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
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
were Arbitrators But and if any Members of the said Consistories shall be chosen Arbitrators it shall be as they are private Persons and only in their own names CAN. XV. Besides those Admonitions given by the Consistories if there be a necessity of inflicting greater punishment or censures upon Offendors it shall be either Suspension or Privation for a time from the Lords Table or else Excommunication or cutting off from the Church And Consistories shall be advised to manage both the one and other with singular Prudence and to distinguish well betwixt them as also to weigh and examine very prudently those faults and scandals with their circumstances that are brought before them that so Censures and Judgment may be given according as is meet and requisite CAN. XVI Suspension from the Lords Table shall be used for the greater humbling of Offenders and for quickning them to a most lively sense of their offences This Suspension shall not be published unto the People nor its Cause nor also the re-admission of the Delinquent unless they had been Hereticks Despisers of God Rebels against the Consistory or Traytors to the Church These also shall be suspended who have been attainted of Crimes deserving Corporal punishment and causing grievous scandal to the Church Item those who contrary to the Remonstrances made them were married by a Popish Priest and Fathers and Mothers that so marry their Children and Tutors Guardians and others in the stead of Parents that do in the same manner marry their Orphan-Pupils and those also who shall carry them to a Popish Priest by him to be baptized or represent another at such a Baptism It being needful that such persons although they begin visibly to repent should be immediately suspended and for a time deprived of the Lord's Supper and that their suspension be declared unto the people that so they may be more deeply humbled and induced unto Repentance as also that the Church may be discharged of all shame and blame and to terrify others and learn them by this example not to be guilty of such sinful miscarriages CAN. XVII If by such suspensions Sinners be not reformed but abide obstinate and impenitent after long forbearance and frequent admonitions and earnest sollicitations of them to it they shall then be proceeded against with publick Admonitions made before the Congregation by the Pastor on three Lord's days following and for their greater shame if it be thought needful they shall be mentioned by name and the whole Church shall be desired to intreat God for them and to endeavour by all means to bring them unto Repentance and an acknowledgment of their sins to prevent their being cut off by Excommunication unto which we cannot proceed without a World of regret and grief And if after all this there be no Conversion on the Sinners part but that they persist in their hardness and obstinacy on the fourth Sabbath the Pastor shall publickly declare to the whole Congregation that the said scandalous and obdurate Sinners nameing them particularly are no longer owned by us for Church-Members but in the name and by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his Church are cut off from it And this shall be the Form of Excommunication See the Acts of the second National Synod of Paris in the year 1565. Canon the Second The Form of Excommunication to be used in the Reformed Churches of France decreed by the Synod of Alez 1620. and incorporated with the Canons of Church Discipline by the National Synod of Charenton Observation the 11. upon the Synod of Alez Dear Brethren THis is the fourth time that we declare unto you that N. N. for sundry Sins and Scandals committed in the Church of God and for his Impenitency and contempt of all Admonitions which have been given from the word of God was suspended the holy Supper of the Lord which Suspension and its Causes have been notified to you that you might join your Prayers with ours that the Great God would be intreated to mollify his hard heart and touch him with sincere Repentance and draw him out of the way of Perdition But although we have so long born with him prayed exhorted and adjured him to return unto God and have essayed all means to bring him unto Repentance yet nevertheless he persisteth in his impenitency and with a most hardned obstinacy rebelleth against God and trampleth under foot his Word and the Discipline established in his House and boasting of his Sin hath caused a great deal of trouble for a long time unto his Church and the most holy name of our God to be blasphemed Wherefore we Ministers of the Word and Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ whom God hath armed with spiritual Weapons mighty through God to throw down the strong holds which do oppose themselves against him to whom the Eternal Son of God hath given power of binding and loosing upon Earth declaring that what we shall bind in Earth shall be bound in Heaven and being willing throughly to purge the House of God and to free his Church of Scandal and by pronouncing Anathema against the wicked one to glorify the name of our God In the Name and by the Authority of our Lord Jesus by the advice and authority of the Pastors and Elders assembled in Colloquy and of the Consistory of this Church we have cut off and do cut off the said N. N. from the Communion of the Church of God We do Excommunicate and deprive him of the Fellowship of Saints that so he may be unto you as a Pagan or Publican and that among true Believers he may be an Anathema and Execration Let his Company be reputed Contagious and let his Example possess your Souls with astonishment and cause you to tremble under the mighty hand of God! And this Sentence the Son of God will ratify and make effectual until such time as the Sinner being confounded and abased before God shall glorify him by his Conversion and being delivered from the Bonds of Satan to whom he is inslaved he may mourn for his Sin with Repentance unto Life Let 's pray God most dearly Beloved Brethren that he would daign to compassionate this most miserable Sinner and that this dreadful Sentence which with very great regret and sorrow of heart we have pronounced against him by the authority of the Son of God may contribute unto his humiliation and bring back into the way of Life and Salvation a Soul which is wandered and strayed from it Amen! Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently Amen! If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha Amen CAN. XVIII Henceforward all Sentences of Excommunication confirmed by the Provincial Synod shall be of full power and valid as also all Sentences of Suspension from the Lord's Supper made by the Consistory which were not declared unto the People shall hold good although the Person suspended had entered his Appeal unto the Colloquy
they be accompanied with a Godfather and that they have made profession of our holy Christian Reformed Religion CAN. IX A Surety coming from another Church shall not be admitted to present a Child unto Baptism unless he bring with him a Certificate from his own Church CAN. X. Such as present Children unto Baptism shall be of sufficient Age in their fourteenth year at least and shall have Communicated at the Lord's Table or if they be well stricken in years and have not as yet received the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper they shall protest seriously that they will do it and in order to it that they will suffer themselves duly to be Catechised CAN. XI Persons suspended from the Lords Supper may not in the quality of Sureties present Children unto Baptism so long as their Suspension shall stand in force against them CAN. XII Pastors shall diligently exhort all Godfathers and Godmothers to weigh and consider their Promises made at the Celebration of Baptism and Parents also to chuse such Sureties for their Children as are well-instructed in Religion and of a Godly Life and Conversation and that are as much as may be of their Acquaintance and by whose means if there should be a necessity for it in the course of God's Providence it is most likely that their Children will have a Religious Education CAN. XIII Such as by their Proxies presenâ— Children to be baptized in the Church of Rome shall be severely censured because they consent thereby unto Idolatry CAN. XIV As for Names which are given Children in Baptism Ministers shall reject if it can possibly be done and without any inconvenience those which yet remain of old Paganism nor shall they impose on the said Children the Names ascribed unto God in Scripture as Immanuel and others of like nature Moreover Parents and Sureties shall be admonished to take Names approved in the holy Scriptures or if they fancy any other they may be accepted excepting always those before mentioned and those which signify a matter which is unseemly CAN. XV. Ministers shall admonish their Flocks to demean themselves most reverently at the Administration of Baptism And that the contempt of Baptism which is expressed by too many even the far greater part of our People by going out of the Assembly or carrying themselves irreverently at its Administration may be avoided for the future it hath been judged meet that this holy Sacrament shall be administred before the singing of the last Psalm or at least before the giving of the Pastoral Blessing And the People shall be carefully admonished to behave themselves with the self same Reverence in the administration of Baptism as in that Sacrament of the Lord's Supper forasmuch as Jesus Christ and all his benefits are alike equally exhibited and offered to us in both the Sacraments CAN. XVI Consistories shall have an eye over such persons as do without any great and urgent cause defer for a long time together the Baptism of their Children CAN. XVII Chap. XII Of The Lord's Supper Although the Wife of a Believing Husband be of a contrary Religion yet is he in no wise to be excused if that his Child be presented unto Baptism in the Church of Rome and therefore he shall not be received unto the Lord's Supper unless he have to the utmost of his power laboured to prevent it CAN. XVIII All Baptisms shall be Registred and carefully kept in the Church-Books together with the Names of both the Parents Sureties and of the Children baptized which shall be subscribed by the Minister's own hand who did baptise them And when as Children shall be presented unto baptism The Parents and Sureties shall be obliged to bring with them a Note in which shall be inserted the Name of the Child of its Parents and Sureties and the day of its Nativity CAN. XIX The Parents Names of Bastards Children born of an Illegitimate Conjunction if they be known shall be Recorded in the Book of Baptisms unless of those Children who are born in Incest That so the very Remembrance of such an enormous Wickedness may be for ever buried in the Grave of Forgetfulness In which case it shall be sufficient only to have nominated the Mother together with the Sureties who shall present the Child to Baptism And in the Baptising of all Illegitimate Children express mention shall be made that they were born out of holy Wedlock CHAP. XII Of the Lord's Supper CANON I. WHere there is no Form of a Church the Lord's Supper shall not be administred CAN. II. Children under twelve years of Age shall not be admitted unto the Lord's Table but as for others who are above that Age it is left unto the Minister's discretion to judge whether they have sufficient knowledge to qualify them for their admission to it CAN. III. Priests Monks and other Ecclesiasticks belonging to the Church of Rome shall not be admitted to the Lord's Supper till they have first made a publick acknowledgment of their former Life and profession CAN. IV. Incumbents who retain the name and title of their Benefices and all other persons who do either directly or indirectly participate in Idolatry whether they receive the Income of their Benefices with their own hands or the hands of others shall not be admitted to Communion with us at the Lord's Table CAN. V. Ministers shall have notice given them not to receive unto the Lord's Supper the Members of other Churches without having a sufficient Testimonial from their Pastor or in default thereof from an Elder if it may be had CAN. VI. A Man dumb and deaf demonstrating his sence of Piety and Religion by evident signs tokens and gestures may be received unto the Lord's Table in case the Church hath experience of his holy Life and can perceive that he hath Faith and the true Knowledge of God CAN. VII The Bread in the Lord's Supper shall be administred unto them who cannot drink Wine they protesting seriously that it is not out of contempt that they do forbear it besides they doing their utmost endeavour for it yea bringing the Cup as near unto their Mouth as they can and taking and touching it with their Lips all occasions of offence will be by this means in this case avoided CAN. VIII Pastors are left at liberty in giving the Bread and Wine to use the accustomed words it being a thing purely indifferent provided that they use such words as tend to edifying CAN. IX The Churches shall be informed that it belongeth only unto Ministers to give the Cup. CAN. X. Forasmuch as when the Lord's Supper is administred sundry diseased Persons come unto it which causeth many that are in health to be shy of taking the Cup after them Pastors and Elders shall be admonished to use their greatest prudence that godly order may be kept up and observed in this Case CAN. XI Such as having been a long while Members of the Church and refuse Communion with it at the Lord's Table
if it be done out of contempt and through fear of being obliged to renounce all Idolatry after divers admonitions given them and they not reforming they shall be cut off from the Body of the Church but if it be through infirmity they shall be born withal for some space of time till they be more established in the Faith CAN. XII Such as care not to come unto our publick Christian Congregations but only upon those days when the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is Celebrated shall be reproved and admonished of their duty and to this purpose they shall join themselves unto one certain particular Church N. B. This last Clause is only in my Edition of Paris and Rouen 1663. CAN. XIII The Faithful who make a trade of hearing the Word of God in one Church and of receiving the Sacraments in another shall be censured and by the advice of the Colloquy or Provincial Synod they shall be appointed to join themselves unto that Church which is nearest and most convenient for them N. B. Provincial Synod is only in my Parisian and Quevilly Edition CAN. XIV Chap. XIII Of Marriages Although it hath not been the Custom to administer the Lord's Supper in the greatest part of our Churches more than four times a year yet it were to be desired that it might be oftner so that the Reverence which is needful for this holy Sacrament could be kept up and observed Because it is most profitable for the Children of God to be exercised and grow in Faith by the frequent use of the Sacraments and the Example of the Primitive Church doth invite us to it And therefore our National Synods shall take that care and order in this matter as is requisite for the weal and happiness of our Churches CHAP. XIII Of Marriages CANON I. SUch as are under Age shall not Contract Marriage without the Consent of their Parents or of those other Persons under whose power they be Howbeit if their said Parents should be so unreasonable as not to yield unto so sacred and needful an Ordinance yea and refuse their consent meerly out of hatred to Religion the Consistory shall advise the Parties to apply themselves unto the Civil Magistrate CAN. II. Such as are of Years and in possession of their Estates shall be admonished by the Minister in the publick Church-Assemblies not to make any Promise of Marriage but in the presence of their Parents Friends Neighbours and Persons in reputation for Godliness And such as do otherwise shall be censured for their lightness and contempt of the said admonition And it were very meet that those Promises of Marriage were performed with solemn Prayers CAN. III. The Faithful that are of Age although they have been Married shall notwithstanding so far honour their Parents as not to Contract Marriage without having first acquainted them therewith and in case of failure herein they shall be censured by the Consistory CAN. IV. Fathers and Mothers professing the Reformed Religion whose Children being Idolaters would marry themselves unto Idolatrous Women shall be advised if possibly they can do it to hinder their said Children from Contracting such Marriages especially if they be not as yet emancipated from under their Authority and Fathers shall employ their Paternal Power to prevent and hinder them but and if they cannot so far prevail yet at passing the Marriage Contracts they shall protest their abhorrency of that Idolatry into which their Children will deeper plunge themselves And this being done the Parents may consent unto the Promises and Conditions about the Dowry and other such like matters and they shall give in evidence unto their Consistory of those endeavours they have used to hinder such Marriages CAN. V. For time to come all Promises of Marriages and Espousals shall be performed by words de futuro which shall not be counted as indissolvible as words de praesenti Because words de praesenti do not so much promise Marriage as in effect consummate it Yet nevertheless those promises by words de futuro shall not be dissolved without very great and lawful causes Wherefore the Custom of those Churches is condemned which celebrateth Espousals betrothings by the Ministry and Benediction of their Pastors with gift of Body and words de praesenti For by such Solemnity the Parties are truly and actually conjoined in Marriage so that the Banes are preposterous and published after the Marriage is Consummated and a second Benediction is rendred needless and superfluous True indeed 't is not thought evil that Pastors should assist at Espousals and pray and exhort the Parties unto mutual love faithfulness and the fear of God provided that they forbear all other formalities which are of none other use than to make a Bond indissolvible which oftentimes we are constrained to break again upon oppositions made when the Banes are published and because of other accidental hinderances For these reasons also those Churches which solemnize Espousals in their Temples with the same publick Benediction as at Marriage are exhorted to lay down this their Custom and to conform themselves unto our Churches in all the other Provinces of this Kingdom N. B. The addition unto this Canon which is Printed in another Character is only found in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions of the Discipline yet grounded upon very many Acts of several National Synods See Syn. of Poictiers Art 2. of Partic. Matters 1560. The Syn. of Saumur 1597. Art 25. concerning Observations upon the Discipline The Synod of Privas 1612. Art 9. of Observations upon the Discipline The Syn. of Alez 1620. Art 14. of Observations upon the Discipline CAN. VI. In Consanguinities and Affinities the faithful may not Contract Marriage but with the Kings Licence according to the Edict CAN. VII It is utterly unlawful to Petition the Pope for a Dispensation of the Impediments of Marriage which is already or may be hereafter accomplished because in so doing there would be an owning of his Tyranny Yet we may warrantably address our selves unto the King for a Dispensation in degrees not prohibited by God nor by the Civil Government CAN. VIII Spiritual Kindred as they be called are not at all comprehended nor understood by those words of Consanguinity and Affinity in the Kings Edict nor do they hinder any Marriage-Contracts CAN. IX It is not lawful for any Man to Marry the Sister of his Deceased Wife for such Marriages are prohibited not only by the Laws of the Land but by the word of God And although by the Law of Moses it was ordained that when the Brother died without Children his Brother should raise up Seed unto him yet that Law enacted for the Children of Israel was temporary relating only to the preservation of the Tribes of that People But the Marriage of a Sister of a Betrothed and Deceased Wife is of another Nature because that Alliance was not Contracted by a Commixture of Blood therefore such a Marriage may be admitted and approved Yet notwithstanding
all possible care shall be taken that neither the Civil Magistrate nor weak Christians may be offended CAN. X. A Man may not marry the Mother of his Deceased Spouse to whom he was betrothed without an Order from the Civil Magistrate which shall be waited for both by the Pastor and the Parties Contracting that Marriage N. B. This last Clause of the Canon is only in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions CAN. XI Likewise a Man may not marry his Wife's Aunt such a Marriage being Incestuous and although the Magistrate should permit it yet shall it not be Solemnized in our Assemblies And therefore all Pastors are carefully to keep themselves from it And by parity of reason the Marriage of an Uncle with his Niece or with the grand Niece of his deceased Wife is also Incestuous CAN. XII Although Civility and Decency may oppose the Marriage of a Man with the Widow of his Wife's Brother yet in case the Civil Magistrate do authorize the Contract the Churches shall not make any difficulty to bless such a Marriage Provided that there be good evidence that the said Contract hath been first allowed and approved by the authority of the Civil Magistrate N. B. These last Clauses of this Canon Printed in another Character are only in my Editions of Paris and Rouen CAN. XIII No Man after his Wife's Death shall marry her with whom he had committed Adultery during her Life unless that such a Marriage were authorized by the Civil Magistrate CAN. XIV Forasmuch as the principal end of Marriage is to procreate Children and to avoid Fornication the Marriage of an Eunuch that is so known shall not be admitted nor solemnized in any of our Reformed Churches CAN. XV. All Marriages shall be propounded unto the Consistories with a sufficient Certificate of the Promises CAN. XVI The Banes of Matrimony shall be published in those places where the Parties dwell and if they have a mind to celebrate their Marriage elsewhere they shall carry with them a sufficient Certificate that the Banes have been thrice published CAN. XVII The Banes shall be published on three Sabbath-Days following in those places where the Word of God is Preached and in other places when as Common-Prayers are read However it be yet there shall be the space of fifteen days between the Publication of the Banes and the Solemnizal of the Marriage in the Congregation which may be performed on the third Sabbath CAN. XVIII Such as live in those places where the publick Exercise of Religion is not established may cause their Banes to be published in the Popish Churches because it is a matter purely Political CAN. XIX The Churches shall not suffer any Persons to be Married without an ample knowledge and approbation of them CAN. XX. If one of the Parties be of a contrary Religion the Marriage-Promises shall not be received nor published in the Church unless that Party of the contrary Religion have been sufficiently instructed and have publicity protested in the Church of that place where the said Party shall be known that from a good Conscience he doth renounce all Superstition and Idolatry and particularly the Mass and that he will through Divine Grace persevere the residue of his days in the pure worship of God of which instruction the Consistory of that Church shall take Cognisance in which that Protestation shall be made And it shall not be lawful for any Pastor or Consistories to do otherwise on pain of being Suspended yea and deposed from their Offices CAN. XXI If one of the Parties who would Marry be Excommunicate the Marriage shall not be permitted to be Solemnized in any one of our Churches unless that the Excommunicate Person shall have acknowledged and done Penance for his Offences But as for suspended Persons from the Lords Table the Consistories may permit them to marry notwithstanding their Suspension but yet not without taking Cognisance of their Cause CAN. XXII The Banes of Widows who desire to marry again shall not be published in the Church till at least seven Months and an half be expired after their Husbands Death that so all Scandals and Inconveniencies which might afterwards fall out may be prevented unless in such a Case in which the Civil Magistrate hath interposed his Judicial Sentence to the contrary CAN. XXIII All Marriages shall be publickly Solemnized in the Religious Assemblies of the Faithful according to the word of God and by the Ministry of the Pastors and not of any others N. B. That middle Clause in another Character is only in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions of the Discipline CAN. XXIV For the good order of our Churches no Marriage shall be Solemnized on those days in which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is Administred And this Canon shall not be broken but upon very great Considerations of which the Consistory shall take Cognisance Moreover no Marriages shall be Solemnized on Days of publick Prayer and Fasting CAN. XXV Such as being betrothed shall cohabit together as Man and Wife before they be lawfully and solemnly Married whether their offence do come to light before or after the Solemnizal of the Marriage they shall do publick Penance for this their Offence or at least they shall acknowledge it before the Consistory either way as the discretion of the Consistory shall appoint And if it be discovered before Marriage then shall there upon the Wedding day before they do proceed to compleat the Marriage be such Ceremonies and Censures used as the Consistory shall judge fitting unless those Persons had cohabited together in the days of their Ignorance without despising or contempt of our Church-Government And those also who cohabited as Man and Wife when as there was no Church erected in the places of their Habitation or in the Province and all these shall only be called into the Consistory that so their Marriage may be ratified and Celebrated in the Church of God if the Consistory shall judge it to be expedient CAN. XXVI That those inconveniencies may be avoided which fall out through over-long delays of Solemnizing Marriages the Parties and those Persons under whose power they are shall be advised not to defer the Consummation thereof any longer than six Weeks after publication of the Banes if it be possible CAN. XXVII All Marriages shall be Registred and carefully kept in the Church-Books CAN. XXVIII The Faithful whose Partners are convicted of Adultery may be admonished to a reconcilement with them but in case they will not do it that Liberty which God in his holy Word hath granted them shall be declared to them But if it be the hap of a Church-Officer he shall not take his Wife again or if he do he shall lay down his Office CAN. XXIX This course shall be taken about Divorces for Adultery The Innocent wronged Party shall prosecute at Law before the Civil Magistrate the Delinquent so long till that by his definitive Sentence and final Judgment she be duly Convicted which Sentence the
fears God to countenance them with his presence CAN. XXXi None of the Faithful shall be present at their Marriages and Banquets who that they may espouse a Party of the contrary Religion do revolt from the profession of the Gospel But as for them who have a long time ago Apostatized or have been always Papists 't is left unto the Prudence of the Faithful to consider with themselves whether it may be expedient for them or no. CAN. XXXII They that Challenge or cause others to be challenged unto a Duel or being challenged do accept of it and kill their Parties although they may have afterward obtained their Pardon or may be otherwise justified shall yet notwithstanding have the censure of Suspension from the Lord's Table inflicted on them and their Suspension shall be published without delay and in case they would be received unto the Churches Peace they shall first undergo publick Penance making acknowledgment of their great offence CAN. XXXIII These Articles contained in this Book of Discipline are not established among us in such a manner but that if the Churches benefit do require it they may be changed Yet shall not any Ministers Consistories Colloquies or Provincial Synods have power to add change or diminish without the advice or consent of a National Synod SECT XIII THis is the Discipline of those famous Churches This was their Canon-Law by which their Ministers Church-Officers and Church-Members were ordered and conduced As to their Ministers in the worst times it was strictly exercised upon them If any of them proved Scandalous in Doctrine in Conversation they were not spared The Church and House of God was soon rid of them Their Colloquies and Synods threw away the unsavoury Salt unto the Dunghill and it was very rare if the Deposed and ejected Ministers did not take up for good and all in the Dunghill of the Romish Synagogue There hath been a great Complaint of much looseness among their Members Certainly they had and still have as holy and truly gracious Souls in Communion with them as any Churches of Christ under Heaven and a vast multitude of most zealous and faithful Martyrs far more in number and quality of Sufferers for the Gospel than in any one of the Reformed Christian Nations in Europe When the Ceremonious Lutherans of Stutgard in the Dukedom of Wirtemberg Brentius Jacob Andreas c. cited Monsieur Toussaint who had been Pastor of the Church of Orleans which then lay desolate one part groaning in Prisons and Dungeons another burning in Fires and Flames and the poor remainders pining away in their Dispersions and Exiles to appear before them and give an account of his Preaching within their Jurisdiction and spreading his Zuinglian and Calvinistical Heresies as they were pleas'd to stile them for he assisted his Aged Father in the Ministry in the County of Montpelgart He return'd an Apologetical Letter to them in which he wondered at their quarrels with him and the Frenth Churches who abhorred those fierce digladiations with which the German Churches and Universities had abounded and told them that the poor Churches of Christ in France breathed after Peace with them and with all the Churches of the Augustane Confession and had written for it prayed for it and these last ten years had spilt no other Ink than that of their own blood in defence of the truth This silenc'd the pragmatical Lutherans at that time And the Argument is as good and valid now * * * See Monsieur Amyraut's Apologie pour ceux de la Religion p. 23 24 25 26 27 which is too long to be here inserted It is none of my business nor do those poor afflicted Churches of France need it to write Apologies for them The Staff under water seems crooked but is not so Those Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices were not the worst of the Galileans Nor those Jews upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell and crushed to pieces were they the greatest Sinners in Jerusalem Should we thus argue we should offend against the Generation of the righteous who from the infancy of the World to this very day from their youth upward until now have been perpetually afflicted they have passed out of one Furnace into another oftentimes from lesser into sorer and greater fiery Tryals An infinitely wise and gracious God taking this course with them to refine and preserve them For by these means they have lived and by them hath the Life of their Souls been preserved Yea God seems himself to justify them Because their most grievous Sufferings have wonderfully contributed unto his Glory The blood of the Martyrs having proved the Seed of the Church and the more they have been oppressed the more have they increased A Vine grows the more and better for being pruned and soak'd with blood And notwithstanding the Seas of blood drawn from this poor Vineyard of Christ yet hath it proved the more fruitful grown and spread exceedingly insomuch that after all the storms of Persecution which had made a most fearful havock of God's Saints in that Kingdom their Faith and Patience hath tired out and overcome their Persecutors So that in the National Synod of Rochel in the year 1571. Mr. Beza Presiding in it the Reformed could count then above two thousand one hundred and fifty Churches and in many of these above ten thousand Members and in most of these two Ministers in some they had five as in the year 1561. there served the Church of Orleans which at that time had seven thousand Communicants Antony Chanoriet Lord of Merangeau Robert Macon Lord des Fontaines Hugh Sureau Nicholas Fillon Lord of Valls and Daniel Tossane who afterwards died at Heydelberg in the Palatinate When the Colloquy of Poissy was held they had in the one only Province of Normandy three hundred and five Pastors of Churches and in the Province of Provence threescore And I remember the Author of Le Cabinet du Roy de France a Book Printed in the year 1581. and dedicated to Henry the Third makes a Computation of their Martyrs to have been in a very few years at least above two hundred thousand cut off for the Gospel and he makes up his account thus Allow saith he but an hundred Martyrs to every Church and you have the summ and yet 't is as clear as the Sun at Noon-day that the summ is vastly more For 't is a truth incontestable that there have been cut off by the Sword and Massacres for Religion from the Church of Caen above 15000 or 16000. from the Church of Alancon five thousand from the Church of Paris thirteen thousand from the Church of Rheims twelve thousand from the Church of Troye twelve thousand from the Church of Sens nine thousand from the Church of Orleans eight thousand from the Church of Angiers seven thousand five hundred from the Church of Poictiers twelve thousand Persons c. See Le Cabinet du Roy. Livre premier pag. 274
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
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
recover they shall however be condemn'd unto the Gallies and all their Goods confiscated You may see by this to what a woful pass we are reduced till the Lord our good God shall be pleased to turn the Wheel better for our advantage Our whole Family here salutes you We are wholly busied in gathering in the Vintage but never with less pleasure inasmuch as we know not for whom we toil our selves Monsieur Ancillon hath left Hannaw for Berlin whither he is called to be their fourth Minister Madamoiselle Morgue with two of her Sisters are gotten safely out of the Kingdom after that they had been hid from the Dragoons Farewel Octob. 2. 1686. I am Yours E. N. B. Monsieur Chevenis who is mentioned in this Letter was a venerable and ancient Gentleman a person of eminent Prudence illustrious for Learning and Godliness and Counsellor to the King in the Court of Metz. He persisted faithful to death and when dead they dragged most inhumanly his dead Carkass upon a Hurdle and buried it in a Dunghil He hath a Brother a very Reverend Minister of the Gospel refugied in this City of London SECT XLVIII Whil'st the Dragoons do thus ravage and ruinate the Provinces causing Terrors and Desolations where ever they come Orders are dispatched to all the Frontier Countries and Sea-port Towns strictly to guard the Passages and to stop all persons who are departing the Kingdom So that there was no hope lest of saving themselves by flight None could pass unless he brought with him a Certificate from the Priest of his Parish or the Bishop of the Diocess in which he lived that he was a Roman Catholick Others are put in Prison and treated like Traytors to their King and Country All Ships of Foreigners lying in the Ports and Havens of the Kingdom are diligently searcht for Passengers the Coasts Bridges Passages unto Rivers and the Highways are all strictly guarded night and day and the neighbouring States are imperiously required not to harbour any more Fugitives and to dismiss or send back again such as they had already received and Attempts were also made to seize and carry away some who had escaped into foreign Countries I have lying by me a Letter from Geneva giving a doleful Account of the poor Refugees who had fled thither Possibly the Reader will not be displeased at the reading of it From Geneva Nov. 1685. SIR IT 's a good while ago that the French Protestants began to secure themselves both here and in Switzerland yet it was but very slowly e'er they retired hither there being not on this side of France those conveniencies for them as in England and Holland However their number increased with their Persecutions and this Honour is due unto Geneva that tho' at first whil'st we supposed there was not an indispensable necessity upon our Protestant Brethren for their flight we seemed somewhat cold as to their reception yet having at last too great cause to believe it I may speak it without vanity that Geneva exercised a charity towards these Fugitives which will recommend her to posterity I shall give you an undeniable proof hereof and that presently Ever since the first Troubles at Montauban and the great consternation of the other Provinces Geneva never failed to receive and relieve with Monies and other Supplies all that had recourse unto her and for more than two Months together there passed not a day over our heads in which Geneva did not daily receive and supply 30 50 80 90 Personâ— of all Ages of both Sexes and of all Conditions But as we had an occasion of satisfaction from the Charity of Geneva so we must also avow that it was utterly impossible not to be affected with such a multitude of pitiful Objects as daily presented themselves unto us and especially since the passages were guarded some arriving disguis'd on foot in a deplorable condition who would they have left their God might have been as to this World very happy Women and Maids came to us in the Habits of Men Children in Coffers packt up as Cloaths others without any other precaution at all than in their Cradles tied about their Parents necks some passing this others that way all stopping either at the Gates or Churches of the City with Cries and Tears of Joy and Sorrow mingled together some demanding where are our Fathers and Mothers others where are our Wives and Children not knowing where to find them nor having learnt any News of them from the time they departed from their Houses In short every one was so affected with these miserable Objects that it was impossible to refrain from weeping Some had no sooner passed the first Barricado but prostrating themselves upon their Knees sung a Psalm of Thanksgiving for their happy deliverance tho' poor Creatures they had not wherewithal to get themselves a Meal's meat and might have gone to Bed that Night supperless had not the Lord of his great goodness extraordinarily provided for them Thus we spent two Months every day affording us new Adventures fresh and eminent Examples of Self-denial and that divers-ways I shall give you a few Instances Among others a Lady of great quality the Mother of ten Children whose Husband Monsieur d' Arbaud had revolted from the truth at Nismes this Lady I say forsook eighteen thousand Livers of yearly Revenue without ever having been able to make a Purse to defray her Journey and maugre all the Cares and Endeavours of her Husband and the Bishop brought with her nine of her Children and the youngest of them about seven Years of age yet when she came here she had but two Crowns left her to maintain herself and them It was but two days since that I bad Adieu to my Lord the Baron of Aubaye who forsook above five and twenty thousand Livers of yearly Revenue for the Gospel and all his Stock was but thirty Pistols I gave Letters of Recommendation to the Baron of Temelac who is banisht for eight and twenty Years This Nobleman forsook eight thousand Livers of good Rents and departed hence with a very small Supply to seek some Employment where ever he can meet it for his subsistence My Lord de * * * * * * One of the mostillustrious Noblemen of Languedoc Bougi departed hence some few days ago with eight or ten Gentlemen for Germany I cannot reckon unto you an infinite number of other persons whose Names are unknown to me Six or seven came hither about five days since who seemed to be the Servants of a Commander of Malta bearing upon his Breast the great Cross There came also a far greater Troop who met at the Passes a multitude of poor People with their Wives and Children that had been stopt by the Guards these force a passage for them with themselves and conveyed them with their Baggage hither in safety The City of Lyons hath given illustrious Examples of remorse of Conscience in particular no longer than
forth our most earnest Prayers to that Divine Goodness for this intent and purpose The rest you shall understand from our venerable Brother Angelo Archbishop of Genua In the mean time we greet you most kindly with our Apostolical Benediction Given at Rome the 13 th of November in the 10 th Year of our Pontificate SECT LVI Whil'st the Ministers are in exile their Eyes and Hearts are towards France There is many a Loadstone that draws their Affections thitherward They left behind them many dear Relations many Christian Friends under great Temptations and very sore Tryals And tho' they cannot visit them in person and converse with them mouth to mouth for their edification and mutual comfort yet they do it by Ink and Paper Many Pastoral Letters have been transmitted But if I am not mistaken this was either the first or one of the first which was written tho' a multitude of them have since followed An Epistle to our Brethren groaning under the Captivity of Babylon For whom we wish the Mercy and Peace of our God WE have heard with extream Grief most Dear Brethren in our Lord that great temptation to which you have been exposed and those grievous Calamities it hath pleased God you should undergo We have also understood but to our far greater Grief the sad news of your Weakness in yielding to the Temptation We beseech you seriously to reflect upon your selves and to consider what you have to answer unto him who hath commanded that you should confess him before Men if you would obtain that honour of his Confessing and owning you before God and Angels How will you be able to stand before his Judgment Seat who hath injoined you to forsake Goods Possessions Wives Parents and Children for his Names sake promising you an hundred fold recompence Can you tell him that you have resisted unto Blood striving against Sin Pray what are your Sufferings if compared with those of our Saviour Christ Jesus Did he start back when he saw Death stare him in the Face when he was to be Scourged with Rods to be Crown'd with Thorns to be affronted with Spittle to be pierc'd with Nails and to be hang'd upon the Cross What think you at your reading those words Blessed are those who are persecuted for Righteousness sake You have no share in that Blessedness For to avoid Persecution you have renounced that Righteousness What answer will you make those holy Apostles who with Tears Preached the Gospel of the Cross unto the World and who all Suffered Martyrdom by the hands of Hangmen and who prepared all their Disciples for Persecution by telling them Whosoever will embrace the truth and live godly in Christ Jesus must cast up his accounts of suffering Persecution What answer will you make our Reformers who spared neither Watches nor Sweats nor Blood to draw us out of Idolatry and Superstition What will you say unto those blessed Martyrs whose Children you are and who for this very Cause abandon'd by you endur'd Fires Prisons Racks and the most cruel Torments They were for divers years together buried alive in deep Dungeons full of Ordures Toads and Serpents and drawn thence they were driven into the Fire their Hands and Feet burnt and being half dead they were yet pluckt out of those Flames but it was to increase their Tortures Whilst they were alive they saw their Bellies burning and their own Bowels gushing out In the midst of those Torments instead of renouncing the Truth of God they blessed his holy Name and sang his Praises What will you say unto those great Workmen who with such great travel have erected this glorious Fabrick of Reformation and which in a moments time you have suffered totally to be ruin'd How can you indure the Reproaches of your glorified Ancestors whose goods were plunder'd who were outragiously persecuted and who notwithstanding have handed down unto you their Children the purity and verity of the Gospel For God's sake Dear Brethren Consider sadly your offence with all its aggravations and cry out in the bitterness of the Spirit Men and Brethren what shall we do Undoubtedly your Consciences under this hard Bondage crave our advice and we freely give it you And first of all Beware of that great danger in which your are you have denied God with your Mouth do not forsalte him with your Heart For it oft-times so happens that God delivers them up to a Reprobate sense who had perfidiously betray'd their own Consciences And they are such as once seemed to love the Truth but afterwards proceeded to hate it yea and at last to persecute it Two things may produce this Cursed effect The first is Despair For the Mercy of God being despaired of by any Person he doth incontinently hate the truth yea and at last abhors it Do not precipitate yourselves into this Condition Seriously consider your Sin but never despair of the pardoning grace of God Your Sin indeed is great But the Mercy of our Saviour is Infinite The Lord preserveth his Elect every where Yea sometimes there be such as belong to Zion even in Babylon provided they do their endeavour to come out of it and not to participate in her Sins and Idolatries lest they participate in her Plagues Bestir your selves then to get out of this Sodom where your Salvation is in so great Jeopardy and till you can do it have nothing to do with her Idolatries How these may be avoided we shall anon direct you A second thing which will render your condition irrecoverable is a customary contempt of the Truth At first it may seem difficult to you to be present at a worship so contrary unto yours To see brutish and Superstitious Wretches prostrate themselves before Images will create trouble to you You will scarce brook that barbarous Language in which you shall hear Litanies sung to the honour of Creatures and the great dishonour of your Creator You will yet suffer more when you must be prefent at that which they call the Sacrifice of the Mass and where they will force you to give religious adoration to a piece of Bread However it s to be feared that by degrees you may be inured unto all this though at present you may say For my part I believe nothing of all this and that 's enough Yet in process of time you may come to find this not very evil and may count gross Idolatries but harmless Superstitions which do neither good nor evil This way will infallibly lead you to a despising and hatred of the Truth and thence infallibly to Hell And this is that Sin against the Holy Ghost which is not pardoned in this nor shall be in the World to come Our advice upon the whole is this Maintain in your Souls as it well deserves a due horrour of Popery The methods used by them to bring you back again unto it do abundantly contribute hereunto It must needs be the Devils own Religion that serves it self of such kind
do with Silk or Gold at your Feasts or Repasts Every day should be unto us a day of Prayers and Tears not a feasting but a fasting day Your Indevotion is another source of your Afflictions You have despised God's holy Word Family Duties Family Prayer hath been either neglected or very negligently performed That you may turn away God's Wrath from you set upon the Religious Performance of these Religious Duties Let them be frequent prolonged and with greater fervency Let your outward demeanour be exemplary for its great mortification and this too in the very eyes of your adversaries and that you may be known publickly who you are by the modesty humility and plainness of your Garb and principally by your Charity and the excellency of your Faith Take a special care of your poor persecuted Brethren give liberally towards the charges of their Escapeal All things should now be in common among you and no person should count any thing his own whil'st his poor Brother needs it This is the very soul of Christianity and if you thus bestow it God may restore again unto you his Gospel whereof he hath deprived you Thus ordering your Conversations you will be admired by your own Countrymen and Enemies of your Religion it will prevail with them to hear you favourably and incline them either to become Converts themselves or else to favour your Escapeal These Adviso's are only Expedients for the present till such time as it shall please God to open you a door of deliverance from the Tyranny you now groan under And you must take the first opportunity you can of departing For don't fool your selves with this imagination that you shall be able for any long space of time to keep the Truth of God in the Land of Meshek Your Piety will gradually decay Your Children having never known any other Religion than the Romish will accustom themselves unto it and never desire to leave their Country Wherefore spare neither pains diligence nor costs that you may be transported into a Land of Liberty And look not back behind you to carry away what is in your Houses Whosoever looks back again is not meet for the Kingdom of Heaven And tho' you were stript of all in your flight yet you would be rich enough in having your Souls given you for a Prey The worst that can befal you is to die of famine But is that kind of death more terrible than any other Can any Death be dreadful to us when the Life of our Souls lies at stake and the Glory of God is concerned And yet possibly it may never be so bad with you 'T is our Duty in no wise to doubt of God's mercy Such a thought should never be harbour'd by us In the very worst of times God hath been gracious to his People and they have been relieved in their necessities So that all the hazard you run is but the renouncing the Vanities of this World or being reduced to work with our hands for our living or to receive an Alms. The pride of Man's heart can't brook this thought But 't is this Pride that must be subdued 't is this Monster that must be brained 't is it that hath undone us We should reckon it our great honour to be debased scorned impoverished and stript of all for Christ Jesus Our Life is very short No matter how we suffer in it Our great concern should be for Eternity We live and work for Eternity My brethren count it great joy when you fall into divers temptations And be perswaded that you cannot make any other satisfaction for your great crime in renouncing with your mouths the Truth of our holy Religion than by sacrificing unto God your Estate Ease and Comforts than by offering up your selves at last for his sake unto the Sufferings and Miseries of this Cruel World As for those among you who yet stand your ground My dearly beloved Brethren in the Name of God look unto the Recompence of Reward promised you for your Perseverance Look unto the Glory you shall receive for having overcome all Difficulties and retained your Integrity Let 's look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith lift up your hands that hang down and strengthen your feeble knees Remember that he endured the Cross and despised the shame and that he exposed himself to the contradiction of sinners that he might sit down at the right hand of God his Father Consider that great cloud of Witnesses and persist constantly in that Race which is set before you Look unto those Martyrs who live now glorified in Heaven and in the memory of Men. Remember that God chastises all he loves and that he owns them for his children be not therefore displeased with the correction of the Lord. Remember he bestows a very great honour upon you in calling you out to suffer for his Name 's sake Take patiently the loss and spoiling of your Goods your Prisons and Sorrows The Lord will recompence you for all your hard Labours and will give a glorious issue to all your Conflicts The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen If you have any charity for your Brethren you will communicate this Letter among them SECT LVII I have done with my Preface adding Courteous Reader but one Advertisement about my Manuscript Copies out of which I have extracted and compiled my Synodicon It is more than twenty Years ago that I met with some Collections out of the Manuscript Acts of these National Synods That great Learning deep Wisdom and sound Godliness I observed in them inflamed my desires and affections after the Originals Accordingly when as the Ministers were banished France and about 150 of them came unto London I made it my business to learn of them some News of these Acts. But I may speak it truly that the far greater part of these Reverend Confessors did with much regret inform me that they feared they were lost irrecoverably For the first thing the Intendants did when they visited their Churches was to seize upon all Papers Writings Acts Deeds Books and whatsoever belonged unto their Consistories Colloquies and Synods yea and this they did also unto particular Ministers thus robbing them of their well-furnish'd Libraries and of all their Manuscripts I mingled my Griefs with theirs for this Peculate But yet did not give over my search No sooner did I hear of any new Minister arrived but I insinuated my self into his Acquaintance and renewed my Inquiry tho' frequently to my sore dissatisfaction And having given over all hopes of ever seeing this Jewel one day about two years and a half since as I was in company with about six or seven of these worthy and reverend Refugees bemoaning the great loss their Churches had sustained in this cruel Persecution and particularly in the loss of those Acts of their famous National Synods * * * Monsieur Foren Pastor of the Church of Sion in the Province of
unto the People The Elder 's Office XXIII The Elders and Deacons are the Counsel of the Church in which the Ministers of the Word ought to preside The Office of Elders is to assemble the People to make Report of Scandals unto the Consistory and such other like Matters according as in every Church it is couched in Writing together with the proper Customs of those Places and Times Yet is not their Office for Life The Deacon's Office XXIV The Deacon's Office as now used by us is not perpetual yet this belongs unto them to Collect the Moneys for the Poor the Prisoners and the Sick and by the Advice of the Consistory to distribute those collected Charities among them to Visit them and in their respective Houses to Catechize them and in case any Deacon shall be found fit and he promise to devote and consecrate himself during Life unto the Service of God in the Ministry he may be chosen by the Ministry and Consistory to Catechize publickly according to the Form received in our Churches and this in order to their Trial without permitting them to administer the Sacraments The manner of Electing Elders and Deacons XXV The Office of Elders and Deacons is not to Catechize publickly nor is their Office perpetual However neither the one nor the other shall quit it without leave first obtained from the Church In the Minister's absence or sickness or in any other necessity of the Church the Deacon may read Prayers and the Holy Scriptures but he shall not take upon him the Office of Preaching XXVI In those Places in which Church-Order is not yet established both Elders and Deacons shall be chosen by the common Suffrage of Pastor and People but where Discipline is already constituted it shall be done by the Minister and Church-Councel who shall give them their Charge and they shall subscribe the Confession of Faith professed and avowed by us then they shall be presented unto the People and in case any one should oppose their Election it shall be debated and determined in the Consistory but if they cannot agree it shall be referr'd unto the Provincial Synod Causes of Deposing Elders and Deacons XXVII The Deacons and Elders shall be deposed for those very self-same Reasons that the Ministers of the Word were according to their quality and if being condemned by their Consistory they should make their Appeal they shall be suspended until such time as the Provincial Synod shall have ordained otherwise Books forbidden to be Printed till first communicated XXVIII Ministers nor any Other Members of the Church may not Print their own or others Works concerning Religion nor in any wise Publish them till they have first communicated them unto two or more of the Gospel of unspotted Reputation Who are to be Excommunicated XXIX Hereticks Contentious Persons Despisers of God Rebels against the Consistory Traytors to the Church such as be impeached and convicted of Crimes worthy of Corporal Punishment such as scandalize the whole Church shall be utterly excommunicated and cut off not only from the Sacrament but from all Communion with the whole Church And as for Delinquents suspended from the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and guilty of other Vices it is left to the Church's prudence whether they shall be admitted to hear the Word preacht or no. XXX Such as are Excommunicate for Heresie Contempt of God Schism Treason and Rebellion against the Church or other grievous Offences scandalous to the whole Church shall be denounced Excommunicate Persons before the People Who are by Name to be declared Excommunicate and who not unto the People together with the Causes of their Excommunication And as for those who were Excommunicate for lesser Offences it 's left to the Church's Prudence to consider whether they shall be published by Name unto the Congregation or not And this Order shall hold till it be otherwise determined in a National Synod Manner of Receiving Excommunicate Persons XXXI These having been Excommunicated shall address themselves unto their Consistory for Re-admission into Church-Fellowship who shall judge of their Repentance And if they have been publickly Excommunicate they shall testifie their Repentance publickly but if they have not been publickly Excommunicate they shall only in private before the Consistory express their Repentance Denial of the Faith demands a Publick Acknowledgment When Fasts are to be proclaimed XXXII Such as through force of Persecution have abjured the Gospel shall not be received into the Church till such time as they have expressed their Repentance publickly before all the People XXXIII Publick Prayers and extraordinary Fastings yet without any scruple or superstition shall be enjoyned in times of severe Persecution of War Pestilence Famine and other grievous Affliction as also whenas a Minister is to be chosen or a National Synod to be conven'd Of the Publication of Marriage XXXIV Marriages shall be propounded unto the Consistory in which the Contract of Marriage shall be produced signed by the Publick Notary or proved by some other sufficient Attestation in such places where there is not a Notary Or if the Persons will not produce their Contracts they shall however bring a sufficient Attestation under the Notary's hand or some other way and a Fortnight after the Banes shall be published on three Lord's Days following in those Places where the Word is ordinarily preached and in other Places where is Exhortation and Publick Prayers provided that this Publication be continued a full Fortnight and then the Marriage may be solemnized in the Church This Order shall not be infringed unless there be very great Causes for it whereof the Consistory shall take Cognisance Marriages and Baptisms are to be Registred XXXV Both Marriages and Baptisms shall be Registred and the Register preserved carefully by the Church together with the Names of the Fathers and Mothers and Sureties for the baptized Infants XXXVI The Faithful may not contract Marriage within the prohibited Degrees of Affinity and Consanguinity and the Church is to take heed that all scandal in this particular be avoided The Church may not dissolve a Marriage XXXVII The Faithful whose Yoke-fellows are convict of Adultery shall be advised to reconcile themselves with them but in case of refusal that liberty they have by the Word of God shall be declared to them However none of the Churches shall dissolve the Marriage least they should intrench upon the Authority of the Civil Magistrate The Consistory in case Parents refuse their Consent shall order about it XXXVIII No Person may contract Marriage without the Consent of Parents But in case Parents should be so unreasonable as to refuse their Consent to such an holy and needful Ordinance the Consistory shall advise what is to be done herein XXXIX Promises of Marriage once made cannot be dissolved no not by mutual consent of the Parties who have past those Promises each to other And the
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
watch mutually over one another as also other Letters unto the States acquainting them That because we cannot learn neither by Letter nor word of Mouth from their Deputy who those Ministers accused of Negligence be we will write in general concerning it unto the Provincial Synod of Languedoc And as to the third and fourth Articles this shall be inserted in the Letters to our Brethren of Languedoc That they do their endeavour to advance the Kingdom of God as much as in them lieth not only at home in their own Churches but if it may be done without incommoding their own Flocks abroad also And in the Letters to the Estates it shall be remonstrated That it is the Minister's Office to regulate them and their Flocks according to the Word of God and the Church's Discipline and that it is the Duty of Magistrates to watch over all Orders and Degrees of Men and in particular over Ministers that they walk uprightly in their Calling and in case Ministers be deficient and faulty that they cause them to be admonished and censured according to the Discipline by Classes and Synods Not hereby understanding such Crimes as are punishable by the Laws the Cognisance whereof doth properly appertain unto the Civil Magistrate As to the fifth sixth seventh and eighth Articles the Ministers of Languedoc shall be informed by our Letters to them that in case of lesser slighter private and domestick Injuries it shall be sufficient if a Member of the Consistory do secretly admonish the Offender But in case of publick and scandalous Offences as circumstances may be those who implead others at Law may be called into the Consistory unless besides their Law-suit they had committed some other and more scandalous Crime nevertheless they shall by Exhortations and other means endeavour to compromise and reconcile the litigant Parties And in our Letter to the States this Clause shall be insertted That though in Law-sence a Crime is then called publick when it merits exemplary Punishment yet we account that a publick Crime which coming to the knowledge of the World or of many does beget Scandal or evil Example so that all circumstances considered nothing hindreth but that these publick Crimes may be censured and corrected As to the ninth tenth and eleventh Articles by which the Estates demand Obedience to be yeilded unto Magistrates and in particular that they be called into Consistories Classes and Synods provided this be communicated unto both the Parties Plaintiff and Defendant this Council does freely grant it As to the twelfth and thirteenth Articles we answer That in the Civil Government the Magistrates Ordinances ought to be obeyed And in Ecclesiastical Affairs Ministers shall have the ordering of them in conjunction with Synods And when a Common concern doth offer itself to be discussed as for instance if this Question shall be propounded How many Ministers ought to be established in a City they shall consult together and ordain about it by joynt Suffrages Lastly as to the fourteenth Article it 's answered That Ministers may be removed from one Church unto another which shall be debated and resolved on by the Provincial Synods according to the Tenour of the sixteenth Article of our Discipline CHAP. XVI Cases of CONSCIENCE III. THe Brethren of Normandy requesting that the eighteenth Article of the Synod of Paris might be altered where it was ordained That no beneficed Persons or other such-like should be received into the Ministry without long Experience had both of their Life and Doctrine this present Assembly decreeth That the Article shall remain intire and in its full power without any Relaxation or Alteration and therefore that it be more diligently observed Beneficed Persons employing them to good and pious Uses and not partaking in Idolatry shall not be kept off from the LORD's Table IV. Such as hold Church-lands provided they do not pollute themselves in any manner with Idolatry and do their endeavour to root out all Superstition at least that there be none committed by their consent and authority and also protesting that they disclaim all Right that they might have from the Pope if also those Lands and Goods be visibly imployed in holy and lawful Uses forasmuch as the King grants Liberty of Conscience to enjoy them these Persons shall not be refused Communion at the Lord's Table V. It having been proposed Whether Maids above ten Years old should answer the publick Catechism This matter is left to the Prudence of the respective Consistories who shall act herein as will make most for Edification No other Council in the Church but the Consistory VI. The Church of Issoudun demanding Whether besides the Consistory it were not needful that the Church should have a Council to determinate all matters of difference arising in it After diligent consideration this Synod judgeth That it is the Duty of Consistories to determine all Church-Affairs and that it 's needless on this account to have an other standing Council besides those who are Officers in it VII The Brethren of Nismes having desired our Advice about Morning and Evening Prayers this Assembly dismisseth it over unto the Provincial Synods Magistrates may bâ—â—r office in the â—onsistory VIII Our Brethren of Normandy having propounded this case Whether a Magistrate might be called into Office by the Consistory This Assembly resolveth it may be done provided that the exercise of the one doth not hinder the other In Usuries the Rule of Charity See the Synod of Orâ—â—â—â—â—â— Art 6. 〈◊〉 Germâ—ns râ—mâ—ved prâ—â—â—ded there â—e 〈◊〉 Sea 〈◊〉 may maâ—ry 〈…〉 mâ—â—â—â—â— the â—eâ—â—â—d time and 〈…〉 fiâ—â—â— Wifâ—â—eâ—â—â—se oâ— her 〈◊〉 this Mâ—â—â—â—â—â—e is 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 of the Mâ—nister 〈◊〉 â—â—vâ—al or not Crimes disâ—â—veâ—ed to him in Confessâ—â—n IX Concerning Interest of Money it is advised That the King's Edicts herein shall be universally observed as also the Rule of Charity X. The Minister of Normandy demanding Whether a Cousin-German removed might be married The Synod answers That if there be no Scandal taken by such a Marriage it may be done XI 'T is the joynt Opinion of all the Brethren That a second Marriage contracted by him who had forsook his Wife because of Leprosie is null and therefore till he be separated from his second Wife and the Scandal given by him be repaired he shall not be admitted unto the LORD's Table XII It 's lawful though not necessary for Protestants to publish their Banes of Marriage in Popish Temples XIII A Minister demanding our Advice Whether a Person begging his advice and comfort under inward Perplexities and confessing to him secretly great Crimes he ought to discover them unto the Magistrate We answer That it is left wholly to the conscience of the Minister who must prudently consider all circumstances XIV Ministers contracting unfitting Marriages which beget Scandal the Brethren in this Synod do judge that Consistories shall proceed in such a manner against these Delinquents by Church-censures that all occasion of Scandal for
and judge whether the Crime related to them and whereof the Sinner hath been first of all admonished deserve for its heinousness Suspension or no and if it do then he who shall have committed such a sin shall for some time be deprived of the Lord's Supper in order to his Humiliation and the Tryal of his Repentance But if the sin be known only to a few Persons this Suspension nor its cause may not be signified unto the People least the Sinner be the more defamed See the Synod of Nismes Art 5. and his sin made more scandalous and notorious than it was and it shall be sufficient if in this case he do only acknowledge his sin unto the Consistory that so he may be received unto the Table of our Lord Jesus But as for those who having been oftentimes admonished of their sins shall ever shew themselves Disobedient to the Consistory and those also who being guilty of great and enormous Crimes punishable by the Civil Magistrate and which bring publick Scandal upon the Church altho' there may be observed some beginnings of Repentance in them shall nevertheless be out of hand suspended the Lord's Table and the said Suspension shall be published unto the People that so the Church of God may be discharged of all Blame and Reproach and that such Sinners may be the more deeply humbled in the exercise and proof of their Repentance and an Holy Terrour struck into the hearts of others and if after some good space of time there appearing solid proofs and evidences of their Conversion and Repentance attested to by sufficient Witnesses the Judgment whereof belongs unto the Consistory they shall be publickly reconciled unto the Church by Confession of their Offences and Expressions of true Repentance that so they may purge away and repair the Scandal they had given unto the whole Church and then they shall be admitted unto the Lord's Table But and if it should happen Degrees of proceeding to the last Excommunication that after along and patient waiting and divers Admonitions made by the Consistory and the aforesaid Proceedings observed and practised and all charitable Endeavours used for the regaining of the Sinner he nevertheless abide obstinate and impenitent then the Pastor in the Name of the whole Church shall proceed against him by publick Admonitions declaring unto the whole Church his Offences protesting also of their due and religious Care for him and Carriage towards him tho' without any fruit or benefit exhorting the whole Church to seek God earnestly on his behalf and to use all means that may bring him to a sight and sence of his sin that so that dreadful Sentence of Excommunication and Cutting off from the Church of God whereunto she cannot proceed but with the greatest Regret and Grief may be prevented And the said Pastor shall in his Sermon from the Word of God declare the true right and lawful Use of this Censure that every one may be instructed in his Duty both towards God and his Neighbour and that all may understand that this last Remedy is used with this Sinner for the Glory of God the Honour and Reputation of the Church and the Salvation of his Soul in particular And these publick Admonitions and Denunciations shall be prosecuted and continued three several times on three several Lord's Days on the first of which the Sinner shall not be mentioned by Name that so in some sort he may be spared though he be already too well known unto the People but on the two succeeding Sundays he shall be particularly named And if after all this he does not repent nor become a Convert but persisteth obstinately in his sinful Courses then on the fourth Lord's Day in the face and presence of the whole Congregation such a one mentioning him by Name shall be declared and pronounced Excommunicate and cut off as a rotten Member from the Body of the Church the Pastor declaring it authoritatively from the Word of God in the Name and with the Consent of the whole Church Those who are thus excommunicate and cut off shall be deprived of all Communion with the Church and of all it's Priviledges and the Faithful shall be admonished neither to converse familiarly with them nor to frequent their Company that so they may be ashamed humbled and brought unto Repentance the truth whereof shall be demonstrated by good Fruits and unexceptionable Evidences known unto the Consistory who shall judge whether they ought to be received again into the Church and having called seen and heard them and found them truely penitent it shall be published by the Pastor unto the whole Congregation that so they may be stirred up to praise God for touching their hearts with Remorse and recovering them unto Repentance And then these Penitents shall come before the whole Church to give satisfaction for their past Scandal confessing and detesting their former Sins and Rebellions begging humbly Pardon of God and the Church for them and thus shall they be received unto the Church's Peace and Fellowship with Joy and Publick Thanksgiving CHAP. IV. III. FOrasmuch as the Holy Apostle hath ordained That such as approach unto the Lord's Table should examine themselves and this being a principal Point of that Examination that we search into ourselves diligently to see and discover whether we have truely renounced all sins and those sins especially which are most contrary to God's pure and holy Worship as Idolatry and its Appurtenances are and because such as are beneficed by Papal Provisions tho' of different degrees notwithstanding their Knowledge and Profession of the Gospel-Truth and retaining the quality of Incumbents or injoying the Fruits of their Benefices no matter how it be they do seem to us not to have discharged this their Duty The Question having been put in general Whether they should be received unto the Lord's Supper Wheeher beneficed Persons ought to be received to the Lord's Table they professing the Truth of the Gospel The Brethren are of Opinion That we must here distinguish there being some who having devested themselves of all Title to their Benefices do yet reserve unto themselves Pensions out of them which they injoy either by Provision from Rome or by private Compact between themselves and those to whom they have resigned or some other way be it what it will these shall be told That they cannot use this Traffick without greatly offending GOD. Because one of these Parties grounding this Reservation upon the Pope's Grants and maintaing himself in it by his Authority doth as much as in him lieth own and avow his Supremacy And the other Party because he receiveth Wages from the Evil he hath done his Neighbour and receiveth an yearly Tribute from him who by this means is subjected unto Conditions full of Impiety and Idolatry by which Fact they approve of that Evil they have already done and continue in it and therefore they shall from the Word of God be admonished not to
