synod of Alenson held in the Year 1637. 1. IN compliance with that Petition of the Deputies of Vivaretz and of the Church of St. Stephen in Forest which had agreed in a particular Treaty made with the Church of Bonlieu and by Consent of the Province of Burgundy that the said Church
acquaint the United Brethren what Entertainment and Acceptance the Reading of it had with their respective Assemblies which was done accordingly and to general satisfaction And because the Reader of the Acts of this Third National Synod of the Reformed Churches in France held at Charenton may not have seen and may be desirous to see what this Syncretism was between those Brethren in England I have here inserted them from my own Manuscript and printed Copies CHAP. XIII Heads of Agreement Assented to by the United Ministers in and about London formerly called Presbyterian and Congregational Preface to the Reader ENdeavours for an Agreement among Christians will be grievous to none who desire the flourishing State of Christianity it self the success of these Attempts among us must be ascribed to a presence of God so signal as not to be concealed and seems a hopeful pledge of further Blessings The favour of our Rulers in the present established Liberty we most thankfully acknowledge and to them we are studious to approve our selves in the whole of this Affair therefore we declare against any intermedling with the National Church-Form Imposing these Terms of Agreement on others is disclaimed All pretence to Coercive Power is as unsuitable to our Principles as to our Circumstances Excommunication it self in our respective Churches being no other than a declaring such Scandalous Members as are irreclaimable to be incapable of Communion with us in things peculiar to visible Believers And in all we expressly determine our purpose to the maintaining of Harmony and Love among our Selves and preventing the inconveniences which Human Weakness may expose to in our use of this Liberty The General Concurrence of Ministers and People in this City and the great Disposition thereto in other Places persuade us this happy work is undertaken in a Season designed for such divine Influence as will overcome all Impediments to Peace and convince of that Agreement which has been always among us in a good degree though neither to our Selves nor others so evident as hereby it is now acknowledged Need there any Arguments to recommend this Vnion Is not this what we all have Prayed for and Providence by the directest Indications hath been long Calling and Disposing us to Can either Zeal for God or Prudent Regards to our Selves remisly suggest it seeing the Blessings thereof are so important and when it s become in so many respects even absolutely necessary especially as it may conduce to the Preservation of the Protestant Religion and the Kingdoms Weal a Subserviency whereto shall always govern our Vnited abilities with the same disposition to a concurrence with all others who are duly concerned for those National Blessings As these considerations render this Agreement desirable so they equally urge a watchful care against all Attempts of Satan to dissolve it or frustrate the good effects thereof so manifestly destructive to his Kingdom Therefore it's incumbent on us to forbear Condemning and Disputing those different Sentiments and Practices we have expresly allowed for to reduce all distinguishing Names to that of United Brethren to admit no Vncharitable Jealousies or Censorious Speeches much less any Debates whether Party seems most favoured by this Agreement Such Carnal regards are of small moment with us who herein have used Words less accurate that neither side might in their various Conceptions about lesser matters be contradicted when in all substantials we are fully of one Mind and from this time hope more perfectly to rejoyce in the Honour Gifts and Success of each other as our common good That we as Vnited may contribute our utmost to the great Concernments of our Redeemer it 's mutually resolved we will assist each other with our Labours and meet and consult without the least shadow of separate or distinct Parties Whence we joyfully expect great Improvements in Light and Love through the more abundant supplies of the Spirit being well assured we herein serve that Prince of Peace of the increase of whole Government and Peace there shall be no end HEADS of AGREEMENT These following Heads of Agreement have been resolved upon by the United Ministers in and about London formerly called Presbyterian and Congregational not as a Measure for any National Constitution but for the Preservation of Order in our Congregations that cannot come up to the common Rule by Law Established 1. Of Churches and Church-Members 1. We acknowledg our Lord Jesus Christ to have one Catholick Church or Kingdom comprehending all that are united to him whether in Heaven or Earth And do conceive the whole Multitude of Visible Belieers and their Infant Seed commonly called the Catholick Visible Church to belong to Christ's Spiritual Kingdom in this World But for the notion of a Catholick Visible Church here as it signifies its having been collected into any formed Society under a visible human Head on Earth whether one Person singly or many collectively we with the rest of Protestants unanimously disclaim it 2. We agree that particular Societies of Visible Saints who under Christ their Head are statedly joyned together for ordinary Communion with one another in all the Ordinances of Christ are particular Churches and are to be owned by each other as Instituted Churches of Christ tho differing in apprehensions and practice in some lesser things 3. That none shall be admitted as Members in Order to Communion in all the special Ordinances of the Gospel but such Persons as are knowing and sound in the Fundamental Doctrins of the Christian Religion without scandal in their Lives and have a Judgment regulated by the Word of God and are Persons of visible Godliness and Honesty credibly professing cordial Subjection to Jesus Christ 4. A competent number of such visible Saints as before described do become the capable Subjects of stated Communion in all the special Ordinances of Christ upon their mutual declared Consent and Agreement to walk together therein according to Gospel Rule In which Declaration different degrees of Explicitness shall no way hinder such Churches from owning each other as Instituted Churches 5. Tho parochial bounds be not of Divine Right yet for common Edification the Members of a particular Church ought as much as conveniently may be to live near one another 6. That each particular Church hath right to chuse their own Officers and being furnished with such as are duly qualified and ordained according to the Gospel Rule hath authority from Christ for exercising Government and of enjoying all the Ordinances of Worship within it self 7. In the Administration of Church Power it belongs to the Pastors and other Elders of every particular Church if such there be to rule and govern and to the Brotherhood to consent according to the Rule of the Gospel 8. That all Professors as before described are bound in duty as they have opportunity to joyn themselves as fixed Members of some particular Church their thus joyning being part of their professed Subjection to the Gospel of Christ and are instituted means of