in the Month of June the last Year 1577. by divers Churches of this Kingdom rendered an account of his said Commission unto this Assembly produced and read the Acts and made an ample Relation of what was done and transacted in that general Synodical Meeting at Frankford in Germany the last September 1577. in which were gathered the Deputies of the Reformed Churches of Christendom and in which he assisted also as a Deputy from our Churches This Assembly was very well pleased with his whole Negotiation accepted and approved of it and doth now discharge him of his said Commission and all Instructions and Blanks signed and given him by our Churches relating to his said Commission were vacated and disannulled as being altogether needless for the future and all Duplicates of the said Commissions and Instructions which he was bound under his own Hand and Seal to observe and follow were in like manner cancelled and disannulled that so he might be intirely acquitted freedand discharged and we do also now discharge him without ever demanding any Matter or farther account from him for the future Given at St. Foy this 13 th Day of February 1578. The first Appeals mentioned in any of their Synods CHAP. VII Appeals and Particular Matters Art N. B. One Book calls this the 34th or 36th Article of General Matters HIS Excellency the Prince of Conde appealed from the Consistory of Rochel for disswading him from communicating at the Lord's Table because of a Prize taken at Sea by his Commission after publishing the last Edict of Pacification embraced by the said Prince Unto which his Excellency made this Answer That the said Prize was taken before the forty Days for divulging the said Peace were expired and it was from the sworn Enemies of the King of Navar and of himself also That it being a meer Civil State-Matter the Consistory had nothing to do with it To which the Consistory replied That the whole Church and City of Rochel were greatly Scandalized hereat because they were accounted Infractors and Violators of the publick Peace of the Kingdom and that they were commonly taxed and reproached for such Prizes as Harborers and Concealers of Pirates and piratical Goods and that for their parts they could not foresee any thing else but that divine Vengeance would light down upon them if they did not oppose such unlawful Practices proceeding from certain Persons who maliciously abused the Name and Authority of his Excellency the Prince So that they could not do less in Duty and Conscience considering their Office in the Church than to endeavour by all good means to extinguish the Fire of such a blazing Scandal and they most humbly beseech his Excellency the Prince to take kindly this their Admonition as done net out of any ill will or bad design against him and that he would be pleased to exert hit Authority in such like Matters so that the Peace sworn by him may be kept and observed This Assembly having maturely considered the whole Affair doth own acknowledge and approve of the Zeal and good Affection of the Church and Consistory of Rochel especially in opposing it self against scandalous Sins and that herein they have not acted beyond the Line of their Duty for they be supported and maintained in it by the holy Word of God which ought to be the Rule of all our Actions whereby they are either to be approved or rejected and that denounceth a Curse upon all those who shall offend but the least of Men and unto this divine Word all of us must yield Obedience if we intend to have and hold communion with the Lord Jesus Yet notwithstanding this Assembly could have wished that the said Consistory had suspended and deferr'd their Judgment in an Affair of so great Importance and had not been so hasty and precipitant about it that so all suspicion of Animosities on either side might have been avoided And as for his Excellency the Prince this Assembly doth earnestly beseech him not to misconstrue those Remonstrances made him in the Name of God which we judge were but just and needful and grounded upon the Word of God and therefore we desire his Excellency that he would be pleas'd to remove the occasion of the said Scandal and take in good part the Admonitions of the Church and that he would be reconciled to it and he shall be particularly intreated so to do by our Brethren Messieurs Merlin Bouguet De la Tour and St. Martin who are charged by this Assembly to acquaint his Excellency with this our Request unto his Excellency and to the said Consistory and that we have none other end nor design in it than the perfect Union of our Members to serve God in Holiness and Righteousness not giving any offence to those that are within or without and this being done we decree that his Excellency the said Prince shall be received into Communion at the Lord's Table Given at St. Foy the Great this 14 th Day of February 1578. And thus Signed Francois Loiseau Scribe of the said Synod II. His Grace the Duke of Rohan requesting by Letters that this Assembly would grant Monsieur de Claville Minister of the Church of Loudun to be Pastor of the Church in his House and Family or at least to serve it in course four Months every Year and that the Sieur de la Tousche Minister of St. Fulgent may take up his Residence at Monchamp The Ministers of those Churches being now absent it was thought good to dismiss this Affair unto the Provincial Synods to which those Churches do appertain that they may judge of it that his said Grace the Duke of Rohan may be gratified in his demands by those Synods III. Monsieur De Spina Minister of the Gospel shall be sent Pastor unto the Church of Anger 's only the Churches of Paris and Saumur have still their Right in him reserved to them And in case that through the difficulties of the Times he should not be able to subsist at Anger 's the Neighbour Classis or Colloquy to that City shall take care of his maintainance and provide it for him and they may also lend him as they shall see good for the Glory of God IV. Monsieur du Lygne shall be lent six Months longer unto the Church of Agen in which time the Province of Anjou shall do their Duty to redemand him and there shall be a Church given him wherein to exercise his Ministery and to make provision for his Subsistence And in case the said Provincial Synod should not recal him within the term prefixed he shall be fully settled in the said Church of Agen. CHAP. VIII V. JOhn Bonniot or Bouquier styling himself Gaultier exercising the Ministery at present at San Bouchard near unto Great St. Foy because that he hath temerariously intruded himself into the Ministery without any Call for that he hath forged divers Letters clipped his Majesty's Coin melted down his Clippings into base Silver Lingots and vended them
This is now the 50th Article of our Disicipline CHap. LVI The Fifty sixth Article shall be thus worded National Synods shall be informed by the Provinces of their deposed Ministers that so they may not be entertained by them CHap. LVII * * * This is now the 57th Article of our Discipline In the Fifty seventh Article instead of National read Provincial Synod CHap. LIX After Vagrants in the Fifty ninth Article there shall be inserted Apostates and in the end of that Article there shall be this clause And a Catalogue of these shall he brought from the Provinces unto the National Synods Chap. II. 4. After these words in the Fourth Article To be employed in the Ministry This is now the 53d Article of our Discipline this shall be added Ever preferring the Children of poor Ministers if ingenious whereof the Colloquies shall take special care Chap. III. 6. The Sixth Article of the Third Chapter shall be thus read but the decision of Points of Doctrine is principally reserved unto Ministers and Pastors of Churches Chap. V. 20. The twentieth Article of the Fifth Chapter shall be wholly razed because 't is included in the One and twentieth and Two and twenty foregoing Articles the Four and twentieth shall be also blotted out Chap. VIII 6. In the Sixth Article of the Eighth Chapter next after these words And one of the Pastors shall be President there must be added Together with one or more Scribes This is now the 11th Article and instead of the Provincial it is the National Synod that is to provide for those Widows and Orphans of deceased Ministers CHap. XII Artie To th of the Twelfth Article there shall be this added And where the Province becomes ingrateful the Deputy thereof shall make report of it unto the Provincial Synod which shall provide for them Chap. IX 6. To the sixth Article of the Ninth Chapter there must be added And Ecclesiastical CHap. VIII In the Eighth Article after these words Ample Memoirs shall be added With lawful excuses for their absence CHap. XI To the last clause of the Eleventh Article these words shall be added Which shall before-hand be advised to prepare for it Chap. X. 3. To the third Article of the Tenth Chapter in the close of it shall be this added As much as may be done considering the conveniency of Times and Places CHap. V. And to the Fifth Article these words shall be added And such as accompany the Dead unto their Graves are exhorted to demean themselves with all Christian Modesty meditating according to the Nature of the present Object upon the Misery and Brevity of this present Life and that blessed Hope of Immortality in the World to come And the Tenth Chapter shall be closed up with this Article Forasmuch as Mourning lieth not in the Habit but Heart the Faithful shall be advised to comport themselves with all Modesty shunning all Ambition Hypocrisie and Superstition Chap. XI 11. In the Eleventh Article of the Eleventh Chapter instead of these words Attributed unto God in the Scripture shall be added As Emanuel and all others Chap. XIII 7. In the Seventh Article of the Thirteenth Chapter instead of those words The Synods do esteem shall be inserted They do declare CHap. VIII IX Between the Eighth and Ninth Articles this shall be placed The betrothed Person may not marry the Mother of his deceased Spouse CHap. X XI Between the Tenth and Eleventh Articles this shall be inserted A Man shall not after the death of his Wife marry her with whom he had committed Adultery whilst she was living unless the Consistory have first had Cognisance of the same and maturely considered thereof CHap. XXII After these words in the Two and twentieth Article Solemnly married there shall be this addition 〈…〉 Whether that their Offence were known before or after the solemnizing of the Marriage And those words shall be razed If they demand to be And in the same Article this word also shall be blotted out And forasmuch and these shall be inserted Although this had been avoided before the Celebration of the Marriage yet he shall proceed to c. CHap. XXII XXIII This Article shall be placed between the Two and twentieth and the Twenty third That those Inconveniences may be avoided which ensue upon a long delay of solemnizing Marriage all Pastors of Churches and others in whose Power the espoused Persons are shall he advertis'd not to defer the celebrating of their Marriage above six weeks after their Espousals Chap. XIV 1. This word Much shall be left out and the last clause of the first Article And to the Fourth Article these shall be added Vnless in case it be for suppressing the Preaching of God's Word and the setting up of Mass CHap. XIX These words excessive and scandalous shall be left out of the Nineteenth Article CHap. XXI The word Excommunication shall be left out in the close of the One and twentieth Article and instead of it this shall be inserted Suspension from the Lord's Supper CHap. XXIV XXV This ensuing Article shall be placed betwixt the Twenty fourth and Twenty fifth Swearers and Blasphemers of the Name of God shall in no wise be tolerated in the Church but they shall be admonished with the greatest seriousness to desist from those sins and in case of non-forbearance they shall be prosecuted with all Church-Censures as the Consistories in their Wisdoms may judge most fit CHAP. IV. Particular MATTERS I. WHereas Monsieur de Tourfillant formerly denosed from the Ministry hath most humbly petitioned that he may be restored to it this Assembly having seriously considered the enormity of his Crime of which he had been accused and convicted before the Civil Magistrate and that as yet he retains his old Inclinations to the self-same sin yea and that his supplicatory Letters do rather justifie him than exprese his Contrition and Repentance as is evident to any one who doth but cursorily read and peruse them therefore it is ordained that he shall not be re-admitted to the Exercise of the Gospel-Ministry II. The Brethren Deputies of Normandy desired our Resolution in this difficult Case A Widow of the Church in was contracted to a Man by words de praesenti and duly informed by the Ministers of that Church to which she belonged of the importance of such Promises yet nevertheless a while after to his very great grief she separates herself front this her Spouse by Sentence of the Official pleading for herself That she was ignorant of the meaning of those words de praesenti and futuro and afterward marries another Person according to the manner of the Romish Church not at all regarding the Remonstrances given her either by Ministers or by him to whom she was first contracted before and after her last Espousals This Assembly judgeth That the first Promise in itself and of right is indissolvable and that therefore the Second Marriage is of right null and void So that
dear Brother Monsieur * * * One Copy calls him Halnar and in two other Coples Saluart Salnar Minister in the Church of Castres styled Hamonia Confessionum as being most useful and needful for these our times judging also that it would do singular good Service if it were rendred into our French Tongue and therefore the Province of Higher Languedoc is charged by this Synod to get it translated and to prefix an Epistle Commendatory to the said Book in the Name of their faid Province XV. The Church of Vitré requesting our Advice in this case Whether Witnesses should be confronted deposing a Crime committed by the Delinquent who does obstinately and upon his Oath deny the very Matter of Fact This Assembly judgeth That all occasions of new Quarrels may be avoided which may probably arise from such Confrontations the Witnesses shall not be confronted unless of their own accord they do freely consent unto it or unless that the last and greatest Censures must of neccessity be used which indeed cannot be executed till such time as the Delinquents shall have been well and duly convicted and this cannot be done unless that he confess and own his Offence or that the Witnesses do avow it constantly to his face XVI The Article about our Catechism shall remain in its full power till the next National Synod whereunto the Provinces shall come well instructed that so we may advise whether Mr. Calvin's Catechism may be retained or that a shorter one consisting only of the Apostles Creed the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments shall be taken up and used in the Ordinance of Catechising XVII The Deputies of Poictou propounded this Case A certain Marriage was dissolved by Authority of the Official because of the Husband's Impotency sometime after the Woman being publickly married in the Church it fell out the Man also was re-married but in the Romish Church he being now touched with Repentance demandeth to be received unto the Peace and Communion of our Church This Assembly adviseth that before his re-admission his Wife shall be interrogated whether she be well satisfied with him that so it may be known whether he hath not abused God's holy Ordinance of Marriage because he had been once before judged impotent and if he be now found such we advise the deferring of his Reception till we have had more ample proof of his Repentance But if it be otherwise he having according to our Discipline repaired his fault of being married in the Church of Rowe shall be restored to the Peace and Communion of the Church Nevertheless this Assembly judgeth that the Consistory should be censured not only for not using its Authority to hinder the Woman to suddenly after her Marriage contracted and solemnized from running to the Official who presently ordered her a Separation but also for not persisting in their Admonitions to the Husband that he should not so easily and readily consent as he did unto a dissolution of the said Marriage because such a Separation ought not to have been till after three Ecclesiastical Sentences had thrice gradually intervened as is usual even in the Church of Rome XVIII Claudius Merchant formerly Minister in the Church of Beauriers and Civray in the Province of Berry having been accused and convicted of Adultery before this Assembly we do depose him from his Charge and Ministry for being a scandalous Person utterly unworthy of it Moreover we do ordain That this his said Deposition shall be published in those places where he exercised his Ministry but without mentioning the Woman only in general this shall be declared that 't is for a very gross and heavy Sin for a most grievous Scandal Finally he shall not be admitted in any place of his Residence unto the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper till he have first done Publick Penance for this notorious Scandal given by him unto the Church altho' the particular Crime committed by him shall not be specified in the Church And the Consistory of the Church De la Roche posé shall be censured for putting him into Office among them before they had sufficient Attestations concerning him XIX Divers Gentlemen complaining by the Deputies of Augoumois that in those places where there is but one Sermon in the Week their Ministers do resufe coming on the Week-days to Preach and Baptize their Children which are then born unless they bring them at the appointed Times for Religious Worship This Assembly adviseth That to prevent all Clamours and Complaints for the future the Consistory shall appoint one Day in the midst of the Week for an extraordinary Assembly and so provide for all emergent necessary Duties XX. The Churches shall be informed that by the Ninth Article of the Secret Articles the King promiseth to dispense with the Degrees of Consanguinity and Assinity between Persons of the Reformed Religion so that we need not have recourse unto the Pope for Dispensations Wherefore in such Cases they may apply themselves unto His Majesty by our Agent at Court XXI Our Brother the Deputy of Poictou propounded this Case That a certain Person having quitted his Benefice did yet notwithstanding receive a Pension from his Curate that enjoys it This Assembly adviseth that he be admonished either to relinquish such a Pension or else wholly to employ it unto Pious Uses XXII Whereas the Deputy of Anjou hath demanded that the Church of La Gravelle may be declared a Member of the said Province because 't is inclosed within its bounds the Assembly judgeth That inasmuch as our Brother De Cherpon Minister of it had been mostly incouraged in his Studies by the Liberality of the Lord De la Val and that the far greater part of the Members of that Church are Brittains it being distant from Brittany but one small League that therefore the said Church shall be reputed to belong to the Province of Brittany and the rather because of the paucity of Ministers in it And this Order shall be in force no longer than the time of Monsieur Cherpon's Residence at and Relation to the ' foresaid Church of La Gravelle * * * In my Copy it wrs Noturi◠which I lookt upon as an Error of the French Scribe for Norwich XXIII Our Brother Monsieur Mary Minister of the Church of Norwich in England but living at present in Normandy shall be obliged to return unto his Church upon its first Summons yet because of the great Success of his Ministry in these parts his Church may be intreated to continue for some longer time his absence from it XXIV Monsieur De Feugeray Pastor in the Church of Rouen having informed this Assembly of the great importance of that Church and how necessary it is that it should be provided of able Ministers we being at present destitute of all help for them do advise the Province of Normandy to enquire in their respective Classis whether they may not find two Churches so nigh one unto the other
themselves 5. To the 28th Article as it is in some other so in all Copies for the future the word Vertue shall be added to that of Efficacy for the better explaining of the sence and in imitation of the Apostle who joyneth both those words together in the close of the first Chapter to the Ephesians 6. The Printers shall be informed for the future never to forget or omit those words in the 38th Article they being the express words of Institution by our Lord himself Take and eat and drink ye all of it 7. That their Insolency may be restrained who reject this word Substance both in our Confession of Faith and Form of Celebrating the Lord's Supper the Churches shall be informed that this present Synod doth ratifie the Resolutions formerly decreed on this Point in the Synods of Rochel and Nismes The aforesaid Confession of Faith having been read in its several Articles orderly and distinctly was confirmed and approved by all the Deputies of France in the Name and behalf of all the Churches CHAP. III. Observartions made in reading of our Church-Discipline 1. THis following addition shall conclude the 2d Article of the Chapter of Ministers And Imposition of Hands shall not be given them no more than unto Persons of whom we have not the least knowledge unless it were in a Provincial Synod 2. The 18th Article shall be closed up with this addition As against them also whoso much employ themselves in the teaching of Youth that they are thereby hindred from performing the principal Duties of their Office 3. After the 21st Article there shall be this ensuing addition made Consistories erected in the Palaces of Princes and other great Lords shall be distinct from the Consistories of the Churches of those places where for a time they make their abode unless it be in a matter of common concern unto both the Consistories or in case of some very great and notorious scandal given unto the whole Church by a Domestick relating to the said Prince or Lord or in any other Affair in which the two Consistories shall see meet that there should be a mutual concurrence and conjunction 4. After those words with special Prayers in the first Article of the third Chapter there shall be this added And their Names shall be by an audible clear Voice mentioned in the Consistory And after these words If there be no opposition you must add They shall be publickly received on the third Sunday standing before the Pulpit with solemn Prayers 5. There shall be added to the end of the first Article of the fifth Chapter these words As also in all other Church-Meetings 6. This following addition shall be made to the end of the 16th Article And in case of an Appeal the said Appeal shall be notified without naming of the Person or declaring the Censure inflicted by the Consistory 7. Instead of those words publickly known in the 21st Article shall be inserted Notoriously 8. Towards the close of the 27th Article these words shall be added However 't is left unto the prudence of the Consistories to use otherwise if they shall judge it more expedient for the Churches edification 9. This shall be added to the 28th Article If any Persons professing the Reformed Religion shall Appeal their Pastors Elders or the whole Body of the Consistory before the Civil Magistrates to force them to give in evidence against those Delinquents who have confessed their sins to them they shall be proceeded against by all Church-Censures yea even to excommunication itself 10. There shall be this ensuing clause added to the end of the 4th Article of the 6th Chapter And if any particular Church or Churches refuse Payment of their Contributions to the defraying of those Expences which are unavoidably contracted by Journies and Attendance in Synodical and other Ecclesiastical Assemblies kept and held up for the common good and service of all the Churches they shall be deprived of the Ministry of the Gospel and be reputed and accounted Deserters of that holy Vnion which ought to be maintain'd among us for our general preservation Only Notice shall be given them hereof some competent space of time before that they may not complain of being not warned nor duly admonished of their Duty and that they are surprized And all Ministers in such Churches are interdicted the Exercise of their Ministry upon pain of being denounced Schismaticks 11. After the word Memoire in the second Article of the ninth Chapter you must add these signed by one Pastor and one Elder 12. Alter these words And the removing of Ministers from one place unto another in the 10th Article of the 8th Chap. these shall be added And from one Church unto another 13. After these words in the 3d Article of the 9th Chapter With a sufficient Testimonial these shall be added Signed by the Moderator and Scribe of the Provincial Synod 14. After these words Both Ministers and Elders in the third Line of the 11th and last Article of the same Chapter you must add these Of Matters onely which have happened during that Action 15. After those last words in the 2d Article of the 10th Chapter Who shall cease to have shall be censured add these following As those also who do not uncover their Heads during the time of singing from the beginning of that Ordinance to the end 16. After these words Instructed in the true Religion the 4th Article of the 11th Chapter shall be thus concluded The Children also of Gypsies the French call them Bohemians and Saracens may be baptized in our Reformed Churches upon the Terms before-mentioned and provided there be no ground to believe they have been already baptized and after that the Sureties have been previously and seriously admonished to bethink themselves how they may discharge that Obligation and Promise which they make unto the Church 17. This ensuing Article shall be the 8th in the 11th Chapter of our Discipline No Member of another Church shall be admitted a Surety for any Child at Baptism unless he bring with him an Attestation from his own Church 18. After those words in the 15th Article Being signed by the Child's Godfather and by the Minister who baptized him these shall be added And whenever Children shall be presented unto Baptism the Parents or Sureties shall bring with them a Paper in which are writ down the Names of those Children and of their Fathers and Mothers and of their Godfathers and Godmothers and of the day of their Birth 19. The 20th Article of the 13th Chapter of Marriages shall be thus concluded And the Marriage shall be publickly solemnized and blessed in the Congregation of the Faithful by the Ministry of the Pastors and not of any Elder or Deacon 20. The 31st Article of the 14th Chapter shall be placed in order before the 21st and thus couched All Swearers who in passion or hastiness do take the Name of God in vain and others who affront the Divine Majesty shall
that he only accepted of that Call for a time and with this express condition That his Father were contented with it this Assembly doth assign the said Mark Antony unto the Church of Villemure in the Colloquy of Lower Quercy to serve them as their own peculiar Pastor yet on these Terms that he shall assist the said Church of Maruejoles by the space of three Months during which time the Colloquy of Givaudan and the Province of Lower Languedoc shall use their best endeavour to provide another Pastor for the Church of Maruejoles which Church also is ordered to satisfie the said Mark Antony Bennet within six Weeks of his Return all his Arrerages and the whole Stipend of the Quarter now current and in case of failure herein by them the said Bennet is left in full liberty to leave them immediately and to betake himself to the Service of his own Church of Villemure he advising with his Colloquy and they approving it according to the Discipline XVI Divers Provinces having consulted this Assembly what course they should take with those who challenge and with those who accept the Challenge to fight a Duel as also how to deal with the challenged who killing their adverse Party have since obtained His Majesties Pardon or have been afterward legally justified and discharged the Synod made this Decree That every such Person should be suspended the Lord's Table and this their Suspension shall be out of hand published to the Congregation and before ever they be re-admitted to the Churches Peace and Communion they shall undergo Publick Penance for those their Offences XVII The Consuls and Elders in the Church of Montauban petitioned this Assembly that during Monsieur Berault's absence their Church might be supplied for that Year by Monsieur De la Nove Minister of Beaufort in Anjou Answer was given them that according to our Discipline it could not be done 'till such time as both the Church and Province to which he stood related had been first acquainted with it And therefore they should send Letters unto that Church and Province and to the Lady Vaux and to the Lord Du Plessis intreating them because of the great importance of the Church of Montauban that they would be pleased either to grant or at least to lend their Pastor Monsieur De Nove unto the Church of Montauban during Monsieur Beraud's absence And till that the Synod of Anjou have gratified the said Petitioners the Colloquy of Lower Quercy shall take care that the said Church of Montauban be not left destitute without a Pastor but that they do from time to time send able Ministers unto them CHAP. VII The Roll of the Vagrants Deserters and Deposed Ministers 1. THE Vagrants are Isaac and Moyses Bouchars who wander up and down sowing false Doctrines they were of Poitiers the Elder of them is a little dapper Fellow red Face and Beard roaving Eye the younger is much of the same stature but blackish Beard pale and sad and roaving Eyes as his Brother 2. Costa or La Costa of Bearn who preacheth here and there without any Ordination He is a Fellow of low Stature a black Beard a swarthy Countenance a notorious Lyer Impudent and a Thief 3. Commission is given to Master Villette and Master Chalais Deputies of Lower Languedoc to make speedy enquiry about Monsieur Du Croix late Minister of Perigueux who hath forsook his Ministry for the Practice of Physick Vincentius Cordatus being sixty Years of Age a tall lubberly Fellow The DEPOSED 4. In the Province of Higher Languedoc and Higher Guyenne Master Bernard Vaissy for preaching false Doctrine 5. Master Gaspar Olaxa a Spaniard for raising Troubles and Seditions in the Church of Castres 6. Master Peter Beaupoil otherwise going by the Name of Dumont or Damont 7. Master James Caza of Normandy Master Gabriel Roul otherwise La Sales De Coucher in Rouargue A Schism having fallen out in the Church of Saint Foy upon the score of the said Roul the Ministers of this Synod who are to meet in the Assembly of St. Foy are impower'd with full Authority from it 1594. Synod XIII to hear and judge fully and finally of that business Because of the Necessities and Dispersions of the Churches on the other side of Loire the Province of Anjou is appointed to call the next National Synod unto the City of Saumur in the Month of May two Years hence And forasmuch as the Province of Lower Languedoc to whom by Order of the last Synod held at Vitré it belonged to convocate this next ensuing Synod hath parted with its Right in favour to and for the benefit of that Province these things considered the next Synod shall be intreated to appoint that the National Synod which shall succeed it may be assembled and held within the Bounds of the Lower Languedoc Given at Montauban the 28th of June in the Year of our Lord 1594. The Original Acts of this Synod are kept in the Archives of the City Rochel and are thus signed Beraud Moderator Gardesy and Scribes of the Synod Rotan Scribes of the Synod The End of the Synod of Montauban THE ACTS DECISIONS and DECREES OF THE XIV National Synod OF THE Reformed Churches of Christ IN The KINGDOM of FRANCE HELD At Saumur the 15th Day of June in the Year of our Lord 1596. THE CONTENTS of this SYNOD CHap. I. Deputies Names An observation past on Monsieur Rotan a Deputy Moderator and Scribes chosen The Lords Supper to be celebrated June 16. Chap. II. Observations and Approbation of the Confession Chap. III. 26. Observations upon the Discipline Provinces to take care of Proposans 4. Colledges and Vniversities to be erected 5. Crimes which may expose Penitents to Publick Infamy or Death not to be confessed by them in their Publick Penance 8. Pastors to be sent alternatively unto Synods 11. Ministers not deputed unto Synods shall have no Votes 13. Gypfies Children may be baptized 15. Baptism must be administred in a Church 16. Two Names unto a Child indifferent 17. Marriage Promises de futuro indissolvable 18. The Discipline approved and sworn Chap. IV. General Matters A Caveat against a Scot who would reconcile both Religions 1. Latin Disputations better for Vniversities than Colloquies 3. Church-Members Names to be Registred 11. Ministers may preach on Holy-days 13. Duellers 14. The Vnion betwixt the Churches of France and the Netherlands to be maintained 15. None admitted to the Lord's Table living among the Papists without a Certificate from the Elders 16. The King and Constable's Letters to the Synod 18. Frauds of a Geneva Book-seller 19. A Case about Ministers being Deputies unto Politick Assemblies 20. Whether Contracts of Marriage should be seen before Publication of Banes 21. Idolatry to be abjured before Persons be admitted to Communion with us 22. The Local Magistrates of the Reformed Religion may assist at Colloquies and Synods 23. May a Protestant Judge swear a Papist upon his crucifix 24. Hautyn to print the Bible 25.
Higher Guyenne Master Michael Beraut Minister of Montauban Master John Baptist Botan Minister of Castres Master Gabriel Turonier Doctor of the Civil Law and Master John Lisandre Doctor of the Civil Law both Elders For the Lower Languedoc Master Christopher Barjac Lord of Gasquetz Minister of Vigan Master John Gigord Minister of Montpellier together with Daniel Darnand Lord de la Cassagne and John de Boyere Lord of Camion Elders For Vivaretz Master Anthony Mercier Minister of Chasteuneuf and of Chalencon and Master John Valeton without Elders For the Lower Guyenne Master Moyses de Ricotier Minister of Clerac Master Signeron du Fon His Majesties Advocate in the Court of Casteljaloux For Xaintonge Aunix and Augoumois Master Fresnon du Vigier alias du Vergier Lord of Moustier Minister of St. John d' Angely and Master Michael Texier Elder For Poictou Master Jonas Chesneau Minister of St. Maixant and John Renoy Esq Lord of Braconnier Elder in the Church of Poiré and Belleville For Anjou Tourain and Maine Master Francis Grelier Lord of Macefer Minister of Saumur without an Elder For Provence Balthazar de Villeneuve Esq Lord of Tortonne Syndick of the Churches in the said Province No person appeared at this Synod for Burgundy Lyonnois and Forrest The Synod being opened by solemn Invocation of the Name of God Monsieur Berault was chosen President and Monsieur de Montigny Assessor and Monsieur Macifer and Monsieur Cartaub Scribes Monsieur Du Moulin Deputy for Orleans being sick divers Churches of that Province together with the Deputies of Normandy and the Isle of France substituted in his stead Monsieur le Noir which was well approved by the Synod and a Decree passed in it that the Provinces should nominate three or four Persons for the future to represent them in these National Assemblies that in case of sickness or any other accident which might hinder their attendance there might be some others to supply that default The Provinces of Normandy Anjou and Vivaretz were censured for not sending Elders together with their Ministers Because of the great Desolations and Dispersions of the Churches in Provence the Synod granteth unto their Deputy his Vote in all Debates controverted Cases between the Provinces only excepted and this for that he wanted his Letters of Deputation CHAP. II. Observations upon the Confession of Faith OUR Confession of Faith being read was universally approved in all its Articles by the whole Assembly Printers are admonished to prefix no other Title than what is usual unto this Confession and for time to come they shall not add these words Revised and Approved in such and such a Synod CHAP. III. Observations upon the Church-Discipline I. THE Second Article in the First Chapter concerning Ministers being read That instead of these words In a Provincial Synod these shall be inserted By and with Advice of the Provincial or National Synods II. The Churches shall be exhorted to observe exactly the 4 5 11 and 13 Articles of this First Chapter together with that Ceremony of Imposing Hands in Ordination and the Refractory shall be censured III. The last clause of the Article concerning Printers shall be struck out because it is comprised in the fifteenth Article of Particular Orders IV. The Churches of the Isle of France desiring an Explanation of the 38th Article of the first Chapter of the Discipline the Synod adviseth That difference be made between Ingratitude and Inability and that where the Ingratitude on the Churches part is visible the Article shall be observed but not otherwise V. And that the 45th Article of the first Chapter and the eleventh Article in that of Provincial Synods may be more carefully observed this Assembly injoyneth the Provincial Synods to bring with them unto the National an Attestation of their Duty performed unto their Pastors who through Sickness are disabled from Exercising their Ministry as also of what hath been done by them for the Widows and Orphans of such as are deceased that in case a Church-Colloquy or Province have not wherewithal to relieve them Provision may be made for them by the National Synod VI. After these words in the * * * It is now the 44th 43d Article Great and small there shall be these subjoyned Of whatsoever Condition or Quality they may be VII For the better keeping of the fourth Article in the second Chapter and that all Obstructions may be removed the Synod enjoyneth all Deacons to bring unto their Colloquy or Provincial Synod the Accounts given by them of the Poors Money that we may know whether the Fifth Penny hath been defaulked and laid by for tho maintenance of our Proposans VIII Instead of these words in the fourth Article of the second Chapter It were good shall be inserted It is necessary IX To prevent those Disorders which daily happen from Attestations given unto the Poor the Synod decreeth That all Churches do their endeavour to maintain their own Poor and in case any one through necessity be obliged to travel from home the Ministers shall carefully examine the grounds thereof whether just and valid and so shall give them Letters Recommendatory unto the next Church leading directly unto that place whether their Affairs call them specifying the Name Age Stature and Hair of the Dearer and the Place whereunto they be going and the Cause of their Travel and the Relief that hath been given them which said Certificate the Ministers to whom they apply themselves shall keep by them and give them another directed also unto the next Church and whatever Attestations have been given formerly or may be in time to come any otherwise than as now prescribed shall be null and torn in pieces X. To those words in the 16th Article of the fifth Chapter And which giveth great scandal to the whole Church there shall be subjoyned And those also who contrary to the godly Counsels given them do marry according to the Popish manner and Parents who consent unto such Marriages of their Children and they likewise who carry their Children unto Popish Priests to be baptized by them or become Sureties for those Children so baptized XI The Church of Castres moved this Case Whether an Extract of some few or more Articles of our Discipline might lawfully be communicated unto the Magistrates of both Religions for their better Conduct in the Exercise of Justice This Synod resolveth affirmatively yea and that the whole Body of our Discipline may be presented them there being nothing in it but what ministreth unto edifying XII Because of the present Distress and Poverty of bur Churches and till such times as the Lord shall have blessed us with greater abilities it is ordained by this present Synod That the National Synods shall be convened only once in three Years unless it be in case of very great necessity as of Heresie and Schism whereof the Province charged to convene it shall take special Cognisance and on this Condition that every Province do send their full number of
seal and testify their great love and care for him and for his better subsistence the Deputies of the Provinces of Orleans and Berry having informed us of his deplorable condition It doth ordain that over and above the two Portions assigned him from the Kings Money in the late dividend at Gergeau two other Portions shall be added towards his relief by the Province of Berry The favourable Opinion of the Book of the Eucharist writ by the Lord du Plessis 17. The Pastors and Professors in the Church of Geneva having read according to the desire of the late Synod at Gergeau the book of the Lord du Plessis upon the Eucharist and given a very honourable testimony to it This National Synod doth render unto his Lordship their hearty thanks for his great zeal and affection to the truth of God and for his worthy labours in the defence thereof and orders that it be printed out of hand believing that the Lord will give his blessing to it 18. The difference between the Provinces of Vivaretz and of both the Languedoc's concerning Moneys assessed by these latter upon that of Vivaretz shall be finally determined and to this purpose the Decree made in the late Synod of Gergeau is now ratified because the Brethren of Vivaretz have brought nothing against it but what had been answered over and over And this Article shall be in full force as to those 3000 Crowns which had been raised by those Provinces before the Synod of Gergeau 19. Master Gabriel Raoul presented himself personally before this Synod humbly desiring his re-admission into the sacred Ministry from which he had been deposed by the Provincial Synod of the Lower Guyenne held at * * * Nismes Aymet which Sentence was ratified by the Ministers assembled at St. Foy with the Authority of the National Synod of Montauban in the year 1594. After that the said Raoul had been patiently and for a long time heard speaking what he could in his own defence and that the Acts of the said Synod of Aymet had been reviewed as those also of the Pastors assembled at St. Foy declaring the enormous crimes whereof the said Raoul was guilty and after reading the Certificates of several Colloquies Churches and Godly persons unanimously proclaiming him a person utterly unworthy of Imployment in the Gospel-Ministry as also that Act of the National Synod of Saumur confirming his deposal This Assembly ratified those Judicial Sentences past upon him by the foregoing Synods and declared the said Raoul utterly unworthy of ever being re-admitted into the sacred Ministry and farther adviseth him to humble himself deeply before the Lord in a most bitter Repentance for his hainous offences and for time to come to live Holily and Christianly in a private and secular life and to betake himself to the practice of Physick in some Church of Christ In the mean while all the Papers relating to his deposal and the Certificates given him by several of his Friends Ministers of the Gospel shall be deposited with the Church of St. Foy to be forth-coming upon all occasions And whereas he begged an Attestation from this Assembly we declare that none other can or shall be given him than what is expressed in the very words of this Act. And the Province whereunto he shall retire for Habitation and Imployment is required to take notice what use and benefit he shall make of the good Counsels that have been here given him and what his after Conversation is and accordingly to give in their Opinion whether he be fit or no to be received as a private Member into Communion with our Churches CHAP. V. Of Appeals 1. THE Church of Xaintes appealed from the Judgment past against them by the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge about Monsieur Primrose ho was given by that Synod for Pastor unto the Church of Bourdeaux Messieurs Renaud Minister of the Church of Bourdeaux and Roy Elder in the Church of Xaintes having been both heard Monsieur Roy declared that the â—hurch whom he represented would desist from their Appeal provided the â—hurch of Bourdeaux would secure them another Minister or that the Province would do it or that they might be assisted for a time with one of the Ministers of Rochell This Assembly doth confirm the Call of Monsieur Primrose unto the Church of Bourdeaux yet reprehends the carriage both of Monsieur Primrose and that Church of Bourdeaux in his Call and ordaineth that the said Church do perform their promise engaged to the Provine of Xaintonge of giving them a Proposan meet to be imployed in the Ministry And the said Province is enjoyned to take speedy care that the Church of Xaintes be supplied with an able Pastor besides him who at present laboureth among them because of the great importance of that Church 2. The Inhabitants of Elbaeuf appealing from the Decree of the Synod of Normandy which had incorporated them with the â—hurâ—h of Beauroger This Assembly giveth leave unto those Inhabitants of Elbaeuf to joyn themselves unto the Church of Quevilly provided that they continue their Contributions to the Church of Beauroger lest thaâ— by their departure from it they should cause its dissolution 3. The Church of Poictiers appealed from that Decree of the Synod of Poictou which would have reinstated Monsieur de la Dugnie in his Office of Elder This Assembly judgeth that the said Church did well in making their Appeal from that Synodical Ordinance and that Provincial Synod shal be censured for giving Judgment that the said de la Dugnie notwithstanding these offences whereof he was guilty and which were owned in the very Judicial Decree of that Synod should be restored 4. The Elders of the Colloquy of Nismes appealing from the Decree of the Synod of Lower Languedoc by which an hundred and sixty Livâ—rs of the Moneys granted us from â—he King's Bounty had been assigned over unto Monsieur de Falgueroles in consideration of his many and great Employments this their Appeal was rejected and made null and the Decree of the said Synod ratified and confirmed 5. Monsieur Sohnius appealed from the Decree of the Synod of Higher Languedoc which had ordered that because the said Sohnius was not ordinary Pastor in the Church of Montauban therefore he should not participate in the Moneys granted us by his Majesty This Assembly censuring the Province of Higher Languedoc for derogating from the Ordinance of Gergeau by which four Pastors were assigned unto the Church of Montauban it doth ratifie and confirm that Ordinance before mentioned at Gergeau and declares that the said Master Sohnius ought to receive his share in the said Moneys equally with the other Pastors which are in actual service 6. Monsieur Berauld appealed from the Decree of the Province of Higher Languedoc which would in the distribution of his Majesties Royal Bounty that in all Colloquies and Synods the number of Pastors and Elders should be equal This Assembly judgeth that the said Master
Proposans 4836 17 11 Burgundy hath six and twenty portions for thirteen Ministers casting in Lyons into the number four Pastors for the Colloquy of Gex six Churches to be provided for and three Proposans 1571 47 8 Provence hath sixteen portions for seven Pastors seven vacant Churches to be provided for and two Proposans 967 15 6 Dolphiny and Orange have seventy and one portions for nine and fifty Pastors whereof three for the City of Orange four Churches to be provided for and eight Proposans 4292 12 9 46. All the said Provinces shall bring unto the next National Synod the Accounts of their Administring of these Moneys divided among them for the use of their Pastors and Unprovided Churches and of the Proposans whom they stand obliged to maintain that so the sums granted but not imployed by them may be restored unto the Synod 47. Thanks shall be returned and are now rendred unto the Lords de St. Germain des Bordes our General Deputies at Court for their singular fidelity and diligence in the discharge of their Trust as also unto Monsieur des Fontaines for his great pains in bringing Monsieur Palot to Audit his Accounts according to the Commission given him by the Assembly of St. Foy CHAP. IX Here follows the Account of what was granted to Monsieur Palot and to Monsieur du Candal 1. THIS Assembly grants unto Monsieur Palot that he shall first choose his Assignations out of the years 1598 1599 and 1600 that so he may be reimburst of the Moneys advanced by him in the years aforesaid without advancing one upon the other according as was ordained by the Commissioners 2. This Assembly counts it unreasonable to give unto the said Palot any Interest for the Moneys said to be advanced by him nor does it think fit to grant him that preference demanded by him for his confused and general advances that so he should be reimbursed out of the first and best Moneys remaining due for the years 98 99 1600 1601 1602. 3. This Assembly restoreth unto the said Palot the sum of 1599 Crowns payed by him in the year 99 by vertue of an Order from the Assembly of Samur upon condition that he reimburse himself out of the remaining Moneys of the years 98 99 1600 belonging to the Ministers and our Cautionary Towns he deducting from it the portions of the Higher and Lower Guyenne unless he would rather choose to recover it from the Parties themselves as it was ordered by the Commissioners 4. This Assembly cannot allow of nor part with the 2000 Crowns paid unto the Deputies of the Assembly at Saumur in the year 1601 for that half year in which they did no Survice nor can they allow upon the years 1601 and 1602 and 1603 the sum of 1800 Crowns unto Monsieur de Parabelle which had been ordered him out of the remainders of the years 98 99 and 1600. 5. Nor can it grant at present unto the said Palot out of the clear Incomes of the years 1601 and 1602 a restitution of those dividends which have been razed out of his Accounts because he keeps the last quarter still in his own hands to reimburse himself nor in particular for those portions whereof he once had the first payment granted him by this Assembly 6. Yet notwithstanding that Order of Counsel regulating the Taxations of the said Palot at 1200 Crowns for the years 1601 1602 and 1603. this Assembly doth think fit to give him for the years 1601 and 1602 a penny in the Liver for Moneys already and actually paid provided that within six days after his being at Lyons he do pay the Arrears due unto our Churches from the two first Quarters of the years 98 99 1600 1601 and 1602 and to every one of the Provinces their particular shares of the 4847 Crowns owing by him upon the third Quarter of the year 1601 and of the 5528 Crowns which he ought to pay upon the third Quarter of the year 1602 as also what he oweth us for reimbursing him a penny farthing in the Liver for the bad Moneys of former years according as the Accounts shall be stated immediately betwixt all the Provinces and Him the said Palot in the presence of Monsieur des Fontaines with this express condition that if the said Palot do not at the time mentioned pay in at Lyons the sums aforesaid that then the Churches shall not be bound to allow him the penny in a Liver but onely two deniers and an half which is not a full farthing in the Liver according to the Order before-mentioned And as for the remaining sums of the third and fourth Quarters of the years 1601 and 1602 the said Palot shall make payment of them according to the Covenants past betwixt him and this Assembly not including in this Resolution either Provinces of the Higher Languedoc or Lower Guyenne CHAP. X. An Account of the Dividend of One hundred and five and thirty thousand Crowns given by His Majesty every year unto the Reformed Churches of France according to which the Lord Isaac du Candall and Monsieur de Visouze shall make payment of each particular sum at the time hereafter appointed for the year next coming 1604 and this in pursuance of that Agreement made with the said Lord of Candall and the Deputies Assembled in this present National Synod held at Gap in Dolphiny before Monsieur Rostrain His Majesty's Publick Notary  L. S. D. THERE must be paid in the first placed to the Province of Provence for sixteen Churches the sum of 2091 05 6 To the Province of Brittany for fifteen Churches 2720 03 4 To the Province of Burgundy for twenty and six Churches 4715 07 8 To the Province of Vivaretz for twenty and eight Churches 5728 02 0 To the Lower Guienne for Churches 10881 13 0 To the Lower Languedoc for 108 Churches 18136 0 0 To the Province of Poictou for fifty Churches 09068 0 0 To the Isle of France Picardy c. for 62 Churches 07969 15 2 To the Province of Champagne 03252 12 4 To the Province of Xaintonge for 60 Churches 01881 13 2 To the Province of Anjou for 27 Churches 04886 14 0 To the Province of Higher Languedoc and Higher Guyenne 14528 11 0 To the Province of Orleans and Berry for six and thirty Churches 06520 19 8 To the Province of Dolphiny for seventy one Churches 12876 12 8 To the Province of Normandy for 45 Churches 08261 4 10 A Dividend among our Universities  L. S. D. There shall be payed to our University of Montauban 03333 06 8 To the University of Saumur 03333 06 8 To the Academy of Montpellier 01500 00 0 To the Academy of Nismes 01833 00 0 To that of Sedan 02400 00 0 And all these Sums shall be paid by the said Lord of Candall unto those Universities at the Terms prefixed before any other payments whatsoever And what remains of the overplus of three quarters shall be equally paid in to each of the
Chamdenis Mr. Guillermett Mougon Mr. la Blascheire old Son St. Gelais Mr. la Blascheire the youngest Son Melle Mr. Manceau who died at Partenay and since him Mr. René Forest Aulnay Mr. de L'Estang Issoudun Mr. de la Valleé Chefboutonneé Mr. Olliver he lately revolted since Mr. John Chalmot of Niort Colloquy of the Nether Poictou Churches Ministers Fontenay Mr. de la Vallade Luson Mr. Bomaud St. Benoist Mr. Textor who died lately Mr. Daniel Guermeau a Rocheller Mr. de la Place who is since dead Talmont upon the Jard Mr. Masseres deposed Mr. James Prunier was received in the mixt Assembly held at Fontenay before St. Johns Fair. 1614. Monne Mr. Vatablé St. Giles upon Vic Mr. Prascisault Le Poiré Mr. de Bonvouloir since sent unto St. d'Angely Mouschamps Mr. de Losses Lord of la Tousche the elder but since dead Chantonneé Mr. Tirenu Marevil Mr. Marchand St. Ermine Mr. Papin a Rocheller Mouilleron Mr. Berny Pausanges Mr. Moreau Vaudoré Mr. Champanois La Chastagneraye Mr. Texier and since Mr. George Tompson a Scotch-man Colonges les Reau Mr. Dantonnet In all thirty nine Pastors eight Churches to be provided for and three Proposans which made up fifty Portions for the whole Province of Poitou amounting to 3022 Crowns 40 Sous and 10 Deniers The Sixth Roll of the Churches Pastors and Propasans in the Province of Xaintonge Aulnix and Augoulmois 1 Colloquy of St. John d'Angely Churches Ministers St. John d'Angely Mr. Fremond de Vigier Lord of Moustier now dead to him succeeded Mr. Japhet de Vigier Lord of Bessay his Son Mr. du Bon Vouloir Taillebourg Mr. William Rivett the younger Brother Lord of Chanvernon St. Savinian Mr. Alix Tonna Charante Mr. Jouanneau and since Mr. Ferry Tonnay Boutonneé Mr. de la Viennerie Matta Mr. Rousseau 2 Colloquy of the Islands Churches Ministers St. Peters of Olleron Mr. de la Croix he died in the year 1610 since St. Peters of Olleron Mr. Guilielmi Castell of Olleron Mr. Petit the younger Royan Mr. Deschareves dead but since Mr. Heraud Mornac Mr. le Coq Aruert la Tremblade Jonin is since separated from them Monsieur Rossignol La Tremblade Mr. Papin Marennes Mr. Jeremy Boisseul he died 1609. since Mr. Zachary Crispin Lord of Chabosselay an Anjouin and Mr. Richier Lord of Vandelin Cour a Britton Saujon Mr. Paul Bonnet junior St. John Dangles Mr. Berger deceased since Mr. de la Forest Soubize Mr. Chevalier Moize Mr. Beauja sent to St. Mesmes since Mr. Thomas Guyot Lord of Chappeauvert St. Just Mr. Tolouse a Rocheller Third Colloquy of Aunix Churches Ministers Rochel Mr. Du Mont. deceased Mr. James Merlin Mr. Samuel L' hommeau Mr. Jerome Coulommies Born in Bearn Mr. Louis Le Ceueler Lord of la Chappeliere an Angevin Mr. Daniel Goiré a Rocheller Mr. Gideon de Montmartyn Lord of La Turpiniere he died 1609. Mr. John Peter Salebert a Rocheller received into the Ministery in the Colloquy of Aulnix held at Nieul on Thursday the 6th of Feb. 1613. but he was Ordained at Rochell by Mr. James Merlin on the Lord's Day in the Afternoon March 3. 1613. in the Great Temple with most solemn and extraordinary Prayers St. Martins in the Istle of Rhé Mr. German Chauveton Lord of Beauvois he died in the latter end of year 1604. Mr. Fautrard and Englishman I suppose he was Born in the Island of Guernzey for one of his Name was Minister there in the year 1647. but he died of the Plague a Fortnight after Mr. de Beauvois Since Mr. Lewes Aubyneau a Rocheller Ars in the Isle of Ré Mr. Daniel Chanett La Flotte in the Isle of Ré Mr. Daniel Gorré who was after sent unto Rochell La Flotte in the Isle of Ré Mr. John le Chatre a Rocheller Marans Mr. Pillard Marans Mr. La Violette Bourneuf and Dampierre Mr. Febrve Surgeres Mr. Tagaut Nieul Mr. James Guibert a Rocheller sent to Archiac and Jonsac he afterward turn'd Apostate Nieul Mr. Peter Menanceau a Rocheller Mauzé Mr. Andrew de Mazieres Lord of La Cave Laleu l'Ommeau and Lozieres Mr. Samuel Veupillet a German Sales Toré and Mortagne Mr. Toussainet a German The Fourth Colloquy of Xaintes Churches Ministers Xainctes Mr. Bonnet senior dead since Mr. Petit senior Pons Mr. Londe removed to Mortagne Mr. Heraud of Rochell sent to Royan Mr. Peris Archiac and Jonsac Mr. Menanceau sent to Nieul in Aulnix Plassac and Clan Mr. Calbert and since Mr. Choquet Mortagne Mr. Chastaigner dead since Mr. Londe Gemouzat Mr. Gabart Rieax Mr. Marcon Mr. du Perche and since Cozes Mr. James Chalmot of Rochell The Fifth Colloquy of Augoalmois Churches Ministers Stelaud de Lindoire Mr. George Pacard the Elder sent unto Rochefoucald he died in the year 1610. La Rochefoucaud Mr. Hog sent to Angoulesme and since Mr. Pacard senior La Rochebeaucourt Mr. Pitard Jarnac Mr. Pacard the Eldest Son Cognac Mr. Barjemont removed Mr. Bizett removed Mr. John Perreau of Rochell Vertueil Mr. Colladon since deceased Mr. Trochereg a Baron of Scotland but removed to Saumur Mr. Peres sent to Pons Vertueil Mr. Comareg The Sixth Colloquy of Jonzac Churches Ministers Jonzac Mr. Pollot dead since James Guibert who revolted after him holy Mr. Welch a Scotch Minister who spent eight hours every day in Prayer Barbezieux Mr. Petit the Elder sent to Xaintes Mr. Theophilus Rossell of Nantes St. Mesmes Mr. Beaujan Baigné and Chaux Mr. Boyannat La Roche Chalais Mr. Bellot There be forty eight Pastors in the whole Province of Xaintonge six Churches destitute and six Proposans without including Mr. Herauld lent unto the Church of Marsillac so that it had sixty Portions amounting to 3627 Crowns and 13 Sous The Seventh Roll of the Churches Pastors and Proposans in the Province of Lower Guienne The First Colloquy of Higher Agenois Churches Ministers Tonneins Mr. de Monjone Mr. de Beaucons Clerac Mr. Ricotier the Father Mr. Ricotier the Son the Grandson was I think Minister also in the Church of Tonneins and exiled with the other Ministers 1685. Castelmoron Mr. Bausty Pathe Mr. Mermet the Son Monflanquin Mr. Freron the Father Tournon Mr. Freron the Son Monheur Mr. Scillade Leyrac Mr. Sylvius the Son La Parade Mr. Fevran Grateloup Mr. Vidouse an Apostate Puymirol Mr. de La Fayole The Second Colloquy of Lower Agenois Churches Ministers Bordeaux Mr. Renaud he died 1610. Mr. Primrose a Scotchman Libourne Mr. de la Vallade Castillon Mr. Baduell Ste. Foy Mr. Hesperian Ste. Foy Mr. de Bessoly Aniche Mr. D'Anglade Jouzac Mr. Majence Parole Mr. Lamy Morancour Mr. Zamett Bazas Mr. Goudon Velines Mr. Vassar Duras Mr. Peniot The Third Colloquy of Condomois Churches Ministers Nerac Mr. Mermet the Father Mr. Masparrault Mr. de La Nusse Mozin Mr. Luillier Casteljaloux Mr. du Luc Caumont Mr. Villebon La Bastide Mr. Sylvius the Father Le Mont de Moisin Mr. de Palloque Gouse Mr. Melet Bifesensac Mr. Guynier Tartas Mr. Pourrat Sos Mr. du Mier The Fourth
Pastors for the Colloquy of Gex six Churches destitute of Ministers and three Proposans Which 26 Portions do amount in the full and whole unto the sum of 1571 Crowns 47 Livers and 8 Deniers The Twelfth Roll of the Churches Pastors and Proposans in the Province of Provence Provence Churches Ministers Lormarin Mr. de la Planche La Crolle Mr. de Chamforan Merindol Mr. Ricard Cabrieres Mr. de la Crosse Seyne Mr. Chaslier Manosques Mr. Codur Le Lui Mr. Toussaincts There were sixteen Portions granted to the Province of Provence for seven Pastors and two Proposans which made in all 967 Crowns 17 Sous and six Deniers The Thirteenth Roll of the Churches and Pastors and Proposans in the Province of Dolphiny Dolphiny The First Colloquy of Vanduson Churches Ministers Puigilat Mr. Perron Vieaux Mr. Perrot Fenestrelles Mr. Lanselne Jordan Montoules Mr. Guerin Vilaret Mr. Anastase Meaux Mr. Daniel Nonin Les Cardonnes Mr. Joshua Ripert The Second Colloquy of Ambrun Churches Ministers Ambrun Mr. Matthiew Fessinieers Mr. Andrew Rebert Guillestau Mr. Pascal Arieu and Chaesteny Mr. Jourdain Queirac Mr. Moulines Mr. Giles The Third Colloquy of Gappensois Churches Ministers Gap Mr. Barbier Veisnes Mr. Faugier Serres Mr. Martinet Orpier Mr. Javel Corp Mr. Estienne Vandiomene Mr. Abrau The Fourth Colloquy of Grenoble Churches Ministers Grenoble Mr. Caille Mr. Cresson La Meure Mr. Vulson Mine Mr. Fabry St. Jean D'ambornes Mr. Gubrier Grenin Mr. Magnett Oyan Mr. Espagnet Aumonesteir Mr. Estriem Delbermont Mr. Gap The Fifth Colloquy of Die Churches Ministers Nione Mr. Perria Vinsabre Mr. Persol Le Bins Mr. Petit Talignan Mr. Maugies St. Saveur Mr. du Gaeye Orange Mr. Roussell Mr. Maurice Courtoison Mr. de La Vesne St. Pantheon Chasteau Mr. Felix and Mr. Ollivier The Seventh Colloquy of Valentinois Churches Ministers Montlimart The great Chamier Mr. Canter Lurion and Conol Mr. Vinay Valence Mr. Mercure Crest and Hure Mr. Sagues Bourdeaux Mr. Gillier Dieu Le Fitt Mr. Girard Chasteau neuf du Mazene Mr. Dauphin Beze and Bonnieres Mr. Jay The Eighth Colloquy of Viennois Churches Ministers St. Marcellin Mr. Bouguin Romans Mr. Agur Pont de Royans Mr. Denis Eyrier Beaurepaire Mr. Durant There be two Pastors Emeriti in the Province of Dolphiny viz. 1. Mr Mallet 2 Mr. Dinson In the whole Province there be 59 Pastors 4 Churches destitute and 8 Proposans to be maintained There be 3 for the City and Principallity of Orange so that the said Province had 71 Portions which amounted to 4292 Crowns 12 Sous and 9 Deniers The total Sum of the Pastors Proposans and Churches of the said 13 Provinces is 440. The Province of Normandy was not cast into this Accompt There be 54 Churches destitute of Pastors There be Ministers in actual service 478. There be Ministers Emeriti 11. There be 46 Proposans Although the Province of Normandy did not send any Deputies unto this National Synod so that there was no Catalogue taken of its Churches Pastors and Proposans as there was of all the other Provinces Yet this National Synod of Gap did adjudge unto the said Province 46 Portions which amounted to 2420 Crowns 23 Sous and 10 Deniers out of which Moneys that Province is to assist it's Churches maintain its Proposans according to the number of its Colloqies All these Articles Decrees and Canons before-mentioned were resolved voted and passed in the Seventeenth National Synod of Gap which ended the 23d day of October 1603. And thus Signed in the Original Chamier Moderator Ferrier Assessor Scribes Vignier and Roy CHAP. XII Remarks upon the Deputies of this Synod 1. MR. Daniel Chamier was the Son of a worthy Minister in Dolphiny who riding to a Provincial Synod was drowned His Son Daniel is in common discourse among the French Ministers styled the Great Chamier A man of vast Learning great Prudence and indefatigable Industry very dear unto and highly esteemed by their National Synods to which he was frequently deputed chosen Scribe in that of Gergeau and Moderator in two National Synods of Gap and Privas He was killed at the Siege of Montauban where he was Pastor and Professor of Divinity with a Canon Bullet having a C on it being the Hundredth that was shot against the Town upon the Lord's Day the day as he said of his rest and indeed God took him into his Eternal rest as he did Elijah by Horses of Fire and Chariots of Fire He hath so Learnedly confuted the Papists in his Panstratiâ Catholica that none among them ever undertook to Answer it There be also printed his Epistolae Jesuiticae and his Corpus Theologiae and in French La Confusion des disputes Papists There is also an Answer of his to some Questions of Cotton the Jesuite But of him more in my Icones 2. Ferrier who was Assessor in this Synod was an Infamous Apostate He Writ Hypotyposes Theologicae 3. Monsieur Vignier who was one of the Scribes was the very Learned Son of a most Learned Father His Theatre de l'Antichrist was a grievous tormenting Boyl unto the Papists He Writ a Dissertation in Latine about the Venetians Excommunication by Paul V. against Cardinal Baronius And Theses de Satisfactione Christi THE Acts Decisions and Decrees OF THE XVIIIth National Synod OF The Reformed Churches OF FRANCE Held the Third time in The City of Rochel on the 1st day of March In the Year of out Lord 1607. The CONTENTS Of the third Synod of ROCHEL 1607. The 18th Synod Chap. I. The Deputies and Synodical Officers a great debate about the Deputies of the City of Rochel who claimed to themselves the priviledge of a Province The promise of submission wanting in several letters of Deputation censured A Canon against Pastors Non-deputed assisting in this Synod No Appeals to be heard till the seventh day after the opening of the National Synod Letters from the Prince Elector Palatine the common wealths of the Netherlands Switzerland and Geneva read The Synods sence of them The Case of Monsieur Regnault Chap. II. Observations on the Confession Piscators opinion of our Justification by Christs passive Obedience only censured 4. Huguets answer to Piscator supprest 5. Mr. Sohnis answers Piscator by order of the Churches 6. The Count of Nassaws Letter about Piscator 7. The Confession approved and sworn Chap. III. Observations on the Discipline A Colloquy may lend a Minister 3. A Synod 6. Months out of the Province 8. Persons Married by the Mass shall do publick Pennance 16. Particular Churches may celebrate a Fast without asking leave of the Colloquy on extraordinary occasions 21. The Discipline approved and sworn Chap. IV. Observations on the National Synod of Gap Scholars unordained may not administer the Sacraments 6. Four Universities censured for not bringing in their Accounts 10. No private persons nor Consistories can dissolve Marriage Promises 11. Chap. V. General Matters Charities for the poor Exiles of Salluces 3. Proposans admitted at silent Learners into National Synods 5. The case of Competitors for
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
Provincial Synod of Poictou held at Chastelheraud for that they had judged he was sufficiently reimburst by the Churches of that Province all the Charges expended by him in his Journey unto the General Assembly of Saumur held in the year 1596. And whereas he pretended other summs to be owing to him for several other journeys they sent him unto the Governours of our Cautionary Towns to be recompensed by them because he was their Deputy unto that Assembly and that they received two thirds of the Moneys granted us by his Majesty Upon hearing this whole affair this Assembly did also judge that he was sufficiently satisfied by those Churches of Poictou who yet were exhorted to intreat those Governors to perform their duties and pay their just debt unto the said Mr. des Fontaines 14. The Appeal of the Church of Nage and it's Annexes about what is owing unto their late Pastor Monsieur Terrond was dismissed over to the Provincial Synod of Lower Languedoc who by their judicial sentence shall put a final period unto that controversie 15. Theophilus Bluett Lord of la Combe formerly Pastor of the Churches at Lassay in the Province of Mayne and of Rouelle in Normandy having certified under his own hand that he acquiesced in that judicial sentence past upon him by the Deputies of the Synod of Anjou Touraine and Maine who had deposed him from the Ministerial Office and all acts and exercises thereof tho now he brought his Appeal from them This Assembly doth confirm that sentence of the Deputies and deelareth the said Bluett to be totally deposed from the holy Ministry of the Gospel and that notice hereof shall be given unto all the Churches 16. The Synod of Dolphiny having past another Vote that Monsieur Chamier should be once more importunately sollicited to accept of the Professors Chair in Divinity in their University of Die The Church of Montlimart brought their Appeal from if unto this Assembly which did thereupon revive and ratify the former Decrees of those two National Synods of Gergeau and Gap which had left unto the Churches their Pastors and the Pastors unto their Churches and that they should and be divided one from the other but by their joint and mutual consent and the said Provincial Synod was censured to have insisted again upon this affair after that it had been determined by two National Synods 17. The Church of Lions appealed from the Synod of Burgundy which would constrain them to pay the fifth penny of all Charities received by them to the maintenance of Proposans notwithstanding those many reasons arguments and exceptions they had urged and brought against it This Assembly having heard both parties doth leave the said Church in full liberty freely to dispose of their own Poor's Money but yet it adviseth them seriously to consider what is expedient to be disbursed by them in charities and whither they can keep a good Conscience in neglecting a work of so great necessity 18. The Lord of Rochefort and the Inhabitants of that Town professing the Reformed Religion appealed from the Synod of Xaintonge held at St. John D'Angely for adjudging Mr. Chevalier to the Pastoral Office in the Church of Soubize Upon heating of both parties and perusal of all Articles of Agreement made first and last between them This Assembly confirms Monsieur Chevalier in his Ministry to the said Church of Soubize whereof he is now the fixed Pastor and the Members of the Church of Rochefort have full liberty to compound the matter with the Church of Soubize upon those terms imported in their second Agreement made with that Consistory or else they may Incorporate themselves with the Church of Tonnay-charante and both the said Chevalier and that Consistory are Censured for using them of Rochefort so rigorously as to refuse Communion with them at the Lords Table and to hinder the Baptizing of their Infants in their Church Assembly 19. The Churches of Barbezieux and Xaintes contended about the Ministry of Monsieur Petit who pretending that the Colloquy of Janzac held at Pons had discharged him from the Church of Barbezieux because of their great ingratitude to him and in case they did not satisfie him all Arrerages of Sallary due unto him for his service among them in two months time and for that the judgment of the said Colloquy had been confirmed by the Synod and the said Petit not having been intirely payed what was owing him he had therefore left Barbezieux and settled at Xaintes to which he was lent by the Synod for a month and now he had contracted with the Church there And the Church of Barbezieux complaining of this matter unto the mixt Assembly held at St. John d' Angely a Decree was there made that Monsieur Petit should return unto the said Church of Barbezieux and that the Church should come to accompt with him before the Colloquy And Monsieur Roy Elder of the Church of Xaintes did hereupon bring in his Appeal because the said Synod declared to him that according to the Canons of our Discipline it had full power finally to determine this matter and that the said Petit did not in the least repugne or oppose it Who being after summoned unto that Colloquy which was ordered to examine his Accompts did yet nevertheless make no appearance for which cause the said Colloquy had enjoined him to return unto his Church on pain of being suspended from which he now appealed and hath ever since continued his Ministry in the Church of Xaintes notwithstanding all Counsels and exhortations given him by the Colloquy of Xaintonge to be advised and ruled by them And in this state hath this affair stood till the last Synod of the Province held at Saujon unto which it had been remanded and by that Synod it was dismissed over unto this Assembly Now altho the ingratitude of the Church of Barbezieux be very notorious and well known unto this Assembly yet because the pretended Liberty was only conditional and threatned the said Monsieur Petit could not make use of it as he hath done yea tho it had been absolute he ought not to have usurpt that power so as to ally himself unto another Church without having first consulted the Colloquy and till he had first obtained Letters Testimonial from it and the Church in which he last served and therefore the said Mr. Petit was most sharply censured and he was told to his face that if ever he fell into the like offence a second time he should be deposed from the sacred Ministry And the Church of Xaintes also was judged worthy of a severe Censure for practising by unlawful means to deprive the Church of Barbezieux of its Pastor and the said Church of Barbezieux was justly condemned for their ill treatment of and unworthy carriage to the said Mr. Petit. Upon which account and because both those Churches are faulty and blame-worthy the said Mr. Petit was removed from both and neither of them should enjoy him
directly repugnant unto our Discipline to call only the Deputies of the Colloquies and the said Province was censured for that irregular practice and the Higher Normandy is forbidden to Congregate and pack up into one their two Colloquies as they have done heretofore 11. The Church of Cormes and that of St. John du Brueil petitioning to be incorporated with the Colloquy of Rovergue and separated from that of Sauve This Assembly having heard Monsieur Gasques speaking on behalf of the Lower Languedoc that they did not oppose it their Petition was granted them provided that the Synod of Higher Guyenne would carefully inspect and watch over them 12. The Church of Foix and Tarascon complained of their utter inability to maintain a Pastor by reason of the excessive poverty of the Inhabitants of those places This Assembly did therefore add two Portions more out of the Kings Money to that which they already had and intreated Monsieur de Montigny to perswade Monsieur du Mattellet to accept of the Pastoral Charge of that Church and to assist and incourage him in it 13. The Petition of the Church of Bourg Argentall was granted and they shall be henceforward incorporated with the Church of Bonlieu in Vivaretz but on that condition mentioned in the Act of the Provincial Synod of Burgundy that when as by the good providence of God they may be inabled to maintain a Pastor of themselves that then they shall be returned back unto the said Province The Deputies of the Lower Guyenne petitioning that the Decree of their Provincial Synod might be confirmed that all their Churches might be obliged to put the moneys Collected by them for the poor Exiles of the Marquisate of Salluces into the hands of Monsieur Bernardin Elder in the Church of Thonneins that he might be reimbursed the four hundred Crowns lent by him upon his Majesties Grant of that sum unto the Deputies assembled at Chastechelaud and who had already paid it in to the Brethren of the said Marquisate This Assembly hath confirmed and doth now by this present Act ratifie and confirm that Decree aforesaid and it shall be accordingly executed and performed but so that every Church shall be taxed according to its ability and the said Collection thus assessed shall be levied according to the said Rate and Tax 15. Madam la Faye being fallen blind is recommended to the Charity of the Church of Bourdeaux which is intreated to continue their wonted Relief and Assistance to her 16. Monsieur Haulier Pastor of the Church du Mas d' Assier is injoyned to ride unto Vivaretz and in obedience to the Synodical Decree made at Gap to Account with the Church of Annonay and to give them full satisfaction within six months time all delays and excuses being set by 17. Monsieur Baldran Deputy for the Churches of Bearn petitioned that Monsieur Esperian the younger Minister of St. Foy might be restored unto their Province and to serve in one of their Churches The Elder of the Church of St. Foy was heard who produced a Letter written by the Father of the said Monsieur Esperian declaring that his Son if he pleased might continue where he was This Assembly did not approve that the said Esperian should be any wise obliged unto the Churches of Bearn to the hindrance of his abode at St. Foy and this was so determined by the National Synod of Gap and is now ratified by this present Synod And the said Esperian by our authority is now fixed and appropriated to the Church of St. Foy yet with this restriction that in case of great and indispensible necessities he may assist the Churches of Bearn as a Pastor as they also shall in like manner assist ours by vertue of that holy Ordinance of Communion betwixt the Churches of our Lord Jesus 18. Monsieur Durdes Pastor of the Church of Pamiers did by his Son acquaint this Synod of that great Affliction God had laid upon him in depriving him of his Eye-sight together with very many domestick troubles befallen him partly by Persecutions in former times and grievous Sicknesses and that the Church of Pamiers is not of sufficient ability to maintain another Minister Wherefore the Province of Higher Languedoc is enjoyned to deal kindly with him in their Dividends of his Majesties Liberalities and to provide for him under his pressing necessities 19. That all Dissensions arising in the Church of Xaintes about Church-Offices may be prevented for the future this Assembly doth judge fit that as soon as the said Church shall be provided of a Pastor one third of their Consistory shall be changed and another third at the years end and the residue the year following and the Election of the two thirds who are to continue and enter into Office shall be made by majority of Votes of the said Consistory and those who have a mind to be discharged shall enjoy their Liberty And this Canon was made for the said Church at the request of the Province of Xaintonge and to be perpetuated in the said Church but without any prejudice in the least unto other Churches 20. Our Brethren in the Baylywick of Gex shall subscribe the Church-Discipline yet with this Restriction that they shall not be obliged unto some particular Canons which shall be excepted by name in their subscribed Copies and this because of their present estate and circumstances 21. The Deputies of Poictou craved resolution unto this Case Some persons lately married were tied up from Conjugal performances by Witchcraft and thereupon separated one from the other and the Wife was since married unto another Man and afterward her first Husband unto another Woman May these persons be admitted to the Peace and Communion of the Church This Assembly remits the Judgment of the matter of fact unto their Provincial Synod which is ordered particularly to examine all circumstances 22. The Deputies of Lower Languedoc moved this Case whether a Colloquy might refuse payment of a Donative given by the Provincial Synod unto the Widdow of a deceased Minister upon this pretence that the said Widdow died before the time of paying the said Donative became due and whether her death may cause a Revocation of that Relief from the indigent Heirs of the said poor deceased Widdow This Assembly resolves in the negative and censureth that Colloquy for making a needless stir and opposition 23. The Church of Rochell having collected eight hundred Livers for our Exiled Brethren of the Marquisate of Salluces this sum of Moneys was ordered to be paid in to the Provincial Deputies of Dolphiny which was done accordingly and the said Province shall bring in their Account how they distribute it unto the next National Synod 24. The Church of Bourdeaux delivered unto the Provincial Deputies of Dolphiny four hundred Livers collected in it for our Exiled Brethren of the Marquisate of Salluces and the said Province is to bring in their Account how they have distributed it unto the next National Synod 25.
presented unto his Majesty the many Libels and insolent provoking Challenges made us by our Adversaries 38. The Deputies of the Province of Brittany desired that Monsieur Oyseau Minister of the Gospel might be remanded back unto them he having quitted both them and the Church of Nantes in which he was Pastor without any Leave first had and obtained from either of them A Letter was read from the said Monsieur Oyseau and Monsieur Rivet his Son in Law alledged several arguments to justify his departure from them But tho this Assembly found that the proceedings of the said Mr. Oyseau were not altogether laudable yet they did allow him to exercise his Ministry in the Province of Poictou where he liveth at present and the said Province of Poitou shall assist the Church of Nantes with Ministers for the full space of one year to wit Monsieur Rivet or some other for him shall preach there six months and tho other six any Pastors whom the said Province shall chuse and during the said time Monsieur Oyseau shall supply their Churches whose Pastors do officiate in the Church of Nantes and the Church of Nantes shall pay these Ministers who are lent them their wages and Mr. Oyseau shall also receive his Salary from those Churches in which he preacheth during their Pastors absence 39. Monsieur Baduel Pastor of the Town of Castillon declared his great poverty occasioned by the Confiscation of his Fathers Estate upon the Account of Religion This Assembly did therefore ordain that over and above that portion which he receiveth from his Church there shall be another paid him out of the General Stock and a third Portion more by the Province to comfort him under his great losses and oppressions 40. The Deputies of Provence petitioning that the Province of Dolphiny might pay unto them the residue of the seventh part of those Moneys which were adjudged them by the National Synod of Gap and which they had actually received of Monsieur Pallott for the years 1598 1599 and 1600. Deducting out of it the summ of 2250 l. Which the Deputies of Provence do acknowledge they have received besides they demanded interest for the Moneys detained from them This Assembly having seen the Accounts of payments made unto the said Province of Dolphiny signed and concluded by the said Pallott the 5th of June 1601. and having heard Monsieur de la Combé Deputy for the said Province confess that he had actually received of the said Pallott the sum of 3302 Crowns thirty Sous and eight Deniers including therein three hunched and fourty Crowns one Sous and three Deniers which the said Pallott had restored to him since the said Account for one half of his right in it And the said de la Combe requested on behalf of his Province that those of Provence might allow a sous in the Liver unto him the said de la Combe over and above the 2260 Livers which he the said de la Combe had paid in unto those of Provence This Assembly decreeth that those of Dolphiny shall pay in to those of Provence in Money or moneys worth the sum of 665 Livers 9. Sous and one Denier and then both these Provinces shall sign and execute mutual releases one unto the other without any prejudice unto the Decrees of the Synod of Gap or the Contents thereof 41. This Assembly ordaineth that one half of the sum of 665 Livers owing by the Province of Dolphiny unto that of Provence shall be given to the five Pastors who were in actual service during that time the said moneys was in arrears and the Church of Luc shall out of hand pay unto Monsieur Megnant their Pastor all moneys due unto him for the whole time he hath been imployed in the Ministry among them And whereas the Province of Dolphiny demands from that of Provence to be allowed their Charges towards a journey of some Commissioners they had sent to Court this Assembly doth not approve thereof in the least nor shall there be so much as one Denier defalked from the Province of Provence upon that score 42. Although the Province of Xaintonge have ordered to the contrary yet this Assembly doth now decree and ordain That the six portions attributed to the six Pastors of the City of Rochell shall be detained by the said Church out of which that Church shall be obliged to maintain a Student in Divinity according to their promise 43. Though this Assembly had very good and sufficient reasons which were before mentioned in the 19th Article of Appeals to deprive the Church of Xaintes for their unworthiness of the Ministry and Labours of Monsieur Petit and to lay him by also unemployed in the Lord's Harvest Yet having since observed both in that Church and Minister a godly sorrow and great displeasure for their past proceedings and sinful miscarriages It doth once more present the said Monsieur Petit to the Pastoral Office in the said Church but with an express charge and injunction upon the said Province that in case either through the Churches or his default the Divisions and Contentions be continued or that any new ones shall break but among them that they shall remove him without delay from the exercise of his Ministry unto some other place where they shall conceive he may be more useful and as will be most expedient for the general good and edification of the whole Body of those of our Religion 44. Monsieur du Bois shall continue in the Service of his Church of la Vall according to those Agreements made with him and approved by the Provincial Synod only he shall serve the Church of my Lady Barre for the time appointed and the said Province shall remand the said du Bois to perform the duties of his Ministry more diligently 45. The Province of Xaintonge is charged to get without delay a supply for the Church of Vertueil and till it have a settled Pastor of its own that the Neighbour Ministers do by turns officiate and dispense all Ordinances of Religious Worship to it 46. The Church of Rochel having at the intreaty and desire of this Synod promised to maintain Monsieur Peyris who is now a Proposan and to take special care that within six months time he should be duly qualified for the Ministry of the Gospel This Synod doth hereby bind and oblige that Church which shall give him a Call to the Pastoral Office in case upon a strict Examen he be found capacitated for it to make restitution unto the said Church of Rochel of all that Moneys which they have disbursed in his Education at School and University to fit and prepare him for their service in the Ministry 47. Monsieur Hog complained that he was put to very great costs and charges in the necessary defence of himself against the Insolencies and Assaults of the Carmelite Fryars of Rochefoucaud and humbly desired that some course might betaken for his Reimbursement he being in
might be Censured 3. The Lord of Barjac was Censured for not adhearing to the Resolutions taken in the Assembly of Saumur by plurality of suffrages Anno 1611. And for joyning himself unto their private Cabal who would have made the Lesser number carry it from the greater contrary to the Natural Order of all Synods But the said Lord of Barjac giving publick Testimony of his sorrow for this Miscarriage and protesting seriously for the future never in any wise to depart from the Universally received order of being Concluded by the Majority of Votes his Censure was taken off and his offence remitted to him To prevent all divisions in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom this National Synod framed an Act or Oath of Union to be taken by all the Deputies CHAP. III. The Oath of Vnion sworn by all the Deputies of the Reformed Churches of France assembled in the National Synod at Privas in Vivaretz and subscribed by them all the day month and year above-mitten WE whose Names are here under written Deputies for the Reformed Churches of France Assembled in a National Synod at the Town of Privas in the Province of Vivaretz knowing by past-experience that nothing is more needful to preserve the Weal Peace and good Estate of the said Churches than an holy Union and unviolable Concord both in Doctrine Discipline and their Dependencies and that the said Churches cannot long subsist without a good intimate and mutual Conjunction one with the other and better kept than formerly Being for this cause desirous to remove all seeds of disunion and occasions of divisions which may hereafter trouble the said Churches and to prevent all Impostures Calumnies private Factions Plots and Practices by which divers persons ill-affected to our Religion do endeavour to dissipate and ruine them Which quickens us more than ever to find out by joynt accord and Common Consent the proper and most effectual means of our just lawful and necessary conservation in the aforesaid Union under that obedience due unto his Majesty our Soveraign Lord and the Queen his Mother We have in the Name of all our Churches and for their good and for the service of their Majesties Sworn and Protested and we do Swear and Protest Promising also our utmost Endeavour that these very self-same protestations shall be ratified in and by all our Provinces to remain inseparably united and conjoyned in that confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom read in this Synod approved and ratified by every one of us Swearing not only in our own Name but also in the respective Names of all the Churches of our Provinces which have Deputed us unto this Synod that we will live and die in it As also we Protest in our own and their Names to keep inviolably that Ecclesiastical Discipline Established in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom and to see its Canons observed for the better Government of these our Churches and the reformation of life and manners Acknowledging that it is Most agreeable to Gods holy Word whose Authority is Supream And we Protest and Swear to yield all obedience and fidelity to their said Majesties desiring nothing else but that under the Protection of their Edicts we may serve our God with Liberty of Conscience CHAP. IV. Observation on Reading the Confession of Faith 1. WHereas there is mention made in the 14th Article of the Heresies of Servetus some of the Deputies desired that the specifying of them might be removed because those his Heresies are now as it were dead and buried and the Deputies of the Provinces in pursuance of that Decree past in the last National Synod of St. Maixant having brought with them the Judgment of their respective Provinces upon this Subject it was thought meet that nothing should be innovated in that Article but that it should be entirely left as we found it 2. That Union in Doctrine may be preserved among us and no Errors may be suffered to creep into our Churches All Pastors in actual service and all Proposans who are to be received into the Ministry shall sign this following Article I Whose Name is here under-written do receive and approve the Contents of the Confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom and do promise to persevere in it until death and to believe and teach agreeably thereunto And whereas some persons contend about the sense of the eighteenth Article treating of our Justification I declare and protest before God that I understand it in the same sense in which it is received in our Churches approved by our National Synods agreeably to the Word of God which is That our Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to the Moral and Ceremonial Law not only for our good but also in our stead and that his whole Obedience yielded by him thereunto is imputed to us and that our Justification consists not only in the forgiveness of sins but also in the Imputation of his Active Righteousness and subjecting my self unto the Word of God I believe that the Son of Man came to serve and that he was not a Servant because he came into the World I do also promise that I will never depart from the Doctirne received in our Churches and that I will yield all Obedience to the Canons of our National Synods in this matter And this Article shall be religiously observed in and by all the Provinces 3. Our Printers be forbidden henceforward to print the Confession of Faith with this Title The Confession of Faith revised and amended by the National Synod 4 The Confession of Faith being read and heard was approved by all the Deputies who protested that by the Grace of God they would live and die in it As was manifest by their Act in swearing the said Union CHAP. V. Observations upon Reading of our Church-Discipline Article 1. IN reading and revising the Discipline of our Churches this National Synod voted That whereas in the close of the second Canon of the first Chapter the time and manner of admitting Novices lately converted from Popery to the Reformed Religion are particularly specified Now instead of these words Unless in a Provincial Synod these ensuing shall be inserted Unless by the Advice of Provincial and National Synods and the said Canon shall be finished with this Sentence Nor shall they be Ordained by Imposition of Hands no more than if they were unknown persons without the Advice of Provincial and National Synods Article 2. On the third Canon of the first Chapter after these words which do almost conclude it And after long experience had of his Repentance and Godly Conversation There shall be nothing added but the last clause shall be blotted out viz. He being found meet and sit and sufficiently qualified to teach the Church may be chosen and called unto the Sacred Ministry Article 3. The Deputies of Burgundy demanding that they might not be bound by that Canon of the Synod of St. Maixant that seven Pastors should be
speedy advice of it and in the mean while to proceed against such at shall be found Delinquents according to due course of Law and the Tenour of our Edicts and Ordinances For such is our Will and Pleasure Given at Paris the 24th day of April in the year of Grace 1612. and of our Reign the Second Signed LOUIS And a little Lower by the King in his Council De Lomenie And Sealed with Yellow Wax the great Seal appendant at the bottom with a single Thread CHAP. IX The Synods Declaration against this Proclamation The Letters Patents of His Majesty bore date the 13th of April 1612. And the Synods Declaration was dated the first of Juâ— 1612. 1. HIS Majesties Letters Patents were read containing his Royal Pardon unto them who had called Political Assemblies since that General one held at Saumur which exceedingly surprized and astonished this National Synod and that there might be some remedy provided in time against such Impendent Storm it was judged needful by all the Deputies unanimously to prepare a Declaration on this occasion which should be inserted in this place among our Acts and forth-with Printed that so by this Imprinted Act the Innocency of our Churches might be attested and published to the whole Christian World Here followeth the said Declaration THE Reformed Churches of this Kingdom Assembled in a National Synod at Privas having as it usual took the Oath of Fidelity and Humble Obebedience to their Majesties Command and Service and being informed by divers Deputies of the Provinces that the Kings Letters Pattents were directed to the Parliaments and Courts of the Edict containing an Abolition and Pardon of the faults pretended to have been committed in calling of Particular Assemblies in the several Provinces as also a Pardon for what hath been heretofore and since transacted in them they could not be unsensible of such an horrid dishonour as this done unto them so great so contrary to their Intentions and to that Loyalty they have ever upon all occasions exprest both to the service of his Majesty and the happiness of his Government and they could not but be pierced with a most just grief to see themselves blasted with so great a reproach on the account of the said Provincial Assemblies which have been always held as they were in the Reign of Henry the Great of most happy Memory and since also by a Priviledge granted the said Churches in a Letter Written by her Majesty unto the General Assembly of â—aumur the 22th of August 1611. by which they were commanded every one of them to break up and depart unto their respective Provinces and carry back unto their Principals who had Deputed them the good Intentions of their Majesties Vpon which the said General Assembly inferred their Right and Priviledge of Meeting in particular Assemblies and voted the Congregating of them and ordained that the Deputies of every Province should bring with them their Cahiers to be perused and what reflexions had past upon them and answers given to them which was a matter well-known unto the Lords of the Council nor could they believe it or judge it unreasonable because that in those very Instructions given unto the Commissioners sent by their Majesties into the Provinces about the inexecutions and transgressions of the Edict they were commanded to return home immediatly and without delay that they might be in the Provinces before the meeting of those particular Assemblies and 't is a most certain truth they were for the most part either Authorized by the summons of his Majesties Lieutenants or by the conduct and direction of some one or other of the Presidents in the Soveraign Courts and ever in the Magistrates presence The Kings Officers and other persons of Quality having express charge from their Majesties to be there upon the place and sit with them or otherwise some one of the aforesaid Commissioners sent by the said Provinces did moderate and preside in them None of which would ever have plunged themselves in so much guilt in case there had been any as is now pretended Yea so far were our Lords of the Council from judging us guilty that on the contrary they received all our Cahiers Remonstrances and most humble Petitions framed in those Assemblies with the greatest kindness and have since answered them Insomuch at they never esteemed them Criminal nor needing Abolition and Pardon This grieveth and woundeth deeply the very Souls of all who do Profess the Reformed Religion in this Kingdom because it fastens the blot and brand of a Crime upon them which that they might evade they have on all occasions hazarded both their Lives and Fortunes But they have another and farther ground of Grief and Affliction which it that these Letters Pattents look at if some ill men had a design of kindling again those Flames and reviving once more those old hatreds and animosities of their Fellow Citizens and Countreymen against them which have lain Dead and Buried these many years and that they are seeking a new pretext wherewith their most inveterate Enemies may be hereafter furnished to assault and ruine them and finally to render them odious and execrable to all sorts of persons both at home and abroad within and without the Kingdom Such consequenoes as these cannot but involve them in great troubles cannot but shake and unsettle the repose and tranquillity of the Government and grievously augment their fears and sorrows being compelled after this manner to ease their burdened Spirits and to express their sense and resentments of such great indignities because they cannot but avow themselves the best and most Faithful Subjects that ever their Majesties had or shall have in their Kingdoms and Dominions For which cause the said Churches conformably to those humble Addresses made by their General Deputies unto the Council and to their Petition presented unto the Court of Parliament of Paris the 14th of May last do declare as they have done that they never requested nor demanded nor did by any Letters of theirs endeavour to obtain that Abolition or Pardon that it was never done by them nor are they so much as in word or thought guilty of those imaginary Crimes presupposed in them and that they be ready all of them jointly and singly to be responsible for their actions and to publish them to the whole World openly and at noon-day counting all manner of torments far more easie to be born than that they and their Posterity should be stigmatized with such a shameful brand of Infamy which might hereafter deprive them of that true honour and glory which was ever ascribed to them of being true French-men and to be reputed and accounted by strangers the most Loyal and most Faithful Subjects of His Majesty in the worst times persons uncorruptible and the best and most affectionate unto His Government Moreover they do farther declare that they will not in the least either help themselves or make use in any manner of way of those
our Churches And this Assembly ordered the said Lord de Rouvray to return for us and for all the Churches our most humble thanks unto their Majesties who have by this their extraordinary Bounty laid new obligations upon us to call upon our God with the greatest Ardency in our Prayers that he would bless and prosper their Majesties Persons Crown and Government And the said Grant was deposited in the hands of the Sieur Bonnet Pastor and Deputy of Xaintonge who was to lodge it safely in the Archives of Rochel whereof he shall give advice by Letters under his own hand unto the said Lord de Rouvray The Copy of that Warrant This first day of October One thousand six hundred and eleven the King being at Paris assisted by the Queen Regent his Mother in Council having been well informed for what considerations the late King of glorious memory had by a Warrant of the third of April One thousand five hundred ninety and eight granted unto his Subjects of the P. Reformed Religion the yearly sum of five and forty thousand Crowns to be employed in some secret Concerns of theirs And although His present Majesty be not obliged by those secret Articles Warrants and Answers unto Memoirs made in favour of those his said Subjects to increase or augment the said sum yet nevertheless desiring as much as in him lieth to gratifie and favour his laid Subjects and that he may-give them a sense of his good will and love to them His Majesty by the advice of the aforesaid Lady the Queen Regent and of his meer grace and liberality doth grant unto those of the said P. Reformed Religion the above-mentioned sum of five and forty thousand Crowns and over and above the same another yearly sum five and forty thousand Livers as an Act of Bounty which said Moneys he wills and o future it be issued out of the General Fonds of his Treasury by vertue of this present Warrant which to this purpose he hath signed with his own hand and is counter-signed by me his Councillor in his Council of State and Secretary of his Commandments Signed Louis and Lower Philippeaux 12. This Assembly giveth full power to the Lords our General Deputies to pass a contract with the Lord du Candal about the Receipt and management of the five and fourty thousand Livers Augmentation Money and if possible they shall make but one only Contract of the two sum to wit of that first granted and of the aforesaid Augmentation and of their Receipt always reserving the right of our Churches 13. The sâ—me General Deputies are charged to oppose themselves formally against all persons whatsoever that shall endeavour at Court to obtain any Relief to the detriment of the body of the Churches in this Kingdom and contrary to the Union sworn by us and advice shall be given hereof unto the Churches that so the Pastors more especially and the Consistories may do their duty in suppressing such like motions and Enterprises as being scandalous and menacing the Churches with great confusions 14. This Assembly injoyneth all the Consistories of those places where the Courts of Parliament and Chambers of the Edict are established to remonstrate unto the Counsellors professing our holy Reformed Religion their timorous luke-warmness in not opposing and resisting the Verification and Recording of those Letters of Abolition it being their special duty to have opposed them and to have demanded that their Act of Opposal might be recorded Moreover the Consistories of those self-same Towns are exhorted to present unto the said Parliaments and Chambers of the Edict the General Declaration of this National Synod concerning those Letters of Abolition 15. This Assembly ordaineth that for the future the Provinces shall send unto the National Synods a Catalogue of their Pastors in actual service and of the Proposans maintained by them attested by the Manual Subscription of the Moderators and Scribes of their Synods Otherwise there shall be no reckoning made of the Rolls brought in when as the Moneys given us by his Majesty shall come to be distributed 16. This Assembly yielding to the necessity of the times and observing that whatsoever Petitions and Addresses have been made unto their Majesties by our extraordinary Deputations are always ill resented and misconstrued and became so very unpleasing and distastful to their Majesties that they would never vouchsafe a kind or acceptable answer to them therefore it doth at present conceive it best for us to keep our selves unto the ordinary ways of humble Petitions and Remonstrances by the mouths of our General Deputies Hoping that the goodness and clemency of the King and of the Queen Regent his Mother and that the Justice of our Lords in the Privy Council will by this means the former having been disliked by them grant that we shall at last reap and receive the fruit and benefit of them And to this purpose the said General Deputies shaving rendred our most humble thanks unto their Majesties for their gracious favours conferred upon their most Loyal and most Humble and most Dutiful Subjects of the Reformed Religion and particularly for the Augmentation of fifteen thousand Crowns a year granted to our Ministers are charged most humbly to Petition their Majesties that they would be pleased to exempt them from that necessity which is imposed upon them and now with greater severity than ever and contrary to that Liberty of Conscience promised us of stiling our selves of the pretended Reformed Religion Because we had rather and more willingly suffer the greatest torments than stand obliged to condemn with our own mouths our most holy Religion And their Majesties also shall be requested to grant leave unto us in all Cities and Towns where there be a number of families of our Religion to keep lesser Schools for the Education of our Children and that those Restrictions and Modifications annexed unto the answer given to that article in our last complaint and Bill of Grievances may be taken off the file This being a matter which can never be dismembred nor severed from our Liberty of Conscience And whereas contrary to the hopes conceived at first by the Churches when they sent their Commissioners from every Province this Assembly is fully assured from all quarters that the far greater part of our demands and remonstrances have been rejected and that they have been all turned over to the Privy Council and that it may be truly said that after all the great coyl and noise made nothing hath been yielded us except a few Burying places and those also in divers places to the detriment and disadvantage of our Religion the said Deputies are charged to complain thereof unto their Majesties and most humbly to petition that it may be remedied and redressed and to this purpose the Memoirs of the Provinces and Churches groaning under these oppressions shall be put into their hands that so some effectual course may be taken for their relief and by such methods as they shall
examine the matter of fact and by the Authority of this Synod judicially to censure and condemn it And in the mean while the Pastors shall Assemble the Consistory of that place and Summon before them the said du Tremoulet and all his Partners in that Scandal and in case of their non-appearance immediately to suspend them from the Lords Table and to denounce this their suspension publickly before the whole Congregation 18. Report being made of the extream Poverty of Mr. William Papin who was discharged from his Ministry and is now Emeritus and at present residing in Dolphiny this Assembly gives him freely one portion free of all Taxes for his Subsistence which shall be drawn out of the Province of Vivaretz where he once served and given unto the Province of Dolphiny with order that they pay it him punctually 19. The Churches of the Baylywick of Gex reported by their Deputy the Sieur du Pain how that they were dispossessed of all their Antient Church-Lands and Stock and that their Temples wherein they worshiped God were taken from them notwithstanding all their Petitions and Endeavours to preserve them This Assembly gave express order to our Lords the General Deputies in Court that they be very urgent with their Majesties that the twelve hundred Crowns granted unto the said Churches and taken from the five and forty thousand Livers of Augmentation lately given unto our Churches may be paid out of some other Fund and that the said Augmentation-Moneys may come in wholly and freely without cloggs and defalcations unto our Churches And farther that the Churches of Gex may be assisted with some Relief towards their Building of other Temples 20. The Church of Montpellier was censured for seeking Monsieur de Faucheur to be their Pastor by oblique and very unbecoming ways And the Church of Annonay also fell under the same Censure for driving that unworthy Bargain with the said Church of Montpellier 21. The Lords General Deputies informed this Assembly how that the Church of Bergerac deserting the Union of our Churches had by undue means procured to themselves the sum of fifteen hundred Livers out of the five and forty thousand Livers of Augmentation towards the maintenance of their Colledge to the great prejudice of all our Churches and especially of their own Province This Assembly judgeth them worthy of the greatest and severest Censures and enjoyneth their Provincial Synod to make them yield up that Warrant gotten by them for the said sum And in case of their refusal the said Synod shall denounce unto them by the Authority of this Assembly that their portions out of the King's Moneys shall not be paid them but detained in the hands of the Receiver General of the Province And if it be found that any one of their Pastors have tampered in this Disunion they shall be suspended from their Charges and all the other Delinquents shall be censured as Schismaticks and Deserters of our Union And farther it is ordained that none of their Pastors or Elders shall be received as Members of the Provincial or National Synods until such time as they have fully submitted themselves to our common Order and so receive their portions in the usual and ordinary ways which are appointed them 22. The Affairs of the Churches in the Principality of Bearn are particularly recommended to the care of our Lords General Deputies at Court 23. The Province of Dolphiny having not brought in to this Assembly the Account of their distribution of the Charity-Moneys gathered and deposited with them for the poor Refugees of the Marquisate of Salluces as they were enjoyned This Assembly doth once more command and enjoyn them on pain of Censure to perfect the said Account and to bring it in to the next National Synod And whereas in consequence hereof the Sieur de la Combe presented an Acquittance which the Provincial Synod held at Ambrun the seventeeth day of June One thousand six hundred and ten had given hi Assessor Guyonne and Jullien Scribes the aforesaid Sieur de la Combe is discharged by this present Assembly of the sums of seventeen hundred fifty nine Livers and eleven Sous which had been delivered to him in the National Synod of St. Maixant by the Provinces of Berry and Brittain by whom also the said Sieur is acquitted he having deposited them in the hands of the Province of Dolphiny 24. A difference having risen between the Church of Sezane and the Sieur Normund Pastor of Belesme about some Moneys which the said Normund had received in the name of the Church of Sezane he having visited them in hopes to be called unto the Ministry among them the Deputies of the Isle of France were appointed to compose it which Agreement now perfected by them is approved and confirmed by this Assembly and it ordains that the said Sieur Normund do out of the Moneys received by him restore sixty Livers unto the said Church and pay it for their use into the hands of Monsieur Montigny Pastor of the Church of Paris and this within three months within which time also the said Church shall restore unto the said Normund his Books and Clothes in their custody and so they shall give mutual Discharges and Releases unto one another 25. The Deputies of Anjou demanding reimbursement from the Province of Brittany of moneys expended by them and paid by the Church of Saumur towards the maintenance of Giles Drisonieurs formerly a Monk in the Province of Brittany and the Province of Brittany contesting with them to the Contrary The whole affair is dismissed over to the Province of Normandy which is finally to determin it 26. Monsieur Moulin having tendred unto this Assembly a Latin book made by him upon the controversy with Piscator concerning justification The Sieurs Sonys la Fresnaye le Faucheur and Bonnett were ordered each of them to peruse and read it and make report of it who gave in a very honourable Account of it as containing sound and orthodox Doctrine and contributing very much unto the Churches Edification whereupon Monsieur du Moulin had the thanks of the whole Assembly given him for his great labours taken in the conference at Paris on this Article in defence of the Truth Yet nevertheless lest that reunion projected in this Assembly should be retarded it adviseth him not to publish it till the sitting of the next National Synod during which time he shall send a Copy of his book unto every Province that so this matter being more carefully examined it may come forth with general Approbation and Satisfaction 27. The difference between the Isle of France and le Sieur de le Touche Pastor of Mouchamp in Poictou is dismissed over to the next Provincial Synod of Berry who by authority of this Assembly shall put a final period to it 28. A Letter was read from the Inhabitants and Consistory of the Town of Clerac and their demands heard also by the mouth of Monsieur Ricotier their Pastor But this Assembly
seemed to revive the Memory of our by-past divisions might be taken off the file and razed out of the Acts of the Synod of Privas This Assembly ordained that the said Canon shall remain in those very words in which it was conceived Art 3. In that Article which gives leave unto Elders the Pastor being refused and excepted at to Judge of some Emergent differences yea even to suspension from the Lords Supper the Province of Lower Languedoc demanded that there might be some mittigation of its rigour This Assembly Judged that that Article should abide as it was conceived whithout any alteration at all Art 4. Upon the fourth Article treating of Marriage-Promises that they should be made in words de futuro The Lord de la Riviere demanded that the name of the Church of Rouen might be razed out of that admonition which had been given it Privas obs 3. See Vitré 2. Observat upon this present Synod Art 2. and to that of Diep to forsake their Custom of betrothing persons publickly in their Temples declaring that in the Church of Rouen they were only done in the Consistorial Chamber the Pastors and Elders being present This Assembly acquainted him that they could not in the least approve of this Order and Practice among them Art 5. Privas obs 2. on the preceding Synod On that Article concerning the Works of Monsieur Chamier Pastor and Professor at Montauban the Assembly ordained that before they be sent unto the Press they shall be put into the hands of some certain Pastors and Professors in Divinity to be perused and examined and the Pastors and Professors his Colleagues in the Church and University of Montauban are named to this purpose Art 6. Privas obs 3. upon the preced Synod and p. m. 10. The Synod of Dolphiny is charged to read over the History of the Waldenses and Albingenses collected and written by Monsieur Perrin who also is required as soon as it is Printed to send a Copy to every one of the Provinces Art 7. Privas obs 7. upon the preced Synod That Article which deferred the changing of that of St. Maixant concerning Baptism to the examination of the Provinces being now again read this Assembly advised that the Provincial Deputies should gather the judgment of this Synod by Majority of voices and not the particular opinion of each single person In pursuance whereof it was carried by plurality of Votes that the order practised before the said Synod of St. Maixant should be still observed and that it should not be lawful to celebrate Baptism unless there were a Sermon either immediately before or after that Sacrament Art 8. Privas Appeal 2. 2 Vitré Appeal 7. below Appeal 31. On that Article concerning the expences of the Church of Annonay in getting a Minister to Preach among them during the abode of Monsieur le Faucheur at Saumur This Synod ordaineth that it shall pass into a General Canon that the Provinces shall defray the charges of those Churches whose Pastors are Commissionated unto General Assemblies be they either Political or Ecclesiastical Art 9. Privas App. 10. The Assembly having received a good Testimonial of the worthy carriage of Monsieur Bansillon Pastor of Aiguesmortes since the last National Synod doth ordain that that Article of his Censure be razed out of the Acts of the Synod of Privas Art 10. Privas g. m. 8. Reading the Act of Re-union the Lord de la Millitiere General Deputy gave in an account of the endeavours used by the Sieurs du Moulin Durant de l'Isle Groslot together with the General Deputies in reconciling all those Lords mentioned by name in that Act as also of other private persons for which the Assembly returned them hearty thanks and doth discharge them of their Commission with that honour which is deservedly due unto them for their great diligence in it Art 11. Privas Ap. 1. The Churches in the Principality of Orange reiterating their complaints by the month of the Sieur Julien against the Synod of Dolphiny held at Veines for excluding them from the Political Assembly of that Province This Assembly the Deputies of that Province having owned the charge brought in against them viz. That they were excluded an Ecclesiastical Synod judgeth that the said Churches of the Principality of Orange ought to be restored unto their former priviledge Art 12. Privas p. m. 21. Mr. Mayor of Bergerac declaring on behalf of that Church and Town that it was never their Intention to depart from the Union of our Churches or to procure their own private good to the prejudice of the Publick as they were condemned for by the Censure of the National Synod at Privas And the Province being heard on those inquiries they were obliged to make and testifying for them that they could never find by any Witnesses nor by any probable conjectures that they had gotten the Kings Writ of grant for their Colledge out of the Moneys bestowed upon the Churches See below of Universities 2. and the said Mr. Mayor requesting on their behalf that that summ might be vouchsafed them by order of this Assembly out of the free and charitable benevolence of our Churches It was decreed that the said Mr. Mayor should produce an Act proving that the said Communalty of the Town of Bergerac do address themselves for this matter unto this Synod and that they renounce all other ways of obtaining it and particularly the effects of that Writ aforesaid and upon doing this they were promised full contentment in all their demands Art 13. The Deputies of the County of Venise and Archbishoprick of Avignon requesting Privas p. m. 1. that according to what was promised them in the Synod of Privas so by the authority of this Assembly our Deputies in Court might recommend their affairs unto their Majesties and that particular Prayers might be offered up unto God for them in all the Churches This Assembly granteth them their desire on those two heads and enjoyneth all the Deputies as soon as they return unto their respective Provinces to report unto those Provincial Assemblies their miserable estate that so it may be inserted into their Memoirs which shall be sent unto the next General Assembly Art 14. Privas p. m 3. The National Synod of Privas having ordered the Colloquy of Nismes to examine the matter of Fact about that difference between Monsieur de Bansillon and de Mallamont concerning an Act of that Colloquy for which Mallamont accused him of forgery It appears by an Act of the said Colloquy since held and now produced that that which was produced by the Sieur Bansillon was certainlytrue and the said Sieur Mallamont being fully convinced of it doth renounce his Accusation of the said Bansillon Art 15. Privas p. m. 8. Monsieur Brunier Pastor of the Church of Usez is charged to yield up unto the Province of Lower Languedoc those Letters forged by that infamous Apostate Jeremy Ferrier
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
who consented to pass over unto their Church that they might have a proof of his Ministry and he a tryal of their Tempers and in case of mutual Agreement he intended to settle among them as their Pastor This Assembly approved of this their Reciprocal Transaction and decreeth that after their acceptance of him according to the Discipline of our Churches he shall be confirmed in his Pastoral Office to them 8. The Deputies of the Church of Pons demanding the establishment of a Colledge in their City 2. Vitré Appeal 2. and a supply of Moneys necessary its charges were remanded back to the Province of Xaintonge who should take such care about it as they judged needful 9. The Churches of Soules having deputed the Sieur Bustonoby Pastor 2. Vitré p. m. 19.38 remonstrate the necessity and advantage that would accrew by the personal Residence of Ministers among them which yet they could never effect by reason of their poverty and inability requesting also some little Moneys to forward the impression of a few Manuscripts in the Biscain Language this Assembly over and above the portions received by them from the Province of Lower Guyenne doth bestow upon them two portions quitted free and discharged of all expences taxations and deductions whatsoever and three hundred Livers to be paid at one entire payment towards the Printing of the said Manuscripts And the said Province shall bring in those Moneys upon Accompt unto the next National Synod 10. Mr. Stephen Rochers Pastor of the Church of Monthasillac and Piles having been suspended from his Office by the Provincial Synod of St. Foy until the next Synod of that Province appeared in person before this Assembly petitioning to be restored unto his Ministry and producing laudable Certificates from the Colloquy and Church of Bergerac where he hath since resided as also from that in which he had served his request was granted him and he was declared from this instant Reinstated into the holy Ministry which he was exhorted to discharge with all prudence diligence and faithfulness and whereas he complained of his Churches Poverty the consideration thereof was deferr'd till such times as the Moneys granted us by the King should come to be distributed 11. The Deputies of the Isle of France demanding that another Order might be Issued out against Monsieur de la Touche Pastor of the Church of Mouchamp in Poictou to Account with them about the Moneys owing them for maintaining him several years together in his preparatory Studies for the Ministry 2. Rochel p. 3. m. 4. Privas p. m. 17. to the performance of which he stands obliged by the very orders of one or two former National Synods This Assembly having heard his exceptions and reflecting upon the inconsiderableness of the debt and that his brother hath served in the Ministry in the very self same Province and that he was at great expences in Paris where he fell sick in a Journy which he took on purpose to put an end to this business doth cancel his obligation and intreats the said Province also never to trouble him any more about it 12. The difference in the Church of Mussidan and the Complaint of Monsieur Chabot for that the Publick worship of God had been transferred unto Lunga and the Sieur Latane given without the Consent of the said Chabot unto that Church are dismissed over unto the Provincial Synod to be examined by it and that matter concerning our Cautionary Town there it shall be decided by the next Mixt Provincial Assembly and that things may be brought into a good temper in order to an accommodation some of the Members of this Assembly shall in their way homeward call in at Mussidan and by their best arguments perswade them to a sincere Peace and hearty Union among themselves 13. Phillip Marulles born at Realmont Student in Divinity in the University of Montauban was presented by the Deputies of Higher Languedoc craving some charitable assistance from this Synod who gave him sixty Livers to be paid him by the Receiver General out of the Moneys allowed unto the said Province 14. The Deputies of Vivaretz reported that divers Churches in their Province sending two Elders unto their Synods caused an Inequality in their Votes and the lesser Churches on several occasions do make greatest noises and complaints This Assembly leaveth that Synod In case of contestation full power to gather the suffrages not by Deputies but by their Churches however this shall not be made a precedent unto the other Provinces 15. John Guerin second Regent in the Colledge of Die in Dolphiny requested to be restored unto the sacred Ministry of the Gospel from which he was deposed thirty years ago for a crime committed by him when as he lived at Geneva This Assembly having read and heard the Attestations given him by the Churches of Dolphiny in which he hath since made his aboad and of the University of Die and of his Provincial Synod gave orders unto the said Provincial Synod to write unto our Reverend Brethren the Pastors Professors and Elders in the Church of Geneva to give us their thoughts about it and in case by their answer they approve and consent unto it the said Province having pondered all circumstances and believing that he may be useful in Edifying God's Church is impowered with full authority from this Assembly to restore him unto the Ministry 16. The Deputies of Berry declaring that the Moneys granted unto the Lord Duke of Sully for the Colledge of Boisbelle were laid out and employed in repairing the Colledge of Chastillon Privas p. m. 35. and in divers other pious and requesting that they might be discharged from making restitution of them as they had been injoyned by the National Synod of Privas they being in no wise able to do it by reason of their deep poverty and very great necessities of their Province This Assembly compassionateing their deplorable condition doth for this reason only grant them their request 17. The great necessity and famine befallen the Church of Mas St. Espueilles having been reported in this Assembly St. Maixant P. m. 19. the Lord du Candal w to pay out of the Common Moneys of our Churches unto the Inhabitants of the said City the sum of nine hundred Livers and to Monsieur Aubriot their Pastor charged with a great and numerous family the sum of three hundred Livers the whole being 1200 l. Which sum of nine hundred Livers shall be distributed by the Consuls and Consistory who are to give an Acquitance for it And that the said distribution may be made among the People with the greater Order and fidelity Monsieur Isaiah Lignier Lord de la Menarie Elder of the Churches of Melquel and Lunel who is now personally present in this Assembly and was an Eye-witness of their sore and deep affliction is intreated to see this Charity well-managed and distributed and he shall carry home with him what other Collections he hath
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
means possible to prevent it Latter end of May 1614. Subscribed by Gigord Moderator Gardesy Assessor Andrew Rivett and Scribes D. Maltrett Scribes CHAP. XVII A Memorial of our Grievances and Petitions exhibited and debated in the National Synod of Tonneins and judged meet to be presented unto the Mixt Provincial Assemblies and from them to be brought unto the National Political Assembly and recommended to their consideration by all the Provinces and particularly to the special care of our General Deputies till that Meeting 1. THE first grievance complained of by the Province of Orleans was that the Lord of Denonville having been fully justified by Decree and Proclamation of the Chamber of the Edict at Paris from all matters laid unto his charge yet he was nevertheless deprived of his Office of Lieutenan unto the the Lord Duke of Sully in the City of Gergean The Assembly enjoined all the Deputies to complain of this Act of Injustice unto the mixt Assemblies of the Provinces now at hand and to see this their complaint entred and registred in the Memoirs which shall be presented unto the said General Assembly And in the mean while the Lord our General Deputies are intreated to continue their pursuits and endeavours for restoring him unto his Office and to renew their request at Court for it unless there be some other Government conferred upon him 2. That change made in the City of Alez by Monsieur Riband a Popish Gentleman reported in the name of the Province of Sevennes by Monsieur des Marests a Pastor as found to be exceeding prejudicial to our Rights and Priviledges and to our cautionary Towns And it was ordered that this should be joined unto the former complaint 3. Also that bold attempt of the Franciscan Friars to join the new buildings of their Convent with the very Walls of Castel-jaloux to the damage of that our Cautionary Town 4. Item That affair of the Church of Montlimard who opposed the reception of the Friars Recollect into their Town because that in our Cautionary Town nothing should be changed but all things should continue as they were at first 5. Also that affair concerning the setling and establishment of the Church of Valence near unto the City which hath been hinder'd by dividing the Commissioners 6. Item the notorious Injustice used towards the Inhabitants of Landes in the Higher Languedoc the Apostate Senerac being made their Judge and having gotten a Commission to bring at any time all his affairs before the Privy Council by means whereof he tyrannizeth over all persons with whom he hath any Processes of Law or that shall have a Suit with him 7. That affair of the Church of Pousanges in Poictou who have endeavoured to take off the Prohibition laid upon them for building their Temple altho' they have an undoubted Right for so doing of above forty years standing and they have Preaching without any hinderance or denial in the Market-house 8. The Suspension of Monsieur de Valobsance Counsellor in the Presidial Court of Montpellier because he was of Counsel for the Province against them of Aiguesmortes is another just grievance 9. The Concern of the Son of Monsieur Ravy put by from his Office of Lieutenant in the Company of Montpellier although the Churches had a special Order for it under the late King 's own Signet and which he had enjoyed for divers years is another grievance 10. The grievances and troubles of Monsieur Cardett and other Gentlemen vexed by the Lady Countess of Auvergne who hath in direct opposition to the Edict by Letters of Evocation removed their business from the Court of Castres to that of Paris 11. The Complaints of those of Lower Languedoc about the Government of Pecquaire whereof Captain Gautier having been Governour by Commission and Letters Patent yet is now adjoyned unto that of Salines which belongs unto the Governour of Aiguesmortes 12. The Churches in the Principality of Bearn united with ours in Doctrine and Discipline received and admitted heretofore by their Deputies into our General Assemblies and into the last National Synod by their Deputies Dyserotte and Naguett reported their very uncertain estate and the many dangers surrounding them and wherewith they be menaced by the unhappy divisions in the House of Benac and others banded against the Lord Duke de la Force which will throw them into a very miserable condition especially since Popish Priests and Ecclesiasticks have full Liberty as they do to over-run their Countrey This Assembly doth now more cordially than ever imbrace their Union and Communion and deputeth from us the Sieurs de Vilarnou and de Chambaran unto the said Lord's to exhort them unto concord who having returned and given an account of their Commission reported the great difficulties they meet with to reconcile them by reason of the obstinacy of one of the Parties and the staggering condition of the said Churches which exceedingly need the Assistance of our's in France to be a buttress and support unto them It intreats therefore the General Deputies to have especial and particular respect and care of their concerns and to deal for them at the Council with the very self-same affection and diligence as for the Churches of France in all matters needful for them particularly to get for them some effectual order to redress the grievances with which they be so very much burdened and afflicted And this also shall be represented unto the Provinces and by them it shall be carried unto the General Assembly unto which also the Deputies of the Principality of Beans shall bring their Memoirs and Instructions as well about the affairs before-mentioned of the Lord Duke de la Force and Benac provided it be not since made up and composed as about all others tending to their preservation 13. The affair of Monsieur de Villemade about his pension promised him out of the Privy Purse in regard of his great sufferings shall be once more recommended unto the next General Assembly 14. The affair of the Sieurs de Labe Father and Son who contrary to the priviledge of their Profession were both by an Order of Council deprived of their Appeal and remanded over to the Parliament of Bourdeaux 15. The Sieurs de la Combe and Bigot having been discharged from that Commission given them at Privas this Assembly gave order unto the Provincial Deputies to report the true estate of our matters against Monsieur Pallot viz. That nothing else could be gotten besides a sorry answer unto a Petition presented from us that he might be compelled to make payment of the just debt owing by him unto our Churches upon the clearing up of his Account amounting to 24900 l. Which yet hath been fruitless and ineffectual And whereas the above named Commissioners had charged on him another greater debt of above 200000 l. The said Pallot defended himself from all payments with this Evasion that either those Moneys were diverted to other uses or they were Non-Valoirs being never paid
one kind the Adoration of the consecrated Host Prayer in an unknown Tongue by the Petitioner Errors of this last sort altho in themselves less yet do they most often occasion the greatest divisions and do most venemously exasperate mens Spirits and immediately engender Schism For if a man communicate at the Lords Table with an erroneous person in the doctrine of Predestination or about the Nature of Jesus Christ or who believes that the Body of our Lord is every where in all places at once altho this Error be very great yet may it not trouble him who is a Communicant with him But and if we communicate with one who giveth religious adoration unto the bread or pretends to sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ such an action would scandalize us and must needs drive us from that Communion lest we should participate with him in his Idolatry or in a false Sacrifice Now we have this advantage together with the Lutheran Churches that all our differences are of the first kind and as for those external Ceremonies used and practised by them we have no such difference but what may be easily composed yea and that too with a wet Finger 18. It were fitting to lay before them on the Table the Concordat of the Polonish Churches made at Sendomir in the year 1570. and since revived in the Synod of Ulodislan in the year 1581. that so we may learn by their example to serve our selves of all things which may contribute unto this Union and are worthy of our imitation And possibly there may be found some Lutheran Churches who for peace sake would not insist upon their Ubiquity but frankly yield it up and part with it 19. The same Order should be observed in this second Assembly as in the first and the same difference paid unto his Majesty of great Britain and it should be opened with a fast and concluded with the celebration of the Holy Supper of our Lord at which both the Lutheran Ministers and ours should communicate together 20. It is very needful that some course should be taken to bring the several Churches and People to embrace and practise the Articles of this Union and that Soveraign Princes and Estates do promise to exert their Authority about it and that those words of Lutheran Calvinist and Sacramentarian Gustazus Adolphus K. of Swiâ—â—dland would have them styled the Evangelical Churches being wicked badges of distinction were utterly abolished and that our Churches should ever after be called the Christian Reformed Churches And all Invectives from the Pulpit or Press or Writings against the Brethren of either side shall be forbidden under the severest penalties And that the Catalogues of Books vended at Frankford maybe no more stuft with injurious Titles as formerly And the German Princes should at some certain days mutually agreed on send their Pastors unto the principal Churches of their Neighbour Princes and also admit and receive of their Ministers into theirs and so communicate together on some set and solemn day at the Lords Table 21. If it should please God to bless this Holy and Laudable Design with success which would be a Crown of Eternal Glory unto his Majesty of Great Britain and to the Princes joyned with him therein then would it be a convenient time to sollicit the Romish Church unto a Reconciliation which whether it may be really effected or is at all feasible seems as yet very doubtful because the Pope will admit of no Council nor Conference at which he may not preside But could this General Union of all Christians be once accomplished we should be then more considerable and Ministers might Preach with more authority and greater success than ever CHAP. XIX A Letter from His Majesty of Great Britain To Messieurs the Pastors and Elders Assembled in their National Synod at Tonneins in France Sirs HAving received intelligence that your Assembly would be held in Gascony the first of May in which some persons may be engaged to revive that Controversly about Justification and to urge the Consciences of others to assent against their own judgment unto matters not sufficiently Understood by them We thought good to send you Monsieur Hume one of our subjects and of your Pastors with this our present Letter to exhort you in our Name not to suffer the spirits of your Pastors and Professors to be imbittered one against another about distinctions more substile than profitable more curious than needful but that you would indeavour to Moderate those animosities which are grown up already to too great an heighth among several of your Ministers and that you would quench those sparkles of dissention which meeting with wood hay stubble and slight rather than substantial matters may inflame you into such aschism as will Consume you all unless you do timely prevent it and stifle it in the birth by committing to the fire those Books Papers and Manuscripts which serve only as fewel unto new Controversies rather than promote your Edifying and give occasion to the Enemies of Gods Church to advance themselves on your weaknesses and to be the more hardned in their Errors Particularly we intreat you to compose the difference risen up betwixt the Sieurs du Moulin and Tilenus if it should be brought unto your immediate Cognisance and discussion and not be removed out of the way by Arbitrators which we judge of the two to be the best and by arbitrating their fact you your selves will publish unto the World how great a value you have for the Gifts of God in both those personages That honour with which God hath invested us by exalting us unto the highest and most eminent place in his Church for the defence of the truth or duty to serve it in our regall dignity and to the utmost of our power and that particular desire we have to see a good Peace and Vnion to flourish among all Sincere Professors of the Christian Faith and our care for your preservation as being the first Churches which have rejected the yoke of Idolatry do induce us to deal so freely with you And we promise our self from your prudence that all matters shall be pacified and amicably composed among you as we have commanded Master Hume to press you more amply by word of mouth thereunto to whom you may give credence receiving him as our Messenger and as a persom well-known unto you and sufficiently commended by his own excellent good parts and a Lover of peace which above all things we recommend unto you and so we pray God to Bless your godly debates and consultations and to have you always in his holy keeping From our Palace this 15th Day of March,1614 Signed James R. The Synods Answer To the King of Great Britain Sire THAT Zeal with which it hath pleased God to inflame your Royal Spirit and that abundant care which your most Serene Majesty vouchsafeth to take of all the Christian Churches obligeth every good servant of God to pour out continual
prayers and supplications to the Lord of Glory for your Majesties long Life and Prosperous Reign and Preservation The Churches of France in whose name we be here Assembled have the deepest sence of this obligation because they have most frequently and to their great advantage received the comfortable influences of this bright shining star in the Heaven of God 's Church for which we render unto our God the glory and to your most Serene Majesty our humblest thanksgivings and shall ever reserve in our Memories the perpetual character of an inviolable gratitude We have received with all reverence and submission those good and wholsome Counsels which your most Serene Majesty was pleased to send us which as flowing from the Holy Spirit of God have confirmed us in those pious resolutions that were before lodged up in all our hearts and since reduced into act with unanimous consent in our Synodical Decrees We are enforced to our great regret to acknowledg there was an evil thing flung in among us but also we can assure your Majesty that hitherto it hath met with very small incouragement and we trust it shall never be able to make any breach in the peace of our Churches because we are resolved through grace vigorously to oppose it and to Conserve that Order and Union which hath been until now kept up among us We had grubbed it up by the very roots if it had been found among us as it is elsewhere and out of this Kingdom And as for that difference between the Sieurs Tilenus and du Moulin we believe that your Majesties helpful hand will exceedingly advantage us and we promise your Majesty for our selves that we shall give all reasonable satisfaction unto those that trouble us provided they do not attempt to break us in pieces The way of Arbiters hath been ever desired by us and that silence which we ordered and imposed might have been successful if the divided parties had but a little yielded on their side and strove who should have made the first advances we believe so much of the good intention both of the one and other that they had joyned hands and each had quitted his particular Interest for the peace repose and comfort of their Consciences which desired it We will be responsible for one of them according to the power which God hath given us over him and we are in good hopes of the other especially if your most Serene Majesty shall be pleased to employ your powerful Counsels in the furtherance of so good a work In the mean while we have Judged it necessary to suppress those writings which might any ways feed and nourish this bitter controversy between these two servants of God leaving the total suppression thereof unto an interview of both parties which we have appointed at Saumur upon very equitable and most reasonable terms It is the desire of our Souls that those self same Writings disperst abroad without this Kingdom might be suppressed and we most humbly supplicate your most Serene Majesty to order their suppression in your Kingdoms of great Britain As for that Heroick design of your Majesties communicated to us by Mr. Hume for re-uniting the Churches of divers Nations into one and the self same Confession and Doctrine we look upon it as an Undertakement worthy so great a King and well becoming that Divine Zeal with which the Celestial Majesty hath inflamed your Royal Soul and we also shall bring in our poor offerings and tribute Penny thereunto in due time and place and with our whole Heart and Soul we ardently pray that the same may be hastned and brought unto perfection to the great Glory of our God and confusion of the Adversaries of his Truth in hatred of whom we have condemned and detested that Execrable Doctrine of Regicides which violates the sacred Majesty of Kings and asserteth that whole Realms may be interdicted by the Pope And farther we earnestly desire to maintain a good correspondence with the Churches of your Kingdoms whereof we give your most Serene Majesty all possible assurance and do most humbly beseech you to accept of our devoutest Prayers and Services which with submission to his Majesty our Natural King and Soveraign we do lay at your Majesties Feet ever remaining as we are of your Sacred Majesty c. From Tonneins May 1614. The most humbly devoted Servants the Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Churches in France Assembled by the permission of our most Gracious Soveraign Lewis the thirteenth in a National Synod and in the name of all Gigord Moderator Gardesy Assessor Scribes Andrew Rivet and Denys Maltrett A Letter from the Church of Geneva To the National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France assembled at Tonneins Messieurs and our most Honoured Brethren YOUR Charity and that Communion which we ever had with you in our Lord Jesus and the word of his Grace hath on all occasions made us joynt partners with you in those singular benedictions the great God hath poured down upon your Churches as also at all times and upon all occasions to sympathize with you in your afflictions by a most sensible and cordial fellow-feeling of them Yea 't is this very self-same passion that doth at present give us access to you and inviteth us not to let slip this opportunity of your National Synod for the consolating our own Souls by imparting to you our thoughts and purposes combined with yours in one and the same faith common to us all If our Wishes could have been granted we would not have put off our communion as now we do unto these dumb Letters but we had satiated our Souls by a personal presence interview and converse with you But for as much as the hard Laws of necessity do restrain us we believe it will not be unpleasing to you tho we be absent from you in body that by our Letters we testifie our presence with you in Spirit rejoycing in your Order and in the stedfastness of your Faith in Christ and that with Vows and Hearts most intimately united with your devoutest Prayers we first of all adore the infinite goodness of the Lord for inspiring their Majesties with that great benignity and singular clemency so as to continue you your Liberty and Priviledge of holding your National Synods in peace and security These Assemblies representing all your Churches are a divine Bulwark against the assaults and invasions of your Enemies and a most firm Cement of your Sacred Union a soveraign remedy against all your Maladies and in one word the very basis of that excellent building which God Almighty by his own wonder-working hand hath miraculously raised up in your Nation This is so rich and singular a Mercy that we cannot sufficiently admire the Providence and Wisdom of God which did at first suggest the usage and establishment of it and his special assistance support and bounty in continuing it And we doubt not of Satans machinations to unhinge it We must tell
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
I have the will I swear unto you that my own mouth should have verified unto you what I now write that I am more than any man in the World of Montpellier April 26. 1614. Your Reverences The most Humble and the most Affectionate to do you service Chastillon The Letter of the Mareschall Duke of Bouillon to the National Synod of Tonneins Sirs I Delayed writing to you because I was in hopes to have sent my Letters by one of the Pastors of his Highness the Prince Elector Palatine who should have past through this City in his way unto your Synod and have delivered those of his Highness to you But that little time he had for so long a Journey and the little safety that now is on the High-ways having kept him at home they were directed to me that I may send them as I now do unto you and I shall take this occasion to confirm you in those assurances I have given you of my intire affection and service for the Weal Preservation and Increase of our Churches upon whose account you are now Assembled and that I desire to keep up with them a good Union and Correspondence 'T is to my very great regret that there have been some little differences between Monsieur du Moulin and Monsieur Tilenus one of the Professors in my University to the suppressing of which I have done all that lay in my power In so much that all those bitter reflections are allayed and quasht and I dare promise that from your prudence and the interposal of his Majesty of great Britain who writes to you by Mr. Hume Pastor of the Church of Duras and by the mediation of the Elector Palatin whose Letters this bearer from me delivers to you you will meet with some proper Expedient for their final determination so that those two great personages considerable for their Profession and merits may employ the gifts which God hath bestowed upon them more unto the Churches profit for the future And I will be Surety for the Sieur Tilenus that he shall pay the greatest deference unto your good Counsels and on my part I shall contribute all that you can expect from me to so good a work whereof I earnestly attend the happy Issue through your wise and prudent direction I shall detain you no longer but with the offer of my prayers unto God Almighty that he would please to guide and influence your Spirits and Councils that their result may be glory to his great Name and happiness unto his Church From Sedan May 3. 1614. A Postscript with his own hand Sirs ALtho I am well assured that your Intentions are all leading to a good Reunion both in Civil and Church-affairs yet will I not forbear quickening you hereunto and the rather because Satan and his Engines are now more than every at work marvellously busied and employed to divide us having found in this degenerate age more debauched persons and greater debaucheries than in times past Wherefore I protest unto you that in what concerns my self in particular that I shall freely discharge my duty and services according to what shall be resolved on in your Common and United Counsels and seek for my self none other benefit and advantage than to live and die in the fear of God Your most humbly to do you service Henry de la Tour. CHAP. XX. The Excommunication of Monsieur Jeremy Ferrier sometimes Pastor and Professor in the Church and Vniversity of Nismes denounced in the Church of Nismes upon the 14th of July 1613 being the Lords Day Extracted out of a little Book Intituled The Troubles happened in the City of Nismes in Languedoc July 15. 1613. and Printed the same year MAster Jeremy Ferrier formerly Minister of the Word of God having been judged by the National Synod yet hath not in the least owned and acknowledged God's singular Mercy and Benignity to him nor the Gentleness and Clemency of his Judges He hath took no notice of his great and hainous offences though God saw them the Church observed them and the World cried out of them Some days after Sentence had past upon him he made semblance as if he acquiesced in it requesting to be provided of another Church His Judges had respect unto his demand and provided for him very much unto his conveniency But the close and issue hath evidently demonstrated that what he did was all in Hypocrisie was nothing else but fraud and mockery Instead of humbling himself he waxed more fierce and fiery he kicked against the pricks he hardened his heart against the voice of God speaking to him He hath multiplied and increast his sins seeking Sanctuaries for his Rebellion from the World and protection by it in his Enter-prizes following the train and lure of his own lusts and loving this present World he would rather be a slave to the Mammon of Unrighteousness than to serve God and his Church and betaking himself to wicked and unworthy courses he hath refused to be reformed and hateth Discipline and Correction scorning and trampling under foot all Church-Order He hath most licentiously inveighed against and satyrically lampoon'd the Ecclesiastical Assemblies he hath let flie the worst of Calumnies against the Servants of God generally and particularly in publick and private by word of mouth by Pen and Writing He threw himself wittingly and wilfully upon temptations and into the snares of the Devil he became his own Seducer and like tile Devil endeavoured to seduce others He hath by his ungodly comportments scandalized those that are without and such as are within he hath attempted to mischief the Church of God for which the Lord Jesus hath shed his most precious Blood He did most solemnly engage unto the Church of Paris yea he swore it with as great seriousness as possible that he would never take upon him nor aspire unto any other Calling than that of the Sacred Ministry unless the Colloquy of Lionnois should discharge him by taking from him all possible means of subsistence Before which nevertheless when he was called he refused to appear and would not be judged of God nor by the Men of God He hath cast himself into a contumacious and audacious Rebellion into the most injurious and excessive Insolencies he hath published himself guilty of a notorious and horrible Perjury totally deserting the Sacred Ministry having rejected all the Summons and Invitations unto Repentance made him for a whole year together by divers Church-Assemblies in divers places and at divers times by many most excellent Servants of God who cordially and industriously laboured after his Conversion and Reformation He hath despised the long-suffering patience and forbearance of God and of the Church and never heeded those publick Admonitions which according to the Discipline were used to reclaim him and bring him back again unto his duty But he persists obstinately in his sins in his Disobediencies and Rebellions and hardens hardens himself in his Impenitency insomuch that we must speak it
next Easter at the farthest that he shall print them on fair and large Paper which will hold ink without washing such as that on which the Lord du Plessis his Book of the Eucharist was Printed with as large a Margent and weighing fifteen pounds a Ream or there away that the Character shall be such as that Little Cicero Printed by Colomiés that the Letters shall be new founded with which he begins the work and to be renewed in the progress thereof in case occasion do require it and that the Consistory contracting with him do judge it needful that the stamps for the Latine Greek and Hebrew Quotations shall be all new and proportionable to the Work that the Books which according to the beforementioned Articles and Conditions he is to render unto the Churches shall be kept at Saumar there to be sold and a part of them shall be sent by the said Portau to Lions and Rochell and all of them delivered unto the respective Consistories of those Churches who shall take care for their being distributed abroad among our Ministers And in case Monsieur Chamier shall not deliver his Copy unto the said Fortau then the Consistory of Paris is ordered to divide equally the three thousand Livers remaining in the hands of the Lord du Candal and to send the respective dividend thereof unto the Provinces to whom it doth belong 25. This Synod received Letters from the Gentlemen deputed by the Provinces unto the Assembly at Rochell and Monsieur Preau Pastor of the Church of Vitré Commissionated by them reported their unanimous intentions and resolutions to live and die in the Union sworn by all the Churches for which he was ordered to render them the hearty thanks of this Synod and to assure them that we never had nor will ever have any other end or aim than firmly and inviolably to secure and promote this holy Union And as touching that particular reported by the said Du Preau unto this Synod by word of mouth and by Letters from the said Assembly how that the necessities of the day obliging them to send several Deputations unto Court and elsewhere whilst the six Provinces met and since all the others have joined them they were forc'd to borrow in one place five hundred Livers and in another place two thousand Livers more to defray their charges and there will be a want of five hundred Livers more to make another and their last Deputation unto Court which they shall be constrained also to take up at Interest For the payment of which sums the Deputies aforesaid have by an Act which was here presented us bound and obliged the moneys given us by the Kings Liberality for the maintenance of our Ministers This Assembly gives those Deputies to understand that the disposal of this money is wholly and solely in the power of our National Synods and of this in particular and that not a penny of it can be disposed of by any Political Assembly whatsoever yet notwithstanding for some special reasons in this juncture and not intending hereby to make a precedent of it for the future the Lord du Candal is ordered to pay unto the said Deputies the sum of three thousand Livers and this only by way of Loan that so their expences may be cleared of And whereas the six Provinces have borrowed five hundred Livers this Synod can do nothing in it because it was imployed on a private concern of the City of Rochell and by parity of reason the other Provinces might as well demand a reimbursement of their charges also expended by them on the like occasions And our Lords the General Deputies are intreated most humbly to Petition his Majesty that the said three thousand Livers may be returned us again and distributed among our Churches Since this the said Deputies assembled at Rochell have writ unto this Synod by the Lord of Cusonnel Deputy for Vivaretz that now they had no need of the said sum of four thousand Livers demanded by them before Whereupon advice was given to the Lord of Candal to furnish them only with two thousand one hundred Livers 26. Monsieur du Preau did also represent the distressed estate of the City and Church of Sancerre See below g.m. 37. who by reason of their past sufferings and to secure the possession of this Cautionary Town were well-near undone having borrowed so much moneys and Mortgaged their Estates for the payment thereof that without considerable assistance and relief from the Churches they shall never be able to pay their Debts nor to free their Estates from those great Incumbrances The same also was attested by Letters from the Lord Baron of Belette and by the Deputies of Berry This Assembly considering that all the Churches are concerned in the preservation of this important place exhorteth those Provinces which have not as yet charitably contributed towards their relief to do it out of hand and to remit the moneys Collected by them unto the Consistory of the said Church And our General Deputies are requested to have an extraordinary care of that City for the future 27. The same Monsieur du Preau complained to us from the Deputies in the Assembly at Rochell that Monsieur du Crest Pastor of the Church of Manosques in Provence did together with his Church and Consistory oppose the Election of the Lord Baron of Semis and of Monsieur Huron a Pastor to be Deputies unto the said Assembly Whereupon an Order past that those Pastors and Elders which were authorized by this Synod viz. the Deputies of Lower Languedoc to take cognisance of those many and great differences which are fallen out in the Province of Provence should also examine this matter and inflict such Censures as the Authors and Partners in these Divisions have incurred and deserved 28. Moreover Monsieur de Preau informed us of the deplorable Estate of the Churches in Auvergne which Information was confirmed by Monsieur Babat Pastor in the Church of Issoyre who came from them This Synod having heard them both and perused the Letters sent from the Assembly at Rochell and those from the Consistory of Issoyre and from the Lord Viscount of La Roche Courtan all advising us or the most miserable Condition of those poor and persecuted Churches It doth ordain that whereas the Deputies of the Provinces assembled at Rochell have recommended this affair unto our Lords the General Deputies the Synod will in a more special manner take care of this and be more concerned for it than for any other and will Petition his Majesty that Commissioners may be dispatched thither out of hand to cause the persecutions to cease and that satisfaction may be given unto our poor Brethren who have been so barbarously and cruelly tormented and that his Majesty's Edicts may be vigorously and faithfully put in execution And forasmuch as the Deputies of Sevennes and the said Babat have urged the necessity of setling two Pastors in those Churches aforesaid this
Synod ordaineth that the Province of Sevennes shall provide two Pastors for them to be sent unto them immediately one of which shall reside in the Town of Issoyre and the other shall serve the Churches of the Mountain according as it shall be prescribed them by the said Province And that those two Pastors may have a comfortable maintenance this Synod continuing the Decree of the former National Synods which had appointed four Portions free of all charges for those Churches of the Vpper Auvergne doth add a fifth for their Incouragement Which five Portions shall be received by the said Province and paid into the very hands of those Pastors to each of them the sum of five hundred Livers And the remaining Portions shall be distributed by those Provinces towards the necessities of those said Churches and all this to be duly and continually performed untill the meeting of the next National Synod Below p. m. 25. Alez p. m. 20. And in the mean while the respective Members of those Churches shall be pressed to contribute towards the maintenance of their Pastors and they shall give an account of their duty herein unto the next National Synod And whereas the said Monsieur Babat requests that he may be discharged from the service of those Churches he was ordered to continue the exercise of his Ministry among them until the meeting of the approaching Synod of Sevennes by which in case he then desire it he may be set at liberty and another substituted in his place However till the sitting of that Provincial Synod the said Babat shall wholly serve the Town Issoyre as its proper Pastor and the Colloquy of St. Germain shall give another Pastor to supply the Churches of the Mountain And forasmuch as the said Babat hath been at great expences in travelling unto this Synod and to the Assembly of Rochell the Lord of Candal is ordered to pay him an hundred Livers out of the mass of moneys belonging to all our Churches And as for that demand of the Deputies that a Fund might be given them for the raising and fixing of a Colledge at Issoyre This Assembly cannot do it because that having eased many persons among them of the charge in maintaining their Ministers they may very well as in Conscience they are bound and we also exhort them to do take care of this matter themselves CHAP. IX The King's Letter to the Synod Above Art 5. after the Catalogue of Deputies THE third of June Messieurs Hesperien and Bouteroue Pastors and Balene and Moussac Elders deputed by this Assembly unto the King returned hither and notified unto us with how much kindness and favour they were received by his Majesty and having declared to him their Commission and delivered their Memoirs and Instructions he heard and answer'd them very graciously as appears by his Majesty's Letter brought with them unto this Assembly and they had the thanks and applause of all the Deputies in it for their most affectionate care faithfulness and diligence in the discharge of their Commission And because it very much imported our Churches to be particularly informed of that good will and love his Majesty bears them that so they may be in an extraordinary manner stirred up to praise and bless the Lord for it and own and acknowledge themselves to be more strictly obliged to fidelity and perseverance in their obedience and subjection due unto his Majesty and to pray more heartily for the augmentation of his Majesty's Prosperity and Grandeur This Assembly ordained that the Letter which it pleated his Majesty to write us should be transcribed and Copies thereof sent abroad among the Churches which is here inserted word for word in this present Article By the KING To our Dear and Well-beloved the Deputies of our Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion assembled in their Synod at Vitré DEar and Well-beloved we received your Letters of the one and twentieth day of this Month by which we have sensible experience of your Zeal and Affection for our Service and for that of the Common-weal participating as you have done in the common joy of all our Subjects for the Peace and Settlement of the Kingdom which we have so happily procured for them whereof we were also more particularly informed by your Deputies sent unto us for this same purpose from whom we have gladly received the fresh assurances and protestations made by you of persevering in your Loyalty and Obedience to us as you have done heretofore and you may be very well assured that we will be always careful to maintain and preserve you in all your priviledges formerly granted to you And we will give you all in general and every one of you in particular new tokens of our Love and good will upon all occasions which shall occur unto us Given at Paris the 29 th of May 1617. LOUYS Phelippeaux 2. The Deputies of Xaintonge demanded a Decree Nymes 11. that no Colloquy might hence forward separate any particular Congregation which was annexed to conjoin it unto another without the previous advice and authority of a Provincial Synod This Assembly finding their demand very Equitable did Ordain that this should be an Universal Canon binding all Colloquies and Churches 3. Divers Persons of Quality having moved it that inasmuch as our Mechanicks are obliged by the Kings Edict to forbear working on the Festivals of the Romish Church over and besides the Lord's day It is left unto the prudence of Consistories to Congregate the People on such Holy-Days either to hear the word Preached or to join in common publick Prayers as they shall find to be most expedient See Synod of Saumur Art 13. of g. m. And whereas Complaints are made us that in some Churches before Sermon they sing part of the Psalm and reserve the last Verse for conclusion of the Exercise This Assembly injoins all the Churches to sing * * * This last Clause was rased out in the seventh Obs of this Synod by that of Alez out the whole pause and to conform themselves as much as may be to the ancient Order 4. Monsieur de Bertreville our General Deputy came unto this Synod the sixth day of June and took his place in it according to the Canons of our National Synods and had his Vote of deliberation and decision and sware and subscribed the Oath of Union of the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom 5. The Lord of Bertreville our General Deputy declared to us Tonneins g. m. 6. that the King's Letters Patents though granted for exempting our Ministers from payment of Taxes were not as yet verified nor delivered into his hands nor unto his Colleague the Lord of Maniald This Assembly doth earnestly intreat them to use all needful means to get them dispatcht as soon as possible 6. Whereas the National Synod of Tonneins had injoined all the Provinces to consider of a Proposal made by several great Persons both at home and abroad Tonneins g.