Loride an Elder for Scribes of the Synod who being Chosen did all of them take their Places accordingly CHAP. II. AS soon as the Officers of the Synod were nominated and seated the Lord de Magdelaine Counsellor to his Majesty in his Court of Parliament at Paris and Deputed by his Majesty to sit as his Commissioner in this Assembly deliver'd the King's Letters patents for his Commission which being Read they were Transcribed and Inserted into the Body of the Acts of this Synod whose Form and Tenor was as followeth Copy of his Majesties Letters Patents given to the Lord Commissioner LOVIS by the Grace of God King of France and of Navar To our Trusty and Beloved Consellor in our Courts of Parliament of Paris the Lord of Magdelaine Greeting We have permitted our Subjects of the Protestant Religion to hold in our Town of Loudun on the Tenth Day of November next a National Synod composed of all the Deputies of the Provinces of our Kingdom for to treat of matters concerning their Religion and being to choose a Person fitly qualified and of known Loyalty and Fidelity to us to assist in it and as our Commissioner to represent our Person in the said Assembly we well knowing those Services which you have rendered us in sundry Honourable Imployments wherein we had Commissionated you and which you have most worthily Discharged We have therefore judged that we could not make a better choice than of your self being well assured that you will continue to us the Proofs and Evidences of your Affection to our Service For these causes we have Commissionated and Deputed and we do now Commissionate and Depute you the said Lord of Magdelaine by these Presents signed with our Hand to pass over unto our Town of Loudun and in our place and stead to assist in the Synod there Convocated that you may then and there propound and answer all those things which we have given you in Commandment according to those Memoirs and Instructions we have delivered to you And you are to take special care that no other matters be there proposed nor debated but such as ought of right to be treated of in those Assemblies and which are permitted by our Edicts and in case they should enterprise any thing to the contrary you shall hinder it and by Interposing of out Authority suppress it or you shall speedily advise us of it that we may by such courses as in our Wisdom we shall judge most fit obviate and prevent it And for so doing we give you power commission and special command by these Presents for such is our Pleasure Given at Bourdeaux this Sixth day of September in the Year One Thousand Six Hundred Fifty and Nine and of our Reign the Seventeenth Signed LOVIS And a little Lower PHELIPPEAVX And Sealed at the lower end with the Great Seal and Yellow Wax CHAP. III. AFter reading his Majesty's Letters Patents the Lord Commissioner made this ensuing Speech unto the Assembly A Copy of the Lord Commissioners Speech Sirs ALthough my many Defects of which I am very conscious and my great Age might have well deterr'd me from accepting of this Commission with which it hath pleased his Majesty to grace and honour me and from coming hither and declaring his Will and Pleasure unto this eminent Assembly made up of the most able and considerable Persons of the Kingdom chosen out of the Body of the Professors of our Religion yet nevertheless I can boldly speak it that according to that Inclination which God hath given me for serving the King and the Publick unto which I have applied my self along time I did not in the least hesitate on this Occasion but did over-look all other Considerations hoping for Supplies from the Supreme Goodness to enable me to the performance of my Duty and from yours also that you will be readily disposed to facilitate what is desired of you And hence it is that I conceive with Joy a good issue of our Affairs even now when as I begin to speak unto you from his Majesty and you also have already took notice of it in that Grant vouchsafed you for your Assembling in this place according to your request which is a most remarkable effect of his Majesty's especial Favour to you which the good Providence of God hath now inspired into him for you after so many other signal Acts of his Royal Bounty you have formerly received from him for which I do not in the least suspect or question your Gratitude and Duty nor the sense of that Obligation which lieth upon you on many Accounts of yielding to him all Obedience according to the revealed Will of God who is the Sole and Sovereign Lord of all Men and of all things whatsoever And when I thus speak of his Majesty you know very well that we must understand all Persons acting by Authority from him according to the same revealed Will of Almighty God and the matter being so notorious we cannot but observe it in this place even that kindness and Justice you have upon many and sundry occasions had proof and sensible experience of from the Hands of his Majesty's first and Principal Minister of State his Eminency the Lord Cardinal Mazarin Nor need I enlarge on this Subject only let me add but one Reflection of my own about this last Favour the Convocation of this Synod which you believed to be at this time so needful for you you stand highly indebted unto his Eminency for it and the best and chiefest Fruit you can gather from its Consultations and Resolutions will be this to be more united among your selves and to maintain in Peace and Concord the whole Body of those of our Religion who are represented by you and to terminate and pacifie those Differences and Dissentions which are among you For sith they are produced through the Vice and Weakness of our Humane Nature and State and begin in the noblest Parts where the whole Body receiveth an alteration we may very much fear a Dissipation if only topiual Remedies be applied for these alone do seldom operate or contribute but a little to the Union and Conservation of the whole And whereas all Assemblies of whit kind soever do depend upon his Majesty who as supreme Lord hath a Right and Jurisdiction over all Persons and Actions and to ordain even in and about matters concerning the Church which was always consider'd as a Part of the State His Majesty was therefore pleased to vouchsafe you this Synod so earnestly desired by you that you might regulate past matters and re-establish among you that Order which you ought to keep for the future and the rather because there be many years lapsed since you had an Assembly of this nature Sirs It is most certain that your Enemies who design your diminution and ruin could never meet with a more favourable means and opportunity to attempt it than by maintaining and fomenting your Divisions and Dissentions for these will
rather because your Majesty hath superadded another favour to your former which is indeed inlinked with it to wit your gracious permission of us to proceed to the Election of a General Deputy according to the priviledg granted us by the Kings your Predecessors But Sire you having with your own Royal Hand conferr'd upon us the Lord Marquess of Ruvigny we were so well provided for that we most humbly beseech your Majesty to continue him unto us in this Office This is Sire what the Sieurs Eustache and de Mirabel are charged to deliver unto your Majesty and whom pre have nominated to lay at your Feet our Homages Submissions and most sincere protestations of our inviolable Fidelity together with our continual Prayers unto the Throne of Grace for the Preservation of your Majesties most Sacred Person for the Prosperity of this Kingdom for the Establishing of Peace and for the happy accomplishment of your Marriage as being Sire Of your Majesty The most Humble the most Obedient and most Faithful Subjects and Servants the Pastors and Elders Assembled by your Majesties Permission in a National Synod at Loudun and for all of them Moderator Daille Assessor J. M. de Langle Scribes John de Brissac Loride des Galinieres A Copy of the Letter written unto the Queen Madam WHen as during the King's Minority the Supream Government of this Kingdom was put into your Hands those of our Religion who live dispersed in all parts of the Kingdom have received so many marks and Evidences of your Majesties Goodness and Protection that the Remembrance thereof will be perpetually engraven upon our Hearts in the deepest sense of gratitude and acknowledgments And since his Majesty our Sovereign Lord was declared Major of Years to Govern and his Vertues have out-run his Years your Majesty Madam hath so assisted him with your good Counsels that we all know and confess that you contributed most of all to maintain us in our Repose and in the injoyment of those Priviledges which were given us by the Edicts of our Princes And now the late Grant of our Assembling in this National Synod is in part the fruit of those good Inclinations your Majesty hath for us wherewith we are so deeply affected that we cannot forbear the Expressions of our Thankfulness And therefore Madam we have given in charge unto our Deputies whom we have sent unto the King to wait also upon your Majesty and to assure you not only of your sincere Dutifulness unto your Majesty wit are here assembled but also of all those Persons who have deputed us and are represented by us and that the remembrance of your Benefits shall never be blotted out of our Souls And we most humbly Petition your Majesty that you will be pleased always to ingage us unto Thankfulness by continuing to us the Fruits of your Royal Goodness and that you would daign to inrich us with the occasions of our incessant publishing your Praises that as we now do so we may always wrestle with our God for the showring down of his best Blessings from Heaven upon your Majesty and he will hear us Madam for we cry unto him daily that you may have length of Days an uninterrupted Prosperity that your Glorious Designs of settling Peace in France and a perpetual Peace between the Two Crowns which have been so long at variance may be at last atchieved The great God Madam will bless your Care and Labours in getting a Spouse for our King which may briâ—◠〈◊〉 a Posteâ—â—â— like unto that your Majesty hath given unto the late King his Father and which may be the genuine and worthy Offspring of so many Royal Monarchs from whose Blood they be descended and to whom the Empire of France and Spain may be subjected And to say no more Madam our God will give your Majesty to see that by our inviolable Fidelity and Obedience unto your Commands there are none among the Subjects of this most populous Kingdom who are more than our selves Madam Of your Majesty The most Humble and the most Obedient Subjects and Servants the Pastors and Elders assembled in a National Synod of Loudun and in the Name of all Moderator Daille Assessor J. M. de L'Angle Scribes John de Brissac Lorile des Galinieres A Copy of the Letter written unto his Eminency My Lord ALthough that next and after God it is of his Majesty's Grace and Favour that we enjoy this Priviledg of meeting together in a National Synod yet also are we principally obliged unto the Goodness of your Eminency and to the Wisdom of your Counsels For besides that this great Kingdom is governed by them and that 't is by the Cares of this important Ministry committed by his Majesty unto your Eminency that our Churches do enjoy the Protection of his Edicts as we have been informed by my Lord de Magdelaine his Majesty's Commissioner in our Assembly and by your Letters written to the Lord Marquess of Ruvigny our General Deputy of your Eminency's most favourable Inclinations for us in this Occurrenc Therefore my Lord no sooner were we met together but we poured out our Souls in the presence of the Lord Jesus our Saviour and rendred him our most Solemn Sacrifice of Thanksgiving that he had at length inclined his Majesty's Heart to grant us what we had so ardently desired and our very next Thought was to depute some of our Body unto his Majesty with the most humble Thanks of our Hearts and then also unto your Eminency to testifie our Gratitude unto you We have therefore my Lord given in charge to the Sieurs Eustache and Mirabel sent by us unto Court to throw themselves in our stead at his Majesty's Feet to wait also upon your Eminency as from its and to assure your Eminency that all the Churches of this Kingdom who have deputed us unto this Synod will retain an everlasting remembrance of this your Favour together with in inviolable resolution of giving you the undoubted Evidences of our Sense and Resentment of it by our uncorruptible Fidelity in his Majesty's Service and in a most respectful Obedience unto those Orders we shall receive from him by the Mediation of your most excellent Ministry Moreover we do hope my Lord that your Eminency will give a favourable Audience unto our Deputies in those most humble Requests they have to tender to you for us and that you would be pleased to obtain of his Majesty that we may sensibly feel the benign Influences of his Goodness and Royal Protection and that you would daign always to accept those Requests which shall be presented to you by the Lord Marquess of Ruvigny whom his Majesty hath permitted and his commendable Qualities and Services have obliged us to confirm in his Office of General Deputy and that we may not be denied those Gratifications which these our National Assemblies have always received from our Kings and which even your Eminency its self hath procured for us All our Churches my
Lord do expect and wait for this Fruit of your Eminency's great Goodness and whatever shall be received by us it shall be as a most refreshing Shower that shall cause our Hearts to fructifie more abundantly yea and the Hearts of all those of our Religion in that Love and Affection which they have ever had and which our Religion and our Interest inspireth us to have above all other his Majesty's Subjects for his Service and to have the Praise of being true Frenchmen firmly devoted to the Advancement of the State and to that respect which all France oweth unto your Eminency But whatever may be my Lord we invocate incessantly our common Redeemer that he would preserve your Eminency's Person in all Prosperity and bless your Counsels given unto his Majesty and cause them for the future as they have in times past to succeed to the Advantage of the State the Glory of his Majesty and the immortal Honour of your Eminency These are their Vows and Prayers who will conserve inviolably the Quality which they have ever had to be my Lord of your Eminency The most Humble and most Obedient Servants the Pastors and Elders Assembled in a National Synod at Loudun and for them all Daille Moderator c. 6. The Sieurs Eustache and Mirabel who were Deputed from this Assembly unto his Majesty being returned from their Journey gave an Account of their Deputation and delivered Letters from the King his Eminency and the Lord de la Vrilliere unto this Assembly and they received the Praise and Thanks of it for their Care and Labour A Copy of His Majesty's Letter DEar and Well Beloved We were very glad at the Receipt of your Letters dated the 18th Instant and to hear from the Mouths of your Deputies the Sieurs Eustache and de Mirabel the Thanks you have rendred us for our permitting you to hold this National Synod in our Town of Loudun and the Protestations of your inviolable Fidelity and Obedience to us and being well satisfied therewith we were willing to give you the knowledge of it by this our Letter and to exhort you to persist in your Godly Purposes and Duties and to afford us upon all occasions which may offer themselves for our Service the Evidences of your good Conduct And we farther assure you that whilst you continue your selves within the Bounds we require from your Synod and upon all other Occurrences which you may meet withal to maintain as much as in you lieth the publick Peace and Tranquility you shall also receive from us all good and favourable Usage and we shall be delighted to protect you under the benefit of our Edicts and of those of our most Honoured Lord and Father the late King as we have done until now and as we shall yet again once more assure you more particularly by your Deputies whom we return unto you very much satisfied In the mean while we do the more willingly allow the Continuation of the Lord Marquess of Ruvigny in the Office of General Deputy for your Churches near our selves because we are fully perswaded that he will always acquit himself with Care and Faithfulness of that Employ Given at Tholouse the Tirteenth Day of November One Thousand Six Hundred Fifty and Nine Signed LOVIS And a little Lower PHELIPPEAVX The Superscription was To our dear and well-beloved the Pastors and Elders Deputed unto the Assembly of the National Synod of our Subjects of the Protestant Reformed Religion held at Loudun Copy of his Eminency's Letter Sirs YOur Deputies delivered me the Letter which you took the pains to write me I owe you Thanks for your Civilities and the more because his Majesty being perswaded as he is of your inviolable Fidelity and of your Zeal for his Service 't is but needless and superfluous to mention any good Offices for you with his Majesty I pray you to believe that I have a very great Esteem for you as you do deserve it being such good Servants and Subjects of the King I have nothing more but to leave my self to what shall be related of me by your own Deputies and by the Dispatches of the Lord de la Vrilliere I remain Sirs Your most Affectionate to do you Service The Cardinal Mazarin The Sieur de la Morinaye was Deputed by this Assembly with Letters to my Lord Chancellor and to