Lords the General Deputies the sum of four hundred Livers at one intire payment Alez Obs 15. on this Synod it being to be disposed by them as they shall have occasion between this and the next National Synod 14. Several Deputies informed this Assembly how they were charged by their Provinces to request that some speedy course might be took with the Sieur Pallott Gap at the Roll. Privas g. m. 17. Alez g. m. 4. to compel him to make Restitution of those great sums owing by him unto the Churches according as it appears from the Accompts Examined by the Commissioners thereunto appointed Farther a certain Person offered himself to prosecute him at Law at his own charges and to be accountable for the whole unto the next National Synod and demanded none other recompence for his pains therein than what the Synod should freely give him and that too according to the profit redounding by this his service unto the Churches The Assembly though it liked well of this offer yet it gave Order to the Deputies of the Higher and Lower Languedoc of Sevennes of Dolphiny of Burgundy Vivaretz Provence and of the Isle of France in their way homeward to their respective Provinces that they should step in at Paris and assemble the Consistory of that Church and the Lords General Deputies and confer all together of the best and most proper means whereby to induce the said Palot to make payment of those very great sums whether it were by perswasions used to him or by accepting of such a Composition as shall be offered by him or by some others for him And in case they cannot before their departure from Paris conclude the matter with him through straits of time They shall give Letters of Attorney unto the said Consistory and to the General Deputies to treat with any person that shall make the most beneficial and advantagious offers for the Churches according to the Articles and Agreements inserted into their Letter of Attorney And notice shall be given of what is done in this affair unto all the Provinces 15. The Sieurs de la Nusse Jolly and Parris Pastors and St. Lazare De la Buissiere and de la Baterne are constituted a Committee to Audit the Accompts of our Colledges and Universities 16. The Provincial Deputies of Dolphiny are charged to desire the Lord Mareschal of Lesdiguieres to cause the Accompts of the Souldiers lying in Garrison in the Cautionary Towns of that Province to be dispatcht out of hand unto the Lords General Deputies who have never had any correspondence with the said Lord Mareschal since they have been in office But this present Article is rased out of the original CHAP. X. Of particular Matters 1. THE Lord of Monis Governour of Pons having writ unto this Assembly of his great known expences in keeping and repairing the Town of Pons and desiring that he might be reimbursed An Answer was sent him to this effect That this Synod could not though it would give him any satisfaction because the moneys which are in its disposal do belong unto the Ministry and cannot be diverted to any other use However we will intreat the Lords General Deputies to address themselves unto the King on his behalf that so his Majesty may be pleased to grant him 〈◊〉 Order for the reimbursement of his charges 2. Simeon Conte of St. Damian one of the Refugees of the Marquisate of Saluces presented a Petition on behalf of Monsieur Bernardin Moilleur another Refugeé of the same Marquisate as appeared by his Attestation from the Church de la Tour de la Serre dated the 14th of October 1616. craving relief for him from this Assembly St. Maixant 1. of distributions But it in no wise approved that the said Conte should run up and down from one Church unto another begging their Charities forasmuch as the Churches of this Kingdom have already contributed and with very great liberality towards the maintenance of the Exiles of that Marquisate and therefore commanded him to depart However it orders that sixty Livers shall be taken out of our Churches stock and delivered unto Monsieur Chambrun one of the Pastors in the Church of Nismes to be given unto the Son of the said Monsieur Bernardin Moilleur who is a Student in the University of Nismes to incourage him in his studies 3. The Lady Dutchess of Tremouille is intreated by this Assembly to write unto the Prince of Orange that his Excellency would be pleased to show that kindness unto the Sieurs Julian and Alary and their Families as to give them leave to return and dwell in his City of Orange and to injoy their Estates and Offices as formely She is also intreated to write unto Prince Maurice and to the Lord Duke of Tremouille her Son that they would join their requests with hers unto his Excellency for the same purpose And the Lord Mareschal Duke of Bouillon shall be writ unto from us intreating him to improve his Interest with his Excellency on the behalf of those poor distressed Gentlemen 4. Ascanius Allion was heard in his Complaints against the Province of Dolphiny St. Maixant p. m. 6. as also the Deputies of the said Province in their defence against him Whereupon this Assembly advised the said Allion to carry himself with more meekness and moderation and to subject himself unto the Discipline of our Church and in case he refuse obedience to it that then the Province shall censure him according to his demerits And because of his Poverty this Synod ordered thirty Livers to be given him but withal injoined him immediately to return to his own home and not to trouble us any more with his needless Company 5. Quintin Mareschall See the same demand Privas p. m. 11. a Printer presented unto this Assembly a certain Article of the Provincial Synod of Berry held at Chastillon upon the Loir whereby he was ordered to Petition this National Synod for some moneys to set his Press at work This Assembly not approving of that Article doth however order that Province to give the said Quintin once for all at one intire payment fifty Livers 6. Monsieur Imbert appeared in person before this Assembly and declared on what terms and conditions he was received into the Province of the Isle of France and that he should be at his own liberty at what time he pleased to leave it which yet hath been since contested by the said Province However he is now discharged by them from the Church of La Ferté and lent by the Colloquy of Beausse to the Church of Orleans until the sitting of this Synod The Deputies of the Isle of France claimed a right of redemanding him as now they did And on the contrary those of Berry and the Deputies of Orleans insisted that he might be fixed in the Church of Orleans because of the singular success and fruitfulness of his Ministry and the very great necessity whereunto they were reduced before
utterly impossible for him to comply with their Order See above on g. m. 28. injoyning him to reside on the Church of Issoyre until the next meeting of the Provincial Synod of Sevennes because he hath not any maintenance at all allowed him for his subsistence and that of his poor Family The Deputy of the Lord du Candal being now in Town was commanded to pay in unto the said Monsieur Babat immediately one hundred and fifty Livers out of the Portions attributed to the Churches of Auvergne and the said Babat shall be accountable for this Money unto the next Colloquy of St. Germain and shall bring with him to it an Elder of the said Churches to see those Accounts so tendred by him audited and accepted and the Commissioner of the said Province of Sevenues shall take the Acquittance of the said Monsieur Babat for the Moneys so paid by the Lord du Candal 28. Monsieur Guerin Pastor of the Church of Baugency made report unto this Assembly Alez Obs 13. on this Synod how that he and several other persons of the same Province were obliged in great Sums of Money disbursed for the conservation of the Town and Fortress of Gergeau during the late Troubles for which he is now prosecuted at Law and in danger of Arrests and to be made a Prisoner during Life unless it shall please this Assembly to take some effectual and speedy course for payment of this Debt out of the Augmentation-moneys granted unto the Churches by the Treaty of Loudun This Assembly being informed that by the Treaty of Loudun a certain Sum of Money was ordered to be paid in to the Lord Marquess of Rosny for this self-fame purpose and that he hath received it decreed that Letters should be written unto the said Marquess that he would be pleased out of those Moneys which have been paid in unto him for the reparation and fortifying of Gergeau to indempnifie the said Monsieur Guerin and those other Gentlemen bound together with him and these our Letters shall be put into the hands of the Lords our General Deputies that they may themselves deliver them unto him and prevail with the said Marquess that the Debt may be paid and the said Guerin and the rest of the Sureties legally discharged And the Province of Berry shall joyn with them in the same demand and in case they should gain nothing from him that then the said Province shall inform all the other Provinces that so the Deputies unto the next National Synod may be charged particularly to consider the Petition of the said Sieur Guerin 29. The Deputies of Dolphiny brought in their Accompts of Moneys formerly given unto the Protestants exiled from the Marquisate of Saluces Pâ—iâ—as p. m. 29. which were examined and allowed and deliver'd unto the Scribes of this Assembly with all the Acquittances that they might be carried unto Rochel and lodged up in the Archives there and the said Province of Dolphiny was discharged 30. Monsieur Sonis Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church and University of Montauban did by Letters petition this Assembly to assist him with a Sum of Money to help to print several Books composed by him And whereas divers Provinces had it in their Instructions to move that for the future no recompences might be given unto any on such occasion unless they had written at the desire and order of a National Synod This Assembly applauding the Zeal and Pains the Diligence and Faithfulness of the said Professor in his Place and Calling recommends it to the Province of Higher Languedoc to peruse the Manuscript Copies of the said Monsieur Sonis and to testifie their respect unto him so as that none of his worthy Labours be buried in silence and forgetfulness but that they be published for the common benefit of God's Church 31. Mr. Christian and Jacob Huberus Brethren and Sons of Monsieur Huberus Pastor of the Church of Berne in Switzerland came unto this Assembly bringing Letters from the Lords of Berne and from the said Huberus their Father demanding great sums of money which the late Monsieur Sturmius Father of the Wife of the said Huberus Alez g. m. 10. had lent partly of his own partly of what he had borrowed and stood ingaged for unto others for the good and service of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom about forty years ago whereof they tendered in an Account and several Memoirs relating to it which having been perused and examined this Assembly did not believe that the Papers produced did at all oblige our Churches to make satisfaction for any of those great sums and this shall be notified by Letter from us unto the Lords of Berne and to the said Monsieur Huberus and two hundred Livers were ordered to be paid immediately by the Lord du Candal unto these two young Gentlemen the Sons of Monsieur Huberus to help to defray the Charges of their Journey hither 32. Monsieur Solera a Spaniard born who having forsook his Native Country retired into France and hath for a good space of time followed his studies hard in the Church and University of Saumur and the Deputies of the Province of Anjou understanding by his Testimonials from the Consistory and Professors there of his progress in Piety good Learning and knowledge of Divinity The Province of Normandy demanded him for their Proposan and designed to exhibit a Pension to him till such time as he should be found fit and qualified for the holy Ministry This Assembly ordained that the Portion attributed unto the said Province for a second Pastor in the Church of St. Lo shall be disposed of towards the maintenance of the said Solera and in case he be called forth unto the Ministry and be imployed in the said Church of St. Lo or in any other of the same Province that the said Portion shall be continued to him as unto the other Pastors 33. Monsieur de la Viale Deputy for the Province of Higher Languedoc Tonneins p. m. 5. Petitioned on behalf of Laurence de Fernandez that the sum of an hundred and twenty Livers which by the National Synod of Tonneins had been ordered to be paid in yearly to him might be continued for the future This Assembly declared that in as much as the said Fernandez had learnt a Trade and was Married and took up his residence at Montauban the said Relief could not be continued to him and in case he be pinched with wants the Church of Montauban shall assist him out of their Poors stock with their Charities 34. Peter Mercurin a Provencal maintained out of the Churches money Alez Appeal 9. ever since the last National Synod of Tonneins until now presented his Testimonial from the University of Montauban and Petitioned that whereas he had been assisted with the supply of an hundred and twenty Livers that it might be continued to him for some longer time This Assembly ordered the Lord of Candal to pay
whereas the Deputies demanded another Portion for the Church of Ouchant at present served by the Ministers of Blois it being necessary that they should have a Pastor of their own this Assembly would not grant them because the said Church may be conveniently supplied by the aforesaid Ministers and in consideration of the great Necessities of the said Province there were seven supernumerary Portions appointed for them whereof two shall be given free of all Taxes and Charges unto Monsieur Guerin Pastor of Baugency for divers good and valid Reasons moving this Assembly thereunto 5. The Province of the Isle of France was injoyned to provide the Church of Langres of a Pastor to which purpose there was assigned it one Portion and moreover because of the multitude of poor Churches in it there were twelve supernumerary Portions more granted to be disposed by them for the relief of the most necessitous and indigent Congregations 6. The Province of Burgundy shall make proof of their Care and Duty in providing for the Church of Noyers an able Pastor at the next National Synod to which purpose they had one Portion assigned them and those two formerly granted were ordered to be continued to the Churches of Maringues and Paillac and over and above this seven supernumerary Portions 7. Pour Portions were granted unto the Province of Xaintonge that the Churches at present destitute of Pastors there might be provided for viz. a second Pastor for St. John D' Angely one for Villefaignan one for Tonnay Boutonnay and another for Genonsac And whereas they demand another Portion for Baigne Chenonceaux and Monlieu when as they shall have brought in their account for these before-mention'd Portions unto the next National Synod then care shall be taken about some provision for the said Church it so be it be supplied by a Pastor Moreover the said Province shall have two supernumerary Portions comprising in them that Moiety granted by the Synod of Tonneins for the relief of Messieurs Rossignol Gabard Paris du Plot Velez and Toussain who were Pastors Emeriti by reason of their Age and Infirmities and otherwise very much afflicted with Wants 8. The Deputies of Higher Languedoc protested that these ten Churches were become lately vacant by the death of their Pastors or by some other accident and that there be several others to be provided for by that Province as soon as may be to wit Castelnau Brassac Cormies Aisones Caumont Manosques Pairasque Figeac Sevenieres and la Tronquiere to every one of which there was a Portion assigned provided they were really vacant and care taken they be supplied And that Portion and half assigned them by the Synod of Tonneins is continued to them on this condition that the whole Portion shall be imployed for the relief and assistance of the Church of Leyran and the half unto Monsieur Aubriot a Pastor Emeritus 9. The Province of Anjou declared that they were just now presenting a Pastor unto the Church of Chasteau du Loir and another unto that of Mondoubleau for which cause two Portions have been adjudged to them and another under the name of Monsieur Gomarus Professor of Divinity in the University of Saumur and two supernumerary Portions were added by way of augmentation unto the poorer Churches and whereas Monsieur de la Coste late Pastor of the Church of Dijon is given unto the University of Saumur for a Professor in Divinity another Portion is also granted the said Province 10. One Portion was assigned the Province of Sevennes for the Church of Maruejols and another shall be divided between the Churches of Combes and St. Basilc 11. Seven Portions were appointed unto the Province of Normandy one for the Church of St. Peter on the Dine another for the second Minister of St. Lo another for the Church of Cheffreine another for that of Gauré another for that of Gisors another for that of Fescamp and lastly another for that of Havre de Grace all which are lately become vacant by the decease or removal of their Pastors and these shall be supplied with able Men as soon as possible whereof the next National Synod shall take cognizance and six Portions shall be farther added for the relief of the poorer Churches 12. The Deputies of Vivaretz protested that these five Churches following are lately destitute of Pastors and that the Province will see they he supplied out of hand to wit St. Saviour La Bastide de Viral St. Pons de Mirabel Rochers and lastly le Poussin For every one of these this Synod ordained a Portion on condition that the Province should notifie their Care and Duty in providing able Ministers for them unto the next National Synod and six Portions more were added including those two for St. Stephen's which had been allotted it by former National Synods and of the four remaining a half Portion shall be given unto Monsieur Chanforan because of his great poverty In the Province of Provence there were three Churches to be provided for viz. la Coste Sederac and la Charse and that Provincial Synod was ordered to give unto each of them a Pastor and therefore three Portions were added to them for which they shall be accountable unto the next National Synod and there were given them more to be distributed among their poorer Churches six Portions 14. The Deputies of Lower Guyenne assured this Assembly that they were now getting Pastors for these Churches following viz. for Nerac a third Pastor for Beaune Benac Condom Espiens Sause de Misné Hastingues Bayonne Le Mas and Caumont and Pellegrue all which are lately become vacant for which there were assigned nine Portions and the Province shall give account of them unto the next National Synod 15. Two Portions were laid by for the Province of Dolphiny to wit for the Church of Montbrun and Beaurepaire and because of the great poverty of divers Churches in the said Province this Assembly hath granted them seven supernumerary Portions 16. The Province of Brittain had the Priviledge of taking out one Portion under the Name of Monsieur Marmet Pastor of the Church gathered in the House of the Lord Duke of Rohan and because of the great poverty of the Churches in that Province there were eight supernumerary Portions more allotted to it whereof one shall go to the Church of Nants free of all charges and out of the seven others shall be taken an hundred and fifty Livers to be thus employed to wit one hundred Livers to the College of vielle Vigne and fifty Livers to the relief of the said Church 17. The Deputies of Lower Languedoc reported Alez p. m. 72. that in the dividend of the Portions for the said Province there was but one Portion only assigned to Monsieur Scoffier an ancient Pastor and Emeritus altho' there was formerly allowed him one and an half This Assembly gave order to the Lord of Candal that he should give annually a Portion and half unto the said Scoffier who shall give an Acquittance
a Scandalous Person from the Lords Table The Provinces of Berry and Sevennes remonstrating that many and great inconveniencies might fall out by the Execution of such an Ordinance This Assembly Decreed That although for good and just causes the Pastor had been excepted against yet the Elders only by themselves might not proceed to suspend any Person from the Lords Table without the Presence and Approbation of a Neighbour Pastor 3. On that Article concerning Monsieur de Beauchamp 2. Vitre Appeal 2. which injoyned the Province of Britain to give him satisfaction for his Pension due unto him for his Four Years Service Minister in the House of the Lord Duke of Rohan and the rather because the said Province had for that whole time received the Portion of the said Monsieur Boauchamp out of the Monies given us by His Majesties liberality And the Letter of the said Minister were read in which he complained of the Injustice of the said Province and requested that a particular Church of Anjou might be appointed by the Authority of this National Synod to adjudge unto him the Summ of Eight Hundred Ninety and Eight Livres Ten Sous and Nine Deniers which are Owing him and be detained in the hands of Monsieur Boitereul Receiver of the said Province of Britain This Assembly decreeth that Monsieur de Beauchamp and Monsieur de Pestere for the Province the Deputies of Britain declaring that all Writings concerning this Affair are lodged with him shall appear before the Consistory of Saumur on the First day of April next that so their Accounts being Audited the Consistory of the said Church of Saumur may by the Authority of this Assembly finally determine this Matter And in the mean while the said Summ of Eight Hundred Ninety and Eight Livres Ten Sous and Nine Deniers shall be stopt in the Hands of the said Receiver of the Province of Britain to be restored unto the said Monsieur de Beauchamp in case it be found due unto him 2. Vitre gâ— m. 6 Below of Univers 12. 4. Whereas the Provinces had been Exhorted by the Synod of Vitre to consult by what means our Universities might be provided of Professors in Divinity This Assembly having heard the Opinion of sundry Provinces here tendered by their Deputies decreed That for this purpose there should be chosen out a certain number of Pastors in the Actual Service of these Reformed Churches without burdening our selves with a new Fund or choosing Scholars who by reason of their sew years and inexperience are less fit to govern the Youth in our Universities 5. Monsieur Boucherau having been heard about those complaints made in the Synod of Vitre concerning the Excessive Rates paid by our Students at Saumur for their Lodging and Diet This Assembly was fully satisfied of the groundlessness of those complaints 2. Vitre g.m. 17. 2 Vitre g. m. 21. 6. That Canon forbidding Ministers to preach their own private Sentiments on State Affairs being read and Report made unto this Synod that several Ministers had acted contrary to it in the last political Assembly held at Loudun This National Synod desirous to stifle all Seeds of Division forbore looking into what is past but for the future it did straitly forbid all Ministers to treat of State-Matters in their Sermons or Pulpit Discourses on pain of being suspended the Holy Ministry because the only Subject of their Sermons and publick Preaching should be the Holy Word of God and the venting of State-Matters by them exposeth the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus unto contempt and the Provinces shall take special care that an Account hereof be given by their Deputies when they return from the General Politick Assembly as also of what may be foisted in of this nature into their Writings and Printed Works 7. These words as much as may be shall be razed out of that Canon which had enjoyned the Churches to sing full parts of Psalms 2. Vitre g. m. 31. and so conform themselves into that Antient Custom in use with us ever since the Reformation 8. The last Synod of Vitre had injoyned sundry Ministers of the higher Languedoc residing in the City of Montauban 2. Vitre g. m. 38. and not in their own Churches to depart thence and to live actually they and their Families in those places where they be fixed Pastors and that within Three Moneths after Notice given them of this Decree and in case of disobedience it was expresly declared to them that they should be suspended yea and they were then denounced to be Suspended from the Holy Ministry But now the Letters and Excuses of the Sieurs Richard Pastor of the Church of Muzac and Islemade of Benoist Pastor of Albai and Realville and of du Mas Pastor of Verlai dwelling at Montauban being read and the Provincial Deputyes of higher Languedoc having been heard speak about them This Assembly besides their Suspension judgeth those Ministers to be guilty of open Rebellion against our Order and Church-Discipline and to have despised very many of our National Synods and to have abandoned their Flocks and therefore it declareth them to be Usurpers of the Sacred Ministry and farther it doth very severely censure that Province of higher Languedoc for suffering such great Disorders so long a time unpunished and the Consistory of the Church of Montauban for permitting them to preach after the Declaration made of their Suspension at Vitre and farther confirming the aforesaid Sentence it declareth the said Benoist and Richard to be suspended the Holy Ministry for Three Moneths to Commence from that very day when as this present Act shall be signified to them and if in case within Three Moneths time they do not obey the Canons of our National Synods and reside personally among their People they are from this very instant deposed And as for the Sieur du Mas this Assembly doth as yet grant him one Moneth more after that this Decree shall be notified to him and in case he be not then Obedient and reside on his Church he is declared suspended from the Holy Ministry which said Suspension shall continue upon him till he do conform and the Portions or Moneys arising from His Majesties Bounty that might accrew unto them as unto other conformable Ministers shall be detained by the Lord du Candal in his own hands until such time as they have intirely satisfied this present Synod and this its Ordinance But notwithstanding all that 's imported in this Censure Monsieur Gardesy is Excepted he having a lawful Excuse for his Abode at Montauban by reason of his great Age and for his laudable Travels undertook and sustained by him for the Service of Gods Church in the Flower and Vigour of his Youth And this present Act shall be Sinned and Authenticated by the Manual Subscriptions of the Moderator Assessor and both the Scribes of this Synod and shall be read and signisied both in the Consistory of the Church of Montauban
and in the respective Consistories of the Churches of those fore-mentioned Ministers by the Deputies of the Province of Lower Guyenne at the Charges of the Province of Higher Languedoc and they shall be allowed Six and Thirty Livres to defray their Charges which shall be payd them in by the Lord of Candal out of the Moneys belonging to the Province of Higher Languedoc And that Province is commanded to see the Discipline more exactly observed especially in the point of Pastors Residence in their Churches 9. Samuel du Fresne Student in Divinity in obedience to the Order of the last Synod held at Vitâ—e presented himself before this Assembly bringing with him Testimonials from the Consistory of the Church of Saumur certifying of his Piety Religious Conversation Soundness in Doctrine diligence in visiting and comforting the Sick and of his Silence when admitted to assist at their Consistorial Sessions and the Rector and Proâ—â—ssors of the University attesting the same things also and that on all occasions whether by Theses publickly defended or private Conferences and Discourses and by Propositions from the Word of God he hath manifested his good Learning and Proficiency in the Languages and Divinity This Assembly giving Credence to his Attestations hath granted to the said Samuel du Fresne the Summ of One Hundred Livres for his Journey hither and Two Hundred Livres more for his maintenance for One Year in which time he may be called out unto the Ministry in some one of our Churches 10. The Sieur Chauveton having been condemned by the Synod of Vitre to pay the Summ of Three Hundred Livres to the Province of the Isle of France 2. Vitre p. m. 17. which had maintained him in his Studies or in case of his default the Provinces of Lower Guyenne in which he is now Minister was to make satisfaction for him The Letters of the said Chauveton were read by which he humbly requesteth to be discharged from paying that great Summ because it was not long of himself that he returned not within the time prescribed unto his Church of Claye where he once served but because of the many heavy Domestick Burdens that lay sore upon him And the Province of Lower Guyenne being heard in their Remonstrances made by them upon this Account The Assembly confirmed the Decree of the former National Synod and that it might be Executed the Lord of Candal is ordered to keep the said Summ of Three Hundred Livres in his own hand out of the Moneys belonging to the Lower Guyeune from the Kings Liberality that so they may be restored unto the Province of the Isle of France and Monsieur de Chauveton may be acquitted from all Payment because of his great Poverty which was fully notified unto this National Synod 11. On that Affair of the Sieur d' Anglade concerning Arrearages of Sallary pretended to be due unto him by the Province of Lower Languedoc for his possession of the Hebrew Tongue in the University of Nismes 2 Vitre p. m. 18. his Letters having been read and the Judgment of the Province of Seventies on the Accompt produced by him This Assembly decreeth Four Hundred Livres unto the said Sieur d' Angtade to witt Three Hundred Livres to be paid him out of the Moneys appropriated to the University of Nismes and owing to him as Professor of the Hebrew Tongue there and an Hundred Livres more out of the Common Stock of the Province of Lower Languedoc and these Monies arising from both these Funds shall be paid in unto him by the Lord of Candal 12. Whereas the Province of Berry hath yielded that the Church of Moulins should be incorporated with the Province of Burgundy this Act of theirs is confirmed by the Authority of this National Synod And as to that difference between the said Church of Moulins and the Province of Berry about Moneys due unto it from the Province 2. Vitre p. m. 22. as Monsieur John Durand their Pastor had made report thereof unto this Assembly They shall accompt with the Deputy of the said Province at their next Synod who shall come into Burgundy on purpose to terminate this Affair And in case they should not agree the Province of Anjou shall put a final period to it by the Authority of this Assembly 13. Reading that Article concerning the Sieur Guerin Pastor of the Church of Baugencey who together with divers other Persons of the Province of Orleans and Berry stand bound in a very great Summ of Money 2. Vitre p. m. 26. The Deputies of the said Province having remonstrated that notwithstanding all their Urgencies and Importunities with the Marquis of Rosny and the repeated instances of our General Deputies at Court with the said Lord they could never get from him so much as one Farthing by reason whereof the said Monsieur Guerin and his Sureties are in great trouble and threatned that they shall be compelled will they nill they to make payment or else to lie and die in Prison Wherefore they most humbly petition this Assembly to have compassion on the said Guerin and his Suretyes and to continue unto him that self-same Charitable Assistance until the next National Synod which was granted him in the last This Assembly would most cordially have complyed with their Desires But being bound up by His Majesties Order It cannot divert the Moneys given our Ministers for their Ministerial Labours unto any other Uses 14. Upon that complaint of John le Febure Bookseller and Citizen of Geneva against the Sieur Menuielle the younger 2. Vitre p. m. 21. at present Minister and Pastor of the Church of Orthez whose Judgment had bin dismissed to the Synod of Bearn which also was advised to injoyn him to go unto Geneva and there to justifie himself from the Crime imputed to him before the Magistrates of that City and in default thereof that Synod was to suspend him from the Ministry Now after hearing the Relation of all passages done at Geneva both before the Magistrate and Consistory at the instance of the said le Febre and the Mediation of the said Menuielle's Friends to compound the matter with him and the Letters written by the said le Febure unto the Synod of Bearn the Shifts and Subterfuges of the said Menueille and the Reasons inducing the Synod of Bearn not to suspend him being all urged by their Deputies This Assembly not brooking that a Man blasted in his Reputation and accused of the Crime of Fornication should be Countenanced in his Sin and incouraged in the Functions of the Sacred Ministry to the great Dishonour and Reproach of so High and Holy a Calling doth once more Exhort the Synod or Colloquie of Bearn to interdict the said Menuielle the Exercise of the Ministry until such time as he shall have fully cleared himself from the Crime imputed to him And notice hereof shall be given by Letters in our name unto the Synod of Bearn as also of some other matters
which we have judged fitting to acquaint them with according to that Communion which is betwixt us and them and these matters shall be notified to them by their Deputies 15. The Synod of Vitre ordained the Summ of Four Hundred Livres should be delivered unto the Lords our General Deputies for the defraying of several Expences that they should be necessitated to make at Court about Dispatches 2. Vitre g. m. 41. Expeditions and other Extraordinary Charges for the Service of our Churches And the Lord of Bertreville formerly our Deputy General having sent unto this Assembly an account of the disbursement of the said Summ made both by himself and the Lord Maniald his Colleague in the Exercise of their Office as also that they had deposited in the hands of Monsieur de la Riviere Pastor of the Church of Ronen an Hundred Sixty and Eight Livres being the remainder of the said Summ of Four Hundred Livres This Assembly returns their most hearty thanks unto the said Lord of Bertreville for his great care and faithfulness and ordains that the Summ aforesaid of an Hundred Sixty and Eight Livres should be put into the Common Treasury of the Church and that the like Summ of Four Hundred Livres shall be paid in to the Lords de Favas and Chalais our General Deputies to be used by them on the like occasions according as the necessity of our Affairs may demand it and for which they shall be accountable unto the next National Synod CHAP. VII Monsieur Chauves 's Report 16. MOnsieur John Chauve Pastor of the Church of Sommiers made Report how that in pursuance of the Commission given him and the Sieurs du Moulin Chameir and Rivet by the National Synod of Vitre to consult together of the most proper and necessary means to procure a good and firm Re-union of all the Churches which have quitted the Communion of the Church of Rome they would have Travelled into Holland and according to the Invitation and Desire of the High and Mighty Lords The States General of the Confederate Netherlands they would have personally assisted at that General Council of the Reformed Churches held at Dort which also was signified to the Province of Sevennes by our General Deputies at Court and by the Church of Paris unto them the said Chauve du Moulin Chamier and Rivet But that afterwards they brake off their Journey and came back again into Languedoc upon the Intelligence which he and Monsieur Chamier received at Geneva that they were forbidden by His Majesty to go unto that Council This Assembly approving of what the said Sieur Chauve had done and thanking him for it Ordered that the Expences of his Journey should be repayed him out of the Common Moneys of our Churches as should also those of Monsieur Chamier In consequence whereof the said Sieurs Chove and Chamier brought in their Accounts the Expences of Monsieur Chamier amounted to Two Hundred Eighty Five Livres and those of Monsieur Chouve to One Hundred Seventy Four Livres which the Lord Candal was ordered to pay unto them both without delay 17. The Sieur Paul Bennet remonstrated unto this Assembly how that the last Synod of Vitre had Ordained that he should not be restored unto the Ministry in the Province of Xaintonge â— Vitre Appâ—â—l 9. although he were perfectly absolved from that Crime imputed to him And that since having been absolved he was thereupon restored unto the Functions of the Sacred Ministry by the Synod of Poictu acting by Authority derivred from and in Obedience to that Decree of the said National Synod of Vitre which yet did not readmit him into the Ministry in the Province of Xaintonge Now he humbly petitioned this Assembly That they would be pleased to take off the said Restriction that so the blott cast upon his Ministry being expunged he might exercise it with Honour in Xaintonge as formerly and the Synod of Xaintonge from whence he came joyned with him in the same request which was attested both by their Synodical Act and viva voce by their Deputies notwithstanding an Appeal brought by the Colloquy of the Isles of the said Province of Xaintonge against the said Petition This Assembly having read the Decree of Vitre relating to him did not think meet to make any alteration in it But ordered that the free Portion of Moneys granted by His Majesty and due unto the said Bonnet by that Ordinance of Vitre should be pay'd in unto him And the said Province of Xaintonge is once again enjoyned to come to account with him and to make him good payment CHAP. VIII APPEALES 1 LEtters from the Consuls and Consistory of Realmont were presented by the Sieur Coras one of the Consuls of the said City unto this Assembly requesting that Monsieur Voisyn might be continued in his Ministry among them notwithstanding the Appeal of the Church of Montauban and of Pont de Camarez from the Synod of Puy Laurens in the Higher Languedoc which had lent him unto the Church of Mauvoysin until the sitting of the National Synod This Assembly commending the Zeal of the Church of Realmont hath ordained that he shall continue in the Service of their Church and exhorteth them to give all Contentment unto him their said Pastor according to that Affection which he hath ever born them And the Colloquies of Albigeois Lauragais and Lower Zuercy shall help the Church of Mauvesyn out of their Pastors until the Meeting of the next Provincial Synod as they have been intreated so to do by Monsieur de Maravat And to this purpose the said Colloquies shall be assembled as soon as the Deputies are returned from this Assembly without delay 2. The Province of Normandy craving an Augmentation of Moneys for the setting up of Two Colledges because of the great extent of the said Province This Assembly could not make any Additions to what had been ordained for them by former National Synods And as for the Appeal of the Church of Diep from the Decree of the Provincial Synod which had adjudged the Colledge of that Province unto the Town of St. Lo it was declared null and the Decree of the Provincial Synod ratified 3 The Sieur Gaussens Pastor of Ponteau de Mer appealed from the Judgment of the same Provinces for that they would never yield unto the repeared instances of himself and Father in divers Synods that he being freed from the Church in which he serveth and hath served ever since he was in the Ministry and from that Province he might live nearer his Aged Father that so he might be Comforted and Assisted by him in his declining Age especially sith his Reverend Father had at his own Charges bred him up unto the Ministry This Assembly having heard the Deputies of the Province arguing to the contrary and testifying of the fruitfulness and good success of his Ministry and the great Affection which his People bear him do ordain that according to the Discipline of
begin from that day he shall be chosen by the Church of Nismes and that time expired he shall return again unto Sommieres there to fulfill the Ministry he hath received from the Lord. 58. The Church of St. Martin de Bobaux appealed from the Synod of Sevennes for having assigned them no more than Ten Crowns in liew of all that assistance which was granted them by the National Synod of Vitre This Assembly ordained that the said Church of St. Martyn shall receive a free Portion discharged of all Rates and Taxes out of the Moneys appropriated to the said Province of Sevennes 59. The Church of Ars in the Isle of Re appealed from the Synod of Xaintonge because it had ordered Monsieur Chesnet their Pastor to be removed from them unto that of St. John de Angely The Letters of the said Church being read and the Deputies of the Province and the Sieur Chesnet being heard This Assembly confirms his Ministry in the Church of Ars and leaveth the Province of Xaintonge to take care for the Church of St. John d' Angely and to supply its present necessities by some other Person 60. The Lords Magistrates Consuls and Consistory of the City and Church of Nismes brought in their Appeal from the Synod of Higher Languedoc held at Mazieres for denying them Monsieur Chamier to be their Professor in Divinity The Remonstrances and Petitions of the Deputies of Lower Languedoc being heard as also the Arguments urged to the contrary by the Lords in the Government of Nismes and the Consistory and Council of the University of Montauban and the reasons of the Synod of Higher Languedoc being reported by the Deputies of that Province declaring the grounds of their Refusal This Assembly would not alter any thing in the said University of Montauban and therefore confirmed Monsieur Chamier in his Ministry and Professorship there and exhorts the Lords Magistrates and Consuls of the City of Montauban and the whole Church to give full contentment unto the said Monsieur Chamier that so he may be the more incouraged in his great labours among them and be the more useful to him 61. The Churches of Caen and Santal appealed from the Provincial Synod of Normandy about a certain Summ of Money assigned to the Colledge of the said Province But this Appeal was turned over to the nearest Colloquy of the Isle of France 62. The Church of St. Pons brought their Appeal from the Synod of Vivaretz held at Chasteauneuf for that it had appointed Monsieur de la Motte to be the Pastor of their Church together with that of Mirabel contrary to the desires of the said Church of Pons and that Fourscore Livres which was formerly assigned unto both those Churches in common were now wholly attributed by the same Province unto the sole Church of Mirabel This Assembly considering the many difficulties and obstructions that Monsieur de la Motte conflicts withall in the exercise of his Ministry in that Church of St. Pons doth injoyn the Colloquy of Aubenas to provide the said Sieur de la Motte of another Church and that they may do it the more easily it shall be by way of Exchange translating some other Minister into his place to whom Monsieur de la Motte shall be substituted and so the said Churches of St. Pons and Mirabel may continue incorporated each with the other and mutually enjoy the said Summ of Fourscore Livres an augmentation granted them by their Province towards the maintenance of their Minister And in case the Colloquy cannot provide a Church for the said Sieur de la Motte matters shall remain in the same State as they now be till the sitting of their next Provincial Synod And in the mean while the said Church of St. Pons shall be assisted and supplied by the Pastors of that Colloquy each of them preaching to it in his respective turn 63. An Appeal was brought by sundry of the Inhabitants of St. Lawrence D'aiguze in the Lower Languedoc against certain Orders of the Colloquy of Nismes held at Aimargues in February last and of the Synod of Lower Languedoc held at Vsez in the Moneth of May last for restoring the Sieur Gabriel Tuffan unto the Holy Ministry from which he was suspended by the Colloquy of Nismes held at the said Aimargues in July of the year 1619 though he was never duly absolved from those Crimes of which he was accused and for which he was suspended the Ministerial Office The Deputies of Lower Languedoc were heard declaring the Reasons of their Judicial Sentence and the Commissioners of the Colloquy of Nismes giving in theirs and the said Tuffan speak for himself After which the Assembly debated with themselves the whole Affair and censured the said Province and particularly their Commissioners for their want of gravity and gross self-contradiction in all their proceedings See concerning this Tuffan the 2 d. Synod of Charenton in the Catalogue of Apostates And as for the said Sieur Tuffan he being found guilty of plunging himself Head and Ears in State-Matters and Businesses of this World expresly contrary to the Precept of the Apostle and having thereby contracted on himself much guilt utterly unworthy a Person of his Calling This Assembly suspended him from the Sacred Ministry and interdicted him all the Functions thereof till the sitting of the next National Synod by which he may be restored provided that he bring with him sufficient Testimonials to it of his Repentance and Religious Conversation and of his serious improvement of this Publick Reprehension And in case the next National Synod cannot be conven'd in the year Sixteen Hundred Twenty and Three the Synod of the Lower Languedoc may restore him unto his Office but not to serve within the Precincts of the Colloquy of Nismes And in the mean while a Portion shall given him yearly for his subsistance free of all Rates and Taxes by the said Province And the Church of Bellegarde together with the annexed Congregations shall notwithstanding this Synodical Sentence past upon him give him the said Tuffan full satisfaction for the time that he did them Service as their Minister and the Colloquy shall see them do it 64. An Appeal was brought by the Church of Alez about a Pulpit set up in the midst of the Womens Seats which hath occasioned divers Quarrels Batteries Law-Suits and Suspensions from the Lords Table But the Decision of it was dismissed over to the Colloquy of Vsez in the Lower Languedoc CHAP. IX GENERAL MATTERS 1. THIS Assembly being informed of great Divisions fallen out in the Province of Lower Languedoc 2 Vitre g. m. â— through the multitude of Ministers who are personally present at their Political Provincial Assemblies and of manifold Inconveniencies arising from the Deputation of Pastors about State-Affairs and principally by sending them in business unto Court and designing a remedy for this sad disorder which doth reâ—ect upon the Ministry a world of Reproach and Scorn and diverteth Pastors
from their Studies and Ministerial Duties and is exceeding chargeable and incommodious unto their Churches It forbiddeth most expresly all Ministers in that Province and in all the other Provinces of this Kingdom to accept henceforwards of any Deputations unto Court or to become the Deputies of others although they be Persons of the greatest Quality or to be deputed unto them And it exhorts the said Province of Lower Languedoc to send their Deputies from Colloquies rather than from the Churches And it intreateth the next General Assembly to confirm this our Canon and if possible totally to discharge all Pastors of Churches from intermedling with State-Affairs And in short it doth injoyn Provincial Synods to take special Notice of such Ministers as shall accept of those Deputations and to prosecute them with the severest censures yea and to suspend them from their Ministry And in case the Provincial Synods prove negligent the National will take cognisance of this their neglect and call them to an account for it 2. Monsieur Boucheteau Minister of Gods Holy Word and the Sieurs de la Begaudiere de Benes Joly Bernard and du Puy Elders were appointed a Committee to audit the Accompts of the Lord du Candal 3. The Lords de la Riviere and de Juigne Ministers of the Gospel and de la Begaudiere de Benes Pusquet di Bouques and Joly Elders were nominated to receive the Accounts of our Colledges and Universities and to make report thereof unto this Assembly 4. The National Synod of Vitre having given Commission unto some certain Deputies of divers Provinces joyntly together with our Lords the General Deputies at Court to compel the Sieur Palot to accompt with them for those great Summs he is indebted unto the Churches 2 Vitre g. m. 4. and these according to their Commission having devolv'd it on the Consistory of Paris to take care of this concern who did to this purpose imploy the Sieurs Guidon and d' Huisseau Elders of the said Church of Paris Now the Letters of those two Gentlemen Monsieur Guidon and d' Huisseau being read as also the Memoirs of what they had done in their prosecution of the said Palot This Assembly approved and confirmed the Powers which had been granted them by the Lords our General Deputies and Consistory of the Church of Paris and it thanketh them for their great pains and intreat them to continue this their Prosecution and as a Testimonial of our Gratitude we do paesent them with Two Thousand Livres which they shall receive out of the first Moneys of the Four and Twenty Thousand Livres which the said Sieur Palot was condemned in open Court after the Tryal was heard to pay unto our Churches for which gratuity the said Sieurs Guidon and d' Huisseau shall being in their Account as also of the Overplus of the said 24000 Livrs But in case the said Summ of 24000 Livres should not be payd by the said Sieur Palot yet the Summ of 2000 Livres wherewith they be presented by this Assembly may be taken by them out of the clearest Moneys which shall be received from the said Palot And as for those other great Summs remaining due from him unto the Churches This Assembly doth freely give and grant unto the said Guidon and d' Huisseau a quarter part of whatever may be recovered by them provided they pursue the Processes and Suits in Law at their own Costs and Charges without expecting any other gratification or reimbursement from the Churches And if perchance the said Gentlemen should not accept of these conditions and refuse to finish the prosecution of this Affair hitherto undertaken and performed by them then shall they be reimburst of all their pass Expence and Charges according to the report they shall make of them in all Sincerity and Justice unto the Consistory of the Church of Paris which shall notifie it unto all the Provinces and they conjoyntly with our Lords the General Deputies shall make an equal Dividend of the Paper and Accounts relating to those Summs among all the Provinces that so every particular Province may prosecute the said Palot for their respective Summs in such a way and manner as best pleaseth them In pursuance of this Decree Letters of Attorney were ordered to be given unto the said Guidon and d' Huisseau by the Deputies of the Isle of France provided they would by a publick Act of their own Signed and Sealed stipulate to their Approbation and acceptance of this present Synodical Act and Decree and promise to go thorough with the prosecution of the said Palot conformably to the Conditions and Terms propounded and included in it 5. Forasmuch as there is a most dreadful Deluge of Ungodliness overflowing the whole Land and horribly corrupting all Ranks and Degrees of Men amongst us which doth call aloud unto us to humble our selves before God and the late doleful Changes hapned in the Churches of Bearn and in divers other Churches and Provinces united and incorporated with us which are either ruinated or upon the very brink of ruine and destruction do all warn invite and summon us to turn away Gods Wrath from us by a most serious and speedy Repentance and sincere Conversion Therefore this Assembly ordaineth that a Publick Fast shall be solemnly kept and observed in this Church of Alez on Saturday the Fourteenth of November and on the first Thursday in March next ensuing in all the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom 6. A Motion and Petition from the Province of Normandy St. Maixant Observ 2.2 Vitre g. m. 11. that there might be a special Canon made with reference unto our Proposans because all former Orders have been ineffectual and very great Inconveniences do fall out dayly through want of a sufficient knowledge of the Qualities and Conversations of such as we are to receive into the Ministerial Office This Assembly is of another Opinion judging that there is no need of any new Canons But it enjoyneth all the Provinces exactly to observe those which are inserted into the Body of our Discipline and in the Acts of our National Synods and not to lay on hands suddenly on any Person And whereas those said inconveniencies have risen hence that the Doctors and Professors in our Universities have been over-liberal and too too favourable in their Testimonials given to our Scholars they shall be admonished for time to come never to grant them out of favour or respect to any person contrary to Truth and Sincerity And in like manner all the Provinces be forbidden to admit the Scholar of another Province into the Ministry among them without the express consent and attestation of that Province from whence he departeth 7. The Lord of Candal shall not pay any Money unto any Member of nor to any Person that comes from the Political Assemblies without a particular Order under the hand of the Receiver of the Province and to be charged on the account of the Provincial Synods And in
case he do otherwise those Summs so payed by him shall not be allowed in his Accompts nor shall those Receivers give him an Acquittance for them 8. The Moneys granted us by His Majesty shall not be diverted from those Uses to which they were originally intended our National Synods having ordained that they be distributed among the Ministers and to the Widows of the poorer Pastors and to our young Scholars and Students in Divinity and to the defraying of Synodical Charges when as the necessities of our Churches shall require such Assemblies 〈◊〉 Maxiant Obâ—ervat 5. on the former Syâ—â—â— 9. The Province of Poictu moved that a Canon might be past for determining the Age of Ministers Children who are to be received into the number of Scholars Pensioners by the Provinces This Assembly leaveth it to the prudence of Colloquies and Synods to ascertain it according to the Decree of the National Synod of Maixant 10. Mr. James Hubner came unto this Assembly as he had done unto hat last National one held at Vitre 1 〈…〉 2. presenting Letters from the Lords of the Canton of Bearne requesting on behalf of Monsieur Hubner his Father that he might be reimburst of divers great Summs of Money owing unto Monsieur Sturmius deceased Father of the Wife of the said Hubner This Assembly answered him that none of the Writings produced by him did bind or oblige our Churches but the late King Henry the Great of Glorious Memory and the late Prince of Conde And therefore Letters shall be written in the Name of this Assembly unto the Lords of Bearn to inform and certifie them of the Truth of this Matter and an Hundred Livres were given unto the said Mr. Hubner to pay the Expences of his Journey hither without ever hoping for the future of drawing any Moneys from our National Synods 11. Forasmuch as divers Churches are decaying Poictiers g. m. 21. and will at last be dissolved for want of maintenance for their poor Ministers All our Churches are exhorted That as they love the increase and advancement of Christ's Kingdom they would endeavour to raise a Fund either by Gifts from the Living or Legacies from Dying Persons in their last Wills and Testaments or by any other convenient ways That so the Sacred and unvaluable Treasure of Gods Word may be alwayes conserv'd among us and our Off-Spring after us in Generations to come may be Educated and confirmed in the True Religion 12. The Lord of Candal shall be personally present at our next National Synod that he may have his Commission confirmed by the Universal approbation of our Churches and the Lords General Deputies shall see to it that the said Commission bear not the Title of an Office And the said Lord of Candal is intreated to give Notice unto the Provinces of the time when he can make payment unto the Provincial Receivers of their Quarterly Dividend and of the Quantity of the Summ wherewith they may be furnished and the Copies of his Letters sent them in which shall be presented the Transcripts of all Acquittances for Moneys paid by him already and that he may hereafter pay unto the Pastors And he shall produce all his Acquittances before the Lords our General Deputies and the Consistory of the Church of Paris or such Persons as shall be deputed by them to audit his Accompts that so they may be verified in our National Synods In all which he shall demonstrate his diligence for the payment of the Moneys on all Bills and Orders that have been put into his hands and in default thereof there shall be Reprisals made on his Accompts 13. A Motion was made by the Province of Sevennes that all Publick Notaries professing the Reformed Religion might be forbidden in their executing of Marriage Contracts to make a Gift of the Bodies of betroathed Persons especially where one is of a contrary Religion until such time as the Consistory of that Church shall have taken cognisance thereof Privas Observat 9. upon the Discipline This Assembly leaveth it to the prudence of the Province of Sevennes or any other where such things as these be practised to make a By-Law which may most effectually contribute unto their future edifying 14. That Order passed in the Province of Xaintonge excluding the president of the last Provincial Synod from being chosen Moderator in the next 1. Paris 2. and that he who was deputed unto one National Synod may not be unto the ensuing was repealed and vacated Provincial Synods being left in full liberty to nominate any Persons whom they shall judge meetest for both the Employments according to our Church-Discipline 15. The Province of Burgundy demanded 3. Rochel Observat 17. 2. Vitre Observat 10. whether was most expedient to choose Moderators and Deputies for Synods by a low or loud Vote This Assembly is of opinion that for the avoiding of many Inconveniences it were best to make those Elections by a low Voice 16. The Province of Dolphiny moved whether a Minister might together with his Ministry exercise the Profession of Philosophy 1. Rochel Observ 18. This Assembly judgeth that these two Professions are not convenient to be discharged by one Man at the same time 17. Forasmuch as every particular Church is obliged to raise a certain Stipend for its Pastors St. Maixant Appeal 16. no Minister nor Pastor of any Church shall touch a doit of the Kings Money but it shall be payd him in by his Consistory and all Expences in Travel unto Synods and other Ecclesiastical Meetings shall be defrayed by the Churches themselves that so the Ministers may be freed of all manner of Reproach and may in no wise be diverted from their Studies and Duties of their Calling by the care of worldly matters And Synods shall make inquiry after such as do transgress this Canon and correct them by all Church-Censures But this shall not be so understood as if Ministers were hereby debarred the receiving of the Moneys granted us by His Majesty or to give Acquittance for it provided they give in an Account thereof unto their Churches and that they do not make with them any secret Bargain or Covenant for it 18. The Protestants are Exhorted to make in every Church Collections for the poor persecuted Protestants of the Marquisate of Salluces and the Moneys so collected shall be put into the hands of Monsieur Gras living at Lions 19. In all Churches there shall be kept a Register of all Marriages Baptismes and Burials 20. The Pastors and Professors in the Church of Genvea shall be desired Montauban g. m. 46. to suffer no new French Translations of the Bible to be printed in their City nor that any alterations be made in our Liturgy And that if they have any Annotations for the common received Translation they would be pleased to print them by themselves and before they do it to give notice thereof unto the Churches of this Kingdom and to
take our advice first in it CHAP. X. FORM of EXCOMMUNICATION 2. Paâ—is 2. 2. Vitre 2. Observaâ— upon the Discipline 21 THE Province of Poictou requested that there might be another Form of Excommunication framed of a larger Nature than that in our Discipline because the horrible Corruptions of the Age we live in do indispensably need it and call upon us loudly to put it in Execution Whereupon this Form following was drawn up See the Excommunicat 〈◊〉 Jâ—â—emy Ferâ—â—er in the â—nd of the Synod of Tâ—â—neiâ—s My Brethren This is the Fourth time that we declare unto you that N. N. hath been suspended the Lords Table for that hainous Crime of N. committed by him to the great scandal of the Church of God and yet he continues impenitent and rejecteth all Counsels and Admonitions that have been given him which suspension and its causes we have fully notified unto you that you might joyn your Prayers with ours unto the great God to soften his stony heart and to move him unto Repentance and to bring him out of the high and broad way of destruction But notwithstanding our Indulgence to him and long suffering and forbearance of him although we have prayed intreated threatned and adjured him to break off his sinful courses and to return unto the Lord and tryed all means to bring him unto Repentance he yet persisteth in his Ungodliness and Impenitency and is more obstinate and hardned in his Rebellions against God and tramples under foot his Holy Word and scorneth that Discipline which God hath set up in his Church boasting himself of his Sin and causeth unto the Church for a very long time a world of grief and trouble and the Holy and Effectual Name of Jehovah our God to be blasphemed Wherefore we Ministers of the Word and Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ whom God hath armed with Spiritual Weapons Mighty through God to destroy the strong holds of Sin which oppose and exhalt themselves against him and to whom the Eternal Son of God hath given an ample Power of binding and loosing in Earth declaring that what we shall do here below he will ratifie and make it good in Heaven we being willing to purge and cleanse the House of God and to free the Church from all Reproach and Scandal and to glorifie the Name of God by pronouncing an Anathema upon the Wicked and Godless Sinner We do in the Name and by the Authority of our Lord Jesus and by and with the Advice of the Pastors and Elders assembled in the Colloquy at N. and of the Consistory of the Church of N We have and do cut off the said N. from the Communion of the Church we do Excommunicate him and cast him out of the Society of Gods Saints that he may be reputed by you as a Publican and Pagan and that among the faithful he may be an Anathema and Execration Let his Company be lookt upon as contagious and plaguy and his Example possess your Souls with terror and horror and make you tremble under the Mighty Hand of God and know that 't is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God And this our Sentence of Excommunication the Son of God himself will ratifie and may he succeed and prosper it in such an effectual manner that this proud Sinner being ashamed and confounded before God may give Glory to him by his Conversion and that being deliver'd from the power of the Devil who hath hitherto kept him in Chains and Bondage he may be sorry for his Sin with a Godly sorrow and turn from it with a repentance unto life never to be repented of Let us my well-beloved Brethren call upon our God that he would be pleased to yearn with the bowels of his compassion upon this vile and miserable Creature and that this horrible Sentence which to our very great regret and grief we pronounce against him by and with the Authority of the Son of God may serve to abase and humble him and to reduce him into the way of Life and Salvation who hath wandred and strayd as a lost Sheep in the crooked paths of destruction Amen! Amen! Cursed is he who doth the Work of the Lord negligently Amen! If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha Amen! 22. The Province of Xaintonge craved advice what course we might take with them who take out from the Courts of Parliament Prohibitions against the Orders and Censures of the Church as if they were intolerable abuses This Assembly injoyneth all Synods Colloquies and Consistories to procede against such Persons as Rebels against the Discipline of our Church and to inflict upon them the last and heaviest censure of Excommunication provided they have first endeavoured by the ways of Love and Kindness and Grave Religious Counsels to reduce such Persons unto their Duty and to subject them unto our Church Orders CHAP. XI The Canons of the Synod of Dort incorporated with those of the Reformed Churches of France 23 A Motion was made in this National Synod that some course should be taken in time to prevent the spreading of the Arminian Errors that have of late so much troubled the Churches of the Netherlands that they create no trouble to the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom This Assembly embraced the motion very readily and approved of it as very laudable just and needful for the peace of the Church of God and for the Conservation of the purity of our Doctrine and for the farther strengthning of our Union with the Foreign Reformed Churches and therefore counting the Maladies of the Low-Country Churches a very fair Advertisement and warning unto us and that we may imitate so excellent an Example and prevent the danger threatned us by making use of these self-same means they did for the Expulsion of those Errors out of their Bowels wherefore forasmuch as the National Synod of Dort called by the Authority wise Counsel and vigilant forecast of their High and Mighty Lordships the States General of the Confederate Netherlands and of all the United Provinces under their Jurisdiction and Government and in which assisted personally divers great and very Learned Divines from many other Reformed Churches of our Lord Jesus hath been in the Netherlands and still is a most effectual remedy for the Reformation of the Church and the grubbing of Heresies in the Article of Predestination and its depencies This Assembly after invocation of the Name of God decreed that the Articles of the said National Council held at Dort should be read in full Synod which being read accordingly and every Article ponder'd most attentively they were all received and approved by a common unanimous consent as agreeing with the Word of God and the Confession of Faith in these our Churches that they were framed with singular prudence and purity that they were very meet and proper to detect the Arminian Errors and to confound them for which reason all the
they might be joyned unto Sevennes As for their Incorporation with the Province of Sevennes this Assembly sends them back unto the Synod of Burgundy to whom they shall deliver this Petition of theirs and take out thence an Act to be presented unto the next National Synod And whereas Two Portions were assigned the said Church of Paillac the one of them shall be free and discharged of all Rates and Taxes whatsoever and the other shall be of the same Nature with those of the other Churches in the Province of Burgundy 17. There was ordained the Summ of Forty and Eight Livres to be paid unto the Sieurs Guarin Ressens Gabet and Mercurin Pastors to witt Twelve Livres to each of them for Eight Days they have tarryed in this Town at the Commandment of this Assembly which said Summ shall be paid them by the Lord of Candal out of the common Stock of the Churches 18. Monsieur Blewett remonstrated on behalf of the Church of Martille the great Expences they have been necessitated and enforced to by reason of the many and frequent changes of Pastors imposed upon them by the Province of Burgundy which hath utterly disabled them to maintain the said Mr. Blewett their present Minister The Province of Burgundy is exhorted to take care of this matter and 't is enjoyned to give unto the Church of Isurtille one Portion and half of the Kings Money until such time as they be reimburst of their Moneys expended about the change and removal of their Ministers Of this Joly see Castres AA 50. Of Appeals Catalogue of Depositions Act. 9. 19. Mr. James Joly Pastor of the Church of Milhaud having made report unto this Assembly of the great charge lying upon him and especially for that the Family of his Brother being destitute of all Relief must now be maintained by him This Assembly to testifie their Charity and Compassion towards them ordaineth That a free Portion shall be assigned the Province of Higher Languedoc which shall deliver it unto the said James Joly and this Order shall be in force and continue till the next National Synod See App. 24. And as for the Papers which contain the Acts and Ecclesiastical proceedings against Mr. Hector Joly and were produced in this Synod they shall not be restored to him but shall be kept according to the appointment of this Assembly 20. The Petitions of the Church of Issoyre were presented by Monsieur le Blanc their Pastor 2 Vitre g. m. 28. This Assembly ordained that the concern of the said Church shall be recommended unto our Lords the General Deputies attending upon His Majesty And the Portions attributed unto the Churches of Issoyre and of the Mountains of Auvergne shall be continued them until the next National Synod And whereas they demand maintenance to be allowed them for a Colledge This Assembly cannot at present make any alteration in the Decrees of the Synod of Vitre nor can it possibly restore the new Colledge in Auvergne except Almighty God should out of his Soveraign Mercy be graciously pleased to augment the number of our Churches 21. The Church of Beaune is ordained to satisfie Monsieur Blewett for his service among them whilst he was their Pastor Vigeac 33. and till they do this they shall not be provided of another Minister 22. The Church of Marseilles and Monsieur Ressens their Pastor complained that of the Moneys given them by former National Synods there is a very considerable Summ owing them from the Province of Provence and this by the Judgment of the University-Council of Nismes which was appointed by the Synod of Lower Languedoc with full and absolute Authority from the National Synod of Vitre to judge of this Affair This Assembly commissionated the Sieurs Joly de Benes and Boisleroy to Audit those Accounts who reported that they found the Province of Provence indebted unto the Sieur Ressens the Summ of One Thousand Six Hundred Livres Sixteen Sols and Ten Deniers unto the Seventh of December last the Rights of the Receiver of the said Province being deducted This Assembly ordained That there should be paid unto Monsieur Ressens in ready Money the Summ of Five Hundred Livres by the said Province and whereas there remaineth due One Thousand One Hundred Twenty and Three Livres Sixteen Sols and Ten Deniers this shall be payd him also either in ready Money or Moneys-worth at the next Colloquy of Gapensois which is ordered to make good payment and to produce his Acquittances and farther to allow the said Monsieur Ressens for his Expences in these Expences both at Grenoble and elsewhere in executing the Decree of the said University-Council of Nismes for which the said Province of Provence shall give him Thirty Livres 23. Divers defaults having been observed in the Government of the Churches of Provence 2. Vitre Act. 16. as appeared from the Acts of their Synods which were read openly in this Assembly and from a particular Inquiry made thereinto by the Province of Lower Languedoc which Was Commissionated by the last National Synod of Vitre to visit the said Province Now that these great Disorders may be prevented and avoided for time to come these following Canons were first framed and then injoyned the said Province of Provence to be most exactly observed in every Point and Article by it CHAP. XIV CANONS for the PROVINCE of PROVENCE 1 THE Provincial Synod of Provence before it breaketh up shall determine of some certain place where the next Synod shall be held and nominate the Church that shall have the right of calling them together and that Church by and with the Advice and Consent of the Two nearest Churches shall appoint the time of their meeting 2. No Person of what Quality or Condition soever shall be admitted into those Synodical Assembles without Letters of Commission from his Consistory And in the mean while the Consistories are exhorted to receive the Gentry into the Office of Elders that so they may be capable of being Deputed unto the Synods 3. No other Matters shall be treated of or debated in those Synodical Assemblies but such as be purely Ecclesiastical 4. The Synodical Offices shall be so distributed as that all Ground and Occasion of Envy Jealousie and Discord may be avoided and removed 5. The Scribes of the Synod shall not couch the Synodical Acts or Articles in forensical Forms or Terms of Law but in a Natural plainness and brevity 6. The Deputies shall not depart from their Synod till such time as their Acts have been fully concluded on read and subscribed and the said Acts shall be read over in the next ensuing Sessions 7. In all pecuniary matters the Decrees or our National Synods shall be strictly followed which ordered all Appeals on those Occasions to be dismissed over to the next adjoyning Province whatever the Summ may be And Pastors are exhorted not to quit their Churches for such Affairs unless their presence at the Debate about them
and Honour to the Church of Orange doth grant them the said Monsieur de Chambrun for their Pastor but with this proviso that he shall continue in the Service of the Church of Nismes till such time as they be provided of another Minister 31. Letters were read from his Excellency the Prince of Orange and the Lords Curators of the University and the Burgomaster of the City of â—eyden in Holland requesting that Monsieur Rivet might be confirmed in his Office of Divinity-Professor in the said University either for his Life or else at least till the meeting of the next National Synod After hearing the terms on which the Province of Poiclou had consented to the dismission of the said Monsieur Rivett and the Letter of the Heads of Families in the City of Thouars and the Church there granting Aprolongation of his terme of two years unto the said University This Assembly highly valuing the Favour and Honour of such an Illustrious Prince and his great Merits from all the Reformed Churches and that most strict and intire Union betwixt the Holy Churches of the Netherlands and ours of France doth yield that the said Monsieur Rivett shall be continued for two years more unto the Famous University of Leyden which terme being expired he shall return unto his Church according to the Agreement past between them 32. Monsieur Marmet declaring his great poverty This Assembly knowing his eminent Zeal and Piety have granted him his Request and discharge him from his Church leaving him full liberty to accept of any other place whereunto he may be called and may tend most to the Glory of God and his own Temporal and Eternal benefit 33. A Petition from Monsieur Ferrier formerly a Carthusian Monk but now a Professor of the Reformed Religion and residing in the Province of Anjou where he was born This Assembly exhorts the said Province of Anjou to continue unto him his Pension of Eight Pence a Day and not as they have done to defaulk from it because of his Age and Quality And the Province of Britain where he first quitted his Monastery and Popery are desired to provide him yearly a new Suit of Clothes throughout 34. Monsieur Josian having been lent by the Province of Higher Languedoc unto the Church of Montauban for Six Moneths and recalled from them by the Church of Castres whereof he was Minister before the Expiration of that terme The Church of Montauban petitioned that he might be lent them for a much longer time and because of their continual and growing necessity they desire that Monsieur Garissoles may be lent them also This Assembly having a very high esteem for the said Church of Montauban and considering its Necessities and Importance ordains that Monsieur Josian shall be lent them for Three Months And notwithstanding all the Excuses and Remonstrances of Monsieur Garissoles not to be removed from the Service of his Church of Puylaurens yet shall he also be lent unto that of Montauban for Six Months at the end whereof the said Sieurs Josian and Gâ—rissoles shall each of them return unto their own Churches nor may that of Montauban make any private bargains or agreements with them 35. Monsieur Capel Professor of the Hebrew Tongue in our University of Saumur complained that he having boarded a certain Scholar called du Duc recommedned to him by the Church of Bourdeaux and now imployed by the Province of Lower Guyenne yet was not payed for his Diet and Lodging This complaint of his was ordered to be sent unto the aforesaid Province or to the Church of Burdeaux who are both intreated by this Assembly to make him full satisfaction as they are bound in Conscience to see it done 36. The Church of Montauban complained against the Province of Lower Guyenne about some certain Scholars who having renounced Popery had been maintained by them but they could never be reimbursed their charges This complaint of theirs was dismissed over to the Province of Xaintonge whose Synod should put a full and final period to it 37. Upon the Remonstrance of the Church of Montauban See above 12. Observat upon the Discipline That it hath been an Ancient Custom with them for their Elders to deliver the Cup. This Assembly would not alter any thing in those Decrees which it had enacted in the Chapter of Observations upon the Discipline and therefore commandeth all Pastors without Exceptions to conform unto our Established Order 38. Monsieur Raffin Pastor of the Church of Realmont petitioned for some Relief to help him in his defence of the Church of Venez which is dangerously prosecuted by our Enemies and Monsieur de Combalasse Pastor of the said Church presented another Petition to the same effect This Assembly dismissed them both and their Affair unto the Province of Higher Languedoc who are ordered to assist the said Raffin as they shall judge convenient and pay in unto the said Sieur Combalasse his Portion free of all Taxes and Costs whatsoever until such time as the Church of Venez shall injoy the Legacy bequeathed them by the Lady of Venez lately deceased and as to the troubles raised against the said Church of Venez they shall be recommended to our Lords the General Deputies at Court 39. The Request of Monsieur Balarand for the Church of Brassac is dismissed over by the Province of Higher Languedoc to take care therein according as the Necessities of the said Church and the great Merits of the said Reverend and Worthy Minister do demand he having continued his Labours for many years together in the said Province in the Lords Vineyard 40. The Province of Lower Guyenne and the Church of Bourdeaux petitioned that some Moneys might be granted them in recompence of their great Charges in defending themselves at Law against the Lord of St. Angel This Assembly applauded the Zeal of the Church of Bourdeaux but could not give them any Moneys 41. The Church of Puymiroll presented a Petition craving some speedy Relief for that their whole Town was lately burnt by a most dreadful Fire This Assembly Exhorts the Province of Lower Guyenne and the Neighbouring Provinces to assist the said Church of Puymirol by some special Collections And the afflicted State of the distressed Inhabitants of that Town is recommended to the Lords General Deputies who shall move it unto His Majesty that by His Royal Bounty they may be graciously Relieved 42. This Assembly understanding by Letters from the Church of Gignac their sore affliction and straits to which they be reduced by the impetuous Assaults of their Adversaries have sent the Reverend Monsieur Faucheur Minister of the Gospel and Professor of Divinity in the University of Nismes to visit comfort and strengthen them And the Province of Lower Languedoc is ordered to defray the Charges of his Journey 43. The Province of the Isle of France repeated afresh their Complaints formerly made by them in the Synod of Vitre against Monsieur Perrery for not satisfying the
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
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
Church-History wherein we may have the rise growth and progress of all Controversies and their confutation by the Sacred Scriptures for the greater Edification of Gods Church 10. The same Province demanded Whether Consistories might compel an Advocate by Ecclesiastical Censures to depose against his Client such matters as had been secretly communicated to him This Assembly considering that Advocates are intrusted with many Secrets and obliged by the Duties of their Office and Calling to conceal Matters confided to them by their Clients judgeth that no Consistories ought to urge them to it unless in cases of High Treason or things of such great importance 11. The Provincial Deputies Commissionated to our National Synods shall not be suffered to plead for any Church or private Person who appeals from the Judgment of their Province But it shall be lawful for them to bring with them the Memoirs and Instructions of the said Churches and particular Appellants and tender them unto the National Synods who may leave them in the hands of Commissioners to make report of them 12. This Synod ratifying the Decrees of former Synods forbiddeth all Colloquies and Provincial Synods to divert the Moneys given us by the King in any manner whatsoever from their primary use and intendment whereunto they were appointed and ordaineth that they shall be only employed towards the maintenance of our Ministers and the upholding of the Sacred Ministry of the maintenance of our Universities Colledges Proposans the Widows of Pastors and they shall be expended in defraying the necessary Charges of our National Synods according to the Will and Pleasure of His Majesty 13. Monsieur d' Huisseau appearing in this Assembly as he and Monsieur Guydon had been ordered to give an account of their prosecuting Monsieur Palot for the recovery of those great Summs of Money he was indebted unto the Churches He declared that both himself and the said Monsieur Guidon now absent since the last National Synod held at Alez which they had acquainted with the process commenc't by them against the said Palot could not make any great progress therein because of the Wars which a little while after brake out and for that the Commissioners appointed by the King to audit the said Palots Accounts were all out of the way But yet notwithstanding they had not been altogether idle nor lost their time For though this Affair were exceedingly imbroyl'd yet had they got such light into it as would be very beneficial unto the Churches and not only to some of them which were more particularly concern'd above other but would be very useful to the Exchequer it self and to the said Monsieur Palot That the difficulty formerly experienc't in getting Commissioners who might examin the Accompts of the said Palot had made them conclude that to bring this Affair to an happy period it were best to carry and leave it with the Sedentary Judges as those are in the Sovereign Courts And since the opening of this Synod the Lord Malat Secretary to His Majesty a Man of great Probity Capacity and Intelligence and very well known did by a third Person make this offer That in case he would give him a quarter of what Moneys might be gotten in from this Affair he would undertake the prosecution of it without ever demanding any thing else from the Churches for defraying his Costs and Expences If therefore it would please this Synod to continue and prorogue for Six Moneths longer unto the said Lords Guidon and d' Huysseau the faculties and powers granted and confirmed to them by the last Synod of Alez and give them leave to associate with them the said Lord of Mallat and to prosecute this Affair in such Courts and Jurisdictions as they should think good on condition that one quarter of what might be recovered should be given them in lieu of all their Charges and Recompence they hoped that within the term of Six Moneths the Churches should be well contented with their pains and undertakings and reap the fruit and injoy the benefit of them And that an estimate might be made of their progress in this Law-Suit within that time This Assembly is desired to Authorize the Synod of the Isle of France to take cognisance thereof that so according to the success and profit had and obtained they may either order it to be continued or surceased Moreover this Assembly is requested to charge the Lords our General Deputies to come in and assist the said Lords Guidon Mallat and d' Huisseau upon such occasions as do occur and when as they shall be desired by them But the Synod thought it more convenient before they proceeded any farther to conferr in the first place with the Sieur Palot because we had now an easie opportunity for so doing and therefore voted that the Seur Palot should be intreated to come unto this Assembly which accordingly he did and upon discourse he offered that if this Assembly would be pleased to nominate a Committee of their own Members he would very willingly confer with them about this Affair Whereupon the Lords of Montmartyn one of our General Deputies Basnage a Pastor Du Port du Four and de Launay Elders together with Monsieur d' Huisseau were appointed to confer with the said Palot and see if they could bring him to put a fair and amicable end unto it Who having discoursed with him informed this Assembly that he was so far from compounding with the Churches and refunding any thing unto them of the great Summs demanded by us that on the contrary he avowed they were very much indebted to him The Synod hereupon Commissionated the Lords Durant and Mestrezat Pastors Marbau Massoners Biggot and de L' Aunay Elders of the Church of Paris to act joyntly together with the Lords of Montmartyn and Manialt our General Deputies or with any one of them in the absence of the other and to resolve and conclude in the Name and behalf of our Churches whatsoever they should conceive meet in this Affair and to treat and agree with one or more Sollicitors and to give full Powers unto him or them to prosecute it on such Articles and Conditions as in their Wisdoms would most contribute to the Weal Benefit and Advantage of our Churches And to this purpose a special Letter of Attorney was Sealed to them and Delivered by all the Provincial Deputies of the Churches in this Synod but on this Condition that he or they with whom they agreed should not demand nor pretend unto any Moneys of right from the said Churches for their Pains Costs Losses or Sallaries in the pursuit and sollicitation of this Affair 14. The Lord of Candal came into this Assembly and assured it of the continuance of his sincere Affections and Service unto the Churches and did farther declare and notifie with how much diligence and importunity he and the Lords General Deputies for Five Moneths together in this present year had sollicited both His Majesty and the Lords of his
Council that the Moneys granted by his Bounty unto the Churches might be assigned on some particular Tally for this year That a long time was spent before he could find any success of his endeavours But at last they would give him Orders and Assignations which in truth he refused to accept because he knew them to be naught and worth nothing And that finally about the end of the last April they had given him others which he was constrained to take because he saw the Lords of the Council fixed in their resolutions of giving him none other That indeed these latter Assignations were a little better than the former but it would be a very great while before any payment were made that it would be at least Six or Eight Moneths before the first Summ would become due that the whole Assembly knew they would not grant him any Order or Tally for the last year 1622 yea and His Majesty had revoked his former grant of Moneys to the Churches for the year 1621 and employed them elsewhere to some other purposes And as for the Arrears due unto us in the foregoing years he had took all care possible and used the utmost diligence to recover them but with very little or no success that he had brought in his Accompts and prayed the Assembly to constitute a Committee to audit and close them The Assembly having most heartily thanked the said Lord of Candal for his singular care respects and kindnesses upon all occasions expressed unto the Churches and desired the continuance of his Love did nominate Messieurs de Basnage and Le Clark Pastors du Port and du Four Elders to peruse and examine his Accompts And whereas a world of inconveniencies will befal our Churches by so long delay of paying in the Moneys granted us by His Majesty for this year now current the Synod deputed the Sieurs de L' Angle a Pastor and du Port an Elder and the Lords of Montmartyn and Candal to wait upon His Majesty and on the behalf of this Assembly most humbly to beseech him to grant some other Assignations and Orders for the more speedy paying in of His Majesties Great Bounty unto our Churches and that as a Token of His Royal Goodness and Liberality he would be pleased to add some other Summs to us instead of those which have been taken from us in the last foregoing years we having received not so much as one farthing or doibt for them 15. A few dayes after the said Deputies being returned from the King they made Report in this Assembly how Graciously they had been received by His Majesty who assured them that in case his said Subjects of the Reformed Religion continued in their Duty and Obedience he would alwayes give them all possible content And the same Expressions of kindness they received also from the Lords of His most Honourable Privy Council who ordered out of hand Forty Thousand Livres to be payed in unto them they yielding up unto their Lordships the old Warrants for the like Summ but as for what was requested about reimbursing us the years past by fixing those Summs due unto us on some other Tallies and Assignations their Honours were pleased to say There was no reason why they should promise it 16. The Province of Anjou requested that the University of Saumur might not any longer be left destitute of Professors in Divinity but that some speedy care and course might be taken to send Monsieur Cameron to be Professor of that faculty in it The Lord Commissioner and Deputy for His Majesty unto this Synod declared that it was the Will and Pleasure of His Majesty that those two Gentlemen Mr. Gilbert Primrose and Mr. John Cameron should not be preferred neither of them to any Publick Office either of Pastors in the Churches or of Pastors and Professors in the Churches and Universities of this Kingdom not because of their Birth as being Foreigners but for some private Reasons of State relating to his Service And the said Lord of Galland presented us His Majesties Letters Written and Signed with His Own Hand Lewes and a little lower de L' Omeny Dated the Twenty Fifth day of this present Moneth The Assembly understanding this to be His Majesties pleasure would not put it to the Vote Whether they should be continued or not in their Ministry but deputed the Sieurs Cottiby Minister of the Gospel and du Bois and St. Martyn Elders together with the Lord of Montmartyn General Deputy to carry unto His Majesty a Petition from this Assembly wherein this Assembly did most humbly beseech His Majesty that as he had lately with his own Mouth most graciously promised so His Majesty would be pleased to give Order that all our Ministers might as fully injoy the fruit and benefit of his promise CHAP. XV. N. B. What picque the King of France had against Monsieur Cameron as I cannot tell so I shall not write my guesses and conjectures about it because they may be and may not be true Mr. Cameron if he had designed what afterwards some others attempted a coalition of both the Religions Protestant and Popish yet certainly was no Papist yea far enough from their Doctrine and Worship But he had angred the Jesuits not so much as his Reverend Colleague and Countreyman And this was the true reason why Monsieur Primrose was necessitated to quit Bourdeaux and France when as Cameron was permitted to tarry and return to Bourdeaux and was preferred unto the Professors Chair in Divinity afterwards at Montauban On Whitsunday in the year 1619. Father Arnoux the Jesuit preaching before the King Queen and Court of France in the Castle of Amboise attempted a Task impossible to whiten Blackamores to wash or wipe his Church clean and especially his own Order from an indelible blot viz. That they held it lawful to kill Kings This the Jesuit with a boldness and audaciousness which is the proper Talent of their Society would have some how or other evaded He assures that Royal Auditory with the greatest confidence that it was never the Doctrine of their Catholick Church never believed by these good Fathers that Subjects might lawfully rebel against their Sovereigns yea that it doth anathematize all those who teach and preach that the Sacred Persons of Princes may be lawfully made away and murdered yea that the whole Society of Jesuits doth condemn detest and as much as hi them lieth doth anathematize all Advisers Abettors and Aiders of Rebels against their King upon any pretext vvhatsoever His Majesty and that vvhole illustrious Auditory vvere overjoyed at this free and liberal Declaration of the Jesuit and quitted the Sermon as they said very much edified And His Majesty told it publickly that he had great reason to be pleased with the Fathers of the Society and that Father Arnoux had in the Name and stead of them all plainly and fully enough condemned the Book of Mariana Monsieur Primrose vvas present at this Sermon and
this Synod and the Attestations of the Church and Consistory of Montauban and of the Synod of Higher Languedoc being produced and read who certified of the Godly Conversation of the said Joly ever since his Deposal and all requesting his Restauration This Synod judgeth that he may be reinstated once more into his Ministerial Office but yet nevertheless for a farther Proof and Tryal of his Repentance and Conversion his re-establishment is deferred till the meeting of the next National Synod 8. The Deputy of the Province of Bearne reported that their Circumstances were such at present as would not suffer them intirely to conform unto the Orders of our Churches in France and therefore requested that they might be borne withal a little longer This Synod thought good to forbear them till the sitting of the next National Synod 9. Whereas the Province of Lower Guyenne demands that the Pastor of the Church of Labour to whom the National Synod of Alez had granted the Summ of Three Hundred Livres might be reckoned a Member of their Province and sit in their Synod and be accountable to them for his Ministry This Assembly judged that Matters should be left in the same manner as now they be and were heretofore until the meeting of the next National Synod but on this condition that the Province of Bearne shall be accountable both for those Moneys and the Service of that before-mentioned Pastor and the Success of His Ministry in the said Land of La Bour. 10. The Province of the Isle of France demanded what course should be taken with profest Arminians and such as spread abroad in Discourse their Dogmes and Tenents This Synod decreeth that all Dogmatizers be prosecuted with Church-Censures And as for such as are known Arminians but do not disperse their Opinions our Pastors and Consistories shall deal with them for Three Moneths time in order to reclaim them unto sound Doctrine But in case they continue obstinate after that time they shall be debarred Communion with us at the Lords Table CHAP. XIX An Expedient to preserve the CHURCH-PEACE 11 THE Province of the Isle of France moved that to preserve our Union and prevent those Divisions which will otherwise creep in insensibly upon us and that the sound Doctrine which hath hitherto through the Grace of God been preached may be alwayes taught and kept up in our Churches and never corrupted by the Invasion and Admission of those Errors condemned in the Synod of Alez by the Curiosity and Contentious Humour of such as love to abound in their own sence the Province of the Isle of France moved this Synod to advise of some Expedients vvhich might curb and bridle those unruly Spirits vvho else vvould not be kept vvithin the stated bounds of their Duty This Assembly received the Motion very kindly and approving it decreed that all Consistories Colloquies and Provincial Synods should carefully see to it that the Canons of our Church-Discipline about Printing of Manuscripts be most strictly observed and that before they be carried to the Press they be most exactly perused and approved by those Divines vvho are appointed by the Provincial Synod so to do and that there be rendred an Account hereof unto the next National Synod Moreover all Pastors be it in their Writings or in their Sermons are to keep themselves vvithin the bounds of Christian simplicity and to prune off from all their Discourses and Exhortations those needless Excrescencies of curious Questions and to oppose such Persons as shall attempt to subvert the Truth delivered to us by our Teachers of Blessed Memory vvhose Ministry the Lord so signally ovvned in the great Work of Reformation And that they vvould so order all their Doctrines and Sermons as they might have a direct tendency to promote the Churches Peace and the Edification of the Consciences of their Auditors 12. Monsieur Bustonoby Pastor in the Churches of Mauleon Sanquis and Montori in the Land of Soules in Biscay complained that the tvvo Portions granted him by the Synod of Vitre had not been payd him free of all Charges ever since the year 1619 though it vvas so ordained by that Synod and he therefore petitioned that vvhat vvas behind due might be payd unto him moreover that tvvo other free Portions might be granted tovvards the maintenance of another Minister in those Churches aforesaid because he vvas not able alone by himself to performe all Pastoral Duties in them The Deputies of the Principality of Bearne and of the Lovver Guyenne were heard replying to him and afterward the Synod ordained that the Portions assigned by the Synod of Vitre and Alez should be payd him in free accordingly and that as long as he shall serve those Churches alone without a Fellow-helper in the Work of the Ministry their payment shall be continued to him and when as a Colleague shall be joyned with him there shall be another free Portion added for his Colleague also And this Assembly intreats him to inquire and use his best endeavours to get an Assistant and the Portion for the Assisting Pastor shall be kept in the Lord of Candals hands till such time as he be called and settled together with him in those Churches 13. The Church of Montauban demanded that Monsieur Ollyer who with the Consent and Order of the Colloquy of Vsez impowered thereunto by the National Synod of Alez was lent unto them might now be their fixed Pastor during Life After that the Provincial Deputies of Sevennes and Lower Languedoc had been heard speak on this Affair The Assembly ratified that Order of the Colloquy of Vsez by its own Act and Authority 14. Whereas his Grace the Lord Duke of Trimouille and the Church of Vitre demanded that Monsieur Blanchart Pastor of the Church of Conde upon Nereau in the Province of Normandy might be preferred unto the Church of Vitre After hearing of the Provincial Deputies of Normandy and reading the Decree of that Province which injoyned the said Blanchart to return back unto his Cure upon pain of being declared a Desertor of it and the Deputies of Britain informing this Synod they had hot any Memoir or Command from their Province concerning this Matter This Assembly decreed that a very severe and rigorous Censure shall be inflicted on the said Blanchart for contemning the Discipline of our Church and that he shall return again unto the Church of Conde within two Moneths after the Dissolution of this Synod or if not that he shall be then suspended from the Ministerial Office 15. Monsieur du Bois formerly Pastor in the Churches of I a Val and la Barre but set at liberty by the Provincial Synod of Anjou complained unto this Assembly that whereas the Church of Fontaines and Crocy in the Province of Normandy had given him a Call to the Ministry among them the Synod of that Province would not agree unto it nor suffer him to be settled in that Church This Assembly after hearing the Deputies of
which he hath prepared that we should use and walk in CANON IX This self-same Election was not done out of fore-seen Faith and Obedience of Faith Holyness or any other good Quality and Disposition as a Cause or Condition prae-required in Man that is to be Elected but that God might give him Faith and Obedience of Faith and true Holyness And therefore Election is the Spring and Fountain of all saving Good from which flow out Faith Holyness and all other saving Gifts yea Everlasting Life it self as the Fruits and Effects thereof according to that saying of the Apostle Ephes 1.4 He hath chosen us not because we were but that we might be Holy and Unblameable before him in Love CANON X. Now the Cause of this free Election is the only good pleasure of God which doth not stand in this that he hath chosen as a Condition of Salvation some certain Humane Qualities or Actions which are possible to be done but in this that he hath took unto himself some certain select Persons from among the vast Multitude and Community of Sinners to be his peculiar Inheritance Even as it is written Rom. 9.11 12 13. Before the Children were born and before they had done good or evil c. It was said unto her viz. Rebecca the Elder shall serve the younger as it is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated And Acts 13.48 And all those who were ordained unto Eternal Life they believed CANON XI And forasmuch as God is most wise unchangeable knowing all things and Almighty therefore his Decree of Election can never be broken off nor changed nor revoked nor disanulled nor can the Elect be reprobated nor their number impaired and diminished CANON XII The Elect are in due time assured of their Everlasting and Unchangeable Election unto Salvation though it be done gradually and in a very unequal measure Nor do they get it by a curious diving into the Depths and Secrets of God but upon an exact scrutiny into their own hearts they meet with Spiritual Joys and Holy Heavenly Rejoycings and with those infallible Fruits of their Election noted and recorded in the Word of God such as Faith unfeigned in the Lord Jesus a Filial Fear of God Godly Sorrow for Sin and hungring and thirsting after Righteousness CANON XIII From this assurance and inward Sence and feeling of their Election Children of God do dayly take occasion for greater Abasement and deeper Humiliation of themselves before God and to adore the unfathomable depths of his Mercy and purge themselves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and also to love God most ardently and transcendently who hath first loved them with such a potent and unparallel'd Affection So far are they by this Doctrine from growing slothful careless carnally secure or negligent of Duty and of keeping the Commandments of God that they ordinarily through the just judgment of God are guilty of these sins who rashly and unwarrantably presuming of their Election do riot it at Noon day and turn the Grace of God into lasciviousness and refuse to walk in the good ways of Gods Elect. CANON XIV And as this Doctrine of Divine Election according to the Infinite wise Council of God was preached by the Prophets of old by our Lord Jesus Christ and by his Apostles under both Testaments and after recorded in the Holy Scriptures So also ought it now in our days to be taught publickly in the Church of God for whom it is principally designed but with a Spirit of Discretion Religiously and Piously in time and place relinquishing all curious Inquiries into the wayes of the most High and all to the Glory of Gods Holy Name the Peace and Comfort the Everlasting Life and Happyness of his People CANON XV. Moreover the Sacred Scriptures do render this Everlasting Free Grace of God in our Election the more illustrious and recommend it to us by testifying that all Men are not Elected but that some in the Eternal Election of God are passed by to witt those whom God in his good pleasure which is alwayes most Free most Righteous Unblameable and Unchangeable Decreed to leave in that gulph of common Misery whereinto by their own sin they had flung themselves headlong and not to give them saving Faith nor the Grace of Conversion but having abandon'd them to their own ways and lusts he doth finally in his Righteous Judgment condemne and punish them Everlastingly not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins for the manifestation of his Justice This is the Decree of Reprobation which doth not in any wise make God the Author of Sin the very thought whereof is horrid Blasphemy but on the contrary doth demonstrate him to be a most dreadful irreprehensible and Righteous Judge and Revenger of all Sin CANON XVI Such who do not as yet effectually feel in their own Souls a lively Faith in Christ Jesus or a particular confidence of Heart in God Peace of Conscience a diligent care and endeavour to yield Filial Obedience and to glorifie God through Jesus Christ and do yet nevertheless use the means by which God hath promised to work those Graces in us they should not be discouraged when as they here speak or Reprobation nor should they reckon themselves in the number of Reprobates but they ought carefully to continue in the use of means and ardently to petition for that happy hour when this Grace of God shall be abundantly poured down upon them and to wait for it in all Reverence and Humility much less should they be affrighted at the Doctrine of Reprobation who when as they desire to be sincere Converts and would please God intirely and be delivered from this Body of Death sin dwelling in them yet cannot make so great a progress in Piety and Faith as they would Because God who is full of Mercy hath promised that he will not quench the smoaking flax nor break the bruised reed But this Doctrine is indeed terrible unto them who forgetting God and Jesus Christ our Saviour are totally imbondaged unto the heart-piercing cares of this present World and the Concupiscencies of their fiesh during the whole time of their unregeneracy CANON XVII Wherefore since 't is our Duty to judge of Gods Will by his Word which testifieth for the Children of Believers that they be Holy not indeed by Nature but through the singular benefit of the Covenant of Grace in which they be included with their Parents Fathers and Mothers fearing God should not doubt of their Childrens Election and Salvation whom God takes unto himself in their Infancy CANON XVIII In case any Person murmur against the free Grace of God in Election and the Severity of Gods Justice in Reprobation we should oppose them with that of the Apostle Rom. 9.20 O! Man who art thou that contendest with God And with those words of our Saviour Matth. 20.15 Is it not lawful for me to do with my own as I please
born again not of corruptible Seed but of that which is incorruptible CANON IX Who teach That our Lord Jesus Christ did no where pray for the infallible perseverance of Believers in the Faith for they contradict our Lord himself Luke 22.32 I have prayed Simon Peter that thy Faith may not fail And the very Letter of St. John's Gospel chap. 17.11 where Christ saith that he did not pray for his Apostles only but also for all them who should believe by their Word Holy Father keep them in thy Name and ver 15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the World but that thou shouldest keep them from evil CANON X. We Pastors and Elders whose Names are hereunder-written Deputies for the Reformed Churches of France unto the National Synod of Charenton St. Maurice near Paris in the Moneth of September 1623. do declare with all possible sincerity the Articles and Canons above-mentioned to be grounded on the Word of God and agreeable to the Confession of Faith owned and received in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom from which in the presence of God we do protest that through his Grace we will never depart In confirmation whereof we have hereunto affixt our Names at Charenton aforesaid this 30th day of September 1623. Signed by the Pastors and Elders of the said Synod Durand Moderator De Baille Assessor Faucheur and Scribes De Launay Scribes Berbie Pastor of the Church of Quaissac J. Clerc de Chambrun Chamier Pastor of Montlimart J. le Pelletier Pastor in the Church of Vandome Savoys Pastor in the Church of Castres Sir John Embelier Jurieu Pastor of Chastillon on the Loir Villon Faures J. M. de Langle Pastor of Rouen P. Paulet Pastor of Vezenobre Avignon Pastor of Rennes P. Beraud Pastor and Professor in the Church of Montauban Lottiby Pastor at Poitiers William Rivett Pastor of Taillebourg in Xaintonge CHAP. XXVII Remarks upon some of the Deputies Commissionated unto this Synod 1 MOnsieur Durant the Moderator was first Minister to the Landgrave of Hesse and after to that Excellent Princess Katharine Dutchess of Barr only Sister of Henry the Fourth and at last Pastor of the Church of Paris He was a very Holy Man of God a most Eloquent and Zealous Preacher he was like Lightning and Thunder in the Pulpit There be Three Excellent Sermons of his in print upon the Nineteenth Verse of the Fifth Chapter and First Epistle to the Thessalonians He grew sickly after his return from this Synod and dyed in the Year 1626. 2. Peter de Launay who was the Lay-Scribe in this Synod was a very Learned Gentleman and of great Reputation in the Churches of France He hath written Commentaries upon all the Epistles of Paul in French which are printed in Two Volumes in Quarto He Commented also but under another Name upon the Prophesie of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John 3. Adrian Chamier was the Worthy Son of the Great Chamier the Third Minister successively from his Grandfather a Pious Minister in Dolphiny I knew five of his Grandsons all Learned and Godly Ministers and Exiles for Christ The Ministry hath been in this Family for Six Generations Monsieur Leger that was a Pastor in the Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont writes that the Ministry had been in his Family for above Four Hundred years and that his Grandfather preached when he was above an Hundred Years Old See Legers Histoire General des Vaudols Livre 2. pag. 360. Adrian Chamier was for his great Prudence and Ability to manage Synodical businesses chosen Deputy to several of their National Synods He succeeded his Father in the Pastoral Office in the Church of Montlimart Of whom God lending me Life I shall say more in my Icones 4. Jurieu he was the Father of Monsieur Jurieu the Learned Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the French Church and Illustrious School of Rotterdam 5. Beraud he succeeded his Father in both Functions as Pastor of the Church and Professor of Divinity in the University of Montauban 6. Monsieur William Rivet he was Brother to Andrew Rivet Professor of Divinity at Leyden distinguisht from him by the Title of Lord of Champvernon He would never remove from his Church of Taillebourg He was very dear unto the House of Tremouille Deputy to several National Synods a Man of singular prudence and dexterity in the management and dispatch of the Synodical Affairs insomuch that when he died there was a great lamentation for him because of that great loss the whole Province sustained in his Death But God made it up in Two years time by raising up Twenty Ministers capable of doing all Services in their Provincial Synod as I have been credibly informed by some Ancient and Eminent Pastors of Poictou He was a Man of great Learning He hath writt de Justificatione and another Book de Invocatione Adoratione Sanctorum defunctorum I have seen another piece of his in French of the Authority of the Scriptures in Quarto and there is a Fourth in Octavo Des droicts de Dieu Sir Augustus Galland was the first Commissioner for the King in any of their National Synods He represented the King in this I suppose he was born in Bearn or Navar. He was a great Lawyer and Antiquary his Works are printed in one Folio viz. Memoirs pour L' Histoire de Navarre de Flandre par Guillemot Paris 1648. 8. Monsieur de Baux Lord of L' Angle Pastor of the Church of Caen The Reverend Dr. L' Angle Prebend of Westminster is his Son 9. Monsieur Mestrezat Of him see the Second Synod of Charenton in which he presided THE Acts Canons Decisions and Decrees OF THE XXIV NATIONAL SYNOD OF The Reformed Churches OF FRANCE AND BEARNE Assembled in The City of Castres in the Country of Albigeois In the Year of Our Lord 1626. The CONTENTS of the Synod of CASTRES 1 Chap. THE Lord Galland produced his Commission from the King to sit and represent His Majesty in this Synod The Commission it self Deputies to the Synod Election of the Synodical Officers Chap. II. The Kings writ for calling of the Synod and ordering of Matters in it Chap. III. The Commissioners Speech to the Synod Chap. IV. The Synods Answer to it Chap. V. The Kings Writ for Election of a new General Deputy upon the Death of the former Chap. VI. The Debate about that Writt Chap. VII The Synods Letter to the King about this Election Chap. VIII Their Deputies return with His Majesties Answer verbal and written The Kings Letter Monsieur Herbaut Miwister of State his Letter to the Synod Chap. IX The Lord Commissioners more ample Declaration of His Majesties Will and several points demanded by their Deputies Chap. X. The Kings Warrant and Order unto the Synod for the Nomination of their General Deputies without any Previous Political Assembly Chap. XI A Conference between the Synod and the Lord Commissioner Chap. XII A Remonstrance of the Lord of Angoulins on
it necessary to make a Deputation unto His Majesty and voted the Sieurs de Bouteroue and de Baleines to carry their most Humble Petitions unto His Majesty who were charged with Letters and Instructions unto His Majesty and to the Chief Ministers of State CHAP. VII A Copy of the Councils Letter sent unto the King SIR The Synods Letter sent unto the King THE Sence and Experience we have of Your Majesties Royal Bounty unto our Churches and of their great Sufferings notwithstanding this your goodness through the Non-Execution of your Edicts in the Provinces of your Kingdom do compell us to depute unto Your Majesty the Sieurs Bouteroue and de Baleines to lay at Your Majesties feet together with the sincere protestations of our inviolable fidelity unto Your Majesties Service our most humble acknowledgments and thanks for your gracious favours and our just and necessary requests for the relief and comforting of our poor Churches We humbly trust that Your Majesty will be pleased to give them a favourable audience and to grant us our most Humble Petitions and to accept of the Devout and most hearty Prayers of many Thousands of Godly Persons for Your Majesties Prosperity who whilst they lie groaning under the most insupportable pressures in the World do notwithstanding live in a profound Obedience unto Your Majesties Authority And from the bottom of our Souls and with the greatest ardency imaginable we supplicate the Throne of Grace to bless and preserve Your Majesties Most Sacred Person and to augment and continue the happyness of Your Majesties Reign and Government being alwayes Most Dread Soveraign From Castres Septemb. 1626. Your most Humble most Faithful and most Obedient Subjects and Servants The Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Churches of France Assembled in their National Synod at Castres and for them all Chauve Moderator Bouteroue Assessor Blondel and Petit Scribes CHAP. VIII THE Eight and Twentieth day of October The Sieurs Bouteroue and de Baleines Deputies unto the King returned with Letters from His Majesty and the Lord d' Herbaut Secretary of State and reported that they had a very favourable Reception from His Majesty and Ministers of State and that having presented their Address unto the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council they had obtained a Command unto the Parliament of Thoulouse to take away the Modifications put by the said Parliament upon the last Edict of Peace and were promised that Commissioners should be sent into the Provinces of Xaintonge the Higher and Lower Languedoc Rochell and the Land of Aunix to see that the Edict be duely executed They were also assured that the Assignations formerly given unto the Lord of Candal should be made good and valid and that they had an order for twelve hundred Livres to defray the Charges of their Journey besides the Summ of Ten Thousand Livres granted by His Majesty unto this Council to pay their Charges But as for the restoring of Monsieur du Moulin to the Church of Paris and a License for holding of a General Assembly His Majesty was utterly averse unto it and would in no wise yield thereunto and we should know more of his mind upon this Article and of his good intentions as to the nomination of our General Deputies by his Commissioner the Lord Galland Thanks were given unto our good God that he had granted us to find favour with the King and the Deputies also which were sent unto His Majesty had the thanks of the Council and were commended for their Conduct and Dexterity which was so acceptable unto the King and Lords of His Majesties Council and approved by this Assembly A Copy of the Kings Letter unto this National Synod DEAR and Well-beloved we received the Letters by the Sieurs Bouteroue and de Baleines your Deputies and understood from their Mouths and your Address presented to us what they were ordered by you to declare unto us Whereunto we have by word of Mouth and Writing given those favourable Answers which shall be related to you by those your Deputies to which we shall add with a willing mind the Effects or our Grace and Royal favour upon all occasions that may occur for the Weal and General happyness of Our Subjects of your Religion and of you all joyutly and severally as we also promise our selves that you will keep you within those bounds of Fidelity and Obedience which good and Loyal Subjects owe unto their King and that you will verifie by your actions the words of your aforesaid Deputies as we exhort you so to do and moreover to give credence unto the Lord Galland our Counsellor in our Council of State in all things whatsoever that he shall offer to you as from us Given at St. German in Laye this Fourteenth of October 1626. Signed Louis and a little lower Philippeaux And the Superscription was thus directed To Our Dear and Well-Beloved the Deputies of the P. Reformed Religion Assembled by our License in a National Synod in our City of Castres CHAP. IX A Copy of the Lord Herbaut's Letter unto this Council SIRS YOUR Deputies were favourably received by His Majesty and His Majesty heard with very great satisfaction those Assurances from their Mouths of your Fidelity and sincere intentions to the Publick Peace and Tranquillity When His Majesty granted it unto you it was with a full purpose inviolably to keep it with you and farther to give you with the injoyment thereof all other matters accorded to you by his Edicts What remains but that on your part you contribute whatever His Majesty might expect from your Prudence and Conduct and to measure by what is past that the duration and firm settlement of your Repose doth principally depend on your Obedience yielding unto his Majesty what is due unto him and is necessary for your well-being And you may believe that in so doing his Gracious Favours will be multiplyed upon you dayly and that I shall be ready to serve you in all good Offices with His Majesty that you may resent the comfortable Effects thereof according as you have deserved them In the mean while I rest Sirs Your most Humble and Affectionate Servant Philippeaux The Superscription was To my Lords My Lords the Deputies Assembled by His Majesties permission in a National Synod at Castres CHAP. X. Amore ample Declaration of the Kings Will upon several points demanded by the Deputies WHEN as the Letter of His Majesty but now recited was read My Lord Galland the Kings Commissioner declared that for the reasons given by His Majesty unto the Deputies and according to the import of the Articles answered by the Council he could not consent unto the return of Monsieur du Moulin nor for divers Considerations noted in those Articles now read could he at present give way for the meeting of a General Politick Assembly His Majesty reserving the grant thereof when as there shall be need of it and his Affairs of State may
which most concern the Churches and are to be presented unto his Majesty for the Advancement of His Service and the Peace and Repose of His Subjects And whereas 't is full Six years ago since the last Politick Assembly was graciously permitted us by His Majesty and that the former National Synods held at Alez and Charenton and this also of Castres conformable to them have peremptorily decreed that none of our Pastors shall henceforward intermeddle with State-Affairs or assist personally in Politick Assemblies which also His Majesty hath approved The Council because it would not transgress His Majesties Declarations nor the Canons of the Synods before-mentioned nor cause any prejudice to that Government which the goodness of our Kings have approved in the Churches of this Realm and which His Majesty hath given us to understand that he will not abolish declareth that 't is none of its design nor desire by this Election whereunto the Churches are necessitated and the Kings Will obligeth them to prejudice in the least the Rights and Priviledges of General Assemblies to whom the care of State-Affairs doth properly belong nor shall it bind the succeeding National Synods to act after this manner Wherefore it chargeth the General Deputies who shall be accepted by His Majesty to demand at the end of Eighteen Moneths with the profoundest submissions and importunities imaginable his Majesties Writt of the Summons for the General Assembly even as it hath pleased His Majesty to give unto our Churches the firm hopes thereof by His Royal and inviolable promises expressed in plain and formal words in his Writt before-mentioned And whereas the intendment of this Office is in the name of our Churches to represent unto His Majesty all those Matters which concern the Weal and Service of His Majesty and the Repose and Subsistance of His Subjects and that to this purpose it is absolutely needful that there should be Assemblies held in the Provinces unto which there may be brought all the Complaints Remonstrances and Propositions of all and every one of our Churches that from them they may be brought unto the General Assembly and the whole might be there examined and deposited into the hands of the General Deputies and this present Council being an Assembly of another Nature and having no Commission from the Provinces it could not furnish the Deputies now Elected with those necessary Memoirs and Instructions They therefore who shall be retained by His Majesty to discharge and execute this Office shall most humbly petition His said Majesty that he would permit in every Province such an Assembly as soon as possible in which all Complaints and Remonstrances meet for His Majesties perusal may be collected and layd at His Majesties feet by those Lords aforesaid our General Deputies to whom they shall be sent that so by this means His Majesty may be duely and truely informed of the Deportments and Grievances of all his Protestant Subjects because there is not any thing of greater importance to his Weal and Service than this is The Council hoping much from His Majesties great goodness is emboldned to pass beyond its accustomed Bounds and Order and to dispense with it self in this particular Otherwise it would have persisted in its most humble supplications that it might not be obliged unto the said Election The said Lords General Deputies shall confer with the Ministers of State it being a thing of indispensable necessity how they may hold a correspondency with the Provinces and the Provinces with them because without such a correspondency all their actings yea and their Office it self would be utterly useless and unserviceable unto the Churches Every Province shall draw up a Cahier of the grievances of their Churches and of particular Persons professing our Religion which shall be transmitted unto the Church of Paris which shall compile them into one general Cahier to be deposited into the hands of the General Deputies CHAP. XII A Remonstrance of the Lord of Angoulins on behalf of the Mayor Sheriffs and City of Rochell WHEN as the Council had thus decreed in pursuance of His Majesties Pleasure that they would proceed unto an Election of General Deputies to reside near His Majesty the Lord of Angoulins one of the Sheriffs of the City of Rochell Elder of the Church there and Deputy for the Province of Xaintonge remonstrated that in all such Actions the Lords Mayor Sheriffs and free Burgesses of the said City had in all times the Priviledge of a Province and their Deputies did ever appear in Person in all general Politick Assemblies and in National Synods also when as the General Deputies were to be chosen and he petitioned the Council that he might be granted his Vote in the said Election not only in his Quality as Deputy of the Province of Xaintonge but also in that his particular quality as Deputy of the said Lords the Mayor Sheriffs and free Burgesses of the said City according as he was commissionated with full powers so to do by the said Lords which he produced and were Signed by Gachot Secretary of their Council the Fourteenth day of the last October The Deputies of the Province of Xaintonge were heard hereupon who declared that the said Lord of Angoulins being one of their Colleagues and Deputy together with them might as such have his voice in the said Election or otherwise their Province would sustain a very considerable prejudice if one of its Deputies should be excluded from giving his suffrage in the said Election The Synod doing right unto the said Petitioner the Lord of Angoulins and not judging it reasonable that a single Person should have a double Vote in such an Occurrence as this decreed that the said Lord of Angoulins should only have one single Voice in the said Election but however it should be left unto his own choice to take what quality he pleased whether of Deputy for the Province of Xaintonge or of the City of Rochell only And the said Lord of Angoulins did at that instant though it should not be drawn in consequence nor made a precedent for the future nor prejudice the Rights and Priviledges of the said Town and Province declare that he choose to give his Vote in quality of Deputy for the said City of Rochell And this present Act was granted him that he had made the said Declaration Forasmuch as there be divers defaults in the Letters of Commission brought by the Deputies of some Provinces They shall be all exhorted by their Deputies to see that Canon of the Synod of Tonneins executed which had ordered that the Names and Surnames of all Deputies should be expresly inserted into them As also to take special heed that all Letters of Commission and Memoirs be in no wise Signed by the Persons Deputed unto the National Synods nor by those who are substituted in their stead in case of Sickness or Death or any the like accident but by the Officers of the Provincial Synods as Moderators Assessors and
Scribes In pursuance of the Canon made in the Synod or Privas The Provinces are injoyned to see that the Deputies of every Church do make Oath that they shall not give their Votes nor Suffrages unto such as brigue their Elections and Deputations unto our National Synods CHAP. XIII The Confession of Faith approved THE Confession of Faith being read word by word and every Article distinctly in its due Order it was approved and ratified by the Unanimous consent of all the Deputies both Pastors and Elders who protested as well for themselves as for their Provinces that they would live and die in the profession of this Faith teach it in their Churches and see it inviolably to be observed CHAP. XIV Observations on reading the Church-Discipline 1 AFter those words in the Fifth Canon of the First Chapter Without power of administring the Holy Sacraments these shall be added nor of solemnizing Marriages 2 In reading the Nine and Twentieth Canon of the same Chapter the Council declareth that by the discord mentioned in that Canon we are to understand not only what is moved by the Pastor but by the Church or Members among themselves also 3. On the first Canon of the third Chapter it was declared that whosoever accepted the Office of an Elder cannot be constrained to execute it if before his Reception thereinto the consent he had once given be again revoked by him 4. When the sixth Canon of the eighth Chapter was read at the request of the Provincial Deputies of Berry it was voted That Provincial Synods should be obliged before they brake up to proceed unto Censures even as in the like case a Decree had been framed for Colloquies 5. All our Churches are exhorted faithfully and exactly to observe the ninth Canon of the twelfth Chapter concerning the Administration of the Cup in the Lords Supper and to be accountable for their Obedience to it unto the next National Synod 6. The eighth Canon of the Ninth Chapter shall be razed but of our Discipline as being superfluous and unpracticable in our Churches 7. The same judgment having past on the fourth Canon of the tenth Chapter it was amended and changed into these words Churches which have been accustomed to make Publick Prayers on some certain days of the Week may continue that order which for many years they have so happily observed and other Churches may imitate their good example when as the Lord shall bless them with Ability and Opportunity and it may contribute unto their Edification 8. And Pastors also in the faithful discharge of their duties shall indeavour by their Remonstrances and Exhortations to prevent those great dishonours done unto Almighty God by that general contempt of his Holy Word preached very many neglecting Sermons and Publick Publick Ordinances of Religious Worship yea and Family-Prayers of which Omissions a multitude of Heads of Families Housholders and their Domesticks are exceeding guilty 9. The eighteenth Canon of the thirteenth Chapter shall be couched in this form Such as dwell in those places where the Publick Exercise of our Religion is not est ablished may cause their banes of Matrimony to be published in the Popish Churches it being a matter purely political 10. The Churches are injoyned by this Synod to give in an account unto their Colloquies and Provincial Synods of all Infractions of the sixteenth Canon in the fourteenth Chapter of our Discipline and Colloquies and Synods are to censure such Offenders whether they have violated it by printing of Practical or Controversal Treatises 11. When the twenty fourth twenty fifth and twenty sixth Canons of the fourteenth Chapter were read it was voted That this ensuing Canon should be made and read in all the Churches as soon as the Deputies were returned unto their respective Provinces CHAP. XV. An Act against Debauchery FOrasmuch as the Wrath of God is visibly revealed from Heaven against the Ungodlyness of Men and is notoriously poured out upon those who being once enlightned from above and called to the knowledge of the Heavenly Truth have afterward kept it under Hatches through their Unrighteousness that so they might more freely wallow in the Abominations of this World and turn the Grace of God into lasciviousness The National Synod of the reformed Churches of this Kingdom Assembled by His Majesties Licence in the Town of Gastres unable to behold without weeping Eyes and a wounded bleeding heart after such dreadful Judgments and Desolations as have befallen us the reigning Dissolutions and Debauches of those Persons who style and own themselves Members of Gods Church though in very truth and deed they be horrible Profaners of his Holy Name and dishonourable Professors of our most Holy Religion by their Impious and Licentious Lives and do as much as in them lieth deny the power of Godliness by their open and shameless ingratitude to his Divine Goodness Now for the avoiding of Gods burning Wrath and Indignation and more and more to stir up the Bowels of his Fatherly Compassions which he was pleased to remember for us even in the midst of Judgment yea and then also when as he smote his sinful Heritage with his forest and severest strokes and that upon our Conversion and Reformation his special Love and favour may be had and obtained and that this peace which against all hopes he hath given a stiff-necked and rebellious People who have bitterly provoked him to Jealousie and as it is too too evident have nothing profited by his Rod of Discipline and Correction may be preserved and continued This National Synod decreeth That all the Churches of this Kingdom shall be sollicited by the most powerful Motives and Arguments to humble themselves deeply in a most serious Repentance before his Divine Majesty and utterly to abandon all Vanities Luxury 's Fantasticalness and sumptuous Superfluities in Apparel those unseemly Ornaments and delights of lascivious Curles Paintings Naked Breasts Dances Balls Masquerades Wassaile-Feasts Carnevalls and all other unfruitful works of Darkness that so the Faithful Reforming their Lives and producing Fruits worthy of Repentance may demonstrate themselves by their good Works to be the conscientious Guardians of that pretious Jewel or saving Truths which is deposited with them And all Consistories are injoyned to exert that Authority given them of God diligently to suppress their Insolencies who glorying in their shame and ignominy may attempt in aftertimes to continue in any of their disorderly and sinful practises and should set themselves to resist those Remonstrances which the Great and Holy God hath or may issue forth against them by his Sacred Word And that this most needful Canon may be executed with the greater Faithfulness Care and Facility This Synod doth ordain that it shall be read publickly in all our Churches and an Account of its Observation shall be given in unto Colloquies and Synods on pain of being responsible in their own Persons particularly for all its Transgressions and Violations The whole Church Discipline having been read
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
to yield all due Obedience and Service unto his Majesty 15. The Province of Dolphiny craved Advice what should be done with those who violated that Canon of Tonneins which had obliged Pastors to administer Baptism only at such Church-Meetings in which the Word of God was preached either immediately before or after Sermon because that divers Churches do it when as only they come together unto their accustomed Morning common publick Prayers without any Sermons at all After a long and smart Debate about this Matter the Council owning that the formal necessary Words for Consecration and Celebration of that Sacrament were fully comprized in the Liturgy of our Churches and judging it for the present utterly unfit to urge the Observation of that Canon of Tonneins decreeth that the Provinces having examined the Reasons alledged by both Parties pro and con shall give unto their Deputies commissionated unto the next National Synod the strongest Arguments to this purpose that so that Council may proceed to a final Resolution in the Case CHAP. XXVI An Act for a publick National Fast 16. THE Wrath of God having been kindled against his People and broken out upon them in divers Places for many Years last past so that he hath visited their Iniquities with sundry and very terrible Judgments such as the Plague unseasonable Weather the devouring Sword the Desolations of War all which have brought upon us and upon the Provinces deep Poverty woful Miseries and Calamities which should have quickned us and them unto a most serious Repentance and Reformation of Life Yet notwithstanding the Generality of Men do persist in their Sins and abound in their Transgressions so that the great Law-giver who alone can save and destroy hath not called in his Wrath but his Hand is stretched out still and a Multitude of our poor Churches in divers Places are sorely afflicted by the Enemies of the Gospel who turn every Stone and use all sort of means be they never so unjust and violent to deprive us of his Majesties Protection and the Benefits of that Peace which his Majesty was graciously pleased to grant equally and indifferently unto all his Subjects And forasmuch as the common sense of the most stupid Persons might have learn'd them that those many dreadful Judgments with which the Lord hath scourged his Churches have been drawn down upon them by their great Impenitency Stubbornness and Hardness of Heart and that God hath called upon them to lie low at to his Footstool in deep Abasement Humiliation and Contrition of Spirit and by their Patience and Christian Moderation to have used and improved these Chastisements as divine Remedies against those dismal and eternal Torments he had threatned them and which they have most justly deserved and that in their deplorable Condition they should with Tears and Prayers with a most sincere Conversion and thorough Reformation have fled for Sanctuary unto the Arms of Soveraign Mercy that so that great God who createth Good and formeth Evil who giveth Peace and sendeth Adversity at his sole Will and Pleasure might have found them seeking those Blessings at his Hands only and not depended as they have done too frequently rashly and inconsiderately upon an Arm of Flesh Wherefore this National Synod representing the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom injoineth all Pastors to press home vigorously and zealously upon the Consciences of their People true Piety and Devotion towards God due Obedience unto the higher Powers sound and perpetual Repentance from dead Works the Want and Neglect of which have caused ignorant Persons to blaspheme the holy and fearful Name of God and to despise and vilify the good Ways of his Truth and Reformation And it doth further decree that a solemn Day of Fasting and Supplications shall be kept and observed in all the Churches of this Kingdom the first Thursday in March next coming because the Necessity of humbling our selves before God is absolute and indispensable there being none other way left us to turn away his Wrath from us and to hasten the time of our Deliverance than by a Reformation of our former Sinfulness and a better and exacter ordering of our Actions and Conversations for the future 17. The Council exhorteth all the Provinces and the richer Churches in them to erect publick Libraries for the Ease and Benefit of their Pastors and the Deputies of Burgundy as they return home-ward through the Lower Languedoc are charged to give particular Notice hereof unto the Consistory of Montpellier and the Church of Paris and Universities of Montauban and Nismes shall be acquainted also with this our Request 18. The Council enjoined all Persons who may hereafter audit their Accompts in the National Synods to bring with them their last Accompt and all Commissioners deputed to examine and close up such Accompts shall not proceed about the said Audit till such time as they have duly and accurately perused the Acts of the last Synod concerning both these and their last tendred Accompts because there be Remarks in them which look forward and backward both to the Years by-gone and past and those that are to come 19. His Majesty having graciously permitted a general Collection to be made throughout all the Churches of this Kingdom for the impoverished Cities of Rochel Montauban and Castres their Deputies came into the Council and petitioned that there might be a Dividend made of the said collected Charities protesting withal that they would chearfully acquiesce in its judicious Assignation of them Whereupon the Council decreed that one quarter of those Moneys should be given unto this Town of Castres and the three other Parts should be equally divided between the Cities of Rochel and Montauban CHAP. XXVII Differences between the Cities of Rochel Montauban and Castres 1626. The 25th Synod composed 20. THE Council composing the Differences which had fallen out between the Cities and Communalties of Rochel Montauban and Castres in dividing the Collection-Money before-mentioned they being at Variance among themselves about it And having heard the Reasons and Pretensions of the said Cities and Communalties both from the Mouth of their Deputies and the Report of the Commissioners appointed for the managing of this Affair and having maturely Considered the whole decreed That the fourth Part of those Moneys so collected shall be delivered into the City of Castres and the other three Parts shall be equally divided betwixt the Cities of Rochel and Montauban And that the said Cities and Communalties may reap and enjoy the Benefit and Comfort of the said collected Charities their Deputies here present are enjoined to nominate one certain Person from among them to receive those Moneys who is a Person of sufficient Honesty and Ability to be responsible for them together with three or four other Persons of known Integrity and Fidelity who may be present and actually imployed in the Distribution of them which shall be made by the Command and Authority of the Mayors and Consuls of the said Cities and
him of the Monies accompted for by the said Palot and not delivered into the Hands of the Lords Commissioners that so we may have recourse unto it when need requires in out prosecution of the said Palot 16. The Lord of Angoulin's requesting on behalf of the City of Rochel that the Synod would be pleased to reimburse the said City the Sum of Two thousand five hundred Livers which were lent unto certain Deputies of the Provinces assembled in the said City in the Year Sixteen hundred and seventeen This Demand was dismissed over to the next Politick Assembly which his Majesty shall be pleased to grant unto his Subjects of the Reformed Religion that so the said Assembly may take care about it to whom it doth belong because the Monies of his Majesty's Liberality and which are at the disposal of our National Synods ought not to be diverted from that particular Use and Service whereunto his Majesty hath devoted them 17. The Deputies of the Isle of France declaring how very useful unto the Churches the worthy Labours of Monsieur Blondel Pastor of the Church of Howdan might be and the Synod being further informed of his rare Dexterity and Diligence in the Imployment of those excellent Talents which the Lord hath concredited to him for the Edification of his Church it decreed That he should be publickly commended and incouraged and that the Lord of Candall should pay him in presently as a Token of our great Esteem and Value for him a Thousand Livers to buy him Books and that as soon as his Works shall be ready for the Press the Synod will defray the Charges of their Impression And because his great Excellency lieth in Church-History and Antiquity he is earnestly desired to follow his Genius and to combate and refute the Adversaries with that Weapon 18. The Demand of Quentin Mareschall a Printer dwelling at Chastelheraut is dismissed over to the Province of Poictou who shall take care of it according to the Rules of Christian Charity And the said Mareschall is forbidden the troubling our National Synod any more with his little Businesses 19. The Synod not abridging the Rights and Priviledges of any Province doth permit that of Higher Languedoc to recal Monsieur Casaux a Pastor lent unto the Church of Montagnac in the Lower Guyenne and the Lower Guyenne may recal Monsieur Testard at present Minister of the Church of Realmont in the Province of Higher Languedoc whenever the Necessity and Edification of the Church shall so require 20. Monsieur Mestrezat presented Letters from the Lord de Launay and requested by word of Mouth both for himself and his said Colleague that the Synod would be pleased to discharge them from that Commission which the National Synod of Charenton had intrusted them with But this Synod not being in a capacity to alter the Decree of that Synod did earnestly intreat them both to continue in that Employment for the general good of the Churches 21. Monsieur Tolozany Pastor of the Church of St. Antonine relating the great Poverty of his Church and Family and the extream Necessity whereunto he is reduced in his old Age. The Synod not being at present in a capacity to alter any thing in former Constitutions for the Relief of our indigent Ministers doth ordain that immediately three hundred Livers be given him to the easing of his Church of which in the Dividend that shall be made of the Monies granted us by his Majesty there shall be a particular care taken 22. Letters from my Lady Marchioness of Bouillé and from Monsieur du Mont formerly Pastor in the Church of Mimbre in the Territory of Maine were read in open Synod And Information being made of the notorious Crimes committed by the said du Mont the Province is ordered to proceed forthwith against him and to depose him from his Office And the said Lady shall be advised of it by Letters from this Synod 23. The Complaint of Monsieur Toussain a Pastor Emeritus in the Province of Dolphiny was given unto the Province of Sevennes who should procure by their best Skill and Power the paiment of those Arrears of Wages due unto the said Toussain by the Church of Marvejoils 24. Monsieur * * * Anotâ—er Copy calleth him Benter Brucet a Proposan being demanded by the Church of La Verdac to be their Pastor the Colloquy of Condommois is authorized to examine and ordain him CHAP. XXIX Care taken for a poor persecuted Church 25. THere were Letters from the Church of La Mote Mauravel in the Province of Lower Guienne sent unto this Synod and being read together with their Memoirs we were informed of a cruel Persecution raised against the said Church by the Lords Cardinal of Sourdis and Bishop of Maillezais Whereupon the Lord Commissioner was humbly desired to write unto his Majesty and the Ministers of State on the behalf of that poor distressed Church And Letters were also ordered to be written out of hand unto the Lord Duke of Esperon earnestly to entreat his Grace that by his Authority his Majesty's Edicts and the Publick Peace might be preserved And our general Deputies at Court shall address themselves unto his Majesty that according to his usual Clemency and Royal Goodness he would be pleased to stop the Torrent of this Persecution and to exert his Justice and punish the Infractors and Violators of his Royal Ordinances and to curb and restrain their Fury who dare in a time of open Peace to deprive his Majesty's Subjects of the Benefit and Protection of his Edicts of the Exercise of their Religion and of the Safety of their Lives And the said Church of La Mote shall be immediately advised to keep and secure the possession of their Temple and Religious Worship and to seek and get into their Possession all necessary Titles Evidences and Proofs of their Right unto their Temple 1626. The 25th Synod and to bring those Evidences and Acts of Prohibitions that have been served upon them by the Officers of the said Lord Cardinal and all other Proofs of their Excesses and actual Outrages against their Members unto this City that so they may with all diligence be dispatched unto the Lord des Loges Advocate in his Majesty's Council who will use all needful Means on behalf of our Churches that their Adversaries may be prosecuted and punished 26. Mousieur de la Motte Pastor of the Church du Gua in Vivaretz did both by word of Mouth and written Acts which he produced declare and prove his great Losses and Persecutions sustained during the last Troubles The Council gave him good assurance that in the Dividend of our Churches Moneys there should be a particular care taken for his Relief and Comfort 27. The Synod compassionating the sad Estate of Monsieur du Bois a Publick Notary living in the City of Pouzin ordered that three hundred Livers should be paid him out of the Mass of Moneys which will be allotted unto