my Lord de Bertueil Comptroler General of the Exchequer and ordered to ride unto Paris and there to take up the Sixteen Thousand Livres Gratuity which his Majesty hath been pleased to bestow upon this Assembly for defraying the Expences of it's Deputies to which purpose the Orders of the Accomptants and the Assignment of my Lord High Treasurer was delivered into his Hands which was under Signed by the Sieur Eustache 7. The Assembly considering that since the Death of the Sieur Bazin General Deputy of our Churches for the Third Estate unto the King that there is no one to supply his Place so that my Lord Marquess of Ruvigny our General Deputy is even born down with the Duties of his Office at Court which is a very great Inconveniency to our Churches it was decreed That a most humble Petition should be tender'd unto his Majesty that he would be pleased to put us again into the Possession of this Priviledge And the Assembly hoping that this their Petition would not be unacceptable unto his Majesty and my Lord Commissioner not in the least opposing it was resolved that we should proceed immediately unto the Election of such Persons as should be presented unto his Majesty according to the usual Forms Which being done it was found that the Sieurs Loride des Galinieres Advocate in the King's Council and in Parliament Jassaud Advocate in the mixt Court of Castres and des Forges Le Coq Counsellor and Secretary to the King had the Plurality of Votes Whereupon it was decreed that my Lord Marquess of Ruvigny shall be intreated to notifie it unto the King as soon as possible together with the most humble Petition of this Assembly that his Majesty would be pleased to chuse one out of these Three according to Custom and to assign him the Salary which his Majesty and the Kings his Predecessors have given unto those who have exercised the said Office of General Deputy 8. Letters being Addressed to this Assembly by the Pastors and Professors of Divinity in the Church and University of Geneva and other Letters from the Pastors and Professors of Divinity in the Churches and Universities of the Cantons of Zurich Berne Basil and Schapheusen joyntly Signed by them they were delivered unto my Lord Commissioner who having first perused them did afterwards order them to be communicated unto the Assembly and to be read in it The Contents of which were large Expressions of their Affections to the Peace of the Churches of this Kingdom and their Joy at the Liberty which it hath pleased the King to give us and the Priviledge of Assembling
they represented that they would observe it themselves and see that it should be exactly observed in their Provinces CHAP. VIII Observations upon reading the last National Synod of Charenton in the Year 1644. 1. THE Provincial Deputies of Lower Languedoc and Sevennes demanding that something might be changed in that Decree of the National Synod of Charenton in the Year 1644. which empowred Consistories with full Authority to judge Sovereignly and without Appeal of those differences arising upon the Account of Seats erected in our Temples And the Consistory of Montpellier having sent Memoirs and demanded quite contrary to them a Confirmation of the said Decree This Assembly waving the Decrees of Provincial Synods made in prejudice of the Ordinances of the National Synod of Charenton and which have not been as yet put in execution by their Consistories and are now vacated and disannulled by this present Assembly it doth judge that there ought not to be any change made in that Decree of the said National Synod of Charenton but ordaineth only That in case the Difficulties be so great as that they cannot be composed by the particular Consistory then it may call in the most considerable Heads of Families belonging to their own Church or of the Neighbour Consistories to be corroborated by their United Counsels and to judge Sovereignly without Appeal concerning those Seats and to prosecute with Church-Censures all such Persons as will not submit unto their Orders and particularly those who shall attempt to remove a business of this nature from our Ecclesiastical Assemblies Moreover it declareth and judgeth as did the last National Synod held at Charenton in the 7th and 11th Articles of Appeals That there be fewer Inconveniences in leaving all Seats free and in common than in affecting them unto particular Persons who being meerly private Persons cannot of right lay claim unto any preheminence before others And all the Churches are exhorted to do what in them lieth to make all places common 2. Forasmuch as True Piety and Holiness depend upon the right knowledge of the Mysteries of Religion this Assembly ratifying that Decree made in the last National Synod of Charenton which was to this effect That whereas in several Great Churches of this Kingdom it was requisite for their general Edification that the Sunday's Catechisms should be handled not by familiar Questions and Answers but by Common-places And that their Instruction might be facilitated who were grown in Years they had substituted extraordinary Catechisings upon some certain days of the Week preceding the Lord's Supper their Practice being approved all the Churches of this Kingdom are exhorted to conform themselves to that Order prescribed by the Discipline as far as God shall enable them and in case they cannot Catechise their Children on every Sabbath-day they shall then chuse out some particular Day of the Week for this Exercise especially before the Celebration of the Lord's Supper And Provincial Synods are charged to take knowledge whether every particular Church in their District do perform their Duty herein or no and to give an Account thereof unto the next National Synod This Decree is again revived and 't is now ordered that it shall be exactly observed in all our Churches which shall take such care and course in their respective Consistories as they shall judge will best contribute to the Instruction of the Faithful and in those Churches which have two Sermons on the Lord's Day the Second Sermon shall be turned into an Exposition of the Catechism by way of Common-Place adapting their Discourses to the meanest Capacities And in those Churches and Towns where there is more frequent Preaching as on every day of the Week there is in some they are exhorted to exchange one or more of these Sermons into familiar Catechistical Exercises and such as be more populous and dispersed into divers quarters they are exhorted to hire a fit Person n to instruct the Children in all the Quarters of those Cities and of the Country or at least to chuse out in every Quarter such Elders as are Men able and willing to do this good Service unto the Church of our Lord Jesus And all Fathers and Mothers shall take an especial Care of the Religious Education of their Children teaching them themselves and committing them to Godly Ministers who may form their tender years unto Godliness And all Colloquies and Synods are enjoyned to take Cognizance once a year of the Observation of this Order by Pastors and Consistories And in case there should occur any difficulty to obstruct and hinder this good Design Provincial Synods are empowred with Authority to judge of it and whatever shall be determined and ordained by them shall be executed notwithstanding any Appeal that may be made from them and put in practice till the meeting of the next National Synod unto which an Account of the whole shall be given And that Pastors may acquit themselves more carefully of this most needful part of their Ministry and may have the more time for their private Studies and better prepare themselves for their publick Work in the Pulpit and give more satisfaction unto their Auditories by a clear judicious and solid Explication of the Sacred Scripture Those Churches whose Ministers are obliged to preach oftner than three times in the Week are entreated to discharge them of some part of this Exercise that they may be the better qualified for their Work and may apply themselves more profitably to the Instruction of the Youth by familiar Catechisings And Synods and Colloquies shall see unto it that Pastors and their Churches do all of them endeavour the Advancement of their Members Edification and the Glory of God and of the Gospel 3. Monsieur Drelincourt Pastor of the Chrch of Paris having given an Account of his Works undertook in Obedience to the Counsel of the last National Synod held at Charenton received the Praise and Thanks of this Assembly for those his Learned Labours already published in Defence of the Truth and for Consolation of the Faithful which have been very beneficial to them and he is exhorted to continue his painful Studies and to print those other Treatises as soon as they be finished which are now in his Hands 4. There was read an Article of the last National Synod concerning the Differences of the University of Die with Monsieur Aymin a Minister and the Letters also of the Professors in the said University were perused in which they complain of the many Troubles he hath put them to upon the score of the Judgments passed in the Consistory of Lion March 21. 1638. and March 7. 1643. notwithstanding they had been all repealed in that last National Synod and which self-same Decree was Confirmed by a Judicial Sentence of the Supreme Court of Requests May 12. 1656. into which the said Aymin had driven them And another Report was made how he threatned them with farther Prosecutions upon the same Account This Assembly censureth the