Journey which he took at the command of this Synod 40. There were sixty Livers paid the Lords Taby and Languett who were ordered to cite Monsieur Noguier unto this Synod and to hear and examine Witnesses 41. This Synod honouring the Memory of Monsieur Daneau heretofore a very famous Minister of Christ Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church and University of Bearn and desiring to preserve his Works from the Grave of Oblivion intreateth his worthy Son to gather them into one Volume and to publish them and the Charges of their Impression shall be born by this Synod They be in one Volume in Folio 42. Sixty Livers were ordered to be paid unto the Sieurs Mizaubin and Grenouilleau Commissioners appointed by this Synod to visit the Churches of Soules and Labour to defray the Expences of their Journey of which they shall give an Accompt unto the Province of Lower Guyenne And in case this Sum be not sufficient for the clearing their necessary Charges in that their Journey then the Province shall supply the rest and bring it in upon Accompt unto the next National Synod 43. This Synod approved that the Lord of Eragny Deputy for the Province of Normandy should use all necessary means for getting a place ascertained where the Professors of the Reformed Religion may worship God in the Bailywick of Chaumont in the Territory of Vexin and the said Place being obtained and named the Church of that Bailywick shall be incorporated with the Isle of France provided that the Quarter of Gisors do yield their Consent and be the lesser Part of the Church of Sancourt and in case the two Provinces of Normandy and the Isle of France cannot agree about it they shall submit unto the Judgment of the Neighbour Synod CHAP. XXX A Donative to Monsieur Chamier 44. MOnsieur Chamier Pastor of Montlimard presenting unto this Council the very learned Works of his most Reverend Father which he published at the desire of several former National Synods The Council judging it equitable to testify that great respect and honour they ever had for his Father of blessed Memory and to give some acknowledgment of the Churches Debt and Thankfulness for the many and eminent Services he had once rendered them and these his incomparable Labours now dedicated to it do offer the Sum of three hundred Livers presently to be given him by Mr. Cooper out of the general Stock of the Churches And further there shall two free Portions more be distributed to him out of the Dividend which will befal the Province of Dolphiny and shall be paid in unto the said Monsieur Chamier betwixt this and the next National Synod 45. This Synod considering the long-continued Sufferings of the Sieur Constant during his Imprisonment in the Clink of the Common Goal of Bourdeaux and the great Expences he must needs have been at for the getting his Enlargement voted and decreed That out of the general Stock of Monies belonging to all our Churches there shall be drawn out three free Portions and delivered to him 1616. The 25th Synod betwixt this and the next National Synod by the Lord of Candall 46. Monsieur Belliot petitioning the Synod to have compassion on him because of his many and great Necessities sore Afflictions and Losses which he hath sustained during his long Imprisonment in Bourdeaux There was a Portion and half free of all Charges and Taxes whatsoever ordered to be paid him by the Lord of Candall until the next National Synod 47. The Sieurs Petit and Duranty Deputies from the Church of Nismes made their Addresses unto this Synod That it would be pleased to grant them Monsieur Baux Pastor of the Church of Mazamet to be their Minister After hearing the Provincial Deputies of Lower Languedoc on the one hand who joined with the said Gentlemen in their Demand and on the other hand the Deputies of Mazamet aforesaid Monsieur Baux himself and other Deputies of the Higher Languedoc who opposed their Petition A Vote past that this Business should be carried back unto the next Synod of Higher Languedoc which is ordered to provide for the Church of Mazawet and to grant the Church of Nismes effectually their Request 48. The said Sieurs Petit and Duranty did farther petition this National Synod That by their Authority Monsieur Chambrun who was removed unto the City of Orange by the National Synod of Alez might be restored back again unto the Church of Nismes But the Synod answered That the said Deputies should apply themselves unto the Church of Orange and in case of their refusal then unto the Colloquy of Baronniers in Dolphiny and so to get their Petition answered according to their Hearts desire 49. The Church of Vsez deputed the Sieur L' Exque with Letters unto this Council petitioning that Monsieur Buez Pastor in the Church of Cournon-Terrail might be conferr'd upon them for their Pastor The said Church was ordered to apply it self unto the next Synod of Lower Languedoc which is injoined to dispose the said Buez to comply with the Desire of the Church of Vsez because of its great Importance and for that there is very great and good Reason the said Synod should yield unto their Requests 50. The Synod being informed by the Deputies of Burgundy that the Church of Paillac was at present unprovided and considering its great Importance ordereth that Monsieur Repasseau a Pastor now at Liberty shall be sent unto that Church to serve them as their own Pastor and notice hereof shall be given them by Letters signed by the Officers of this National Synod 51. The Lord of Quelus presenting Letters from the Church of Anduze petitioning that Monsieur Vinay Pastor of the Church of Annonay might be given them for their Pastor After that the said Vinay and the Deputies of the Province of Vivaretz and Sevennes had been heard their Petition was remanded back unto the next Synod of Vivaretz who were intreated to have a particular respect both to the Person of the said Monsieur Vinay and his Preservation and the great Importance of the said Church that so as the Welfare of that Church on the one hand and Christian Charity on the other required that worthy Minister might be treated with all possible Respect and Kindness 52. The next Synod of Lower Languedoc which is charged to call Monsieur Ressent to account for his Actings shall be informed that the Sieur Mercurin declared in this Council that the said Ressent sent him against his will unto the Commissioners Crubellier and Chambrun and abusing of his easiness and good Nature never declared to him the Contents of the Letter of Credit he sent by him insomuch that when he came unto Vouert and Orange he was constrained to make up his Errand from what he could recollect of Discourses past betwixt him and the said Ressent 53. The Colloquy of Ambrun is ordered to judg finally in that Difference betwixt the Church of Cisteron and the Sieur
of the Years 1625 and 1626 without any diminution and for the Years One thousand six hundred and twenty one and twenty two a certain Sum out of that Stock and Fund which is in the disposal of the Synod and that such of them as are Pastors and have no Sallery from their Churches shall be paid that Portion which was allotted and settled on them as upon the other Pastors but with this difference that there shall be nothing deducted for Costs or Taxes out of it 3. This Synod having maturely considered the Reasons inducing the last National Synod of Charenton to supress the Profession of the Greek Tongue in those Universities which are maintained by our Churches hath thought good once again to restore It but with this Condition that the Professors shall explain unto their Scholars the most elegant Treatises of the Fathers And whereas Mr. Weems Principal at Montauban hath craved leave that at the same time he teacheth the Greek Tongue he may also teach the Mathematicks and Metaphysicks unto the Colledg his Petition was dismissed over to the Council of that University who should do therein as their Prudence should direct them 4. As for those Demands made by Monsieur Petit Professor of Divinity at Nismes on behalf of that University the Synod ordains 1. That for the Years 1621 and 1622 the Professors there must rest satisfied with what they have already received and patiently bear their part in the common Incommodities suffer'd by the Churches And for the Years 1625 and 1626 they shall receive their full Sallaries out of the first and clearest Monies of his Majesty's Liberality 2. That those of the aforesaid Professors who have the grant of a free Portion as the Sieurs Petit and Codour shall receive it from the Hands of the Lord of Candall's Deputy in the Province of Lower Languedoc 3. That the Sieur Codour Professor of the Hebrew Tongue shall come down unto the same Terms with the Professors of the said Language in our other Universities and he may not demand a greater Sallary than hath been granted and paid them until now 5. All the Provinces are exhorted to examine in their Synods Whether our Universities may not be removed from one place unto another or whether they may not be reduced to a lesser Number than they are at present that so the next National Synod may decree therein what will be most expedient for the whole Body of our Churches 6. Such Pastors as are employed in the Profession of the Hebrew Tongue shall over and above their ordinary Stipend as Pastors receive also their Wages as Professors And as for Professors of Divinity who serve the Churches of our Universities and receive some kind of Maintenance from them because of their ordinary Ministry among them there shall be an half Portion granted to them which they shall receive also but with deduction of their Pension promised them by their respective Churches 7. Two hundred and ten Livers shall be the yearly Sallary of the Regents in the fifth and sixth Glasses of the Colledg of Saumur 8. The Synod gave leave unto the Province of Sevennes to settle their Colledg in that Corporation which would contribute most towards its Maintenance 9. That the Right of our Churches may be preserved and our Universities in this Kingdom may be provided for Letters were ordered to be written unto Dr. Andrew Rivet to dispose and perswade him to serve as Professor in one of our Universities and the like Letters shall be written to the Lords Curators of the University of Leyden to acquaint their Lordships with the Desires of this Council and intreat them to set Dr. Rivet at liberty And the Church of Paris is charged to see those Letters delivered into their Hands to whom they be directed and to receive their Answer and make Replies unto them as they judg meet 10. That the Colledg in this City of Castres may be preserved the Council ordained that the said Colledg shall until the next National Synod enjoy the Sum of four hundred Livers yearly which Monies were detained in the Hands of the Lord of Candall out of the Monies given unto the Colledg of Bergeras without any the least prejudice unto the Grant formerly made unto the Province of Lower Guyenne in favour of the Towns of Bergerac and Nerac 11. The University of Nismes having not brought in their Accompt of the Monies they had received and employed since the last National Synod shall carry it unto the next Synod of Sevennes which is ordered to audit and finish it up by the Authority of this Assembly 12. The Province of Higher Languedoc brought in their Accompts by the Hands of Monsieur Bardon who was constituted Receiver for the said Province and Paymaster of the University of Montauban for the Years 1619 1620 1623 and 1624 but gave no Accompt for the Years 1621 and 1622 nor of the Years 1625 and 1626 because he had not received any thing in those Years by reason of the Troubles and Wars that were then in being and it appears upon the closing up of his Accompt that there is due unto him the Sum of two thousand one hundred and fifty nine Livers nineteen Sous and eight Deniers proceeding in part from eight hundred and eleven Livers paid by him unto the Professors for their Wages in the Year 1621 and for another Disbursement paid unto the said Professors for their Wages in the Year 1625 and for seven hundred Livers paid in to Madamoyselle Chamier for the Year of her Widowhood for which Sum of two thousand one hundred and fifty nine Livers nineteen Sous eight Deniers there was a Fund ordered for his Reimbursment viz. the very first Moneys that are to be distributed among the Churches And the said Accomptant and all others also were injoined for the future not to make the Expences in their Accompts greater than their Receipt appointed them by the National Synods on pain of Radiation 13. The Province of Anjou having in Obedience to the Decree of the Synod of Charenton given in unto the Colloquy of Higher Poictou the Accompts of Moneys received for the Maintenance of their University at Saumur three quarters of the Year 1620 and for the compleat Years 1621 1623 and 1624 and for the first quarter of the Year 1625 it appeared by that Accompt that they had paid five and twenty Livers four Sous and six Deniers more than they had received and it appeared by the said Accompt that they had received nothing for the whole Year 1622 and yet nevertheless they had disbursed for three quarters of the said Year as the Acquittances of that Disbursment did evidently prove there being also no Moneys received for the Profession of Divinity which was then vacant Wherefore the said Accompt was allowed and approved and the Censure against them in the Acts of the Synod of Charenton taken off and the Sums detained from them by the Decree of that Synod were now again rendred
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
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
Plants which have been sent you from divers Provinces of this Kingdom that through your well-deserving Pains and Counsels they may be prepared and made fruitful Ministers of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus And to these our Thanks we shall add our most ardent Prayers unto God that he would pour out upon you his most precious and saving Blessings and that he would always make you a most eminent Example of his Grace and Mercy in the Churches of his dear Son covering you and your Common-wealth wherein you live with the Wings of his Protection to the Glory of his Providence and to the Honour of his Holy Name as also to the Consolation of our Churches In whose Name we are From Castres this 6th of September 1626. Most Honoured Lords and Brethren Your most humble and most affectionate Servants in the Lord the Pastors and Elders of the Reformed Churches of France assembled in our National Synod and for them all The Superscription was thus To our Lords the Pastors and Elders in the Church of Geneva at Geneva Chauve Moderator Bouterove Assessor Scribes of the Synod O. Blondel Petit A Letter from the Church of Paris to our most Honoured Lords the Pastors and Elders assembled in the National Synod at Castres Most Reverend and very Honoured 'T IS with very great regret on our part that we are enforced to complain unto you against our Province but we have too just cause for out so doing We have ever held a fair and Christian Correspondence and Fraternal Union with it And indeed Sirs if it had been only our own particular Interest that was concerned we should much rather have chosen to suffer all manner of ill Usages than to have interrupted you in your most holy and important Occupations But the Honour of our Functions and the Glory of our God and the Advancement of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ are all concerned Therefore we implore with the greater freedom the Assistance of your Charity and the Help of your Fatherly Protection because we are well assured of your Zeal to the Well-being and Edification of our Church You know Sirs that great Affliction wherewith our â—od hath of late visited us in calling unto himself that most excellent Person Monsieur Durant whose Gifts and Graces and singular ministerial Abilities were universally known throughout the whole Kingdom During his Sickness which lasted near sour Months and six Months since his Decease those two astors which were left us were so surcharged with hard Labour that they both fell dangerously Ill and must have infallibly funk under the weight of their Burden had they not been extraordinarily assisted and supported by God As soon as God had took into his Joys our late famous Pastor we faw immediately the great necessity we had to relieve and ease those two which survived and this was the unanimous Prayer and Desire of the whole Church It was utterly impossible for us to find in our Colloquy a Minister every way qualified for us for besides that none of those Pastors had a Voice strong enough for our Auditory and those other Abilities requisite for the edifying so great a People There were some afflicted with Sickness and divers Churches were destitute of Pastors and so far were we from being holpen by them that several of the Neighbour-Churches have importuned us to lend them our help To assemble a Synod for their and our Relief was out of our Power For besides the bitterness of the Season the rigour and sharpness of the Winter we were then in the very hottest and deepest of the late Trouble and without any hopes of Peace which since our good God out of his infinite Mercy hath bestowed upon us Being then obliged to provide for our selves elsewhere we were not in any great trouble on whom to sasten our Eyes for so had the gracious Providence of God ordered it that in the extremity of Monsieur Durant's Sickness Monsieur Daillé preached three Sermons to us which so much affected our whole Church that from that instant it was the common Discourse that as God afflicted us on the one Hand so did he seem to comfort us on the other by pointing out unto us such a Person as might he easily and speedily obtained by us because the Province of Anjou was well enough provided of able Pastors and of divers Proposans of very great Hopes Monsieur Durand resting from his Labours in Abraham's Bosom we believed it our Duty to concur with those ardent Desires that many of our Members had expressed for Monsieur Daillé and the rather because we were well inform'd of his singular Piety Probity and rare Learning who by reason of those excellent Gifts and Graces of God's Holy Spirit in him had been already sought after far and near by many of the greatest and most famous Churches in the Kingdom But the Lord out of his abundant Goodness had reserv'd him for us And that we might handsomly and regularly proceed in giving him a Call to the Pastoral Office in our Church we resolved at first to demand him by way of Loan as we can easily prove by our Letters written unto the Church of Saumur and to the said Monsieur Daillé and by the Acts of our Consistory But the Person whom we deputed to Saumur and to whose Prudence and wise Conduct we had confided this Affair having been refused as to the Loan advised us by an express Messenger that there was more hopes of gaining him as an absolute Gift because the Church of Saumur could more easily procure it self a fettled Pastor than borrow one for a few Months Whereupon he demanded of us new Letters and a more ample Commission The Quality of the Person imployed by us in this Negotiation and our most pressing urgent Necessity made us resolve to demand the Ministry of Monsieur Daillé purely and absolutely We in the mean while taking it for granted that our Synod would have approved and consented to what we had done as we on our parts were disposed to break off the whole Treaty in case they could make it appear that we were out and mistaken in our Choice and that there could be any thing opposed against the Doctrine Life and Conversation of him to whom we had sent our Call As soon as we had notice that our Synod should be assembled we to render all due Honours to it delegated the Sieurs Mestrezat Bigot and d' Huysseau to it and charged them to make report of our Conduct in this Affair and to petition that Assembly to approve of the calling Monsieur Daillé into Office among us though at that time we had no promise of him made us by the Church of Saumur We well hoped that those Reverend Gentlemen would have considered the great importance of our Church and the Kindnesses they continually receive from it and that they would have comforted us in our Affliction and would have praised our Proceedings or at least would
obedient Brethren the Pastors and Elders in the Reformed Church of Paris and for all Drelincourt Pastor Bigot Tardif Dinets Massanes Millet Raillard and Mandat Elders And in the Margin We most earnestly beseech you to give Audience to Monsieur Mestrezat who is ordered more particularly to report this Affair unto you The End of the Synod of Castres SYNODICON IN Galliâ Reformatâ OF THE Acts Canons Decisions and Decrees OF THE Four Last National Synods OF THE Reformed Churches OF FRANCE The Second Part of the Second Volume By JOHN QVICK Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed by J. D. for Thomas Parkhurst and Jonathan Robinson 1691. THE Acts Canons Decisions and Decrees OF THE Twenty sixth Synod HELD BY The Reformed Churches OF FRANCE and BEARN The second Time at CHARENTON Under the Authority and Permission of LOUIS XIII King of FRANCE and NAVARRE In the twenty second Year of his Reign begun September the 1st and ended Friday the 10th of October In the Year of our Lord 1631. The General CONTENTS of these Synodical Acts in several Chapters Chap. I. THE Lord Galland the King's Commissioner The King 's Writ for calling the Synod Deputies Names Election of Synodical Officers Chap. II. The King's Letters Patents and Commission to the Lord Galland Chap. III. The Lord Galland's Speech to the Synod Chap. IV. The Moderator's Reply to this Harangue Chap. V. Deputies and a Letter sent from the Synod unto the King Chap. VI. The Cahier or Bill of Grievances sent by the Synod to the King Chap. VII The Deputies Return from Court with the King's Answer and Letter to the Synod Chap. VIII Election of General Deputies Chap. IX Monsieur Beraud admitted at Deputy to sit and vote in the Synod Chap. X. A second Letter from the Synod unto the King Chap. XI The General Deputies make Report of their Audience and the King's Answer to that Letter Chap. XII The Sieurs Bouteroue and Basnage admitted as Deputies to sit and act in the Synod Chap. XIII The King's Letter unto the Lord Galland about it Chap. XIV Approbation of the Confession of Faith Chap. XV. Observations upon the Discipline Chap. XVI Observations upon the National Synod of Castres Chap. XVII A great Debate about incorporating the Churches of Bearn with those of France opposed by the Lord Commissioner Chap. XVIII The Synod's Reply unto his Lordship Chap. XIX The Synod's Protestation upon this Conjunction of the Churches of Bearn with those of France Chap. XX. General Matters Chap. XXI An Act for a publick National Fast Chap. XXII An Act in favour of the Lutheran Brethren Chap. XXIII Particular Matters Chap. XXIV Of Vniversities and Colledges Chap. XXV An Act for an Assessment upon the Provinces for maintaining the Vniversities Chap. XXVI A Dividend of our borrowed Charities to maintain the Vniversities Chap. XXVII The Provinces Accompts about their Maintenance exhibited to the Colledges and Vniversities Chap. XXVIII The Lord of Candall's Accompts Chap. XXIX A Dividend of sixteen thousand Livers among the Provinces Chap. XXX A blank Dividend Chap. XXXI Roll of Apostate and deposed Ministers Chap. XXXII An Act for calling the next National Synod at Alanson Chap. XXXIII Remarks upon three of the Deputies The Second Synod of CHARENTON 1631. the 26th Synod SYNOD XXVI 1631. In the Name of God Amen Acts and Decrees of the twenty sixth National Synod held by the Reformed Churches of France and Bearn the second time at Charenton St. Maurice near Paris in the Province of the Isle of France under the Authority and Permission of Lewes the Thirteenth King of France and Navarre in the twenty second Year of his Reign begun September the 1st and ended Friday the 10th Day of October in the Year 1631. CHAP. I. The Lord Galland the King's Commissioner The King 's Writ for calling the Synod Deputies Names Election of Synodical Officers Article 1. AT the opening of this Assembly the Lord Galland Counsellor to his Majesty in his most honourable Privy Council and Council of State and Attorney General for his Dominion of Navarre appeared in Person as Commissioner deputed by his Majesty unto it and presented his Majesty's Warrant signed with his Sign Manual for the convocating of it 2. This 29th Day of January in the Year of our Lord 1631. The King being at Paris upon the most humble Petition of his Subjects of the pret Reformed Religion that they might be permitted to meet and assemble in a National Synod there not having been one held since that of Castres in the Year 1626. His Majesty being very willing to gratify those his Subjects aforesaid and to give them some Marks of his Royal Favour hath granted and permitted and doth grant and permit unto those his aforesaid Subjects the Power and Priviledg of holding a National Synod the first Day of September next at Charenton near Paris but with this Condition that none other Matters shall be debated in it but such as are allowed them by his Majesty's Edicts and that the Lord Galland Counsellor to his Majesty in his Privy Council and Council of State and Attorney General for his House of Navarre shall assist personally in the said Synod as his Majesty's Commissioner as hath been accustomed and practised heretofore In Testimony whereof his Majesty hath commanded me to issue out this present Writ which he was pleased to sign with his own Hand and commanded it to be countersigned by me his Counsellor and Secretary of Estate and of his Commandments and of his Treasury Signed in the Original LOVIS And a little lower Phillippeaux 3. There appeared on Behalf of the Churches in the several Provinces of this Kingdom the Pastors and Elders whose Names are hereafter mentioned For the Province of Burgundy the Sieurs Peter Boullenat Pastor of the Church of Vaux and Alexander Rouph Pastor of the Church of Lyons together with the Lords Timothy Armet Advocate in the Privy Council Elder in the Church of Conches and Lazarus du Puy Counsellor for the King in the Presidial Court of Bourg and Elder of the Church gathered in that Town 4. For the Province of Provence the Sieurs Paul Maurice Pastor of the Church at Aiguires and Peter de Peyre Lord of Retardet Elder in the same Church 5. For the Province of Orleans and Berry the Sieurs Daniel Jamett Pastor the Church of Gien upon the Loir and James L'amy Pastor of the Church of Chasteaudun accompanied with Master Claudius Bernard Elder in the Church of Chastillon upon the Loir and Bailiff of the said Town and Henry du Four Doctor of Physick Elder in the Church of Blois 6. For the Province of Poictou the Sieurs Isaac de Cuville Pastor of the Church in Couhé and John le Masson Pastor of the Church of Civray together with the Lords René de Lauvrignac Esq Lord of Miauvray Elder of the Church of St. Maixant and Giles Begaut Lord of la Begaudiere Elder in the Church of Montague 7. For the Province of Xaintonge
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
more particular notice of them unto the Lord Galland we will not therefore detain you any longer than to acquaint you that you may give an intire Credit to whatsoever the Lord Galland shall in out Name declare unto you Moreover we do assure you that as we are very well satisfied with the Carriage and Conduct of your Synod and of your Deputies to us you shall upon all Occasions that occur receive the sensible Pledges of our Good-will Given at Monceaux this 21 st of September 1631. Signed in the Original Louis and a little lower Philippeaux and subscribed To our Dear and Well-beloved the Deputies of the National Synod of our Subjects professing the pret Reformed Religion assembled by our Permission at Charenton 18. His Majesty's Letters being read the said Deputies made report That when they were called into his Majesty's Council and the King having heard them he answered them in these words I have heard and understood all that you have said and you may rest assured that I will preserve you according to my Edicts Give me the Cahier and I will peruse it with my Council After which his Eminency the Lord Cardinal told them That his Majesty was exceedingly satisfied with the Conduct of the Synod and particularly with them their Deputies And it was his Majesty's Intention to maintain his Subjects of the Religion in their Liberty granted by his Edicts and to give them the enjoyment of his Favours and the Fruits of his Royal Good-will and his Majesty had prevented the Petitions of the Churches having already ordered a certain Sum of Money to be delivered unto the Lord of Candall to be distributed among them And his Majesty in token of his accepting the Synod's Petition had taken off the Prohibition laid upon those two Ministers the Sieurs Banage and Beraud and hath permitted them to assist according to the Trust reposed in them by their Provinces in the Synod And as for the Sieur Bouteroue his Majesty hath not been as yet informed of the Contents of the Book written by him nor of the Contents of the Decree denounc'd against him by the Parliament of Grenoble but as soon as he shall have the knowledg thereof he will write unto the Lord Galland his Commissioner and by advising with him will take some effectual course to answer the Request of this Assembly about admitting the said Lord of Bouteroue And as for the rest of their Petitions mentioned in the Cahier presented by them the Deputies unto the King his Majesty was resolved to deal with his Subjects in a manner suitable to his Soveraign Dignity and the Sacred Authority of his Royal Word and would give them most favourable Answers after the breaking up of the Synod and not otherwise 19. Whereupon the Assembly approving the Conduct of their Deputies did give them its hearty Thanks for their Care Faithfulness and Dexterity manifested in the discharge of that Trust committed to them And afterwards his Majesty's Commissioner the Lord Galland acquainted the Synod That by the Letters which he had received from his Majesty and the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and the Lord de la Vrilliere Secretary of State that his Majesty was very well pleased yea highly satisfied with the Conduct and Moderation of this Assembly and with those Testimonials and Expressions rendred by them of their Affection and Obedience to his Majesty and that within a few days this Synod should receive the Effects of this his Good-will in a very considerable Sum of Monies his Majesty resolving to gratify them so far as to defray the Charges the Assembly must needs be at out of his own Treasury and to bear the Expences of all the Deputies in their Travel and Sojourning here And he farther exhorted the Synod and all the Churches in general to continue in their Duty upon which depended their Preservation and that it would give them a most solid ground to expect and hope for his Majesty's most speedy and favourable Answer unto their Cahier which they had sent unto him and which would be dispatch'd as soon as the Synod was broke up and he desired that they would not be over-long nor tedious in their Sessions for many Reasons that he could give And whereas his Majesty for divers very great and weighty Considerations and Motives had by his Writ the eleventh of August last interdicted the Sieurs Beraud Banage and Bouteroue from being Members of this National Synod and by his express Injunction had ordered their removal out of their respective Provinces and that they should in no wise exercise their Ministry either in Languedoc Normandy or Dolphiny Now out of his meer Grace and Respect had to the most humble Petition of this Synod presented him by their Deputies it hath seem'd good unto him to restore those Reverend Persons Mr. Banage Beraud and Bouteroue unto their respective Churches and given them leave to sit according to that Trust reposed in them as Deputies in this very Synod but chargeth them withal to use for time coming more and greater Moderation in their Writings and Sermons in which it is his Majesty's Pleasure that they should be more circumspect and reserv'd and to keep themselves within the Bounds prescribed them by the Discipline And as for the Sieur de Bouteroue before his Majesty will ordain his Restoration his Majesty desireth to be informed of the Sentence past against him in the Parliament of Grenoble because it relates unto a certain Book written by the said Bouteroue 20. Upon this Declaration made by the Lord Commissioner of his Majesty's Good-will and of his favourable Inclinations unto the Churches it was unanimously voted and decreed That most humble Thanks should be returned unto his Majesty for the Grant of his Gracious Favours and that a new Address should be made him by this Assembly with an humble Petition for the restoration of the Sieur de Bouteroue and that the Synod might have Licence given it to sit without a Dissolution till such time as the Monies destin'd by his Majesty's Liberality for the defraying of its Expences be paid in and distributed according to he Intention of his Majesty by the Synod it self conformably to that Order which hath been always observed in the Dividend of Monies granted us by his Majesty CHAP. VIII Election of General Deputies 21. SEveral Provinces requesting that his Majesty should be pleased to grant out his Royal Writ of Licence for the Election and Nomination of General Deputies the Lord Commissioner declared That it was his Majesty's Pleasure that this Assembly should agree with him in the choice of two Persons acceptable unto his Majesty who might exercise the Office of General Deputies and reside near his Person and attend the Court in all its Progress and Motions The Synod having conferr'd in private by its Commissioners with the forementioned Lord did nominate the Lord Marquess of Clermont and the Lord Galland Lieutenant General in the Bailiwick of the Artillery and of
the Louvre hoping that his Majesty will so far condescend as to approve of the Obedience of our Churches and hereafter to resertle them in the practice of their ancient and accustomed Order CHAP. IX Monsieur Beraud admitted as Deputy to sit and act in the Synod 22. THE three and twentieth day of September the Sieur Beraud Pastor of the Church of Montauban and Professor of Divinity in that University came unto the Synod petitioning that he might be restored and take his place in it according to his Majesty's Intention expressed in his Letters written to the Lord Commissioner who directing his Speech unto the said Dr. Beraud told him That his Actions and Writings had formerly given unto his Majesty very many and just Reasons of being dissatisfied with him and great occasion of Scandal and Complaint against those of the Reformed Religion For which cause his Majesty by his Writ of the sixteenth of August last had excluded him out of the Synod and destin'd his Abode and Ministry somewhere else than at Montauban But his Majesty having a favourable Respect unto the Petition of the Synod had of his special Grace restored him unto his Church and permitted him to assist the remainder of its Sessions as a Member of it in this Synod because he hoped that he would as he now commanded him to govern himself in all his Actions and Writings with a Moderation well-befitting his Profession Whereupon the said Dr. Beraud took his place in quality of Deputy for the Province of Higher Languedoc and Guyenne according to that Commission he had received from his Province 23. The Lords Clermont and Galland who were nominated unto the Office of General Deputies for the time coming were intreated to carry unto his Majesty the Act of their Election by this Assembly and it s most humble Petition both for the restoration of the Sieur de Bouteroue and the paiment of the Monies designed to defray the Expences of this Synod and to procure an Answer unto that Branch of our Cahier concerning the Monies granted us by his Majesty's Liberality that so the Dividend may be made before our departure And the Lord Commissioner was also intreated to accompany the Petitions of the Synod with his Lordship's Letters and by his Mediation to facilitate their Acceptance and the getting of a Decree upon them CHAP. X. A Copy of the second Letter written by the Synod unto his Majesty To the KING SIRE WE had no sooner knowledg of your Majesty's Intentions about the Election of our General Deputies who are to reside near your Majesty's Person but we immediately concurr'd with the Lord Galland your Majesty's Commissioner in this Assembly and we nominated to the exercise of this Office the Lord Marquess of Clermont and the Lord Galland eldest Son of the Lord Commissioner who were no sooner chosen than we commissionated them to wait upon your Majesty and to present and tender together with the sincerest Protestations of our most inviolable Fidelities and immoveable Resolutions to live and die in that Devotion which we all owe unto your Majesty's Service our most humble and thankful acknowledgments for the favourable Promise vouchsafed us to defray the Charges of this Assembly as also our most humble Petitions That it would please your Royal Goodness in which only next unto and after our God lieth all our Consolation And 't is our hope that you will continue your Royal Benefits unto us as to your dutiful and most faithful Subjects and that you will always under this Quality shroud us with the Sacred Covert of your Majesty's Protection Wherefore with all reverence we beseech your Majesty to give them a favourable Audience as well for the present in this our Request that you would daign to shower down upon our Churches the Streams of your Majesty's Liberality and Bounty which we have formerly enjoyed as also that hereafter in all those Remonstrances and Petitions which our urgent and extraordinary Necessities shall oblige us to make unto you we may experience the natural Inclination of your Majesty to cherish and comfort your People and we shall always study and zealously endeavour to render our selves worthy of the Fruits and Effects thereof by all Acts of Duty Obedience and imaginable Submissions Which give us Sire to hope that you will not refuse to cast the Eyes of your Compassions upon our Miseries and to open your Ears to the groanings of thousands of Souls who under all their Grievances and Oppressions suffered by them do yet notwithstanding breath nothing else but a most profound Obedience and unshaken Loyalty unto your Majesty And this makes us the more devout and zealous in our Addresses unto the Throne of the King of Kings ardently and most importunately beseeching him for the preservation of your Majesty's most Sacred Person for his Benediction on all your Designs and Vndertakings for the Glory of your Crown for the Fidelity of your People and for the long Continuance of your Reign because Sire we are From Charenton Sept. 23. 1631. Your Majesty's most humble and most obedient and most faithful Subjects and Servants The Deputies of the National Synod assembled by your Permission at Charenton and for them all Mestrezat Moderator Jamett Assessor D. Blondell Scribe Armett Scribe of the Synod CHAP. XI The General Deputies make Report of their Audience and the King's Answer to that Letter 1. THE fourth Day of October the Lords General Deputies being returned and making Report of their kind Reception from the Ministers of State who also informed them that his Majesty had granted sixteen thousand Livers for defraying the Expences of this Synod and that he permitted Monsieur Bouteroue to take his Place with the other Deputies in the Synod and that his Majesty did judg meet that this Synod should break up of its own Accord as soon as possible it could and that after their Departure the Cahier presented by the Sieurs Amyraud and de Villars should have a favourable Answer and that without Delay And the Lord Commissioner added that his Majesty expressed in his Letters written to him his singular Satisfaction in the Synod to which he granted three Days more for the perfecting and strengthning of their remaining Affairs and that they should be no sooner separated but he would answer their Cahiers and that in the most favourable manner particularly in what relates unto the Maintenance of the Ministers that the Choice of Deputiâ—â— was very acceptable to him though they could not enter upon their Office till after the Separation and Departure of this Synod Upon which the Assembly having returned their most hearty Thanks unto the Lords Deputies aforesaid for their singular Affection and Diligence in promoting the Weal of our Churches They intreated the Lord Commissioner to continue his wonted good Offices unto the Churches and by his daily Intercession for them with his Majesty to be more and more useful and beneficial to them And inasmuch as he was near his Majesty and
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
of an hundred and fifty Livers and the Scholar named Martill having been examined in the last Synod of Bearn and found meet and qualified to serve the Church of God in the Sacred Ministry shall receive for his yearly Portion sixty Livers and the Sum of seventy five Livers shall be paid in to the said Mr. Guillemin in Consideration of his Sickness only by the Lord of Candall this Synod not being able to charge it self with the reimbursment of his Expences because it judgeth it an unreasonable thing that Pastors should take long Journies upon none other Errand than to present their Petitions unto the National Synods which might as well if not been better done by inserting them into the Memoirs of the Deputies of those Provinces of which they be Members 42. The Complaint of Stephen du Mas against Mr. Scoffier Pastor in the Church of Lunell is dismissed over to the Consistory of Montpellier which having heard both Parties shall within one Month after the signification of this present Act by that Consistory judg of the pretended Right of the said du Mas by Authority from this Assembly 43. This Assembly ratifying the Decree of the National Synod of Castres concerning Mr. Bicheteau Pastor in the Church of Vrillac and Prosessor of the Hebrew Tongue in the University of Montauban judgeth concerning his Demands notified by his Letters as also by his Son declaring them by word of Mouth that they are not of their nature which ought to be tendred unto the National Synods yet in Consideration of his great Necessities and Losses it was resolved that he should have a Token of this Assembly's Affection and Charity which should be given him whenas the Monies appertaining to the Churches came to be divided 44. The Letters of Dr. Andrew Rivet Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the famous University of Leyden being read a Decree past That in the Answer which should be returned unto him he should be intreated to continue his Care and Kindness to the Weal of our Churches And whereas the laid Reverend Professor is upon the point of being settled in the House of his Excellency the Prince of Orange and his Lordship the Lord Commissioner having remonstrated that he could not be there established without his Majesty's Licence the Lord of Champvernon his Brother is intreated to give him notice thereof 45. The Reverend Pastors of Xaintonge and the Lower Guyenne who were appointed to examine the Works of Monsieur Blondell having made an honourable Report of them this Assembly commended the said Monsieur Blondell for his great Labour Care and Exactness in so painful and important a Subject and exhorts him continually to employ those excellent Gifts and Talents which God hath so abundantly bestowed upon him in clearing up the History of the five first Centuries And whereas the last Synod of Castres had promised to bear the Charges of the Impression this Synod doth now assure him that he shall be fully satisfied in this Particular And that the after-Writings of the said Mr. Blondell may be strictly perused and examined the Provincial Synod of the Isle of France is commissionated to do it and to give their Licence and Approbation that so they may be printed 46. Upon hearing the Report of those Commissioners who were appointed to audit the Receivers Accompts of the Monies collected by his Majesty's Permission the 7th of February 1626 for relieving the Necessities of the Cities of Rochel Montauban and Castres they declared that they had seen and examined that of Monsieur d'Huysseau for the Provinces of the Isle of France Normandy Berry Anjou Poitou Brittain and Xaintonge and his Receipt amounted to the Sum of sixty nine thousand seven hundred and thirteen Livers nineteen Sous and six Deniers and the Disbursment to sixty eight thousand six hundred and thirteen Livers five Sous and eight Deniers so that there remains in the hands of the said Monsieur d' Huysseau eleven hundred and forty Livers thirteen Sous and nine Deniers The Assembly approving the said Audit orders that Monsieur d' Huysseau do pay in the said Debt unto the Lord of Candall who shall divide it between the Churches of Montauban Castres and Rochel proportionably to what they have already received and may hereafter receive according as it was regulated in the National Synod of Castres in doing of which he shall be sufficiently acquitted and discharged of the Monies so received and disbursed by him as he also is now thanked for his great Care Pains and Diligence in his management and execution of the said Office of Receiver And it was farther voted that all his Acquittances sent unto the Churches shall be restored to him if possible it can be done but if it cannot be they are then declared Null and Void 47. Report being made unto this Assembly by those Reverend Divines who were commanded to peruse divers parts of that Treatise upon the Eucharist made by Mr. Faucheur and how exceeding profitable this most Elaborate Work would be unto the Publick by reason of its deep and curious Learning the most worthy Author received the Thanks of the Synod for his singular Diligence and Zeal for God's Glory and Affection to the edifying of God's Church And Messieurs de Croy and Gigord Pastors of the Churches of Beziers and Montpellier are ordered to revise it that as soon as it hath past their Examination and Approbation it may be immediately printed at the Costs of the Churches according to the Intention of the National Synod of Castres 48. Mr. Charron Deputy from the Church of Bergerac related the Causes which obstructed the restitution of their Colledg Whereupon this Synod voted a Continuance of that same Supply which had been formerly granted them for its Support by the last National Synod of Castres and exhorted them to use their best and utmost Endeavours that it may be restored betwixt this and the next National Synod And in case they can effect it sooner the Provincial Synod of Lower Guyenne is ordered to acquaint the Lord of Candall with it who shall pay in unto them the Monies granted by the Churches for the Maintenance of the said Colledg proportionably to what he shall receive from the Monies of his Majesty's Liberality The Synod likewise ordaineth that till the said Colledg be restored the four hundred Livers attributed to the Province of Lower Guyenne for its Colledg and applied by the last National Synod to that of Nerac shall be paid out of the same Fund according to the Intention of the said Synod 49. The Synod of Burgundy is ordered to examine the Accompts of Mr. Gros who was commissionated to receive the Collection granted by his Majesty for the Cities of Rochel Montauban and Castres that so upon the closing of them they may send the residue of the Monies in his Hands unto the Lord of Candall who according to the Sum shall divide it among those Churches in the same manner as he did that of
from the Ministry 8. Mr. Vinieux Pastor of the Church of Bazars complaining That the Decree of the National Synod of Castres relating to him had not been executed This Assembly ordained that out of the first Monies belonging to the Province of Lower Guyenne the Lord of Candall shall keep by him that very Sum promised unto the said Vinieux And he farther praying to be freed from the Service of his Church and Province He was ordered to apply himself unto his Province who should take into their serious Consideration his necessitous Condition and the great Importance of his Request and Appeal 9. The Letters of Mr. Baux appealing from the Judgment of the Province of Higher Languedoc were read Whereupon the Synod enjoineth the said Province to present him unto a Church that may comfortably maintain him and the Church of Mazemet is also enjoined to give him full Satisfaction for all his Arrears on default whereof they shall be deprived of the sacred Ministry according to the Rigour of our Discipline 10. In explaining that Canon of the National Synod of Tonneins held in the Year 1614 and which is the seventh Observation on the foregoing Synod of Privas whereby the Provinces were charged to defray the Expences of those Churches whose Pastors should be deputed unto General Assemblies both Ecclesiastical and Political This Assembly declareth That whatsoever Charges particular Churches may be at in procuring Ministers to serve them during their Pastors Absence ought to be reimburst them not by their Pastors out of their Sallaries but by the Province which had deputed them and this out of the Monies appertaining unto all the Churches of their Division and therefore disannulleth the several Appeals of the Churches of Vignan Sauve Breau Aulas Castagnoles St. Julian and St. Privat to the contrary 11. Whereas the Church of St. German hath refused to pay unto the Widow of their deceased Pastor Monsieur de la Faye the Pension of the Year of her Widowhood and appealed unto this Synod against her this their Appeal is cast out because we do not judg it equitable to invalidate the Canons made by the Provinces of both the Languedocs and Sevennes for Payment unto the Widows of their late Pastors without Exception the Pension of the said Year of their Widowhood as also all Arrearages of Stipend owing unto their Pastors at their Death by the Churches in which they ministred 12. The Appeals of the Churches of St. Julian and St. Andre for the same reasons are declared null and void 13. The Appeal brought by Monsieur Perrynet on behalf of the Church of Die appealing from the Judgment of the Synod of Dolphiny by which Monsieur Aymin had been lent unto the said Church was declared null 14. Monsieur Belon appealing from the Judgment of the Province of Lower Guyenne for confirming Mr. D'oze in the Ministry of the Church of Tournon and not appearing to prosecute his Appeal the Synod declared it null and the Appealant worthy of Censure for commencing such an unjust Action 15. The Church of Sommieres not prosecuting their Appeal from the Judgment of their Province the said Appeal was declared null and the Judgment of the Province ratified yet that Province is required not to let that important Church nor any other of the same Nature to lie long vacant but to see that it be speedily furnished with an able Pastor 16. Whereas it evidently appears that the Church of Baisly is much indebted unto their Pastor Monsieur Bayeux more through the Ingratitude of sundry private Persons than their Poverty and Inability This Synod disanulling their Appeal and condemning their Defect of Duty injoineth them to give full Satisfaction unto the said Mr. Bajeux and this without applying a Denier of those Moneys given by Monsieur Lasson for the Maintenance of a Proposan to this Purpose which shall not for the future be at all diverted from that Use unto which it was at first appointed without very great Necessity and the Consent of their Provincial Synod unto whom the said Mr. Bayeux is recommended from us that they would be pleased to procure him a competent and comfortable Supply unto his Necessities 17. The Appeal brought by the Church of Orbec separated by the Synod of Normandy from that of Mesnil Imbert according to the Canon of the last National Synod of Castres under that Article of Annexations is remanded back unto the next Synod of the said Province which having heard the Reasons of the said Church shall proceed to a final Judgment in the case 18. Monsieur Morrice Pastor of the Church of Fontaines and of Cressy was heard unfolding the Grievances of which he complained in his Appeal and the Deputies of Normandy in the Declaration of the Reasons of their Proceedings against him Whereupon the Assembly ratified the Judgment of the said Province and jointly commissionated the Sieurs de la Naux da Buisson de Beauvais and Herault together with four Elders from the Churches of Montgobert Sees Alenson and the Consistory of Fontaines and Cressy within one Month after the Return of the Deputies of the said Province unto their Churches to take new Informations in this Affair and after exact Inquiries made about it to give a final Judgment on Monsieur Morrice for the Fact of which he stands accused 19. The Memoirs and Acts of that Appeal sent by the Consistory of Montagnac being read the Synod gave Judgment that the said Appeal ought not to be admitted and those who first moved for it were worthy of a severe Censure And forasmuch as the Differences betwixt Monsieur Perery Pastor in the Church of Calignac and the Consistory of Montagnac are sprung from the Licentiousness of his Discourses and his frequent absenting himself from his own home he is expresly injoined to be more moderate in his Discourses and to settle his Abode in the midst of his Flock and on Default hereof the Province shall proceed against him according to the Discipline 20. The Churches of Montdidier and Montagoux refusing Payment of threescore Livers ordained by the Synod of Sevennes unto Mr. Jubert for Augmentation of his Wages their Appeal was rejected and the Judgment of their Province confirmed 21. The Letters and Memoirs of Monsieur Chavanon appealing from the Judgment of the Synod of Sevennes and of Mr. Rouvre and of the Commissioners who were sent by the said Synod unto the Church of L'edignan having been read and the Deputies of the Province being heard This Assembly exhorts the said Province not to use its Power in lending Pastors of Churches within their Division till they have first consulted with their Churches and seriously to consider of their Importance and it censureth the said Chavanon for those sharp and bitter Expressions couched by him in his Letters and as for those Facts mentioned in the said Memoirs the Cognizance and Judgment of them is reserved and dismissed over unto the next Provincial Synod which having maturely and exactly examined and
all humility submitting to his Majesty's good Pleasure and hoping that he will be graciously pleased to permit our ancient establish'd Order to take place doth earnestly intreat the Lord Commissioner to present our most humble Petitions unto his Majesty that he would be pleased to grant that our next National Synod may be held at the end of three Years in the Town of Aâ—anson in the Province of Normandy 8. Hereafter no Monies belonging unto the Churches shall be diverted to the printing of any Books unless such as shall be written by express Order of our National Synods 9. The Deputies unto this Synod having been on their Journey hither put unto extraordinary Expences by reason of the Contagion which reigneth universally in all parts of the Kingdom this Assembly exhorts all the Provinces to have respect unto it and therefore have rated the Charges of every day's Travel going and coming at an hundred Sous which is eight Shillings and eight Pence per diem 10. The Province of Burgundy having made report of the deplorable Necessities whereunto the Ministers and Pastors of Churches in the Colloquy of Gex are reduced for want of the Monies granted heretofore by his Majesty's Bounty for their Maintenance not one of their People contributing any thing towards their Subsistence This Assembly touched with a just Resentment of such base Ingratitude doth injoin all the Churches of that Colloquy to return unto their Duty and maintain their own Pastors or else they shall be deprived of the Ministry of the Blessed Gospel of our Lord Jesus and this according to the 34th Canon in the first Chapter of our Discipline 11. Whenas the Lords General-Deputies shall assist in Person in these National Synods they shall take place above all the Deputies of the Provinces 12. The Synod enjoineth all the Provinces to distribute with their wonted Charity those supernumerary Portions attributed to them that they may redound unto the Benefit of the poorer Churches and of the more necessitous Ministers 13. The Consistory of the Church of Paris is ordered to administer the accustomed Oaths unto the Lords General-Deputies immediately upon their being accepted by his Majesty and to keep by them a Copy of their Warrant 14. The Lord Commissioner remonstrated that through the Prerogatives of Precedency claimed in the Churches of Noblemens Houses divers Quarrels had arisen and several Murders had been committed therefore his Majesty hath ordained That in such Places where the Publick Worship of God according to our Religion is exercised the Proprietors of those Houses may not under colour of that Propriety pretend to any Place of sitting than is otherwise due unto them by reason of the Dignity of their Birth or the Honour of their Offices and forbids all Ministers to pray for them in Publick by their particular Names or Qualities Whereupon his Lordship the Commissioner being intreated that after we had prayed for his Majesty it might be lawful for us in general terms to pray for those Lords under whose Justice the Church of that Place was gathered He replied that he would in no wise hinder it 15. The Deputies for the Province of Sevennes may receive their part of the Monies granted us by his Majesty's great Liberality for the defraying of our necessary Expences in this Synod without their having recourse unto the Lord of Candall's Deputy for it provided that they be accountable for that Sum so received unto their Province And all the other Provincial Deputies may likewise do the same if they please 16. After many and divers Delays and Shiftings this Assembly being at last come to a Treaty with Sir John Palot Counsellor and Secretary to the King about the Monies claimed by the Pastors of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom from him the said Palot for which a Suit was brought against him before his Majesty's most honourable Privy-Council and divers preparatory Decrees had out against him This Assembly hath commissionated and deputed the Lords Marquess of Clermont and Galland General-Deputies of our Churches the Lord of Candall Receiver-General of the Monies granted by his Majesty's great Bounty unto these Churches the Lords Banage and de Champvernon Pastors De Maschelieres Dupuy Gilbert and Beraud Elders and have given them full Power to treat with the said Sir J. Palot about the Monies so claimed by our Pastors on such Conditions and Clauses as they shall judg most advantagious unto our Pastors aforesaid and to sign Contracts and Articles of Agreement before Publick Notaries this Assembly promising that they will stand to approve and ratify whatever shall be so determined by the said Lords Commissioners 17. This tenth day of October in the presence of the said Lords Commissioners before-named by this Assembly to treat with the before-named Sieur Palot upon the Suit commenc'd against him for Monies claimed by our Churches from him After that the Contract pass'd by the said Lords was read in the Assembly it was agreed to approved and signed by the Moderator Assessor and Scribes thereof And there having been a thousand Livers promised unto the Lord Malat by a separate Act and with which he remained fully satisfied he was duly discharged of those Powers formerly given him for prosecution of the said Palot and lie shall deliver into the Hands of the Lords General-Deputies all the Papers Decrees and Memoirs in his custody concerning this Affair 18. The Lord of Candall having received from the said Sir John Palot the Sum of eight thousand Livers in pursuance of the Agreement made with him the said Sum shall be paid out in that manner as hath been ordered by this Assembly Nor may the Deputies of the Provinces lay any Claim or Pretence whatsoever of Right to the receiving of the said Monies 19. This Assembly authorized the Consistory of the Church of Paris to treat with the Lord Mallet and to discharge him from all Prosecutions of the Sieur Palot and to satisfy him for his past Travel and Pains to the Sum of thousand Livers which shall be paid him by the Lord of Candall and this in full of all Demands Debts Dues or Pretensions whatsoever either for himself or his late deceased Uncle the Lord Mallet the said Mallet bringing in an Inventory unto the Lords General-Deputies and depositing it with them of all Papers Decrees and Memoirs in his keeping concerning this Affair CHAP. XXIII Particular Matters Article 1. MR. * * * He is called in another Copy Lavent in a third Lavand Laurence heretofore Pastor in the Province of Bearn presenting himself in this Assembly with an Attestation of his Life Carriage and Conversation for these two Years now last past and most humbly and importunately petitioning to be restored unto the Holy Ministry This Assembly did not judg his Request meet to be granted but advised him to apply himself to some other Calling than the Ministry of the Gospel and to use such means for a Livelihood as the Providence of God may trace out and direct
belonging unto the Professors of the said Language shall be paid him in Consideration of the Service actually performed by him Article 25. Mr. Savoix Pastor of the Church of Castres having complained by Letters unto this Assembly of his being interdicted the Ministry and that Act of the Consistory of the Church of Castres being read attesting That he had preached none other Doctrine but what was agreeable to our Confession of Faith and Church-Discipline This Assembly ordered the Lords General Deputies to prosecute in his Majesties most honourable Privy Council for the disannulling of the Decree of Interdiction past against him in the Court of Castres and to bestir themselves in this Affair with that Vigour as becomes them it being a Case of great and general Importance to all the Churches Article 26. Those free Portions which were granted the Churches of Auvergne by the 24th National Synod of Charenton in the Year 1623 shall be detained in the hands of the Lord of Candall's Deputy and be distributed by him among all the Pastors which have been sent by the Province of Sevennes proportionably to the Service performed by them of which they shall bring good and valid Attestations Article 27. Out of the first Monies that shall be distributed to our Universities the Lord of Candall shall pay in four hundred Livers unto Mr. Robertson Principal of the Colledg of Rochefoucauld to reimburse him in part of his own Monies advanced by him towards the Maintenance of the said Colledg but with this Condition that he do give them satisfaction who have had reciprocal Promises from him Article 28. The Synods of Lower Guyenne are most strictly charged to call unto an Account Mr. Bustanoby for the Sum of three hundred Livers delivered unto his deceased Father and to deduct from the said Sum the Charges of his Impression of the Catechism in the Biscayan Language according to that Promise made by the said Mr. Bustanoby some time before his Death unto the former National Synods Article 29. Mr. Froger presenting Letters from the Church of Pammiers and declaring the deplorable Condition whereunto that poor Church is now reduced This Assembly did in a more especial manner recommend the Concerns of that afflicted Church of Christ unto our Lords the General-Deputies and to help defray the Charges of the said Froger there was order'd the Sum of one hundred Livers to be paid unto him immediately by the Lord of Candall Article 30. The Portion of Monies accruing from the Composition made with Mr. Palot and appertaining to the Province of Sevennes shall be deposited into the hand of Mr. Blachan one of the Deputies of the said Province who having paid himself what he had advanced before-hand for the Churches of Auvergne shall be accountable for the Remainder unto the next Provincial Synod CHAP. XXIV Of Universities and Colledges Canon 1. THE ninth Article of general Laws for the Universities made in the 23d National Synod at Alez shall be couched in these words The Doctors and Professors of Divinity having been first chosen by the extraordinary Council of the Vniversity the said Election shall be brought unto the Provincial Synod to judg thereon and in case it be approved by them then Order shall be taken for the examination and reception of the Elect Professors according to the third Canon in the second Chapter of our Church-Discipline Canon 2. Forasmuch as hitherto our Professors of Philosophy in the Universities of this kingdom have not publickly taught Metaphysicks when they read their Course of Philosophy although that be one of the most principal Sciences and which demonstrateth the Principles of all the rest and that it is now more needful than ever to restore it unto its true Lustre and Purity because it hath been for so long a time exceedingly corrupted by the evil Artifices of the Doctors in the Romish Church who have abused its Maxims to the depravation of Theology and have blended with it their false Principles which they endeavour to the utmost of their Power daily to establish to the great prejudice of Divine Truth Wherefore this Synod enjoineth all Professors of Philosophy to teach during their Course together with the other parts of Philosophy the said Science And all University-Councils are ordered to exert their Authority that the first Elements of Logick be taught in the first Classes that so whenas Scholars depart the Colledges they may be prepared for higher Learning And that Professors of Philosophy do look to it that they do not in the least invade the Profession of Theology but do contain themselves within their own Bounds without roving abroad in the handling of unprofitable Questions Canon 3. And since the knowledg of the Greek Tongue is absolutely necessary for all Proposans who aspire unto the Sacred Ministery and for that the profession thereof is a singular Ornament unto Universities we therefore wish it might be continually upheld in them but because the present Wants of our Churches are very great and our deep Poverty will not permit a Maintenance to be now allowed unto the Professors of that Language this Synod leaving the Care thereof unto the next National Synod that so the Instrustion of our Youth may not be retarded doth order all University-Councils to have a careful Eye upon the Regents of the first and second Classes that the Greek Tongue be taught diligently by them and that our Scholars when they are promoted unto the Publick Lectures may be of sufficient capacity to read and understand Authors in their Original Language and be able to give a satisfactory account of them Canon 4. This Assembly being not in the least able to approve the Actings of the Provincial Synod of Lower Languedoc which instead of proceeding to examine Mr. Codur according to the requisite Solemnities and Forms prescribed by our Church-Discipline had satisfied themselves with a bare Confirmation of him in that conditional Settlement which was done by the Colloquies of Nismes and Vsez who called him to exercise the Profession of Theology in the University of Nismes doth injoin all the Provinces for the future to keep themselves to a precise observation of so necessary a Canon and especially it injoineth the Province of Lower Languedoc punctually to perform what hath been omitted with respect to Monsieur Codur as also to exert their Power that his Successor in the Hebrew Tongue be duly examined and all Formalities most accurately and exactly observed Canon 5. After that the Opinions of all the Provinces had been taken upon that Article charged on them by the last National Synod of Castres Whether it were expedient to lessen the number of our Universities at present This Assembly unanimously resolved to maintain them all as also those Colledges which are already established in every Province because they be the Seed-plot and Nursery of the Church of God and that without their subsistence it will be utterly impossible to provide for the Instruction of our Youth and the growing Wants of
the University of Die nine hundred eighty one Livers five Sous of which Dolphiny shall furnish six hundred sixty two Livers and ten Sous Burgundy one hundred thirty and one Livers seventeen Sous Sevennes one hundred eighty seven Livers ten Sous 5. And lest our Universities should fall into an utter Desolation thrô the Provinces neglect of the before-ordained Contribution their Deputies now being in this present Synod are expresly charged to see this very Canon punctually executed and all Provincial Synods to censure the delinquent Consistories and to quicken every particular Church within their Division to a revival of their ancient Zeal and to an augmentation of their Alms which are to be imployed to so sacred and necessary a Business 6. This Assembly being informed how carefully the University-Council of Saumur have performed their Duty in maintaining the Profession of Divinity in their University especially since the last National Synod held at Castres applaudeth the Zeal of their Professors which being intrusted with so holy and laborious a Calling do discharge it with singular Fidedelity and Diligence in which they shall be confirmed after they have undergone their Examen according to the Canons of our Church-Discipline 7. The Council of the University of Saumur remonstrating their great want of another Professor in Divinity and that they had pitched upon Mr. Blondel a Man endowed with Gifts every way fit for such an important Charge but the said Mr. Blondel excusing himself upon many and divers accounts from accepting of it and principally for that he hath been requested to write the History of the Church for the first five hundred Years The Provincial Deputies of the Isle of France being heard and Letters from the Earl of Roussi and the Church gathered in his House having been perused who did all unanimously petition that the said Mr. Blondel might be continued to them because of the great Success of his Ministry and their Edification by it Hereupon the Assembly declared That for sundry and weighty Reasons the said Mr. Blondel could not be granted unto that University altho he might be very beneficial to it and that therefore the Council of the said University must seek after some other Person from whose Labours they might reap the Advantages desired by them for their University 8. The Assembly yielding to the Importunities of the University of Saumur doth from this instant accord that Monsieur de la Place Pastor of the Church of Nantes notwithstanding all his Excuses and Arguments urged by him to the contrary shall take upon him the Professorship of Divinity after that he hath undergone the Examination prescribed by our Canons And the Lord Commissioner is intreated to procure leave for the Province of Brittain to meet in a Synod within six Months that so the University of Saumur may present their Request as soon as possible unto the said Synod which is ordered to give their Consent and to provide the Church of Nantes of another Pastor who may as successfully serve and edify it as the said Mr. de la Place hath done And the Province of Anjou is seriously to consider the Necessities of that Church that in case through the Advice of the Synod of Brittain it should seek for a Pastor from among them they may obtain full Satisfaction and Consolation And in case the said Synod of Brittain cannot be held within the space of six Months yet the said Mr. de la Place shall remove by virtue of this Act unto the said University CHAP. XXIX Accompts brought in by the Provinces about the Maintenance and Subsistence of their Colledges and Universities 9. THE Province of Anjou tendring in two Accompts one brought unto the Synod of Saumur in the Year 1629 and the other unto the Synod held at Loudun in the Year 1631 for the Years 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 and 1631 until the last September they were allowed and approved 10. The Province of Lower Languedoc brought in no Accompt for their University of Nismes nor for the Colledg of Beziers because they had received nothing neither for the one nor other since the last National Synod of Castres held towards the End of the Year 1626. 11. Nor hath the Province of Higher Languedoc brought in any Accompt for their University of Moutauban nor for the Colledg of Castres they not having received one Farthing since the sitting of the last Synod 12. There were five Accompts exhibited by the Province of Dolphiny of their Receipt and Disbursment for the University of Die beginning in July 1626 and ending the 1sf of July 1630 all which were allowed and approved 13. The Province of Berry brought in three Accompts for the Colledg of Chastillon upon Loir two whereof were tendred to the Synod held at Chastillon the first on the 22d of February 1629 the other the 22d of March next immediately following the third and last was to tho Consistory of Gien authorized to examine it by the Synod held at Mer the 18th of June 1631 for the Year 1628 1629 1630 and 1631 and the said Accompts were allowed and approved 14. The Province of Xaintonge brought in the Accompt of the Colledg of Rochefoucauld rendred by them the Year 1630 on the 11th of June unto the Synod held in the same Place and the said Accompt was allowed and approved 15. The Province of Brittain exhibited also an Accompt of the Colledg of Vitré the 21st of June 1628 concluded and determined by two Elders of the Consistory of that Church which was allowed and approved 16. The rest of the Provinces brought in no Accompts about the Maintenance of their Colledges they not having received any thing for them since the 25th National Synod held at Castres in the Months of September October and November 1626. CHAP. XXX The Accompts of the Lord of Candall Receiver General of the Monies given by his Majesty's Liberality unto the Reformed Churches of France 1. THE Assembly having taken notice of those great and notable Sums brought in by Reprizal in the Accompt of the Lord of Candall ordained That the Lords General Deputies of our Churches unto his Majesty shall be charged most humbly to petition his Majesty that he would vouchsafe some better Assignations in lieu of those Sums so reprized by the Lord of Candall and particularly for those Assignations given for the Year 1627. And whereas in the Reprizals of the foregoing Years there be divers Offices took as Payments of some of those aforesaid Assignations which it's needful they should be sold at any Rate or Price whatsoever that out of the Monies arising from their Sale there may be some Relief afforded to our poor Pastors This Assembly commissionated the Sieur Mestrezat Pastor of the Church of Paris the Sieurs Marbaud and Rambouillet Elders of the said Church together with the said Lords General Deputies conjointly with the Lord of Candall to treat compound and agree about the Sale of the said Offices either in whole or in
Provincial Synod of Vivaretz and presented by that grave Assembly to the Pastoral Office in the Church of Annonay though he was then but eighteen Years of Age and Annonay was a Church of no mean Consideration but what he wanted in Years he made up in Merit In the Year 1612 he was removed to the Church of Montpellier in which he served full twenty Years He was one of the Scribes in the National Synod held the first time at Charenton 1623. The Parliament of Tholouse having made a Decree that no Foreigner should be a Minister or preach within their Jurisdiction in the Year 1632. he came to Paris and sollicited the Court for his Restoration He had in that City a Brother very rich and one who followed the Law Whilst he resided here the University of Lansanna in Switzerland earnestly invited him to be Professor of Theology in it but he very civilly declined that Motion though he was a most accomplish'd Scholar and Divine In the Year 1636 a Franciscan Friar who was the great Favourite of Cardinal Richelieu and of his Cabinet-Council meeting him in an Apothecary's Shop in St. James's Street demanded his Name and he telling him who he was and the Reason for which he was driven away from Montpellier he bespoke him Monsieur Faucheur do you tarry here and preach at Charenton and I will ingage my Word for it that the King shall never trouble you He communicating this Relation to his Brother his Brother communicated it unto the Elders of that Church who discoursing with him intreated him to preach the next Lord's Day in their Temple which he did to their and the Churches very great Satisfaction And here he continued in their Service preaching and dispensing the Word and Sacraments among them unto the Day of his Death 3. Monsieur Amyraut of him I shall speak in the Catalogue of the Churches and Ministers hung upon the File in the last National Synod where my Reader will meet with a Multitude of Remarks upon the Pastors that were then actually imployed in the Service of those-once flourishing Churches The End of the Second Synod of Charenton THE Acts Canons Decisions and Decrees OF THE Twenty seventh Synod OF The Reformed Churches OF FRANCE Assembled under his Majesty's Authority and Permission AT ALANSON IN THE PROVINCE of NORMANDY On Wednesday the twenty seventh of May and ended Thursday the ninth of July In the Year of our Lord God 1637. Being the twenty eighth Year of the Reign of LOUIS XIII King of FRANCE and NAVARRE The CONTENTS of the Synodical Acts in several Chapters Chap. I. THE King 's Writ for calling the Synod presented by the Marquess of Clermont General Deputy Monsieur St. Mars Commissioner for the King Names of the Deputies Election of the Synodical Officers Chap. II. The King's Commission to Monsieur St. Mars to represent hit Royal Person in the Synod Chap. III. The Lord Commissioner's Speech and a very long one unto the Synod Chap. IV. The Synod's Replies and Answers unto the Contents of it Chap. V. Three Deputies sent with a Letter from the Synod unto the King Chap. VI. A second Letter to the King Chap. VII Approbation and Confirmation of the Confession of Faith Chap. VIII Observations upon the Discipline Chap. IX Observations on the last Natiâ—â—â—â— Synod Chap. X. A peniâ—â—n◠〈◊〉 after tâ—â— Yoâ—â—s Deposition and Penaâ—â—â— iâ— at last restored to the Exercise of his Ministerial Office Chap. XI The Snappishness of the Commissioner the Prudence and Patience of the Synod Chap. XII A penitent Minister petitioning for Restoration unto his Ministerial Office refused and why Chap. XIII The Churches of â—earn incorporated with the Reformed Churches of France Chap. XIV Appeals 3. A Lady appealeth 4. Des Champs a factious Minister 11. An Appeal about a Legacy Chap. XV. General Matters 1. An Action indifferent so left by the Synod 4. Whether Slaves may be purchased 5. No Minister to be ordained without a Title 7. An Act for a National Fast 8. An Expedient to preserve Peace among the Ministers Professors and Churches 9. A Petition to the King opposed by the Commissioner 10. A Letter from the King unto the Synod The Synod's Letter to the King 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30. A Determination of the Controversies moved by Amyrald and Testard 31. The Deputies in the Synod to receive an hundred Sous par diem Sallary from their Provinces 32. Professors of Divinity designed Chap. XVI 4 5. Two poor Ministers in great Wants 7. An Expedient to compose Differences in a Church and Province 9. The Case of La Milletierâ— the Reconciler 11. Complaints of two Books L'Antidote and Les Ombres d'Arminius Chap. XVII Of Vniversities Order taken for upholding and maintaining the Vniversities Chap. XVIII Arrears of Monies due unto the Vniversities Chap. XIX Accompts of the Vniversities Chap. XX. Lord of Candall's Accompts Chap. XXI A Dividend of 16000 Livers Chap. XXII Roll of deposed and revolted Ministers Chap. XXIII Catalogue of the Churches and Ministers Chap. XXIV Monsieur Ferrand's Speech unto his Majesty Chap. XXV Instructions given unto Monsieur Ferrand c. deputed to the King Chap. XXVI Monsieur Ferrand's Speech to Cardinal Richelieu Chap. XXVII The Bill of Grievances A Book stiled Le Proselyte Evangelique Chap. XXVIII Letters from the Pastors and Professors of Geneva Chap. XXIX Testimonials unto Dr. Rivet's Treatise against the Books of the Sieurs Amyraut and Testard Chap. XXX Two Letters one from Mr. du Moulin another from Monsieur Diodati to the Synod The Synod of Alanson 1637. The 27th Synod SYNOD XXVII 1637. In the Name of God Amen Acts of the twenty seventh National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France held in the Town of Alanson in the Province of Normandy It was opened by his Majesty's Permission Wednesday the 27th of May and ended Thursday the 9th of July in the Year of our Lord God 1637 and the 18th Year of the Reign of our Dread Sovereign Louis the Thirteenth King of France and Navarre CHAP. I. The King 's Writ presented by the Marquess of Clermont for calling the Synod Mr. de St. Mars Commissioner Deputies Officers chosen Article 1. THE Lord Marquess of Clermont General Deputy of the Reformed Churches of France at the opening of the Synod presented his Majesty's Warrant expresly given by him under his own Hand for the calling of it the Tenour of which is as followeth This sixth Day of Jannary in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty and seven the King being at Paris upon the most humble Petition of his Subjects of the Reformed Religion who craved his Royal Permission for the calling and assembling of a National Synod there not having been one held since that of Charâ—nton in the Year 1631. His Majesty being desirous to gratify those his Subjects and to deal favourably with them hath permitted and doth permit the Convocation of a National Synod the 27th day of May next
Majesty and to our Lords his Ministers but that they repose themselves firmly on his Royal Word trusting always in his Majesty's Goodness that he will hinder and prevent the Designs and Attempts of ill-minded Men who would contrary to the Tenour of his Edicts persecute his poor Subjects because they be of the Reformed Religion 19. And to the intent that our Churches may never be impeached of contributing unto any Alterations and Changes whereby the Publick Peace should be broken This Assembly recommends unto all Pastors an exacter Observation of our Ecclesiastical Discipline and of the Stile of God's holy Word and of our Confession of Faith than heretofore and doth according to our Canons in all these Articles expresly interdict and forbid them the utterance of any bitter Words or Expressions whenever they declare their Faith and Hope against any Person or Opinion whatsoever And it doth also most humbly supplicate his Majesty to interpose his Royal Authority that those of the Romish Religion who do licentiously depart from their Duty may be reduced to the Obedience of his Edicts and that his poor Subjects of the Reformed Religion may not for the future as they have been upon all Occasions hitherto be loaden with the most outragious and atrocious Abuses and Reproaches And we do farther recommend unto all our Churches and their respective Members the observation of our Discipline and particularly that no one do publish any Book till it have been first perused and examined and approved by them who are commissionated thereunto and that none take upon them to violate the Judicial Sentences of the Civil Magistrate concerning Divorces And the Province of Sevennes hath and doth protest that it had never any such Design or Purpose for so doing 20. And whereas there is a Crime imputed unto our Churches about the Residence of their Pastors and the Exercise of their Ministry as if some of them had acted contrary to the tenth Article of January 1561 which yet is very false for not one of them hath ever attempted to preach forcibly in any Place Yea and secondly that Edict of January was only provisional made for that time and hath been since abrogated by the subsequent Edicts particularly by the one and fortieth Article of that Edict made in the Year 1570 and by that of Nants made in the Year 1598 and which by his then Majesty was declared to be a clear plain general and absolute Law by which it was his Will and Pleasure that all his Subjects should be governed And thirdly The Pastors do not exercise the Duties of their Calling in any other Places besides those which are allowed them by the 78th 79th 80th and 81st Articles of the Edict last mentioned And fourthly Our Lords of the Council and the Parliaments and the several Commissioners for the Execution of that Edict have from the beginning made out Orders where and in what Places the publick Exercise of our Religion should be established and performed and did always consider that the most part of those Places were but so many Quarters and Members of one and the same Church served by one and the same Pastor And fifthly That the Pastors never preach out of those Quarters unless in the case of Absence or Sickness or of some other lawful hindrance of their Brethren And lastly By the sixth Article of the Edict of Nants explained by the first of the secret and particular Articles it is granted that our Ministers may reside in any Places of the Kingdom indifferently Wherefore we most humbly petition that his Majesty would maintain them in that Liberty granted them by his Edicts and revoke all Orders and Decrees of his Privy-Council which are derogatory to them 21. Moreover forasmuch as our Pastors do not receive their Maintenance in a way of begging nor from the Poors Box nor from Legacies bequeathed to pious Uses and destinated for the Relief of the Poor but only from a voluntary Contribution of their Flocks or by an Assessment made upon them according to the forty fourth Article of Particular Matters conformably to those Agreements past between them and their Pastors at their first coming And that according to the Discipline the fifth Penny of all Alms is particularly assigned to the maintenance of our Professors Regents Scholars and other such like Persons whole Poverty renders them meet and proper Objects of those Charities without ever diverting the Monies of this natu them but according to the Order of Provincial or National Synods His Majesty is most humbly beseeched to keep up in our Churches the Observation of this ancient Order established by the Discipline and authorized by his Edicts and whereof there was never any Complaint yet formed and that he would be pleased to interdict his Officers the disannulling or changing of Agreements past and made between the Pastors and their Churches about their Salaries when they first took upon them the Cure and Charge of their Souls 22. And sith what hath been done in the case of Mr. Petit relateth to the Execution of this Order and to the Canons of former National Synods his Majesty is most humbly requested to approve thereof 23. Finally forasmuch as the Declaration made by the Synod of Nismes is neither as to its Substance nor Terms in which it is framed and expressed any other Matter than the first Article of the eleventh Chapter of our Discipline bottom'd upon our Confession of Faith Catechism and other Expositions of the Belief of our Churches and for that the Arguments produced on behalf of the Opus operatum and the Decision made by the Church of Rome which is directly opposite unto our Faith aforesaid do formally condemn it his Majesty having by his Edicts allowed of it is most humbly intreated to grant that his Subjects of the Reformed Religion may still enjoy and be always secured in the full enjoyment of the Liberty of their Consciences according to his Sacred and Royal Promises that so they may all unanimously with one and the same Heart and the self-same Vows and Prayers unanimously imploy themselves in the Service of God and of his Majesty CHAP. V. Deputies sent with a Letter unto the King 24. THere were chosen by Plurality of Voices in the Assembly the Sieurs Ferrand Gigord and Cerizy to carry unto his Majesty the most humble Thanks and Petitions of the Churches who were furnished with their Instructions and Letters unto his Majesty and to our Lords the Ministers of State 25. A Copy of the first Letter written by the Synod unto the King SIRE THE Great God whose lively Image you are accepting indifferently and irrespectively the Prayers and Homages of all his Creatures we believed that your Majesty would not he displeased with our Boldness in laying ours at your Feet your Majesty having granted us the Priviledge of assembling our selves in this Place And 't is to acquit our selves of this necessary Duty Sire that we have sent the Sieurs Ferrand Gigord
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
of Death that the Efficacy thereof should particularly belong unto all the Elect and to them only to give them justifying Faith and by it to bring them infallibly unto Salvation and thus effectually to redeem all those and none other who were from all Eternity from among all People Nations and Tongues chosen unto Salvation Whereupon although the Assembly were well satisfied yet nevertheless they decreed that for the future that Phráse of Jesus Chist's dying equally for all should be forborn because that term equally was formerly and might be so again an Occasion of stumbling unto many Article 19. And as for the Conditional Decree of which mention is made in the aforesaid Treatise of Predestination the said Sieurs Testard and Amyraud declared that they do not nor ever did understand any other thing than God's Will revealed in his Word to give Grace and Life unto Believers and that they called this in none other Sense a Conditional Will than that of an Anthropopeia because God promiseth not the Effects thereof but upon condition of Faith and Repentance And they added farther That although the Propositions resulting from the Manifestation of this will be conditional and conceived under an if or it may be as if thou believest thou shalt be saved if Man repent of his Sins they shall be forgiven him yet nevertheless this doth not suppose in God an Ignorance of the Event not an Impotency as to the Execution nor any Inconstancy as to his Will which is always firmly accomplished and ever unchangeable in it self according to the Nature of God in which there is no Variableness nor Shadow of turning Article 20. And the said Sieur Amyraud did particularly protest as he had formerly published unto the World that he never gave the Name of Universal or Conditional Predestination unto this Will of God than by way of Concession and accommodating it unto the Language of the Adversary Yet forasmuch as many are offended at this Expression of his he offered freely to raze it out of those places where-ever it did occur promising also to abstain in from it for the future and both he and the Sieur Testard acknowledged that to speak truly and accurately according to the Usage of sacred Scripture there is none other Decree of Predestination of Men unto eternal Life and Salvation than the unchangeable Purpose of God by which according to the most free and good Pleasure of his Will he hath out of mere Grate chosen in Jesus Christ unto Salvation before the Foundation of the World a certain number of Men in themselves neither better nor more worthy than others and that he hath decreed to give them unto Jesus Christ to be saved and that he would call and draw them effectually to Communion with him by his Word and Spirit And they did in consequence of this Holy Doctrine reject their Error who held that Faith and the Obedience of Faith Holiness Godliness and Perseverance are not the Fruits and Effects of this unchangeable Decree unto Glory but Conditions or Causes without which Election could not be passed which Conditions or Causes are antecedently requisite and foreseen as if they were already accomplished in those who were fit to be elected contrary to what is taught us by the sacred Scripture Acts 13. 48. and elsewhere Article 21. And whereas they have made distinct Decrees in this Counsel of God the first of which is to save all Men though Jesus Christ if they shall believe in him the second to give Faith unto some particular Persons they declared that they did this upon none other account than of accommodating it unto that Manner and Order which the Spirit of Man observeth in his Reasonings for the Succour of his own Infirmity they otherwise believing that though they considered this Decree as diverse yet it was formed in God in one and the self-same Moment without any Succession of Thought or Order of Priority and Posteriority The Will of this most supreme and incomprehensible Lord being but one only eternal Act in him so that could we but conceive of things as they be in him from all Eternity we should comprehend these Decrees of God by one only Act of our Understanding as in Truth they be but one only Act of his eternal and unchangeable Will Article 22. The Synod having heard these Declarations from the Sieurs Testard and Amyraud it injoined them and all others to refrain from those terms of conditional frustratory or revocable Decree and that they should rather choose the Word Will whereby to express that Sentiment of theirs and by which they would signify the revealed Will of God commonly called by Divines Voluntas Signe Article 23. And whereas in sundry Places marked in the Writings of the before-mentioned Monsieur Testard and Amyraud they have ascribed unto God as it were a Notion of Velleity and strong Affections and vehement Desires of Things which he hath not hot never will effectuate they having declared that by those figurative Ways of speaking and anthropopathical they designed to speak properly none other thing than this that if Men were obedient to the Commandments and Invitations of God their Faith and Obedience would be most acceptable unto him according as was before expressed by them The Assembly hearing this their Explication did injoin them to use such Expressions as these with that Sobriety and Prudence that they might not give the least Occasion of Offence unto any Person nor cause them to conceive of God in any way unsuitable to his glorious Nature Article 24. Monsieur Testard and Amyraud declared farther that although the Doctrines obvious to us in the Works of Creation and Providence do teach and preach Repentance and invite us to seek the Lord who would be found of us yet nevertheless by reason of the horrible Blindness of our Nature and its universal Corruption no Man was ever this way converted yea and it is utterly impossible that any one should be converted but by the hearing of the Word of God which is the Seed of our Regeneration and the Instrument of the Holy Ghost whole Efficacy and Virtue only is able to illuminate our Understandings and to change the Hearts and Affections of the Children of Men. Article 25. And forasmuch as the Word of God hath always revealed the Knowledg of the Lord our Redeemer the said Sieurs did farther protest that no one Man was ever nor can be saved without some certain Measure of this Knowledg less indeed under the old Testament but greater under the New the Death and Resurrection of the Son of God being most plainly and distinctly manifested in the Gospel and they hold it as an undoubted Truth that now under the New Covenant the distinct Knowledg of Christ is absolutely necessary for all Persons who are come unto Years of Discretion in order to their obtaining of eternal Salvation And they do from their very Heart anathematize all those who believe or teach that Man may be saved
Maeil Elder in the Church of Dieppe being chosen by the common Votes of the Pastors Elders and Heads of Families there and sent unto the Deputies of the Province of Normandy to move and intreat them to request that Mr. Texier who was freed from the Church of Mauvesin in the Province of Higher Languedoc might be given to them absolutely and the said Lords Deputies having introduced him into the Assembly to make his Demand in which also they joined with him After that Mr. Texier had been heard on the one part declaring how that for the Ingratitude of his Church he accepted of the Call given him by the Church of Dieppe upon Condition that his Province should judg it reasonable to set him at Liberty and with Design to oblige his Church by the Authority of the National Church to give him a full Satisfaction and on the other part the Deputies of Higher Languedoc complained that they were not in due time and place acquainted with his Intention and requesting that the Right of their Province might be intirely secured it having many Churches to be supplied which were destitute of Pastors and particularly the Church of Mauvesin which had sufficiently assured the said Texier that he should be paid the Arrears of his Wages The Assembly decreed that he should apply himself unto his Synod which is exhorted to see that he be fully satisfied and in case he be set free from his Church and that he cannot be commodiously provided for within his Province that then leave shall be given him to depart where he best liketh 3. The Assembly conserving to the Province of Berry the Right they have hitherto had over the Church of la Selle ordaineth that as long as it shall be supplied by the Pastors of the Isle of France it shall be under the Jurisdiction of the said Province which shall continue their Contributions towards the Subsistence of the Colledg of Chastillon 4. Forasmuch as the Assembly is not now in Possession of any Fund out of which those who have Recourse unto it might be relieved by its Charities Monsieur Falquet whose Necessities are very great is recommended unto the Province of Berry to be assisted and comforted by them either by allowing him some certain Portion out of their Alms or by recommending his afflicted Condition to be relieved by the more rich and populous Churches 5. The Deputies of the Province of Vivaretz relating the extream Poverty whereunto Monsieur Zuccond a Pastor emeritus hath been for several Years last past reduced by reason of his great Sicknesses Losses Expences and Imprisonments suffered from the Lord of Chanal and la Motte and that the precedent National Synods had in Consideration of his great Afflictions granted him a free Portion out of the Monies of his Majesty's Liberality and requested this Assembly that they would be pleased to vouchsafe him some sensible Tokens of their Charity and Compassion Answer was made them that forasmuch as the Churches had no Monies at all of their own nor now to be disposed by them the said Province was exhorted to take care of him for his comfortable Subsistence and Relief from among themselves 6. Whereas the Province of Sevennes had formed a Complaint against Monsieur James Pasquier Pastor in the Church of St. John de Breuil this Affair was turned over to the Judgment of the Province of Higher Languedoc 7. The Deputies of Bearn requesting that the Divisions which have been judged and condemned in the Church of Morlas maybe totally and effectually remedied and that there may be an End put unto the Complaints brought in by Monsieur Fabas against his Province and sundry particular Persons on the one hand and of divers others against him on the other that therefore some Deputies may be sent with an express Charge to take Knowledg of and give a final Judgment on all those Articles which could not possibly be examined or clearly inspected into in this Place and at so great a Distance The Assembly accepting the Offer of the Deputies of the Province of Bearn promising to bear their Charges who should to this Purpose be sent unto them did nominate the Sieurs Ferrand and Charles Pastors and Charron an Elder to receive the Information drawn up at the Request of Monsieur Rival by the Lord D'abbadie the Decrees past in Parliament against the Lords D'abbadie Rival and others who by Order of their Colloquy had admitted unto Communion at the Lord's Table some particular Persons of Morlas and generally all Papers whatsoever which have given Birth and Fewel unto this Fewd and Contention that so they may proceed to a final Judgment on the remaining Matters yet under Debate and Controversy And they shall bring in their Accompt hereof unto the next National Synod 8. To regulate the Pretensions of the Churches of Alanson St. Aignan and Mans about the Donative given for their Benefit by the Lady de la Harangere and destined to the Maintenance of some poor Scholars This Assembly ordaineth that according to the Tenor of the said Legacy the Administration of the Monies arising from it ought to be left in the Hands of the Church of Alanson and those two other Churches shall agree with it about the choice of him to whom the Pension shall be exhibited and that the first of these three Churches which shall be unprovided may proceed to receive and imploy him and that the Son of Monsieur Vignier Pastor of the Church of Mans who hath already received some Fruits of the aforesaid Pension shall injoy it and be preferred before all others in the Injoyment of it 9. Forasmuch as the Sieur de la Milletiere hath sent unto the Pastors deputed by the Provinces the first Part of a Book written by him intituled Les Moyens de la Paix Chrestienne en la Reunion des Catholiques Evangeliques sur les differends de la Religion divisé en quatre parties and the Title of the first Volume La Refutation de la procedure de Monsieur Daillé en son Examen and Letters also in which he asserts that he is moved hereunto by the sole Spirit of God for to reconcile the Differences in Religion He takes for granted that what he hath offered or may hereafter offer will be received without any Contradiction by all the Churches and presupposeth that all our first Reformers and their Successors were abused and do abuse themselves through a Misunderstanding which cannot be discovered but by them who shall admit his new conceited Lights And whereas he hath been too long even for the space of three Years tolerated and that the Church of Paris hath used all Endeavours to reduce him unto his Duty and that in the Articles contained in his first Script he hath designedly concealed his Opinions though under the very Phrases used by the Doctors of the Romish Religion and with which they are accustomed to express their own Sentiments and that in the second which he hath sent abroad
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
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
Amyraud and Testard Messieurs and most Honoured Fathers and Brethren UNderstanding from good Hands That my Pains and Labour in the Defence of the Truth is very much blamed by persons of a contrary Perswasion I believed that as that Treatise Composed by me through the occasion of these new Controversies was submitted unto your Judgment so it was my Duty to undertake my own Justification and to wipe off those Reproaches wherewith I had been aspersed They say that I might have done well not to have medled with this Quarrel and that I am a Fellow who love to be embroyl'd and to fish in troubled Waters and who do presumptuously take upon me to prescribe my own private Notions as infallible Oracles You know Sirs that Messieurs Amyraud and Testard have kindled this fire which hath caused all this noise and hubbub and that 't is they who have fill'd all our Churches with those Books which in a very ill hour do remove the antient bounds by their new fangled Doctrines about the most important points of our Religion and that Monsieur Amyraud hath sent forth his Book of Predestination without ever submitting it to be examined by his Province or so much as waiting for its Approbation by them and that since that time contrary to the Advice of two Provinces and contrary to the Promise made by him unto Messieurs Vincent and du Soul he hath caused some certain Sermons of his containing the very self-same Doctrine to be Printed It was a long time before I stirred hoping that this Commotion would have calmed of it self and have found none to approve it But being well informed That this Distemper grew worse and worse and that this Sparkle might cause a great Conflagration I feared lest my Silence on such an urgent occasion might be interpreted for want of Zeal unto the Truth and be taken for an Approbation of their Errors I have none nor will I have any Quarrels with the Persons of those Gentlemen but only with their Doctrines It cannot be but ill resented that they should be permitted to Publish unto the World from the Press a new Doctrine and that it should be a Crime in me to Refute it in Manuscript I went about this Work with a great deal of Grief having nothing that lay heavier upon my heart or was more contrary to my Temper than to contend with my Brethren in the Work of the Lord especially now that my Age calls for Repose and that I am daily waiting for my Dissolution But I saw the Evil to be so great and its consequences so dangerous that I counted my self bound in Conscience to defend the Cause of God and to endeavour to discover the very bottom of the Imposture and the hidden Nature of it I very well know that your Assembly is made up of Persons of clearer and more piercing Judgments than my self nor would I be so presumptuous as to take upon me to be your Teacher but in what I have done I have satisfaction from my own Conscience nor durst I be wanting in my Duty unto God and the defence of his Cause But these Gentlemen who complain of me were not contented to keep within these Limits For besides the Printed Books wherein they have spread abroad their Doctrine they have now very lately Published a Treatise against me under the Name of Monsieur Vignier a Copy of which was sent unto the Provincial Synod of the Isle of France And I do not question but that they have disperst them elsewhere far and near I am also advised That Messieurs Amyraud and Testard do complain very much of a little Script of mine dictated not in the Publick School but in my private Chamber unto some few Scholars wherein I have changed their Names one of them into Greek and the other into Latin which I did out of fear lest if it should fall into the hands of any of the Romish Church they might understand my Discourse and learn out the Persons with whom I disputed of which little Treatise I never Communicated a Copy unto any one And understanding that these Gentlemen take this exchange of their Names in ill part I have Composed another more ample and exact than the former unto which I have set their Names that so I might give them content You be too Prudent not to observe that these Gentlemen do play at Tarriers with you and whilst they amuse you with Triftes their design is to take you off from diving into the bottom of their Doctrines and to divert you with idle Stories of my Practice and Custom instead of maintaining their own Cause 'T is but a small matter to change a French Name into Latin if compared with what they have done in changing the very Nature of God of the Law and of the Gospel I am informed that they make great out-cries for that in certain Letters written by me to Monsieur de la Millitierre I told him they endeavoured to make a new Religion a Hotch-potch of Popery and Cameronianism But let me not be misapprehended 't was never in my thoughts to charge the Doctrine of Monsieur Cameron who is now at rest with Heresy or that he intended to Model out a new Religion I only spake the Sence and Intention of de la Milletierre and the mark at which he aimed For he endeavours from the Doctrine of Monsieur Cameron to frame a new Religion and never speaks of him but as of an Oracle as of a most incomparable Person When we say that the Lutherans are equally bent both against Popery and Calvinism we do not thereby understand that Calvin was the Author of a new Religion I Honour the Memory of Monsieur Cameron and when there was need I defended it But yet I am truly of that mind That he had done very well if he had never over-turned the Order of God's Decrees as they were Explained and Asserted by the Synod of Dort and Approved by all the Reformed Churches of Europe and particularly by three National Synods at home which he had never done if he had soberly and seriously considered the consequences of his own Tanents For this new Method of his is that very Foundation upon which the Arminians have built all their Doctrines Nor can any one deny it but that one third part at least of all Cameron's Works is spent in the Confutation of Calvin Beza and the rest of our most Famous Doctors Yet notwithstanding these his Blemishes we are not to despise those Gifts and Graces God had so plentifully bestowed upon him and when I read his Works I cannot find that Doctrine which is now vented by those who boast themselves to be his Disciples and Followers and cover themselves with the Shield of his Authority I cannot find where he saith That the distinct knowledge of Jesus Christ is not necessary to Salvation nor that he saith That Jesus Chrict died equally and alike for all Men nor doth he Teach That the Reprobates may
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
was To our Dear and Well-beloved the Pastor's and Elders Deputies of the pretended Reformed Religion Assembled by our Permission in a National Synod at Charenton 10. On Tuesday the Tenth Day of January the Assembly being informed that his Highness the Prince was arrived immediately dispatched the Sieurs Vincent Chabrol Panieure and de Clesle unto Paris and to pay their Reverence unto his Highness who returning the next day made Report how Kindly they were received by his Highness who graciously Offered his best Services for the Maintenance of the Edict made in favour of the Churches which was a most particular Joy unto the whole Assembly and obliging us to Hope well from the Favour of that great Lord. 11. The Letters written by the Pastors and Professors of Geneva from their Church and University to Congratulate the good effects of the last National Synod and the Convocation of this now Sitting as also another particular one from Monsieur Diodati about the Edition of his French Translation of the Holy Bible and one from Dr. Andrew Rivet Pastor and Professor of Divinity at Leyden then residing at the Hague in the Court of his Highness the Prince of Orange and from the Three Professors of Divinity in the aforesaid University of Leyden concerning the Conformity of Doctrin Taught and Professed in the Churches of the Low Countries to and with that Preached and Confessed in the Churches of this Kingdom were all delivered unto the Lord Commissioner Sealed who having first Opened and Perused them permitted the Reading of them but then immediately retained the Originals to be sent unto the King and in his Name declared that it was his Majesties Will and Pleasure that no Answer should be returned unto them by the Synod which was Obeyed accordingly 12. The Lord Marquess of Clermont having exercised the Office of General Deputy for the Churches ever since the Year 1627 did now Petition his Majesty to be Discharged by reason of his Indisposition and his Majesty having granted him his Request and appointed the Lord Baron of Argiliers to Succeed him and Ordered the Lord Commissioner to acquaint the Synod with it and with his gracious Intentions for the Weal of the Churches The Synod was filled with great Joy for that his Majesty had Committed this Important Trust of our General Deputy unto so well an accomplish'd Person whose Noble Birth Vertue and Piety did every way qualify him for it But it having been ever since the Year 1631. customary for the Churches to present Six Persons unto the Ring Three out of the Nobility and Three others of the Commonalty out of which number his Majesty might prick and chuse any Two who were best pleasing to him and that now this Office of Solliciting at Court the Affairs of our poor Churches is devolved upon one Person only who may be disabled from attending it by Sicknest or some other Accidents which may intervene and hinder it the Assembly yielding a profound Deference a most entire Submission and Obedience unto his Majesty's declared Will and Pleasure did yet notwithstanding most humbly Petition his Majesty to grant us the Restitution of our ancient Practice approved by the Kings his Predecessors that another Person from among the Commons might be constituted in case of the Lord Baron of Argilier's Sickness or of any other Impediment that might happen on his Part to take the care of and sollicit the Affairs of our Churches 13. As the Synod was drawing up a Bill of the Churches Grievances and particularly of the Infractions of the Edict in all the Provinces both before and since its Convocation the Lord Commissioner informed them That though it was his Majesty's Pleasure this Assembly should not in the least deliberate of any State-matters publickly yet he would not hinder them from drawing up such a Bill by a select Committee chosen thereunto who might do it in private out of the Memoirs with which the respective Deputies were charged by their Provincial Synods at their Departure or that since their Arrival at this Town they might have received either from the Churches or from particular Persons who were concerned and had notified those Wrongs that were done them by Letters Whereupon the Synod did plenarily submit unto this Order prescribed them by the Lord Commissioner 14. The Lord Commissioner acquainting the Synod how that the Lord de la Vrilliere Principal Secretary of State had assured him that the Decree for remanding all Causes concerning the Professors of our Religion unto the Courts of the Edict was dispatched and that a Fund of 16000 Livres for defraying the Expences of this Assembly was also assigned he had the most humble and hearty Thanks of the Assembly rendred to him and he was farther intreated to continue more and more to do all good Offices unto the Churches and to get expedited a Decree of Supersedeas which may stop the Violence of our Ill-Wishers and may secure us some Repose till such time as his Lordship the General Deputy do take into his Hands the management of our Affairs which was readily granted by the Lord Commissioner 15. The Sieurs de L' Angle and Cottiby Pastors were joyned in Commission with the Sieurs de Morande and Pellue to present unto their Majesties the Bills of our Churches Grievances and they had Letters also to the King and the Queen Regent to my Lord the Duke of Orleans to my Lord Chancellor to my Lord High Treasurer and to my Lord Emery Comptroller General and to the Lord de la Vrilliere Secretary of State And this Committee are ordered to give the most hearty Thanks of all the Churches unto the Lord Marquiss of Clemont and to assure him of our perpetual Gratitude arid that we shall always remember the great Care and Pains he took for us during his Office of General Deputy and that we will never be wanting in our Prayers unto God for him and his best Blessings upon him And the said Committee were ordered to receive the Sum of 1600 Livres assigned by his Majesty for the defraying our Synodical Charges After that this Committee shall have paid their Duties in the Name of this whole Assembly to both their Majesties and their most Honourable Privy Council the Sieurs of Morande and Pellue shall remain at Paris waiting the coming of the Lord General Deputy and Salute his Lordship from the Assembly and consign unto him the Conduct of our Affairs and in the mean while they shall employ themselves wholly in solliciting the speedy Dispatch of those which are most urgent and admit of no Delay And in case his Lordship our General Deputy do not come to Paris within a Fortnight they shall tarry there till he do And it being in no wise just or equitable that they should lie there upon their own Charges the Assembly granteth that out of the Sum of 1600 Livres assigned by his Majesty for defraying of out Expences they shall draw out for their own Service the Sum
made in this Ensuing Order Quest 5. Do not you believe that this great God who hath Created Heaven and Earth is one in Essence though distinguished into Three Persons Equal and Coeternal The Father the Son begotten of the Father from all Eternity and the Holy Ghost proceeding Everlasting from the Father and the Son Answ Yes Quest 6. Do not you believe that this Great God who never left himself without Witness hath manifested himself unto Men not only by his Works which ever since their first Production do uncessantly declare his Praise and Glory but also by the Revelation of his Counsel for the Salvation of Mankind contained in the Holy Scriptures called the Old and New Testament Answ Yes Quest 7. Do not you believe that all those Holy Scriptures are of Divine Inspiration and contain the perfect Rule of our Faith and Life Answ Yes Quest Do not you profess that you will even to the last Moment of your Life resist the Devil whom you have hitherto adored serving Idols made with hands or the Host of Heaven or those which by Nature are no Gods Answ Yes If the Catechumen be a Jew these Five following Questions shall be propounded to him omitting those Four above mentioned as properly belonging to the Heathen Quest 1. Do you not detest the Rebellion and Obdurateness of the Jews and do you not most humbly beg Pardon of God that you have been so long a time detained under it Answ Yes Quest 2. Do not you believe that the whole of God's Will which it hath pleased him graciously to reveal unto us is not only contained in the Books of the Old Testament but also in those of the new Answ Yes Quest 3. Do not you believe that Jesus the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was Conceived in her by the uneffable Power of the Holy Ghost and afterward Condemned to the Death of the Cross upon the malicious Accusation of the Jews by the Vnrighteous Sentence of Pontius Pilate and Raised from the Dead the Third Day and now exalted in Glory is God manifested in the Flesh the Eternal word of the Father by whom he Created and Sustaineth the whole World that blessed Seed promised unto Adam immediately upon his Fall by whose Power and Vertue the Head of that Old Serpent was Bruised whose coming in the Flesh all the Patriarchs believed and hoped for that great Prophet and true Messiah foretold by Moses and all the Prophets that lived after him Answ Yes Quest 4. Do not you believe that the Lord Jesus is the end of the Law for Righteousness unto all Believers the Truth and Substance of all his Types and Shadows the true Lamb of God who taketh away the Sins of the whole World and in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily Answ Yes Quest 5. Do not you believe that the Observation of the Ceremonial Law is now not only needless and Superfluous but also every way pernicious unto Conscience Ans Yes If the Catechumen be a Mahometan the Minister shall propound unto him these Six following Questions omitting those above mentioned which properly belong unto the Jews and Pagans Quest 1. Do you not believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament be inspired of God and contain his whole Counsel for the Salvation of Men and are the only perfect Rule of Faith and Life Answ Yes Quest 2. Do not you believe that Jesus the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was Conceived in her by the Vertue of the Holy Ghost and Formed as to the Flesh out of her own Substance is God and Man Blessed for evermore perfect God and perfect Man Man born of a Woman in due fulness of time and God begotten of the Father from Everlasting Answ Yes Quest 3. Do not you believe that the Lord Jesus from his first Conception after the Flesh was Holy Innocent without Blemish and separate from Sinners and that he did not suffer Death for his own Sins but for ours only Answ Yes Quest 4. Do not you believe that his Death is the Propitiation for our Sins yea and for the Sins of the whole World and that this Propitiation is infinitely Meritorious through which Everlasting Glory and Salvation were purchased for us Answ Yes Quest 5. Do not you believe that Mahomet was an Impostor and that his Alcoran is a Sacrilegious Heap of Idle Fancies full of Absurdities broach'd on design to set up a False and Abominable Religion Answ Yes Quest 6. Do not you believe that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus is the power of God unto Salvation to every one that believeth and that in the Christian Religion only God the Father hath revealed his good Will and Pleasure for the Salvation of Men until the End of the World and that since its Revelation there is not any new Religion to be expired for that the Lord Christ is the only great Prophet promised unto the Faithful of the Old Testament and that God having formerly spoken at sundry times and in divers manners unto Men before the Law and under the Law hath spoken to the Church of the New Testament by the Mouth of his only Son the Lord Jesus Answ Yes Quest Give an Account of your Creed Answ I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of c. In case the Catechumen be an Anabaptist the Minister having made all those Demands Printed in the Roman Character and omitted those in the Italian which more particularly belong either to Pagans Jews or Mahometans he shall thus proceed Quest 1. Do not you believe that the Lord Jesus is and shall be true God and true Man in those Two Natures everlastingly that he was according to his Human Nature like in all thing unto other Men Sin only excepted insomuch that he was the true Son of Abraham of David and of the Blessed Virgin descended from their Seed and Blood and that the Substance of his Body was not only formed in the Virgin but also out of the very Substance of the Virgin conformably to that Saying of the Apostle that he was of the Seed of David according to the Scriptures that he was born of a Woman and partaker of Flesh and Blood as all other Children Answ Yes Quest 2. Do you not believe that Infant-Baptism is grounded on the Scriptures and the perpetual Practice of the Christian Church Answ Yes Quest 3. Do not you renounce with your whole Heart their Error who reject Baptism And are you not penitent for your so long refusal of it Answ Yes Quest 4. Do not you believe the Authority of Magistrates to be an Ordinance of God unto which whoso will not yield Subjection do bring upon themselves Condemnation and that all kind of Obedience is due unto them Answ Yes Quest Do not you believe that this good God who calleth all of us by the Ministry of his Word unto Life and Salvation hath appointed certain Signs and Sacraments in his Church which do Seal and
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
desired by them and against whom very many Members of the said Church made their Exceptions as being one by whom they could not profit Wherefore that said Province and all others are forbidden for the future to use any such manner of dealings and the said Province is enjoyned to comfort and accommodate the said Church of la Fite as soon as possibly they can by providing a Pastor for it who may be more pleasing and acceptable to them than Monsieur Belon and to settle the said Belon in some other place where he may employ his Gifts more usefully And whereas Bergerac is a Church of no small importance and its Necessities are very great and urgent and Monsieur de Bourdieu is exceeding Successful in his Ministry there this Synod doth approve of his being in that Station and confirmeth him in the Pastoral Office of that Church And whereas the Lord of Rabas his Majesties Commissioner in the Synod of St. Foy who made this Change hath complained by Letters that the Act of Monsieur de Bourdieu's Removal was passed before a Publick Notary an Answer was Voted to be returned assuring him how great Deference this Assembly hath for his Lordship's Person and Quality and to the truth of that Testimonial rendred by the Deputies of Lower Guyenne concerning what was transacted in their Provincial Assembly and that whilst Judgement was passed upon the said Appeal that Act was not in the least regarded 3. Upon Hearing the report of the Committee who were ordered to inspect the Appeal of Monsieur Reynault Pastor of the Church of Realville and the Proceedings against him by the Synods of Mauvezin and Realmont this Assembly conserving the Honour of his Ministry untainted and confirming the Judicial Acts of the Province to whose care and kindness he is yet notwithstanding particularly recommended doth exhort him to enjoy his Quietus the remainder of his Days that in case his many and frequent Sicknesses shall not permit him to go through with the Duties of his Calling yet he may Edifie the Church of God by his Exemplary Life and Conversation 4. Report being made by the Commissioners appointed to examine the Letters and Memoirs of Monsieur Moysnier who appealed because the word of Censure was not inserted into the Act of the Synod of Higher Languedoc and had formed a Complaint against the Sieur Crubel This Assembly as to the first Article judgeth that his Appeal was ill grounded And as for his Complaint in as much as he never gave notice of it unto Monsieur Crubel it shall be carried unto the Consistory of the Church of Montauban to whom the care of restoring him unto his charge is particularly recommended 5. The Colloquy of Condommois appealing from the Synod of Lower Guyenne for taking to themselves the Cognizance of Monsieur Rival's Complaint and of that of the Province of Bearn and not having ordered any Person to appear for them nor sent any Memoirs whereby to sustain their Appeal this Assembly declareth the said Appeal null and void and the Appealers worthy of the greatest Censures for having by a kind of Chicanery of Law obstructed the final Decision of that Affair and requireth the very next Synod of that Province to give Judgment on it and not only to denounce the Censures but to see them as zealously executed and to exert their Authority that whatever Legacies have been heretofore or may be hereafter bequeathed unto the Church of Marsan be punctually and faithfully applied according to the Intention of the Testators and that the right of Alternation expressly declared in this Testament be kept inviolably for the Province of Bearne 6. Memoirs sent from the Church of St. Hippolite were read in which they maintained their Appeal from the Decree of the Synod of Sevennes who had forbidden them to seek after Monsieur Poujade now in the Ministry of the French Church of Canterbury in England And the Deputies of the Province produced and alledged the Reasons of their Prohibition and the whole affair having been maturely considered and debated this Assembly confirmeth that Decree from which they have Appealed and forbids that Church of St. Hippolyte of ever any more entertaining a Thought for the said Poujade and this also shall be observed as a standing Rule by all the Churches of that Province 7. Although the Appeal of the Consistory of the Church of St. John de Gardonengues be not of the nature of those things which are to be brought unto these Assemblies yet nevertheless this Assembly desirous of the Peace of that Church and for the procuring and effecting of it hath took cognizance thereof and vacating the Judgment of the said Synod of Sevennes which had approved that Monsieur Bony the Younger should erect a Seat for himself in the Temple directly contrary to the advice of the Consistory retaining the ancient Custom of that Church It Declareth that excepting the Lords and Magistrates and Judges of that Place every one should be at liberty to sit where they pleased And it is farther Ordained that in all such like cases every Consistory shall have full Power to Act and Provide what will be most for the Peoples Edifying without any Appeal at all from them And that for the future no Appeals of this kind shall ever be admitted into the National Synods 8. The Acts of the Synod of Sevennes and a Letter written from Monsieur Tubert complaining of his being Deposed from the Holy Ministry without ever confronting of the Witnesses being all read and the Deputies of that Province heard who had no Memoirs given them by their Principals for justifying of their Judgment the Assembly dismissed this Cause to the Cognizance of the next Synod of Lower Languedoc and enjoyneth the Parties to appear in Person before it and to bring with them all their Acts and Evidences that may serve to the clearing up of this matter and impowereth the said Synod to give forth a final Judgment on it 9. The Appeal of the Church of Brenoux concerning their Conjunction with that of Laval is disannul'd because that such Matters as these about Uniting one Church unto another are to be judged Sovereignly without Appeal by every Provincial Synod 10. The Church of Vixan Appealed from the Synod of Sevennes for rejecting their Petition when they craved leave to get for themselves a Second Pastor This Assembly disannulleth their Appeal because that the said Church had not sent any Memoirs for the upholding of their Appeal and because the Ground of it is now wholly removed 11. That Sentence pronounced by the Provincial Synod of Lower Guyenne is confirmed in all its Branches and Articles and the Consistory of Tonneins hath incurred the greatest Censure for having under the pretext of a particular Counsel offered by the same Synod unto the Church of Bergerac and propounded by them as an Example to be followed by all others in the Province deprived Monsieur Fevron who now Appealed of a Right acquired by him through
injurious he was unto the Protestants in oppugning as erroneous their common Confession that so to their prejudice he might advantage the Romish Church which doth notoriously confound Two of the greatest Blessings of God and inseparable one from the other though yet always distinct in themselves to wit The Sinners Absolution before the Tribunal of God upon the account of the Merits of Christ Jesus his Obedience imputed to him and Regeneration wrought in the Heart of Man by the Sanctifying Operation of the Holy Ghost And Lastly how much an Enemy he was unto himself in Forsaking his Ministry and the Cure of Souls to become an Advocate of such a Vile and Ungodly Cause as is this of the Papacy which is altogether unreasonable in him for that he undertakes things impossible But he still protesting that he never intended to and never would depart from the Orthodox Creed professed in our Churches and offered to purge and acquit himself from all Suspicions that might be had of him by his Voluntary Subscribing the principal Articles of the Doctrin of Truth from which he was supposed to have swerved and declined They were thereupon offered to him which when he had as freely and in general Signed and Subscribed as he had offered to do it yet it being done with hesitation for some time and this also attended with ambiguous Expressions the Assembly was constrained to doubt of his Sincerity and it was the rather feared for that after the Subscription required he resolutely refused to follow his Vocation and the Counsel of his Brethren discovering an unworthy Disdain and Scorn of that Holy and Honourable Employment in the Ministry of the Gospel whereunto in his Younger Days he was called by God All which considered the Synod interdicted him all the Offices of the Sacred Ministry and of the Profession of Theology and injoyned both the Province and that particular Church where he constantly Resideth to Watch over his Deportments and to give an accompt of him and his Conversation unto the next National Synod which may according to what Testimonials they shall receive of him and his future Carriage proceed unto his Restauration 18. The Sieur Roux coming with Letters and Memoirs written by Twelve Persons or thereabout in the Name of the Consistory of Aymargues to sustain their Appeal which he and others who had Deputed him had made from the Judgment past against them in the Synod of Lower Languedoc and on the other side an Appeal of Monsieur Sigillory Pastor of the Church of Aymargues being read and the Deputies of that Province heard giving an Account of the Reasons of their Judgment this Assembly Declared that those Appeals ought not to have been brought unto it nor should the Provincial Synod have suffered it and doth therefore dismiss the Cognizance of their Affair to the Provincial Synod of Sevennes And whereas divers matters have been alledged but not proved against Monsieur Sigillory concerning violent Actions pretended to have been done by him bitter and injurious Words uttered in his ordinary Talk and Discourses Sermons fraught with Invectives Perverse and Unworthy Wrestings of the Word of God the Consistory of Sauva is Commissionated to send Deputies unto his Church and to inquire and inform themselves of these things upon the Places where they have been said to be uttered and acted and to make report of the whole unto the said Synod which shall have full power to dispose of the Ministry of the said Sigillory according as will most contribute to the Edification of God's Church 19. The Church of Duras having demanded of the Province of Lower Guyenne that Monsieur Thoroud might be bestowed upon them for their Pastor and being denied their Request they brought in an Appeal from them unto this Assembly but sent no Memoirs at all for the upholding of it The Church of Leyras also opposed their Petition and requested of that Provincial and of this National Synod that it might not be deprived of the Ministry of their Pastor the said Monsieur Thoroud Upon the whole the Judgment of the Provincial Synod was Confirmed and the Sieur Thorold fixed in the Pastoral Office of the Church of Leyras and the Appeal of the Church of Duras declared null and void 20. Whereas the Lord de la Baume complained by Word of Mouth and produced Letters and Memoirs from Four Elders and a great many Heads of Families living at Saint Foy and who were Appellants with him opposing the Settlement of Monsieur Privat in the Pastoral Office of their Church and petitioning that Monsieur Alba who was set at Liberty by the last Synod of Lower Guyenne to officiate in his Majesties Army in Germany under the Conduct of his Excellency the Lord Mareschal de Turenne as his Chaplain might be given to them as their Pastor And the Sieur Guyon Pastor of the Church of Bourdeaux being heard speak on behalf of his Province and the Sieurs Privat and Alba for what particularly concerned themselves And the Assembly being well assured of the Consent of Mademoiselle de Bouillon who remitted in her Brothers Name the Lord Mareschal of Turenne whatever right he could lay claim unto in the Ministry of the said Alba and condescending to the desire of the Plaintiffs and to put a final end to all their Complaints did Ordain that those Ministers aforesaid the Sieurs Privat and Alba should serve joyntly the said Church of St. Foy and that the said Church may be fully settled and its divided Members mutually and perfectly reconciled among themselves in a cordial Peace and Union the Sieurs Garrissoles and Darashus are Commissionated and Expresly ordered as they return unto their own Province to ride over unto St. Foy and to use all possible means for the Peace and Repose of the said Church and in case they be not able to remove all the Obstructions and to surmount all the Difficulties which may occur the Synod of higher Languedoc is nominated and appointed to hear all Parties and to put a final Period to their Contentions by his last Judicial Sentence from which there shall be no Appealing 21. The Sieur Pejus Appealed from divers Judgments past upon him by Synod of Berry in pursuance of an Act made on his Account in the last National Synod of Alanson This Assembly declareth his Appeal not admittable and ordaineth that the next Synod of Berry shall exert their Authority and see that all his Arrerages due from the Church of Argenton be paid him Honestly and without delay at the rate of Three Hundred and Twenty Livers a Year and that for the future they do constantly furnish him with Three Hundred and Fifty Livers Yearly And in case of any default herein that then the said Pejus shall be set at Liberty to provide for himself in any other Church either within or without the Province 22. The Lady Dutchess of Trimouille having desired Audience of this Assembly which was granted her she proposed that it was very
Thursday and part of the Day following When the said de la Milletiere importunately demanding that now in his turn he might oppose and produce the Arguments in defence of his Opinions confirmed as he pretended by the Council of Trent tho this was far wide from what he at first requested yet was it freely granted him And he having continued Writing till Evening and for that it was needful he should be answered Monsieur Amyraud spent a great part of the Fryday night and of the Saturday Morning in making a Reply unto him Whereupon the said de la Milletiere finding that the time allotted him was expired the Fryday Evening he came and demanded a longer time for continuing the Conference Which the Synod did once more refuse him especially because that he had fully opened his Intentions and in formal Words declared that by that Writing subscribed with his own Hand he never promised to submit his Doctrin but Himself and Person to the Judgment of the Assembly who taking as in truth they could not but take this distinction such an one as it was in any other Sense than a notorious Scorn of their Just and Charitable Endeavours for his Eternal Welfare They told him plainly that neither they nor any of their Commissioners would waste a moment more of their precious time about him and adjured him by the Mouth of the Sieur Garrissoles their Moderator to give Glory unto God and to relinquish his most impious Designs and added farther that they did as the National Synod of Alanson had done before them declare that for divers Years past he was not to be reputed a Member of our Reformed Churches After which the said de la Milletiere demanded a Copy of the Conference collation'd with the Original and Sign'd by Monsieur Amyraud and the Two other Commissioners that he might make such Reflections on it as he thought best which was readily accorded him by the Synod But before the said Copy was finished on Monday the 23d of January the said de la Milletiere accompanied with one de Nardeau Huisser des Eaux Forests de France Overseer of the Waters and Forests of France living at Paris came unto Charenton and applying himself to Monsieur Blondel one of the Scribes delivered to him by the Hands of the said Nardeau an Act subscribed with his own Hand summoning the Synod to cause the said Conference began at Charenton by their Commissioners whom he all accused but especially Monsieur Amyraud of Ignorance and False Dealing to be continued in Paris And Secondly in case of Refusal that then they consign unto them the Acts signed by the said Commissioners that he might examine them at his leisure and pleasure Which said Summons being brought in and reported to the Synod by Monsieur Blondel a Vote past that Copies of those Acts Collationed and Subscribed by the said Commissioners and by Monsieur Amyraud should be delivered unto the said de la Milletiere according to his desire And that Monsieur Amyraud should be in readiness to refute him in case he should attempt as he threatned to make any further opposition by his Scribbles against that sound and saving Doctrin of Justification professed in all the Protestant Churches And whereas by these last actings of his the said de la Milletiere hath discovered himself to be immovably fixed in his Designs of impugning the Truth professed in all the Churches of this Kingdom which he now treateth as his avowed Adversaries and that for these Twelve Years last past notwithstanding all Admonitions and Remonstrances made him he hath wholly estranged himself from our Communion altho he hath frequently assisted at the Sermons which have been during all that time and still are Preached at Charenton This Synod confirming the Decree of the last National Synod held at Alanson in the Year 1637. doth now ordain that on the next Lord's Day being the Nine and Twentieth of this Instant January after the Morning Sermon is ended and before the last Prayer is poured out before God the said Sieur de la Milletiere shall be denounced by the Pastor from the Polpit in the Face of the whole publick Assembly an Excommunicate Person and cut off from the Body of our Reformed Churches and not at all to be reputed a Member of them A Copy of the Act of Excommunication to be Published the 29th of January 1645. against the Sieur De la Milletiere Most dear Brethren YOV have seen with very much Regret how Theophilus Brachet Sieur de la Milletiere hath made it his business for several Years by his Publick Writings to combat the Faith professed in all our Churches and you have been a long time grieved in your Souls for his scandalous Actings and Proceedings which are directly contrary to the bounden Duty of a Person educated from his Cradle in the knowledge and profession of the True Religion now utterly despised by him He had rather abound in his own Sense and suffer himself to be seduced by his own Prejudices than yield the least tittle of Deference and Respect unto those Remonstrances and Admonitions which the Christian Charity of the Consistory of this Church did in the first place make him and which were again and again repeated to him by the express Order of the National Synod of Alanson held in the Year 1637. and with this particular Clause That in case he did not return unto himself and give Glory unto God within the space of Six Months by renouncing of his corrupt Opinions and desisting from his sinful Practices that he should be no more owned nor acknowledged for a Member of our Reformed Churches those just and needful Admonitions having wrought no Impressions upon his Heart nor hitherto produced their long desired and much expected Fruit and Effect but that he is since the more hardened obstinate and inexcusable The National Synod of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom which is now breaking up in this place desirous to apply a proper Remedy to so long a continued Scandal and as much as in it lieth to procure your Edification doth now ratisie and confirm that Decree of the former Assembly held at Alanson and declareth to you by our Mouth that the said Sieur De la Milletiere who hath been for Ten Years together suspended from the Lord's Table and Communion with the Church of God in that most holy Sacrament and hath been ever since the Year 1638. cut off from the Number of the Faithful of our Confession ought not any longer to be reckon'd or reputed by you as a Member of the Reformed Amen This very Act was accordingly pronounced at the Close of the Morning Sermon upon the Lord's Day January 29. 1645. by Mr. Theophilus Rossel Pastor of the Church of Xaintes in the Church of Charenton before that great and numerous Congregation ARTICLE II. The Petition of Monsieur du Mais upon the account of his Services unto the Churches of Auvergne is dismissed over to the Province
be none other Affairs debated in it than such as are warranted by the Edicts and that a Commissioner whom his Majesty shall be pleased to appoint do assist in Person in the said Synod as hath always been practised In testimony hereof his Majesty hath commanded me to expedite this present Writ which he was pleased to sign with his own Hand and caused to be conntersigned by me his Counsellor and Secretary of his Commandments and of his Treasury Signed LOVIS And a little Lower PHELIPPEAVX There appeared in the said Assembly with Letters of Commission from the Provinces which were read by the Sieur Des Loges and the Sieur de Fresnay Elder of the Church of Loudun and the Sieur de Mâ—â—sonâ—als these Persons following 1. For the Province of Normandy the Sieurs John Manimilian de L' Angle Pastor of the Church of Rouan and Samuel Boschart Pastor of the Church of Caen accompanied with the Sieurs Daniel Guesdon Elder of the Church of Rouan and Peter de la Musse Esq Lord des Roquettes Elder of the Church of Caen. 2. For the Province of Higher Guienne and Higher Languedoc the Sieurs John Louis Joussauld Pastor of the Church of Castres and Theophilus Arbussy Pastor of the Church of Milhaut accompanied with the Sieurs John de Besnes Esq Lord of Laseron Elder of the Church de Beraux and Master John Brassart Advocate in Parliament and Elder in the Church of Montauban 3. For the Province of Burgundy the Sieurs Amedeus de Chandieu Pastor of the Church at Pont de Velles and Peter Mussard Pastor of the Church of Lyon accompanied with Master Samuel Gentis D'anthial Advocate in Parliament Elder in the Church of Chaalons and Master Phillebert de Sage Advocate also in Parliament Elder in the Church of Autan 4. For the Province of Lower Languedoc the Sieurs David Eustache and Isaac de Bourdieu Pastor in the Church of Montpellier accompanied with the Noble Francis de Toulonge Lord of Foissac Elder in the Church of Vsez and Master Philip Besse Doctor of the Civil Laws Advocate and Elder in the Church of Beziers 5. For the Province of Orleans and Berry the Sieurs John Perâ—â—ult Pastor of the Church of Orleans and John Taby Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of the Church de la Charite accompanied with the Noble Denis Papin Counsellor to his Majesty and Receiver General for the Demeans of the County of Blois and Master Paul Tonnois Lord of Champs Advocate in Parliament Elders in the Church of Orleans 6. For the Province of Sevennes the Sieurs Henry Bâ—udan Pastor of the Church de la Salle and Stephen Broche Lord of Mejannes Pastor of the Church of St. Hippolite accompanied with Edward de Charlot Esq Lord and Baron of S. John de Gardonenque Elder in the Church of the same Place and Peter de Gallieres Esq Lord of Pont d' Arti Elder in the Church of Merveil 7. For the Province of Brittain the Sieur Isaac Guitton Pastor of the Church of Sion accompanied with Monsieur John de la Rochelle Lord of Mornay Elder in the Church of Roche Bernard 8. For the Province of Poictou the Sieurs Stephen le Blois Pastor of the Church of Fontenay le Compte and John Chabrol Pastor of the Church of Thouars accompanied with Sir Peter Prevost Knight Lord of La Javeliere Elder in the Church of Chantonnay and Puybelliard and Charles Prevost Esq Lord of La Simonie Elder in the Church of Champagne and Mouton 9. For the Province of Provence the Sieurs John Bernard Pastor of the Church de Velots and Marvelle and John Morius Esq Lord of Espasson and of La Bastide Elder in the Church of Manosque 10. For the Province of Anjou Touraine Le Maine Loudunois Vandosme and the Greater Perche the Sieurs Moyses Amyraud Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church and University of Saumur and James de Brissac Lord des Loges Pastor of the Church of Loudun accompanied with the Sieurs Daniel de Goyett Doctor of Physick Elder in the Church of Angiers and Master Stephen des Landes President in the Extraordinary Assizes of Vaudomois and Elder in the Church of Vandome 11. For the Province of the Isle of France Brie Picardy Champagne and the County of Chartres the Sieurs John Daille Pastor of the Church of Paris and Benjamin Tricotell Pastor of the Church of Calais accompanied with Master Thierry de Marolles Advocate in Parliament and Judg in the Praesidial Court of Vitry Elder of the Church in that Town and Peter Loride Lord of Galiniers Advocate in his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and Elder in the Church of Paris 12. For the Province of Xaintonge Aunix and Augoulmois the Sieurs John Gommarc Pastor in the Church of Vertueil and Isaac Marchand Pastor in the Church of St. John d' Angely accompanied with John de Morell Esq Lord of Thiac of Vigier and of Salle and Francis Lacons Esq Lord of Courelles and Elder in the Church of Cognac 13. For the Province of Dolphiny the Sieurs Adrian Chamier Pastor of the Church of Montlimard and Alexander Dize Pastor of the Church of Grenoble accompanied with Master Francis Goudran Advocate in the Parliament of Grenoble and Elder in the Church of Grenoble 14. For the Province of Lower Guienne the Sieurs John Riccotier Minister of Bourdeaux and Jeremiah Viguier Pastor of the Church of Nerac accompanied with Master Jacob Maysonnais Advocate in Parliament and Elder in the Church of Bourdeax and with Sir James de Laumont Knight Marquess of Baisse Caumont Elder in the Church of Nerac 15. For the Province of Bearn the Sieur Arnald de Cazamajore Pastor of the Church of Olleron 16. For the Province of Vivaretz Velay and Forrest the Sieurs Isaac Homel he Died a most constant Faithful Martyr Pastor of the Church of Sajon and Valance and Peter January Pastor of the Church at La Gorse accompanied with Sir James D' Arlande Kt. Lord of Mirabel and Elder in the Church of Villeneufve de Bergues and with Master Timothy Baruil Doctor of the Civil Laws Advocate and Elder in the Church of Privas The Provinces of Bearn and Dolphiny shall inquire into the Causes why the Sieurs de Labadie Elder in the Church of Luibeite and Deputy for the Province of Bearn and de Montelar Elder in the Church of Beaufort Deputy for the Province of Dolphiny have absented themselves from this Assembly and shall give an Account thereof unto the next National Synod The said Sieurs des Loges and du Fresnay Elder of the Church in Loudun did together with the Lord Marquess of Rouvigny General Deputy gather the Suffrages of all the Deputies in this Assembly in Two Bills in Writing each of them having One for the Election of the Moderator Assessor and Scribes and there were chosen by plurality of Votes the Sieur Daille for Moderator the Sieur de L' Angle Assessor and the Sieurs Des Loges Pastor and de