they and their Monies together yet this great Redeemer who bought his Inheritance neither with Silver nor Gold nor precious Stones but with his own most precious Blood hath no mind to lose thee he would not have thee to perish with thy Mony Thou knowest he hath not grudged thee any thing he denieth thee nothing he hath given his dearest Heart Blood for thee This is an Hour of Grace a Season of Mercy an opportunity wherein God may be found The Cock Crows run out of the High Priest's Hall flee out of Babylon and weep bitterly Tarry not a Moment longer in it Cry out mightily unto God I have sinned Lord I have sinned against Heaven and before thee Say unto thy Soul O my Soul 't is the Lord who hath redeemed thee 't is the Lord who hath redeemed thee and he will pluck thy Feet out of the Snare he will draw thee out of the horrible Pit out of the Miry Clay even he will redeem thee from thine Iniquity Thou knowest that it is natural for Man to sin and that he hath shut up all under unbelief under the guilt of their Rebellions that he might have Mercy upon all Thou art included in the number of this All thou art not excepted Call then upon God humbly and penitently fervently and fiducially and thou may'st yet obtain a Pardon Do not harden thy self in thy sin Remember the Words of David Abyssus abyssum vocat the abyss of thine Obdurateness will plunge thee into the bottomless abyss of Destruction Pray then unto God with thine whole heart that he would pour the Oyl of his Grace upon thy smoaking weik Cry unto him earnestly and importunately and tell him Lord I will give thee no rest Night nor Day 'till thou hast pardoned my great Iniquity Thou knowest that the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by Violence and that the Violent do take it by force Force thy Soul then to cry out unto God for Mercy Cry daily cry continually cry without intermission without interruption and God will be merciful But my Friend do not address thy Orisons and Devotions to He or She Saints that 's bootless that 's unprofitable The Scriptures of truth tell us those Divinely inspired Writings assure us yea and the Ancients also that the Dead know not the things which are done here below but God only who as thou well knowest doth pardon Sins for his own Names Sake Are thy Sins as red as Scarlet know it if thou dost not yet know it that if thou call upon him he will wash thee and cleanse thee and thou shalt be as white as Wooll But and if thou neglect this duty this thy bounden duty thy Sins shall remain in thee thy Guilt and Filth shall abide upon thee For he hath spoken it That he who is Filthy shall be Filthy still and because thou wouldst not be purged thine Iniquities shall never be purged O then do not live in thy Sin one moment longer sith God is well pleased with Repenting Sinners Say as David Lord I have gone astray like a lost Sheep O seek thy Servant and bring me back again unto thy Fold with the Fourscore and Nineteen Just Persons My Friend O my dear Friend I beseech thee come out of thy Spiritual Sodom Do not look behind thee lest thou shoul'st die there Be grieved as David that thou hast sojourned in Mesech and dwelt so long in the Tents of Kedar Thou knowest that without Christ thou canst do nothing Never object unto me that 't is in vain for thee now to return having made Shipwrack of thy Faith thou canst be no longer a Minister 'T is true thou hast none other Calling whereby to subsist to provide a Livelyhood for thy self and Family and among the Papists whose Party thou hast espoused thou maist possibly meet with Employment because they have promised thee and it may be as to this World an Employment much more advantagious and Beneficial But mayst not thou be cheated I am very much mistaken if thou hast not had already an Earnest of their Fraudulent dealing with thee Many Persons who like thee have left the Truth to be of their Religion being inticed with a multitude of Golden Promises can assure thee from their sorrowful experience how much they have been gull'd and choused by them But my dear Friend over-look these matters and lay by all human Considerations and say in this case as the Father of Believers Jehovah Jireh the Lord will provide Besides who ever saw the righteous forsaken or his Seed begging Bread Yea contrariwise they have been ever Lenders Thy Soul my Friend is a most precious Jewel of inestimable Value If thou losest it who can redeem it What Ransom wilt thou give unto God for it Get it in a state of Salvation I say again see that it be in a state of Salvation Fear not them who can kill the Body but rather fear that God who can cast both Soul and Body into Hell Fire for evermore Thou knowest Friend that the Church is God's Garden that God himself planted it and that every Plant which is not of his planting shall be grubbed up by the Roots This Consideration should make thee tremble thou hast plucked thy self up and cast thy self out of this Garden I advise thee that before thou hast taken root elsewhere thou intreat the Keeper of the Garden to new set thee that thou mayest bring forth better Fruits hereafter than heretofore that he would dress thee with his own Hand that he would water thee with the Dews and Showers of his Grace warm and quicken thee with the Eye and Beams of his Love Then I shall rejoyce at thy Recovery and glorifie God for his singular Mercies to thee Thou knowest also that he who having been once enlightned and hath tasted of the Heavenly Gift if he shall fall away 't will be impossible for him to be renewed unto Repentance O! Labour hard that thou mayst be restored Seek God whilst he may be found Or else there will a time come when thou shalt crie Lord Lord and he will not hear thee but as a Worker of Iniquity thou shalt be cast off Tug hard then at the Oar of Prayer chasten thy proud Flesh with Fasting give Alms of thy Substance unto the Poor and say unto God Convert me Lord and I shall be converted Rend thy Heart to pieces before it grow callous left God should swear in his Wrath that thou shalt never enter into his Rest The Sin against the Holy Ghost is never pardoned neither in this World nor in that to come Repent then and be not obstinate do not harden thy self against these wholsom Counsels of thy most Faithful Friend Be zealous and believe in God For whosoever believeth in him shall never be ashamed shall never be confounded Call upon him not upon He or She Saints but upon the Holy Name of Jesus and thou shalt be saved Come my Friend consider what thou hast done Thou are
repent rouze up thy self out of thy Spiritual Lethargy Awake then and give Glory unto God the God of Heaven and Earth and he will raise thee up again tho thou art fallen Call upon him for who knoweth but that he may have Compassion on thee He hath not forsaken thee but thou hast forsaken him and thou canst tell in what place thou shookst Hands with him Don't consult with Flesh and Blood go seek and find him out in the beginning of thy Sin that yet he may recover thee His Gifts and Callings are without Repentance Thou hast quitted the Pastoral Office to be a wandring Sheep a Sheep wandring after the Voice of a Stranger However thou knowest what the great Shepherd saith by St. John on this occasion make use of it to thy best advantage and if thou canst not be a Pastor yet at least become a Sheep of Christ's Fold In the mean while my dear Friend I will humbly beseech God from the bottom of my Soul and with all my Heart that he would recover thee from this thy most dangerous Malady by some proper and most effectual Remedy For I know him by good Experience to be the best Physician and that he can purge out of thee all thine Errors all Humane Considerations and corroborate the good infeebled in thee through the perverseness of the former that he can again enlighten thee ingraft thee into Christ tho thou hast broken thy self off from him and give Rest unto thy Soul in the Bosom of the Church Militant that so in the Church Triumphant thou mayst enjoy those everlasting Blessings which he hath prepared for them who persevere unto the end And I being filled with Joy at thy Recovery will take thee by the Hand and we will go together into the House of our God there to render him according to our poor Abilities that Sacrifice of Thanksgiving which is his Due and our Duty Now then under this Quality and with this Hope I subscribe my self Dear Friend Excuse if my Superscription do omit these Titles which once thou hadst and I am ignorant of what thou now bearest Thy Humble Servant Aide de Dieu Help of God A Monsieur Monsieur Martin at his House in Montoire CHAP. XXII Remarks upon the Deputies 1. MR. Boschart Pastor of the Church of Caen a Man of vast Learning and reputed one of the most able Scholars in all France His Hierozoicon and Phaleg proclaim his Worth to the whole World Christina Queen of Sweedland invited him into that Kingdom and he was for some time a Professor in the University there 2. Peter de la Musse Here is a Marquess of that Name in London a faithful Confessor for Christ having forsaken his Estate are embraced the Cross rather than part with his Religion and his God and I think the same Deputy 3. Monsieur Mussard Minister in the Church of Lyons but a Native of Geneva he married Mr. Beza's Granchild By a Trick of the Jesuits which he told me he was outed of the Church of Lyons The Cardinal of Villeroy Archbishop of that City and Diocess had an esteem and value for him For he was a Person of great Worth an excellent Scholar and a most eloquent Preacher The French Church of London invited him over to their Service and he died in the Pastoral Office of it There be Printed of his Works a Volume of Sermons in French in Quarto 2. Historia Deorum satidicorum 4 to And 3. Les Conformites des Ceremonies Modernes avec les anciennes His Modesty made him not put his Name to his Works But he himself told me he was the Author of them Les Conformites doth speak English for I have seen the Translation in a Booksellers Shop 4. Monsieur de Bourdieu Pastor of Montpellier this reverend and ancient Servant of the Lord Jesus resides in London and Preacheth tho 95 Years old 5. Monsieur Guitton Pastor of the Church of Sion fled here upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes into England and was some time in London but since for want of Employment left the Kingdom and retired I think into the Netherlands 6. Monsieur Amyraud the Famous Professor of Saumur His Learned Writings are well known I shall say more of him God willing in my Icones 7. Monsieur Daille Pastor of the Church of Paris A most Learned and Eloquent Preacher My Worthy and Reverend Friend Mr. Soreton an eminent Nonconformist Minister in Devon translated his Commentary upon the Colossians into English His Book of the Right Use of the Fathers was translated into English and highly valued He writ against Brachet Sieur de la Millitiere a Tool of Richlieu's to compound and reconcile if possible the Two Religions Millitiere at last turned Apostate He hath a most accurate Treatise De Imaginibus Apologie des Eglises Reformees and a great many other things of which and him I shall give an Account at large in my Icones 8. Monsieur Homel Pastor of the Church of Sojon a most pious and zealous Preacher he died a constant and Faithful Martyr His Execution was most barbarous being broken upon the Wheel and left under Torments for several Hours before his Inhuman Persecutors would give him the Coup de Grace as they call it the last Blow upon the Breast to put an end to his Torments But God filled him under his greatest Sufferings with the Consolations of his Spirit I have writ a larger Narrative of his Martyrdom and shall insert it into the Life of the Great Chamier for a Great Grandson of the Famous Chamier suffer'd about the same time unless my memory fail me with him FINIS
thereof at Pimpoul and for Diepe in the Suburbs of Paulet and the said places of Pimpoul and Paulet shall be ordained to be places of Bailywicks As for Sancerre the said exercise shall be continued as it is at present saving that it shall not be set up again in the said Town the Inhabitants there making it appear that the Lord of the place consenteth to it and care shall be taken herein by those Commissioners which his Majesty shall depute for the executing of the said Edict And also the said exercise shall be established free and publick in the Town of Montagnac in Languedoc ARTICLE VI. Upon that Article which maketh mention of Bailywicks it was declared and granted as followeth First For the establishing the exercise of the said Religion in two places granted in every Bailywick Seneschalsy and Government Those of the said Religion shall name two Towns in the Suburbs of which the said Exercise shall be established by those Commissioners whom his Majesty shall depute for executing the said Edict And in case they should not judge it to be meet for them those of the said Religion shall name two or three Boroughs or Villages near unto the said Towns and for every one of them the said Commissioners shall chuse one And if by reason of Hostility Contagion or other lawful impediment it may not be continued in those said places others shall be given them for that time that the said Impediment shall last Secondly as to the Government of Picardy there shall be but two Towns provided for in whose Suburbs those of the said Religion may have the exercise thereof for all the Bailywicks Seneschalsies and Governments which depend upon it And in case it shall not be judged meet to establish it in those said Towns there shall be given them two commodious Boroughs or Villages Thirdly because of the great extent of the Seneschalsy of Provence and Bailywick of Viennois his Majesty granteth That in every one of the said Bailywicks and Seneschalsies a third place which shall be chosen and named as above in which the said exercise of the said Religion shall be established over and besides those other places in which it is already established ARTICLE VII That which is accorded by the said Article for exercise of the said Religion shall have place for those Lands which belonged unto the late Queen Mother-in-Law of his Majesty and for the Bailywick of Beaujolois ARTICLE VIII Over and above the two places accorded for the exercise of the said Religion by the secret Articles in the year 1577. in the Islands of Marennes and of Olleron there shall be given them two others which may be most commodious for the said Inhabitants to wit one for all the Islands of Marennes and another for the Isle of Olleron ARTICLE IX The Provisions granted by his Majesty for the exercise of the said Religion in the City of Mets shall obtain their full and intire effect ARTICLE X. 'T is his Majesties will and intention that the 27. Article of his Edict concerning the admission of them of the said pretended Reformed Religion unto Offices and Dignities shall be observed and maintained according to its form and tenour notwithstanding the Edicts and Grants formerly made for the Reduction of some Princes Lords Gentlemen and Catholick Cities unto his Obedience which shall have no place to the prejudice of those of the said Religion as to their exercise of it And the said exercise shall be regulated according to what is imported in the ensuing Articles according to which shall the Instructions be prepared for those Commissioners whom his Majesty shall depute for execution of his Edict according to its import ARTICLE XI According to the Edict made by his Majesty for reduction of the Lord Duke of Guise the exercise of the said pretended Reformed Religion shâ—â—â— not be nor set up in the Cities and Suburbs of Rheims Rocroy Saint Disier Guise Joinville Fismes and Moncornet in the Ardennes ARTICLE XII Nor may it be exercised in other plates near adjoining to those Towns and Places forbidden by the Edict in the year 1577. ARTICLE XIII And to remove all ambiguity which may arise out of these words near adjoining his Majesty declareth that he would be understood to speak of those places within a league of the Precincts of those said Towns in which places the exercise of the said Religion may not be established unless it were permitted by the Edict of 1577. ARTICLE XIV And forasmuch as by that Article the Exercise of the said Religion was permitted generally in all Fiefs possessed by those of the said Religion without exceptions made of the Banlieue before-mentioned the space of a League beyond the Precincts of those Towns his said Majesty declareth that the same Permission shall hold good as to those Fiefs which shall be held within the said Banlieue by those of the said Religion even according to the sense and import of the Edict given at Nantes ARTICLE XV. And in pursuance of the Edict made for Reduction of the Lord Mareschal de la Chastre in every one of the Bailywicks of Orleans and Bourges there shall be but one place of Bailywick ordained for exercise of the said Religion which yet nevertheless may be continued in those places in which it is permitted to be continued by the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XVI That grant of Preaching in Fiefs shall likewise take place in the said Bailywicks according to the form prescribed by the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XVII That Edict likewise for reducing the Lord Mareschal of Boisdauphin shall be observed and the said Exercise may not be made in the Towns Suburbs and places brought by him unto his Majesties Service and as for those Lands near adjoining to their Bandlieue the Edict of 1577. shall be observed yea and in the Houses of Fiefs according to the sense and import of the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XVIII The said Religion shall not be exercised in the Towns Suburbs and Castles of Morlais according to the Edict made for the Reduction of the said Town and the Edict of 77. shall be observed throughout its whole Jurisdiction yea and as to the Fiefs according to the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XIX In consequence of that Edict for the Reduction of Quinper-Corantin there shall be no exercise at all of the said Religion in the whole Bishoprick of Corâ—wall ARTICLE XX. In pursuance also of the Edict for Reduction of Beauvais there shall be no exercise of the said Religion in the said City of Beauvais nor within three Leagues thereof round Yet nevertheless it may be exercised and esâ—ablished beyond the bounds of the Bailywick in those places permitted by the Edict of 1577. yea and in the Houses of Fiefs even as it was intended and imported by the Edict of Nantes ARTICLE XXI And whereas the Edict made for reducing the Lord Admiral of Villars is only provisional and till such time as his Majesty should give some further
following the date hereof in the Town of Alanson but on this condition that there be none other Matters debated in it excepting those only which are allowed by the Edicts and that the Lord of St. Mars Counsellor to his Majesty in his Council of State be Personally present in the said Synod in Quality of his Majesty's Commissioner as hath been usual and customary in such Assemblies In Testimony whereof his Majesty bath commanded me to expedite this his present Writ which he hath seen and signed with his own Hand and caused to be countersigned by me his Counsellor and Secretary of State and of his Commandments Signed LOVIS And a little lower Phelippeaux Article 2. There came unto the said Assembly on behalf of the Provinces and Churches these Pastors and Elders deputed by them whose Names follow Article 3. For the Province of Normandy the Sieurs Benjamin Basnage Pastor of the Church of Ste Mere and John Maximilian de l'Angle Pastor of the Church of Rouen together with the Lords John Richer Lord of Cerisy Elder of the Church of Gaulé and Lawrence le Febure Advocate in the Parliament of Normandy and Elder in the Church of Rouen Article 4. For the Province of Dolphiny the Sieurs Paul Guyon Pastor of the Church of Dieu le fit and Stephen Blanc Pastor and Professor in the Church of Die together with the Sieurs James de Beaucastell Esq Lord of Auges Elder in the Church of Courtezon and Gaspard du Baeuf Advocate in the Parliament of Dolphiny and Elder in the Church of Grenoble Article 5. For the Province of Burgundy the Sieurs Aymedeé de Bons Pastor of the Church at Chaloons and Heliodorus du Noyer Pastor of the Church at Bussy together with the Sieurs John Roy Advocate in the Parliament of Burgundy Elder in the Church of Arnay le Duc and Charles Perreau Advocate in the said Parliament Elder in the Church of Autun and Couches Article 6. For the Province of Lower Languedoc the Sieurs Samuel Petit Pastor and Professor in the Church of Nismes and John Gigord Pastor of the Church of Montpellier together with the Sieurs Francis de Fonfrede Counsellor to the King in the Presidial Court of Nismes and Deacon of the said Church and John Browns Lord of Roussares Elder in the Church of St. Ambroise Article 7. For the Province of Xaintonge the Sieurs Daniel Chesnel Pastor of the Church of Marans and * * * There be two of his Sons Ministers and Exites here in England John Commarc Pastor of tie Church of Vertueil together with the Lords René de Saint Leger Esq Lord of Boiscond Elder in the Church of Clan and Mr. George Reveau Counsellor to the King and his Advocate at Rochel Elder of the Church in that City Article 8. For the Province of Provence the Sieurs Paul Maurice Pastor of the Church of Aigueres and John Monestier Elder in the Church of Lormarin Article 9. For the Province of Sevennes the Sieurs John Bony Pastor of the Church of St. John de Gardonengue and John Surville Pastor of the Church at Vigan together with the Sieurs Peter de Fons Lord of des Sabbatieres Elder in the Church of Quissac and Thomas Serre Esq Elder in the Church of Sauve Article 10. For the Province of Higher Languedoc the Sieurs Peter Charles Pastor of the Church of Montauban and Matthew Tissier Pastor of the Church of Mauvoisin together with the Sieur Sebastian de St. Fauste Elder in the Church of Mauvoisin and the Sieur David Fournes Advocate and Elder in the Church of Montauban who was absent having fallen sick on the way Article 11. For the Province of Anjou the Sieurs Daniel Couppé Pastor of the Church of Loudun and John Vigneux Pastor of the Church du Mans together with the Sieurs George Rabbotteau Advocate in Parliament and Elder in the Church of Pruille and Peter de Ceriziers Counsellor of the King in the Borough of Loudun and Elder of the Church in the same Town Article 12. For the Province of the Isle of France the Sieurs David Blondell Pastor of the Church of Roussy and John Daillé Pastor of the Church of Paris together with the Sieurs Peter de L'aunay Lord of La Mote and Peter Marbault Counsellor and Secretary to the King Elder in the Church of Paris Article 13. For the Province of Brittain the Sieurs Daniel Sauvé Pastor of the Church of Villevigne and Giles Lovyer Esq Lord of la Grestiere Elder of the same Church Article 14. For the Province of Orleans the Sieurs Jacob le Brun Pastor of the Church at Romorantin and John Taby Pastor of the Church at la Charité together with the Sieurs Claudius Bernard Bailiff of Chastillon upon the Loir and Elder of the Church there and Timothy Baignoux Elder in the Church of Mer. Article 15. For the Province of Poitou the Sieurs Samuel le Blanc Pastor of the Church at St. Maixant and Daniel Pain Pastor of the Church of Chastelheraut together with the Sieurs Charles de Gourgeaud Esq Lord of Pannieure Elder of the Church of Mougon and Francis Mauclere Esq Lord of la Mezanchere Elder in the Church of la Jandouiniere Article 16. For the Province of Vivaretz the Sieurs Alexander de Vinay Pastor of the Church of Annonay and Simeon de Hosty Pastor of the Church in St. Fortunate togethe◠with the Sieurs Andrew Paget Elder of the Church of Couxnear Privas and Anthony Regnet Doctor of the Laws Advocate and Elder in the Church of Aubenas Article 17. For the Province of Lower Guyenne the Sieurs John d' Alba Pastor of the Church at Agen and Daniel Ferrand Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux together with Daniel Descayrac Lieutenant in the Court of Justice at Pugeols Elder of the Church in the same place and James Charron Advocate in the Parliament of Bourdeaux and Elder in the Church of Bergerac Article 18. For the Province of Bearn the Sieurs Simon Fuget Pastor of the Church of Carresse and Peter Margendie Doctor of Physick and Elder in the Church of Orthez Article 19. After Invocation of the Name of God the Reverend Mr. Benjamin Basnage was by plurality of Votes chosen Moderator and Mr. Couppé Assessor Mr. Blondel and Mr. Launay Scribes CHAP. II. The King's Commission to the Lord of St. Mars AS soon as the Officers of the Synod were chosen his Majesty's Letters Patents were read giving a Commission to Monsieur de St. Mars Counsellor in his Council of State to represent his Person in it the Form and Tenour of which was inserted into the Acts of this Synod A Copy of his Majesty's Letters Patents Louis by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre To our beloved and trusty Counsellor in our Council of State the Lord of St. Mars Greeting WE having permitted our Subjects of the pretend Reformed Religion to hold in our Town of Alanson the 27th of May
next ensuing the Date hereof a National Synod composed of all the Deputies of the Provinces of our Kingdom to treat of Matters concerning their Religion And being to chuse a Person of sufficient and requisite Abilities and of approved Loyalty to Us to be present in our stead and to act in quality of our Commissioner in the said Assembly Now we being well acquainted with those Services you have done us in sundry and honourable Employments wherewith you have been intrusted by Us and of which you have acquitted your self most worthily we judged that we could not make a better choice than of your Person being well assured of the continuance of your Affection to our Service For these Causes we have Commissionated and deputed and do commissionate and depute by these Presents signed with our own Hand you my Lord of St. Mars for Us and in our stead to go and sit in Person on our behalf in the said Synod convocated in the said Town of Alanson there to propose and resolve whatsoever shall be commanded you by us according to the Memoirs and Instructions we have to this purpose put into your Hands taking heed that none other Matters be there proposed but such as ought to be treated in such Assemblies and are permitted by our Edicts And in case they should attempt any thing to the contrary you shall hinder them by the interposal of our Authority and you shall speedily give us advice thereof that we may apply those Remedies which are convenient in â—â—uch cases And for the doing hereof we give you Power Commission and special Command by these presents for such is our Pleasure Given at Paris the sixth Day of January in the Year of Grace One thousand six hundred thirty and seven and of our Reign the seven and twentieth Signed Louis and a little lower Phelippeaux And sealed with the Great Seal of yellow Wax CHAP. III. The Commissioner's Speech THE said Letters Patents being read the Lord Commissioner acquainted the Synod with what his Majesty had given him in charge to them in these very words SIRS I Am come into your Synod to declare unto you his Majesty's Pleasure you all know it and have preach'd and taught Obedience unto the Higher Powers All Authority is of God and therefore by consequence on this immoveable Foundation you must needs be infallibly obedient besides you are obliged to it by his Majesty's Bounty and by that Care he takes of you the favourable Effects whereof you shall always experience whilst you be obedient His Clemency and Power are your two firmest Supporters And as touching the former his Majesty hath charged me to assure you of the perpetual continuance of his Affection to you and of his maintaining his Edicts as long as you continue faithful Subjects And as for his Power Strangers themselves have felt it and do every day more and more feel and experience it We have with our Eyes seen those Successes of his which are more than Human by which God publisheth to the World that he upholdeth our King with his own Hand and maketh him a Terror to all about him I shall not remember those many Fortresses and Places of Surety which once you had and where you reposed too much Confidence all which are now reduc'd to nothing whereas since you depended on the sole Favour of his Majesty your Condition is much more happy and your Security much more fix'd and stable I doubt not in the least but that you have often reflected upon that admirable Providence of God in making his Majesty's Royal Authority to be your Preservation You be destitute of all Support yea you have in the midst of you against you a World of People subject as the Sea unto various Troubles and Commotions and yet notwithstanding the King upholds you in the Liberty of your Consciences and in the peaceable exercise of your Religion The fixedness and stability of the Earth ballanced in the Air is as great a Miracle as the Creation and Subsistence of the Universe God sustains it by the self-same Power with which he did at first create it and you also in like manner are preserved by the Word of his Majesty's Power Therefore Sirs you that are Ministers should shine in Wisdom and good Conduct in your respective Stations and Churches Among many signal Effects of his Majesty's Goodness received by you this is not the least yea it is a most remarkable one that you can meet in this Assembly and that too in a time of War All the Provinces of the Kingdom like so many Lines drawn from the Circumference can center in this Synod in Peace Could you ever demand a greater Testimony of his Majesty's Goodness than this Confidence he reposeth in your Loyalty and Fidelity This should engage you to submit your selves with greater reverence than ever unto his Royal Pleasure And I in no wise doubt but you will so govern your Words and Actions and chiefly your Affections that his Majesty shall have a most entire and perfect and dutiful Obedience from you 2. And that you may depend on the Protection and soveraign Authority of the King and may be wholly and solely fixed to his Service his Majesty doth in the first place forbid you all Intelligence and Correspondence whether Foreign or Domestick And his Majesty being informed that the Synod of Nismes and Mr. Rousselet a Minister have received Letters from the Canton of Bearn they are admonished not to commit the like Offence for the future For the Statutes positively forbid the King's Subjects to receive Letters from Foreign States yea they are not so much as to see any Foreign Embassadors though residing near his Majesty much less should our Synods or private Ministers receive Letters or hold Correspondence with Foreign Synods or Provinces The Lords of Bearn are Allies of the Crown and are of the same Religion with you united in Religion with you but there must not be any Union betwixt you and that Common-wealth for the least Correspondence even in Ecclesiastical Affairs with Foreigners though Confederates of the King doth raise a Suspicion and beget a Jealousy of Designs against the State The said Synod nor the said Minister Rousselet ought not to have received those Letters or if they had before they had opened them they should have communicated them to the Governour of the Place or the said Synod should have delivered them to his Majesty's Commissioner who was then present in it 3. And as for Domestick Correspondence within the Kingdom you must know that inasmuch as Provincial Councils are forbidden you therefore consequentially all sort of Communication by which such a Council might be promoted is expresly forbidden also His Majesty forbiddeth you to nominate any Ministers or other extraordinary Deputies whereby one Province may communicate with another about Political Affairs because you be no Body Politick no nor at this time whilst you are assembled in a National Synod may you communicate with another about