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
great importance which is fitting you should be acquainted with now at the beginning of this Synod that so it may be the better ordered and ended the sooner I received in my Letters very lately an Express and particular Order concerning some certain Articles and Orders of which I before spake viz. That there is an Abuse committed by the Provinces in sending and communicating by their Deputies Letters from Strangers This his Majesty declareth to be contrary to his Edicts and prejudicial to the publick Peace and his own Service Wherefore I am commanded to be very careful and to provide herein that among your deliberations none other matters be debated but such as ought of right to be so by all the Deputies of the Provinces of this Kingdom and those Matters only which concern the Provinces and that you neither receive any Letters from nor hold any Correspondency with Strangers in any way or manner or for any cause or business whatsoever and you be most strictly forbidden to receive any Writings of what quality soever coming from Foreign Countries and not under his Majesties Jurisdiction nor may any one dare during the sitting of this Synod to publish or spread them abroad in this Town of Loudun And in case such a thing should happen and that such Papers are found I am injoyned immediately to suppress them and to proceed rigorously against such as vend or distribute them as is meet I should and to inflict such Penalties as I shall judge fit And farther I am most expresly and directly commanded to do what in me lieth for the shortning and speedy ending of this Synod Which Order I received in the last Dispatch that came unto this Town CHAP. IV. The Answer of Monsieur Daille the Moderator of the Synod unto the Speech of the Lord Commissioner AS soon as my Lord Commissioner had ended his Speech Monsieur Daille who was Moderator of the Synod made this Answer following in the Name of the whole Assembly unto his Lordship My Lord THE long interruption of these Holy Assemblies have made us but too sensible of their singular usefulness and how needful they be unto our Churches And this hath augmented our Joys to see that God hath at last touched the Heart of his Majesty our Sovereign Lord with that goodness as to grant us this present Synod And without doubt My Lord you observed Yesterday upon Reading the Letters of Commission from the respective Provincial Synods how deeply they were affected with the Mercy for they could not refrain the Expressions of their Sense and Resentment of it even in their Dispatches We therefore having received this singular favour from his Majesty do own and acknowledge it to be a mere and pure Act of his Grace and Clemency and take it as a Pledge and Earnest of his Majesties Good Will unto us and sincere purposes of keeping inviolate his Edicts Unto this his Majesty hath added another and more especial favour in pitching upon your Lordship to represent his Person in this Assembly even you my Lord who for Piety and Integrity for Faith and Vertue are renowned not only in our Churches but in the World it self In so much that the worst and greatest Adversaries of our Religion being won with the luster of that Justice and Uprightness which have ever shined forth in your Administration of that high Dignity and Office possessed by you these many Years in the first and chiefest Parliament of France do desire and continually demand that your Lordship may be their Judge and Reporter of their Causes and do account themselves happy in case they can obtain it Certainly my Lord his Majesty could never have made a more advantagious Choice for us and we render your Lordships our most humble Thanks that overlooking your great Age your many and weighty Affairs the tedious incommodities of Travel and of the Season of the Year your Lordship hath accepted of this Commission and closed with this opportunity which the good Providence of God hath put into your Hands for the Service of his Majesty and for doing all good Offices to our poor Churches which God knoweth have great need of so Fast and Faithful a Friend as your Lordship near his Majesty We need you my Lord and we intreat your Lordship that you would be pleased to testifie it with all Efficacy imaginable unto his Majesty and to his Ministers the Innocency the Simplicity of our Conduct that the Jealousies which our Ill-Wishers do suggest unto him against these our Assemblies may be abated and removed Our National Synods are in no wise prejudicial to his Majesties Service yea the very contrary is true for their first and principal use is to confirm us the more stedfastly in our Religion the First and most Illustrious Article whereof you know my Lord for you have been educated in it from your Infancy is the belief of the Sovereign Authority of Kings over all Persons whatsoever without Exception in their Dominions and of that indispensable Obligation lying upon all their Subjects to yield them in all things all Honour Service and Obedience not only out of Fear but for Conscience sake and such an intire and profound Submission that their respects are extended and performed unto all Officers acting by and under them and their Order and in whose Employments and Ministry there shineth forth any Beam of Royal Authority This Doctrin the Holy Apostles learnt us to be subject unto Kings and those who be Commissionated by them This Doctrin we received from the Primitive Christians that the King is next and under God and that there is no middle power intervening between God's and hiâ— and after that Service we owe unto our God there is none more Sacred or inviolable than his In the very first Sessions of this Synod your Lordship shall see every one of us subscribe this Holy Creed just as we have expounded it in our common and publick Confession and we trust that God will so enable us by his Grace that we shall more and more justifie the Confession we now make of it by a most constant and inviolable Fidelity in his Majesties Service And in the mean while we shall offer up our most ardent Prayers unto our God for the Health of his Majesty's most Sacred Person for the Prosperity of his Family for the happy Success of his Designs and for the Peace and Glory of the Kingdom But my Lord forasmuch as by the Orders of your Commission your Lordship hath presented to us divers points and of very great importance we beseech your Lordship to give way unto this Assembly to consider of them distinctly that our Answers may be returned with that Humility and Reverence which is owing by us unto the Will and Pleasure of his Majesty our Dread Sovereign And afterwards the Deputies did by the Mouth of their said Moderator add as followeth My Lord WE do acknowledge in the First place that it was a most signal effect of his Majesty's
to debate of these very matters we doubt not in the least but that he will allow us to receive those Letters and Memoirs which contain their Informations and Instructions to us In short our whole Religion being grounded upon the Word of God and this Word teaching us to fear God and honour the King we never perform any Act of Religious Worship to that Great God who created us in which we do not offer up a Prayer with our most ardent Vows for the Supreme Power here on Earth and particularly for all that are in Authority over us and upon all occasions that occur unto us we do leave Impressions hereof upon the Souls of the Faithful who are Members of our Churches in our Sermons And we are well assured that before the breaking up of this Synod your Lordship my Lord Commissioner shall see not in one single Exhortation only but in many those inviolable Inclinations we have unto the Weal and Happiness of the Government and that Obedience which we are all unanimously resolved to render unto the Will and Laws of our Prince when as they be not contrary to that of the Law of God who is the King of Kings And as his Majesty hath hitherto been pleased to favour us with our Liberty of serving God according to that Light we have received and in the Purity of the Gospel and whereas my Lord Commissioner hath now declared to us his Majesty's good Pleasure to uphold us favourably in this Liberty under the Protection of his Edicts and to exert that Authority which God hath put into his Hands to secure us from their Attempts who would deprive us of it and as we have no ground nor cause to complain of Oppression and Persecution so also we shall not make use of any such Terms as are expressive of them and we shall upon all Occasions give clear and ample Evidence of that respect we bear unto our Sovereign and we shall take a most especial care for keeping the Publick Peace of which our Actions Words and Writings and these Last shall never be published but according as we are allowed by the Edicts and regulated by the Canons of our Discipline and by the Decrees of our National Synods shall by the Grace of God be most valid and authentick Sureties for us as they have been in times past so for the future And as we shall never render our selves unworthy of his Majesty's favour so we hope that he will continue to extend unto us the Honour of his Love and good Will and that he will ordain all Governors of his Provinces Places and Fortresses and all Officers in Parliament and all other Courts of Judicature where Justice is administred to see that his Edicts be carefully executed that so there being no violation of them on their parts we also on ours may never have any occasion for the future of complaining to his Majesty who next and after God is our only Sanctuary to whom we may betake our selves for Refuge against all Injustices and Oppressions And as for what is past there being very many Places in this Kingdom where the good Intentions of his Majesty have not been followed and where those of our Religion have been disturbed in the Exercises of it and have suffered very great Violences in their Families in their Children in their own Persons and in their Estates in sundry and divers ways contrary to what is granted us by the Edict And the inferiour Judges have been so far from doing us right that even they have been the very Persons who have encouraged the Animosity of many others against us Our King being the Image and Vicegerent of God and who will undoubtedly endeavour to resemble him as in the Independency of his Power and Glory of his Majesty so also in his Justice and Clemency He therefore cannot but approve that afflicted persons do make their Addresses to Heaven to be supported under their Sufferings and comforted in their Afflictions so we also should have recourse unto his Royal Throne for Support under our Burthens and Redress of our Grievances and the Conservation of our Invaded Liberties and Properties And whereas his Lordship my Lord Commissioner was pleased to say That his Majesty hath greater reason to complain by far of his Subjects of the Reformed Religion for their Infractions and Transgressions of the Edict as if they had either in Languedoc or any where else attempted to restore the Preaching of Gods Word by overt Actions by mere Force and Violence contrary to the publick Peace and the General Laws of the Kingdom we profess that the hearing of this Relation was a most sensible Grief and Sorrow to us We do not complain in the least of your Lordship my Lord Commissioner for you did but follow those very Orders and Instructions which were given you We receive with all possible respect and humility whatever comes from his Majesty because we reverence his Authority and because we have many Pledges and Tokens of his Kindness and Love unto us But we are exceedingly grieved and concerned that those who are near his Majesty do us very ill Offices and slander us unto him representing our Actions in very odious colours so that in stead of informing him that the Exercise of our Religion hath been violently abolish'd and removed from very many places where it was permitted by the Edicts and that our Temples have been demolished by main Force and in an Hostile manner they have dispersed wicked false Stories of us at Court as if we had some new and unlawful Enterprizes and Designs in our Heads Besides we have another thing of very hard digestion that whereas the Canons of our Discipline do expresly forbid those of our Communion to send their Children unto Jesuits and to other professed and avowed Enemies of our Religion because that through their fiery and inconsiderate Zeal for their own they turn every Stone and use all sort of means to prevent them from that Duty they owe unto God and to their Parents yea and to his Majesty himself and we being allowed the Exercise of our Discipline as well as of our Religion why should we be counted blame-worthy for our care in the Religious Education of our Children and for our just Severity in censuring their sinful negligent Parents And whereas some of ours are accused for reproaching and other injurious Carriage towards such Persons as have quitted our Communion for that of the Church of Rome we are so far from approving of those Actions towards them that 't is well known we require all our Members to pray for them and to labour by all pious means to reduce them into the good way of Eternal Salvation But we profess our utter Ignorance of any such Abuses offered unto our Revolters And in stead hereof this we know that there be open Violences done unto those godly Persons who do forsake the Communion of the Romish Church and joyn themselves unto ours And we hope
that his Majesty will not be offended if we produce Instances and Proofs hereof in that Bill of Grievances we intend to present unto him And as for the Poor's Monies which they suggest unto his Majesty to have been diverted from those uses whereunto they were destinated We most humbly beseech my Lord Commissioner to do us that Favour as to acquaint his Majesty that we take so great care of our Poor that rather than they should want things needful for them and wander up and down the Streets and make a Trade of begging our Ministers are of that generous Spirit they would first suffer their own Wages to be defalked and that Abatements should be made of their slender Stipends So that his Majesty in stead of being displeased at our Conduct and the pretended Infractions on our part of his Edicts being better and more truly informed by your Lordship my Lord Commissioner and by my Lord General Deputy his Protection will be continued to us and that he will be pleased to shrowd us from those Violences done us by those who delight in breaking of those Edicts and Spoiling us of those Priviledges which were granted us by his Majesty's Predecessors We do acknowledge that our National Synods cannot be held without a great deal of Labour and Expence but their meeting from time to time being absolutely necessary for us we undergo the Travail and Burden with a great deal of chearfulness And his Majesty having hitherto enabled us by his Bounty to bear in some measure the charge of it we cannot but promise our selves from his Royal Goodness the continuance thereof and that he will not deprive us of his Liberality when as we shall be obliged to come from all parts of the Kingdom unto these General Assemblies And could those Affairs which are brought unto these Synods be terminated any where else we would most willingly spare our selves the pains and trouble of travelling from one end of France unto another and to sit down about other Mens business for some Weeks at so great a distance from our own Habitations and Families as the most of us do But it being absolutely impossible that our Religion should subsist without these Assemblies and there having been a very long Interval of Years elapsed since the last held at Charenton unto this present we having found by sad Experience that Delays and Time do multiply Affairs and cause them to be dispatched with the more and greater difficulty we perswade our selves and ground our Perswasions and Confidence upon that unparallel'd Goodness of our Sovereign that it will be acceptable to him that my Lord our Deputy General should demand and press his Majesty to suffer it to be called when as the Necessities of our Churches do require it for the composing of our Affairs according to the Canons of our Discipline and as hath been customarily practised every three Years And as for that Expedient of ending matters in our Provincial Synods there is so great a quantity of Affairs of another Nature that without a total Subversion of our Discipline they can never be determined but in our Triennial National Synods And whereas his Lordship my Lord Commissioner was pleased to touch at our holding Correspondency with Foreigners over and besides what hath been said and is recorded in the Acts of former National Synods In answer to this there be yet several Persons now present who can very well remember that the Kings his Majesty's Predecessors did permit our Churches to hold up a Correspondence with our Neighbours in matters concerning our Religion and Discipline yea and as occasions offered that we should send our Deputies to them And however the People of Geneva Switzerland Germany and of other Countries do live under a Form of Civil Government quite different from ours yet because those Nations be Friends and in League with France and principally because our Religion is animated universally by the same Spirit and that it inspireth all its Professors with an inviolable Respect and Obedience for the Higher Powers of what kind or nature soever they be in any State the Kings his Majesty's Predecessors had never any reason to complain that this Correspondency was in any wise prejudicial to their Authority So that if it should please his Majesty our Sovereign Lord to give us once again the same Liberty he might be fully assured as ever of our inviolable Fidelity And as for our Students when as ever it shall please his Majesty as we most Humbly request him so to do to give them License of Visiting Foreign Universities there shall be no cause to fear that their good Inclinations should be corrupted or that they should return Home disaffected to the Person and Government of their Prince And as for Letters or Writings from Foreign Parts we shall not receive nor peruse any of them unless his Majesty's Commissioner do approve of it There is yet one Word more to be spoken about the duration of this Synod which my Lord Commissioner saith must be very short because it is his Majesties Pleasure it should be so To which we reply with all imaginable Duty and Reverence unto his Lordship that the length of these Assemblies doth depend upon the multitude of Business which cannot be dispatch'd in a trice but require time for so doing It is now Fifteen Years since we had a National Synod so that 't is an easie matter to judge that as Businesses are multiplied extraordinarily so are their Difficulties together with them And as it lay not in our Power to prevent their out-breaking at first so now is it not in our power so to shorten the time of the Sessions of this Synod as we would but it must of necessity exceed the ordinary term of former National Synods for otherwise we must leave many Affairs undecided or else their Decision must be precipitated But in case his Majesty had not declared his Pleasure to us herein yet it is the general Interest of our Churches and of every one of us in particular to hasten as much as possibly we can our return to our respective stations and therefore consequently we shall avoid all Delays and Protractings of Businesses which if unnecessary cannot but be very prejudical to us But whereas over and besides this Consideration his Majesty hath been pleased to notifie his Intentions to us we do most humbly beseech your Lordship my Lord Commissioner to believe that we will not lose one Moments time but shall intend our Synodical Affairs with all assiduity and diligence imaginable But our principal Request unto your Lordship is that your Lordship would be pleased to assure his Majesty that as we be Natural born French-men so have we the Interests and Glory of France lying at our Hearts and as we are Christians so we know our selves inviolably obliged to the Observation of that Apostolical Precept To Fear God and Honour the King We have already said it and we do once again repeat it that
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
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
in this Place their Prayers for the Glory of his Majesty Prosperity of his Government and the Blessings of God upon his Marriage And my Lord Commissioner declaring that he could not permit us to return any Answer to them the whole Assembly submitted its self unto his Majesty's Orders 9. A Copy of another Letter written unto the King Sire HAving happily concluded the Synod which your Majesty was pleased by your Gracious License to permit us convocate in this Town we have deputed the Sieure Dize a Pastor and de Foissac an Elder to lay at your Majesty's Feet our most humble Thanks 〈◊〉 from us unto your Majesty and our sincerest Protestations for continuance of our Obedience and Fidelity in your Service who being the Pourtraiture of God our Religion which commands us to fear him doth also enjoyn us entirely to submit our selves unto your Sovereign Authority But over and above these Sentiments which Nature and our Religion have inspired into us those Favours Sire which we daily receive from your Majesty are so mighty that we are sensibly obliged and engaged with the greatest Ardour and Pleasure to devote unto your Service our Lives and Fortunes It is true Sire that those Edicts which the Kings your Predecessors were pleased to grant us and your Royal Goodness to confirm unto us are broken in all your Provinces But Sire as we are fully assured of your Majesty's good Intentions so we ascribe those Infractions unto their particular Passion who do hate us And we most humbly petition your Majesty to hear our Complaints presented to you in this Bill of Grievances which we presume by our Deputies to tender to you and hope your Majesty will favour us with a gracious Answer we knowing very well that as your I hrone is glorious with an infinite number of Triumphs so is it invironed with Justice and Equity And these Verities Sire are the fairest Flowers in your Crown and render you the Father of that People over whom you are the Sovereign and give you a Nobler Dominion and far more absolute Empire in your Subjects Hearts than that which you exercise over your Armies and Provinces and these oblige all true Frenchmen to bless God for so just and good and glorious a Reign and we more than others do bless his holy Name for it beseeching God in a more especial manner with all the powers of our Souls to preserve your Sacred Majesty to grant a happy Success to all your Designs and Enterprises and to maintain your Government in all Peace and Prosperity These Sire are the most ardent Vows of those who he in very Truth and Deed Of your Majesty Sire The most Humble the most Obedient â—nd most Faithful Subjects and Servants the Pastors and Elders assemble by your Majesties Permission in a National Synod and for them all Daille Moderator J. M. de Langle Assessor Scribes Loride des Galinieres And De Brissac A Copy of another Letter unto his Eminency My Lord WE acknowledg our great Debt unto your Eminency for 't is to your Counsels that we stand obliged for our assembling and holding of this Synod and for the time allotted us for the regulating of our Affairs We send the Sieurs Dize Pastor and de Foissac an Elder unto his Majesty to present him our Bill of Grievances and to render unto your Eminency my Lord our most Humble Thanks for your Favours And we most humbly beseech your Eminency to accept of our profound Respects and those Assurances we give you of our Thankfulness We hope that your Eminency will continue unto us the effects of your Justice and Protection and that we shall always have occasion of publishing to the World your Goodness and to beg of God in all our Prayers that he would accumulate upon your Eminency his most precious Benedictions We are My Lord Of your Eminency The most Humble and the most Obedient Servants the Pastors and Elders assembled by his Majesty's Permission in the National Synod of Loudun and for them all Moderator Daille Assessor J. M. de L'Angle Scribes De Brissac Loride des Galiâ—â—â—es CHAP. VI. Notes on the Confession THE Confession of Faith being Read was signed by all the Deputies who did for themselves and their Provinces unanimously and solemnly protest that they would persevere in the inviolable Profession of it till Death CHAP. VII Observations on Reading of the Discipline THE Deputies of the Province of Xaintonge demanded that a longer time than Two Years of Probation might be allotted unto Priests and Monks who have renounced their Superstitions and Idolatries and joyned themselves unto our Communion before they were admitted into the Holy Ministry because of the many Scandals arising from their ill Conduct The Assembly was of Opinion that there needed no longer time of Probation than those Two years determined by the Second Canon in the First Chapter of our Discipline But that all Churches and Colloquies should be advised not to be precipitant nor over hasty in their seeking and receiving of such Persons but yet to get as full and evident Proofs of their Sincerity as they shall judge necessary till the time prescribed by our Discipline be expired which is the least that in Reason or Prudence can be demanded 2. The Provinces of Xaintonge and Poictou demanding that this Assembly would take some order to prevent those Inconveniences which may fall out in the examination of Proposans in Fortified Consistories A Decree was made that the Canons in the Second Article of the First Chapter of our Discipline and the Acts of the National Synods held at Charenton in the Year 1631 shall be exactly observed and that our Proposans as long as God giveth us means and opportunity shall be examined in Colloquies and Synods and no where else unless it be upon very great and considerable Grounds and Reasons and in case of urgent and indispensable Necessity for which the Churches shall be accountable unto the Provincial Synods and these unto the National and what hath been done in this matter by the Consistories of Paris and Saumur is approved of as being conformable unto those aforementioned Canons 3. The Deputies of Provinces of Sevennes and Lower Lauguedoc proposed op the Fifth Article of the First Chapter of our Discipline that the Age of Students in Divinity might be certainly fixed before they be by Ordination received into the Holy Ministry that so the many inconveniencies which have been observed in divers Places through the heats and inexperience of their Youth may be prevented This Assembly did not judge meet to make any change in the Canon of our Discipline But doth seriously advise all the Provinces to admit none unto examination unless such Persons of whose Piety Gravity and Prudence they have good and sufficient Testimonials which shall not be given them by Pastors and Professors but with very great Circumspection 4. That Order in the Seventh Article of the First Chapter of our Discipline about the manner of
Appeal from a Censure which he pretended was inflicted upon him by the Synod of that Province held at Mauze July 5 1656 because he refused to Baptize the Child of the Lord of Cyre at his Castle on an extraordinary Day The Assembly considering the Terms of that Censure which he produced mentioned no Censure at all it could not be perswaded that he had any ground of complaint in the least nor that such an Appeal should have been brought into this Assembly because Pastors should in all Affairs of this nature be guided by their Consistories and the custom of the Provinces And forasmuch as this Assembly is informed that the said Gaultier hath been for a long time without a Church the Province of Xaintonge was commanded to get him some Employment 4. Mademoiselle d' Argier Widow of the Deceased Pastor of that Name complained against the Judgment of the Synod of Lower Languedoc held at Vsez in the Year 1659 which had rejected her Petition and demand of the Annuity of her Widowhood from the Churches of Cormes and Florensac but her Appeal was rejected because the matters of that nature ought to be finally decided in the Provinces 5. The Sieur Bourdieu Pastor of the Church of Montpellier having presented unto this Assembly the Evidences and Memoirs of Mr. Peter Caffarel Syndic of the Inhabitants in the City of Montpellier professing the Reformed Religion by which he defends himself from the Appeals brought by the Sieur John Guillard and Mademoiselle Colombâ— and Esther Thalodiere de Degan about a difference between them concerning Seats in the Temple These Differences were remanded back again unto the Consistory of Montpellier there to be finally determined if they are not so already according to the Ordinances established in the last and in this present National Synod of Charenton 6. There were produced in this Assembly the Memoir of Monsieur David Blanc late Pastor of the Church of Vernoux who departed this Life about Two Years since and presented by his poor Children in behalf of their Dead Father to defend an Appeal of his from the Provincial Synod of Vivaretz held at Vals in April 1650. And they complained that the said Synod had removed him from his Church of Vernoux without so much as hearing him speak for himself so that he was for sometimes altogether destitute of Employment and without any Maintenance or Care had for him or his poor Families Subsistence After that the Deputies of the said Province were heard the Assembly did very much blame the Province of Vivaretz for removing the said Mr. Le Blanc from his Church without suffering him to defend himself and for not providing for his Subsistence all the while he was out of imployment and Ordained that there should be paid in unto his Children within the space of one Year the Sum of Two Hundred Livres by the said Province and by the Churches of Vernoux and of Velay each of them One Third And the Synod of Vivaretz is charged to see that the said Sum be paid in to the Children of the said Deceased Mr. Le Blanc within the time prefixed 7. On sight of the Letters and Memoirs of Monsieur Thubert the Father Pastor of the Churches of Cassagnoles and Marnjolles appealing from a Judgment past in the Synod held at Alez in the Year 1658 against him and for refusing to restore him unto his Church of Vezenobres from whence he was removed without any valid Reason given him and that because he had a right to re-enter into his said Church they to keep him out would pay him Fifty Livres a Year for his Life After that the Deputies of Sevennes had been heard and that the Memoirs containing the Reasons and Grounds of the Appeal brought from the said Judgment by the Church of Vezenobre which was ordered to pay Fifty Livres a Year unto the said Monsieur Thubert The Assembly vacated the said Appeal and hath also vacated the Judgment past against the said Church for the Yearly payment of Fifty Livres and dischargeth it from the said Payment without Restitution of any part of the said Monies to be made by the said Monsieur Thubert in case he hath received any 8. There was an Appeal brought by the Church of Xaintes from an Act of the Provincial Synod of Xaintonge held at Cazes in June 1659 for that as they were informed they had over and besides the great Catechism which is ordinarily used every Lord's Day ordained another to be used between the Morning Sermon and the great Catechism for Children in a familiar way by Questions and Answers and yet though this be not practised in any one Church of the Province the Church of Xaintes is called upon to conform to Order and to keep to Uniformity This Assembly being obliged to commend the Zeal and Diligence of the said Church in providing for their Instruction who are committed to its care judgeth that it had been much better if the said Province had left this Church in full Liberty or that when they gave it their Advice upon the difficulty which was discovered in the Order of the said Church and that for a long time hath been upheld and maintained in it about the time chosen by them for their Catechisings the Province it self had found out some other means more meet and fit to produce those good effects and fruits which they have yielded and which might have been exempted from those inconveniencies which it hath found in the said Church and whereunto it might have conformed And therefore exhorteth the said Church and all other Churches in this Kingdom to strengthen themselves and to be incouraged in this laudable Design and to promote to the very utmost of their Power the instruction of particular Members according to that Canon made and established in this present Assembly 9. The Letters and Memoirs of the Sieurs Vulson Des Grands Prez Dâ— Bâ—â—f and Calvet Doctors of Physick Fellows of the Colledg of Physicians Fellows of the Colledge of Physicians at Grenoble and Professors of the Reformed Religion were Produced and Read in this Assembly by which they complained of Monsieur Gros Pastor of the Reformed Church at La Mure for having transgressed the 18th Article of the first Chapter of our Ecclesiastical Discipline which forbiddeth Ministers to practise Physick and that the Synod of Dolphiny held at Vegnes in September last of this Year 1659 had not took an effectual course to restrain him The Letters also of the Sieurs Gros were opened and perused and the Deputies of the Province of Dolphiny were heard speak on this matter After all Parties had been heard this Assembly not finding any proof against the said Mr. Le Gros that he had of late transgressed nor since that Act of the Consistory of Grenoble June 17 1659 he was only injoyned precisely and exactly to observe the sense and intention of that Eighteenth Article of our Church-Discipline under the Penalties therein contained 10. The Sieurs
Castell Thierry and Sarrau Pastor of the Church of Meaux are appointed to visit the said Church of Senlis accompanied each of them with an Elder of their respective Consistories and the said Church is to defray their Expences These things being thus ordered and dispatched Monsieur Fauquembergue craved leave of this Assembly to retire himself unto such a Place as the good Providence of God should direct him which was freely granted him and he was commended to the Grace of God 32. John Grillemet came unto this Assembly to maintain his Appeal from a Judgment of the Consistory of Montauban and from another given in the Provincial Synod of Higher Languedoc After that the said Guillemet and the Deputies of that Province had been both heard the Assembly judged that this affair should not have been brought before it and therefore doth send it back again to the Synod of that Province and to the Consistory of Montauban whose Judgments are now confirmed by the authority of this present National Synod but withal intreateth them both to extend their Charity unto this Appellant 33. The Church of Eyssigeac having appealed from the Judgment of the Colloquy of Perigord and from the Synod of Lower Guyenne assembled at St. Foy 1645 about the Titles put into the Bands of Matrimony of the Sieur de Bequay Attorney in the Praesidial Court of Agen and from the Complaints brought against Monsieur Eymer at present Pastor of the Church of Mount St. Proy which said Complaints were mentioned in a Memorial sent by the Consistory of the said Church of Eyssigeac This Appeal of theirs was declared null And as for their Complaints they were ordered to be carried unto the next Synod of Lower Guyenne who are to take Cognizance of them And the said Memorial was to this end put into the Hands of the Provincial Deputies of Lower Guienne being attested by the Signatures of Monsieur Beraud a Pastor and of Four Elders CHAP. X. General Matters 1. THE Assembly being informed by the Province of Lower Languedoc that some Pastors do read the Texts of their Sermons in other Translations differing from that which is commonly used in our Churches this Assembly decreeth that no Person shall dare use any other Version than that which is ordinarily used whether in Reading the Scriptures or taking their Texts out of it 2. As to that Proposal made by the Deputy of the Province of Burgundy concerning the administration of the Poor's Mony and the rendring of Accompts by those who have had the Management thereof This Assembly judgeth that the cognizance and direction of this matter belongeth unto the Consistory according to the Order established by our Discipline and that whosoever doth violate those Canons by remâ—â—ing this Affair from our Ecclesiastick Assemblies ought to be prosecuted with all kind of Censures as Contemners of our Canons and Rebels to the Consistories 3. The Provincial Deputies of Burgundy demanding upon the Sixteenth Article of the Thirteenth Chapter of our Discipline how they should judge of their place of Abode who contract Marriage that so they may warrantably publish their Banes This Assembly was of Opinion that there could not be a General Canon made which should oblige all the Churches because that the Customs of particular places though different one from another are to be followed Therefore the cognizance of this matter is remitted to the prudence of Provincial Synods Colloquies and Consistories which shall observe and follow the Customs in every particular District 4. The Deputies of the same Province made report of the little care that was observed in several parts of their Province to sanctifie the Lord's Day and that by very many Persons it was imployed in Worldly Businesses Sports and Pastimes depriving themselves of Religious Exercises and Ordinances and suffering themselves to be led aside by Sinful Examples unto Plays and Dissolutions This Assembly touched to the quick with a most sensible grief for so great a Profanation provoking God to pour down his most dreadful Vengeance upon the Sons of Men doth exhort all the Faithful to spend this Sacred Day of Rest in the performances of Holy Duties and to those divine ends whereunto it is appointed by exercising themselves in all publick and private Duties of Religion particularly in the Reading Hearing and Meditation of God's Holy Word and Prayer and that they do not only Religiously abstain from their ordinary Week-days labour but also from all Companies Meetings Sports and Recreations which will estrange their Hearts and Affections from the Worship of God and from that Devotion which we are most especially obliged to upon these Holy Sabbaths of Christs own Institution And our Provincial Synods are injoyned upon this occasion to make such Canons as they shall judge needful and every individual Member of our Churches are most strictly commanded conscientiously to observe and obey them 5. The Province of Bearn desired that they might be impowered with authority to practise those Canons which they had already established and which they might hereafter also as to the times and places of Celebrating Marriages This Assembly granted them their Request and gave also the same Authority unto all other Provincial Synods and forbiddeth all Ministers to Marry any Persons in their Churches excepting at the Hours accustomed for such Solemnities 6. The Two and Thirtieth Article in the last Chapter of our Discipline which forbiddeth Duels under the severest Censures even of Excommunication it self shall be read in all the Churches and reinforced with most close and vehement Exhortations that so this Hellish Sin may be banished from out the Hearts and Societies of the Faithful as being expresly forbidden by the word of God and declared by his Majesty's Edicts to have merited the deepest brand of Infamy and all Consistories are injoyned to put forth their Power in prosecuting the Refractory with all kind of Censures 7. Whereas diverts Provinces have complained of that great difference which is observed in the Printed Copies of our Discipline this Assembly Ordaineth that there shall be drawn up another most exact and correct according to the Decisions of our National Synods in whose Margin shall be inserted the Canons and Observations extracted out of those Synods which shall be judged most needful And Monsieur Amyraud Pastor and Professor in the Church and University of Saumur is charged with this Task and he shall use the labours of Monsieur Blondel Gaultier and Catelau and shall communicate his Work unto the Consistories of Saumur Paris and Rochel and with then Approbation it shall be Printed 8. In executing that Article of the National Synod of Charenton in the Year 1631 when as any Members of the Augustane Confession commonly called Lutherans shall offer Children into Baptism not having before-time communicated with us this Assembly decreeth that the Consistories shall take a particular notice of their Inclinations whether they joyn themselves unto our Church-Assemblies with a true peaceable Spirit of Charity as is required by
the said Article in which case they shall be admitted to stand Sureties And the like regard shall be had and observed as to Marriages 9. The Province of Bearne demanded whether they might suffer the Lord's Supper to be administred on any other day besides the Christian Sabbath This Assembly judgeth that although Religious Worship be not tied up to the circumstances of time and place yet nevertheless it was needful because of the Importance of so sacred a Ceremony that it be celebrated if possible only upon the Lord's Day and not on any other unless upon very great and weighty considerations whereof the Provincial Synods Colloquies and Consistories shall take cognizance 10. That for the future Deputations unto National Synods may be compleat over and above those Canons already made This Assembly Ordaineth that such Persons who being deputed shall be absent from them shall inform this Synod of the causes of their absence and of that care they had taken to give notice unto those who were substituted in their Places to appear for them and the Synod of that Province shall judge herein But and if they shall not give this Notice and Information the Provinces are injoyned strictly to inspect the matter and to proceed against such Defaulters without sufficient Reason by suspending them from their Offices And an Account hereof shall be given unto the next National Synod 11. The Provinces having rendred an Account of the care taken by them to oblige their Pastors to reside on their respective Churches This Assembly confirmeth the former Canons on this occasion and enjoyneth all Synods and Colloquies to concern themselves in it and upon an exact knowledg of the state of their Churches and Pastors they be charged to proceed against the Refractory with all kind of Censures 12. It being reported to this National Synod that the word Damnation in the Tenth Section of the Catechism hath been changed in the sundry Editions of our Psalms into that of Condemnation The Synod judging those Two Words for Substance to signifie one and the same thing doth leave the Printers at liberty to use which of them they best like 13. To prevent that diversity found in the Editions of the Bible and Psalms of our Liturgy and Catechism This Assembly Ordaineth that every Province shall remark and observe those Changes which have been made and what others may be needful to be done that they may be sent unto the Consistory of Paris which shall chuse out of them according to their Prudence and notifie them unto the Provincial Synod of the Isle of France which shall issue out those Orders necessary for a more correct Edition of the Holy Bible Psalms Liturgy and Catechism unto which the Printers shall conform themselves in their future Impressions Moreover the Consistories of those Places where there is a Printing-Press are charged to be very careful in this matter and the Sieurs Bochard of Caen Jassaud of Castres De Chandieu Eustache Taby Boudan Bernard De Veloux Le Blois Guitton Amyraud Daille Gommare Dize Riccotier Cazamajor and Homel Pastors are appointed a Committee to see this present Act put in Execution 14. Forasmuch as the Sins of Men especially of those whom God hath separated from the World by a most Holy Profession and whom he hath honoured above all others with the Glorious Title of his Children do very often and lowdly summon the Church of God unto extraordinary Humiliation Publick Prayers Fastings and Repentance This Assembly recommendeth unto the Provinces the Observation of that Article of our Discipline which enables the Provincial Synods to proclaim publick Fasts every one of them within their Divisions according as they shall judge needful And ordaineth that the Province which hath the Priviledge of calling the National Synod shall take care to publish a National Fast to be universally observed in all the Churches of this Kingdom according to the Intelligence it shall receive from the other Provinces and especially from those that border nearest to it according to the same Article of the Discipline that so the fierce Anger and Judgment of God may be prevented and avoided 15. Such as defer the Baptizing of their Children shall be sharply censured according to the Rigour of our Discipline and if any Children are come unto Years of Discretion and were never Baptized they shall be first Catechised and well instructed in the Principles of Christian Religion before they be admitted unto Baptism 16. The Deputies of the Isle of France having remonstrated the wicked Practices of some Professors of our Religion such be forbidden upon pain of the last and greatest Censures to lend their Names unto Persons of the Romish Communion that they may draw their Affairs tho but indirectly and in which they have in effect no concern at all before the Courts of the Edict 17. The Deputies of the Province of Brittaine requesting it this Assembly ordaineth that in case Errors be not divulged among the Common People they who undertake to refute them shall write in the Latin Tongue 18. The Provincial Deputies of Normandy petitioning for it this Assembly ordained That all Consistories shall take care that those Portions of the Holy Scripture be read and Psalms sung during the Celebration of the Lords Supper which are most suitable to the Nature of that Ordinance that so the Devotion of our Communicants may be raised add inflamed and not flatted nor diverted 19. A motion was made that whereas many particular Churches of ours had an undoubted Right to exercise our Religion by vertue of the Edicts in sundry Cities Towns and other places in the Country and yet do meet together for Religious Worship in very ill and unconvenient places this Assembly exhorteth all the Churches either to accommodate them better or to build new Temples which may be more fit and commodious and only to employ them in Religious Uses and the Sacred Exercises of our Religion And all Lords and Gentlemen Members of the said Churches are more particularly exhorted to promote this excellent Work as much as in them lieth 20. At the Request of the Provincial Deputies of Dolphiny all Colloquies are exhorted to cause the Acts of all our National Synods to be transcribed that so they may be useful to them in their Exercise of Church-Discipline 21. The Provincial Deputies of Xaintonge and Poistou moving it that that Canon of our Discipline and Decrees of our National Synods which forbad the publishing of any Treatise of Religion till it had been first examined and approved by those Persons who were appointed to it by the Provincial Synod might be extended unto Sermons also and to any other kind of Writings in matters of Religion Their Desire was granted them accordingly 22. This Assembly being informed that in certain Provinces Pastors are given unto Churches for an Year by way of Tryal and that they be removed from their Cures with too great Facility This Assembly condemning these Disorders enjoyneth all the Provinces to conform
unto Salvation and thus effectually to redeem all those and none other who were from all Eternity from among all People Nations and Tongues chosen unto Salvation Whereupon although the Assembly were well satisfied yet nevertheless they decreed that for the future that Phrase of Jesus Christ's dying Equally for all should be for born that term Equally was heretofore and might be so again an occasion of stumbling unto many And as for the conditional Decree mentioned in the aforesaid Treatise of Predestination the said Mr. Testard and Amyraud declared that they do not not ever did understand any other thing than God's Revealed Will in his Word to give Grace and Life unto Believers and that they called this in none other sense a Conditional Will than that of an Anthropopia because God promiseth not the effects thereof but upon condition of Faith and Repentance And they added farther that although the Propositions resulting from the manifestation of this Will be conditional and conceived under an If or It may be as if thou believest thou shalt be Saved if a Man repent of his Sins they shall be forgiven him yet nevertheless this doth not suppose in God an Ignorance of the Event nor an Impotency as to the Execution of nor any inconstancy as to his Will which is always firmly accomplished and ever unchangable in it self according to the nature of God in which there is no variableness nor shadow of turning And the said Monsieur Amyraud did particularly protest as he had before published unto the World that he never gave the Name of Universal or Conditional Predestination unto this Will of God than by way of concession and accommodation unto the Language of the Adversary yet forasmuch as many are offended at this Expression of his he offered freely to raze it out of those Places wherever it did occur promising also to abstain from it for the future And both He and the Sieur Testard acknowledged that to speak truly and accurately according to the usage of Sacred Scripture there is no other Decree of Predestination of Men unto Eternal Life and Salvation than the unchangable purpose of God by which according to the most free and good pleasure of his Will he hath out of meer Grace chosen in Jesus Christ unto Salvation before the Foundation of the World a certain number of Men in themselves neither better nor more worthy than others and that he hath decreed to give them unto Jesus Christ to be Saved and that he would call and draw them effectually to Communion with him by his Word and Spirit And they did in consequence of this their Doctrin reject their Error who held that Faith and th' Obedience of Faith Holiness Godliness and Perseverance are not the fruits and effects of this unchangable Decree unto Glory but conditions or causes without which Election could not be passed which conditions or causes are antecedently requisite and foreseen as if they were already accomplished in those who were fit to be elected contrary to what is taught us by the Sacred Scriptures Acts 13.48 and elsewhere And whereas they have made distinct Decrees in this Counsel of God the first of which is to save all Men through Jesus Christ if they shall believe in him the Second to give Faith unto some particular Persons they declared that they did this upon none other account than of accommodating it unto the manner and order which the Spirit of Man observeth in his Reasonings for the succour of his own Infirmities they otherwise believing that though they considered this Decree as Diverse yet was it found in God in one and the self same Moment without any Succession of Thought or order of Priority and Posteriority The Will of this most Supream and Incomprehensible Lord being one only Eternal Act in him so that could we but conceive of things as they be in him from all Eternity we should comprehend these Decrees of God by one only Act of our Understanding as in truth they be but one only Act of his Eternal and Unchangable Will. The Synod having heard these Declarations of the Sieurs Testart and Amyraud injoyned them and all others to refrain from those terms of Conditional Frustratory or Revocable Decree and that they should rather chuse the Word Will whereby to express that Sentiment of theirs by which they would signifie the Revealed Will of God commonly called by Divines Voluntas Signi And whereas in sundry places marked in the Writings of the before-mentioned Mr. Testard and Amyraud they have ascribed unto God as it were a notion of Velleity and strong Affections and vehement desires of things which he hath not nor ever will effectuate they having declared that by those figurative ways of Speaking and an anthropopathical they designed to speak properly none other thing than this that if Men were obedient to the Commandments and Invitations of God their Faith and Obedience would be most acceptable to him according as was before expressed by them The Assembly hearing this their Explication did injoyn them to use such Expressions as these with that Sobriety and Prudence that they might not give any occasion of offence unto any Person nor cause them to conceive of God in any way unsuitable to his Glorious Nature And the same Monsieur Amyraud and Testard declared farther that although the Doctrins obvious to us in the works of Creation and Providence do Teach and Preach Repentance and invite us to seek the Lord who would be found of us Yet nevertheless by reason of the horrible blindness of our Nature and its Universal Corruption no Man was ever this way converted yea and it is utterly impossible that any one should be converted but by the Hearing of the Word of God which is the seed of our Regeneration and the Instrument of the Holy Ghost whose efficacy and vertue only is able to illuminate our Understandings and to change the Hearts and Affections of the Children of Men. And forasmuch as the Word of God hath always revealed the knowledge of the Lord our Redeemer the said Sieurs did farther protest that no one Man was ever nor can be saved without some certain measure of this Knowledge less indeed under the Old Testament but greater under the New the Death and Resurrection of the Son of God being most plainly and distinctly manifested in the Gospel And they hold it as an undoubted Truth that now under the New Covenant the distinct knowledge of Christ is absolutely necessary for all Persons who are come unto Years of Discretion in order to their obtaining of Eternal Salvation And they do from their very Heart anathematize all those who believe or Teach that Man may be saved any other way than by the Merit of our Lord Jesus Christ or in any other Religion besides the Christian And whereas divers Persons were much offended at the Professor Amyrald for calling that knowledge of God which Men might gain from the consideration of his Works and
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
the Sacred Ministry which he hath vented in scurrilous and opprobrious Language against the said Boulet And finally the Commissioners deputed by the Colloquy to meet at Nismes about this matter they were very sharply censured for wasting their time and putting the Parties to so great charges by their tedious dilatory proceedings utterly unbecoming their Calling 22. A great Number of the Inhabitants of the Town of Sauve appealed from the Censure inflicted on them by the Synod of Sevennes held at Vigan the 24th day of April in the year Sixteen Hundred and Seventeen and requested that the said censure might be rased and taken out of the Acts of the said Synod and the Consistory there joyned with them as also Monsieur Bony contented so far as that they might have another Minister to exercise among them though herein he acted contrary to the Decree of that Synod which had inhibited them all Inquiries after a Second Pastor This Assembly judging this Affair not to be of their kind which ought to be tendered unto the National Synods doth therefore remand them and it back again unto the Province and either in a Colloquy or Synod to procure for themselves another Minister according to the Rules prescribed by our Discipline and for Peace sake it does amend the Censure of the Synod of Vigan and ordaineth That those words inserted in it of factions and quarrelsome shall be rased out of it 23. The Church of Lormarin together with their Pastor Monsieur Morrice and Corrigier one of their Elders appealed from the Synod of Provence held at Remoules in May last which having suspended the said Morrice for three Moneths from the Ministry the same Synod did some few days after restore him again And yet afterwards they compelled them the said Morrice and Corrigier to beg the pardon of that Synod upon their knees the Moderator calling upon God in Prayer before hand on purpose to expose them when as there was no cause at all nor had there been any on their part for so great an Indignity they having given no provocation which might merit such ignominious usage This Assembly condemneth the Province of Provence for abusing our Discipline and exposing the Sacred Ordinance of Prayer to contempt and scorne and ordereth that their Act of Suspension past in the Synod of Remoules be rased out of all Books in which it may have been recorded and the Acts of the said Synod being wholly cleared and renewal the Old Copyes shall be delivered into the hands of the said Mr. Morrice and this present Act shall be read in the next Synod of Provence by Monsieur Huron their Deputy and entered into the Register of the Synodical Acts of Provence See below in the Catalogue of Apostates and Deposed Act. 9. 24. Mr. Hector Joly appealed from the Synod of Higher Languedoc held at Puylaurent in June last for suspending him a whole year from the Ministry and that term expired for ordering him to quit the Province though they licensed him if he could to get himself into some other Church in another Province The cause of his suspension was Adultery And the Church and City of Montauban complained of the too much Lenity and Indulgence extended by that Synod towards the said Joly and of their censure given forth against the Consistory of Montauban The Deputies of the said Province declared the true grounds of their Synodical actings against Joly and of their censure upon the Consistory to be these viz. Because they had neglected their Duty to him and the formes requisite and usual in all our Ecclesiastical proceedings Joly also was called in and suffered to speak for himself and to produce by word of Mouth and Writing whatever might make for his Defence and Justification But after all that could be said by him or for him This Assembly approved the Judicial Sentence of the said Synod of Puylaurent in every Title and Member of it yea and in its censure inflicted on the Consistory of Montauban because of the notorious defaults confessed by them in their actings And all matters having been narrowly examined and considered which were alledged by the said Joly and particularly those Acts now produced by him he was now found to be really guilty of that Crime whereof he stood accused and of very foul and wicked practises to palliate and stifle it Insomuch as his Ministry could be no longer useful but must needs be a very great and publick scandal For these Causes this Assembly aggravated the Judgment of the Synod of Puylaurent doth now declare the said Joly to be totally deposed from the Sacred Ministry and interdicts him all manner of Acts Duties and Exercises appertaining to it And at his request the Papers which he had produced out of the Civil Courts were all returned into his own hands See below in the Catalogue of the Apostates and Deposed 25. Stephen Girault appealed from the Synod of Xaintonge held at Marennes in July Sixteen Hundred and Seventeen which had declared him utterly unworthy of that Holy and Honourable Office of a Pastor in the Church of God and deposed him from the Ministry without any hope of ever being restored to it unless he did wholly reform his Life and Manners and become a new Man before the sitting of this present National Synod and likewise he appealed from another Sentence since that of the aforesaid Synod past upon him by the Sieurs Constans and Rossel Deputed by the Colloquy of Pons in December in One Thousand Six Hundred and Nineteen to make inquiry into the Life and Conversation of the said Giraud by which he was suspended for Three Moneths from Communion with the Church of God at the Lords Table and this his Suspension was ordered to be notified from the Pulpit to the whole Congregation The Deputies of the Province of Xaintonge were desired to declare the Reasons of their rigorous dealings with this Girault and Girault also was heard in all his Apologies for himself both by word of Mouth and Writing In which he confest and owned some of the Crimes whereof he was accused but confidently extenuated and denied others This Assembly finding the said Stephen Girault convicted of Prophaneness and Lasciviousness Drunkenness Theft Perjury contempt of Church-Discipline Slandering Coveting dishonest gain in short a Fellow whose Life and Manners have no resemblance with that of a Servant of God but directly contrary to him and one who is utterly unworthy the Name of a Christian It hath and doth now declare him to be deposed from the Holy Ministry and totally interdicts him all manner of Acts and Offices belonging to it leaving it to the judgement of that Church where he shall reside whether they will admit him or no as a private Person to communion with them at the Lords Table which yet they shall not do till such time as they have had long and undoubted Evidence and Experience of his thorough Reformation and Amendment of Life and conceive him worthy of
so great a Favour and Priviledge upon very good and satisfactory Grounds and Reasons 26. The Colloquy of Rouergue presented their Appeal by Monsieur Jaques Pastor of the Church of St. Breuest from the Synod of Higher Languedock held at Millaud by which the said Colloquy was condemned to pay Five Hundred Livers another Copy has Five Hundred Crowns unto Monsieur du Luc for razing the place at Monntelarat it being a matter obtained by surprize and against that use whereunto the Churches Money is to be imployed After hearing the Arguments of the said de Luc against the said Colloquy and the reasons alleadged by the Deputies of the Province the Assembly did not judge this Affair to belong to the Cognisance of Synods and therefore remands it back again to the Cities and Corporations in the Colloquy of Rouergue that they may give satisfaction as they shall see reason for it The Moneys granted us by the Kings bounty shall see reason for it The Moneys granted us by the Kings bounty being destinated to other and better purposes 27. The Church of Authun and Couches appealed from the Synod of Burgundy which refused to give them Monsieur Textor for their Minister and had censured them for that they persisted in their Endeavours to procure him This Assembly not being able to invalidate the Judgment of the said Province of Burgundy because those who are concern'd in it are not here neither in their Persons nor by their Memoirs yet doth it however enjoyn the said Province to take care That the said Church of Cauches be speedily supplyed with an able Minister according to the Canons of our Ecclesiastical Discipline 28. The Church of Foussay appealed about the maintenance of Monsieur Vatable their Pastor from the Synod of Poictou but their Appeal was rejected because it was of the nature of those things which might be determined by Provincial Synods 29. The Sieur des Maretz appealed from a Decree of the Synod of Vivaretz held at Privas which had confirmed those Orders of the Colloquy of Rochefoucaut dated the 25th of June 1619. and that of Privas Dated the 10th of November 1619. and injoyned him the said des Maretz wholly to quit the Church of Vals as soon as they should have paid him the remainders of his Sallary The Deputies of the Church of Vals petitioned that they might be provided of another Pastor and those of the Province produced the reasons moving them to pronounce that judgment against him Upon the whole this Assembly although it doth confirm that Ordinance of the Synod of Vivaretz as to the removal of the said des Maretz from the Church of Vals yet cannot in the least approve of the proceedings of the said Province in their manner of Interdicting him his Ministry there And although he be exhorted to be more careful in preserving the Honour of his Calling and to adorn it with that prudence and gravity which well becomes it yet nevertheless do we recommend him unto the said Province of Vivaretz to settle him in some particular Church which shall be done either by the Colloquy or Synod And that till he be provided he may maintain himself and Family the said Province shall give him one Portion free of all Rates and Taxes out of the Moneys granted us by His Majesties Liberality and Fifteen Crowns in ready Money for the Expences of his Journey and the Church of Vals shall pay him off fully his wages to this very day and to this purpose the Moneys which would otherwise accrew unto the said Church of Vals shall be detained in the hands of the Receiver of the Province of Vivaretz And the Sieurs Agar and Richaud are charged by this Assembly that they do both of them in their respective Places and Capacities use their best indeavours that the said Church do give all content and satisfaction unto the said Sieur des Maretz A Canon made against those Churches who fill their Consistories with Persons nearly related by blood or Affinity each to other 30. Monsieur de la Cloche appealed from the Provincial Synod of Britain for detaining from him as he pretended Moneys which were owed him by the Church of Nantes This Assembly dismisseth him over to the Province of Anjou who shall judge definitively in this matter according to the Cannons of our Discipline 31. The Church of Chalays appealed from an Order of the Synod of Burgundy held at Gex in the year 1617 about an opposition made by Monsieur du Noyer an Advocate against the admission of several Persons nominated to be Elders because already the Consistory of that Church was filled up with near Relations as of Father and Son Three Brothers in Law an Uncle and Nephew and that the said du Noyer having opposed himself to this disorder they did thereupon suspend him from being an Elder in the said Church This Assembly judgeth that the said opposition was very warrantable because of the many Relations and Kindred that were in it and that the Colloquy did but right when they took off the Counsel from the said du Noyer And though for the present it suffers the State of the Consistory of the said Church of Chalais to continue yet doth it injoyne them for the future to observe as much as in them lieth the Consul given them by the Synod of Burgundy concerning their change of Elders So that they had no cause at all nor ought they to have appealed from that Synodical Exhortation 32. The Church of Valon la Gorce and Salvas appealed from the Province of Vivaretz for denying them help and assistance by which they might have stemm'd and resisted those many Evils befallen them by the Persecution of the Baron of la Gorce and for not suffering them to be incorporated with the Province of Lower Languedoc which they had most earnestly desired and requested do still persist in their desire of being incorporated with it This Assembly cannot consent that the said Church of Valon should be severed from the Province of Vivaretz for many and weighty Reasons and therefore enjoyneth the said Province of Vivaretz to have a most especial care of the said Church of Valon in their distribution of His Majesties Money that so they may be aided and supported under their many and heavy Burdens and most grievous Oppressions 33. The Church of Milhaud brought their Appeal from a Judgment of the Province of Sevennes which refused to repay them the Charges they had been at in maintaining Noel le Gele formerly a Carmelit Fryer in the Church of Rome and sent by the Church of Maruejols unto that of Milhaud This Assembly judgeth that the Colloquy of Rouergue should defray his Charges because the said le Gele is dedicated to their Service 43. The Church of Luke appealing from the Synod of Provence This Assembly judged that their demand of being reimburst their Charges for the pretended Synod of Thouars could not be admitted because they did not therein suffer alone
Dieu le Fit Peter de la Croze Pastor of the Church in Courtezon James Bernard Elder in the Church of Montlimart and Moses du Port Elder in the Church of La Mure Deputies for the Province of Dolphiny Peter Guillamin Pastor of the Church of St. Andrew de Valborne Daniel Venturin Pastor of the Church of Vigan John de Vignoles Elder in the Church of La Salle Deputies for the Province of Sevennes Peter L'abbadie Pastor of the Church of Pau and John de la Coste Elder in the Church of Moneins Deputies for the Principality of Bearn De Chalas General Deputy for the Reformed Churches of France Touretin Pastor and Professor of Divinity in the Church of Geneva 24. Whereas the Deputy of the Lord du Candall hath acquainted this Synod that several of the Deputies unto this present Synod having no Letters of Order unto the said Lord of Candall to pay them the necessary charges of their Journey in case he should pay them the Receivers of the respective Provinces might make some difficulty to allow those payments of his unto the said Deputies in his Accompt This National Synod doth ordain that those Receivers aforesaid shall take the promises and Acquittances of the said Deputies as ready Moneys paid by the said Lord du Candall out of the very first Moneys that be either hath already or shall hereafter receive for the Churches and that they shall ho a sufficient discharge for him the said Deputy and good and valuable in the Audit of his Accompt 25. The Deputies unto our National Synods Privas g. m. 15. shall hereafter bring with them the Catalogues of all the Churches and of all the Pastors in actual Service in their respective Provinces Signed and Subscribed by the Moderators and Scribes of the Provincial Synods And in case they neglect the doing hereof there shall be no Respect nor Care had for them in the dividend of the Churches Moneys 26. All the Provinces which have Supernumerary Portions assigned to them in the General dividend shall give an Accompt how they have employed and to what use they have put those Supernumerary Sums in the next National Synod 27. In pursuance of that debate in this Synod concerning those great Sums of Money remaining due unto the Churches from the Sieur Palot This Assembly did this Thirteenth day of November pass a Letter of Attorney before a publick Notary which was delivered unto the Deputies of the Isle of France with this Express Restriction that they should not put it into the hands of the Sieurs Guidon and d'Huisseau till such time as they have agreed and stipulated by some publick act duely executed in Law that they do approve of the Act past in this Assembly and do solemnly promise that they will most effectually prosecute the said Sieur Palot according to the Conditions and Articles mentioned and declared in that our said Act. CHAP. XIII PARTICULAR MATTERS 1 MR. Gasper Martyn Minister of the Church of Saillans in Dolphiny related the great loss sustained by him in the printing of his Book styled Le Capuchin Reforme a great number of Copies being left upon his hand through the Craft and Knavery of the Booksellers who having printed more Copies than they should took out their own Number and leave him to pay the rest and in truth to stand indebted for the whole Impression This Assembly highly honouring him for his great sufferings for professing the Truth and the usefulness of his Works and in consideration of his present wants do bestow upon him one Portion free of all Taxes and Charges which shall be pay'd him until the sitting of the next National Synod over and above that ordinary Portion allowed the Church of Saillans for him and Monsieur Turretin was now desired to deal with the Printers and Booksellers of Geneva that the said Mr. Martyn may have satisfaction given him for the dammage he sustaineth by their means 2. Monsieur James de la Planche having faithfully served the Church of God for Six and Twenty Years in Provence and being now taken blind and almost broken by the Pthysick and borne down with many other Afflictions occasioned through his past labours and sufferings and through his declining Age for which causes he was declared Emeritus by the Synod of that Province and discharged with a very honorable Testimonial from the Exercise of his Ministry and now conflicting with great wants and needing Relief in his Old Age he petitioned this Assembly that some care might be had of him and a competent maintenance assigned to him yearly The Assembly compassionating his Poverty ordained a Portion free of all Charges for him which shall be pay'd by the Lord of Candal unto Monsieur Gras at Lions who shall see that the said Summe be remitted him unto the place of his Abode and the Summ of Six and Thirty Livres was now given him in hand to defray the Expences of his Journey thither 3. Mr. John Paul Perrin Minister of Nions in Dolphiny presented himself before this Assembly to render an Account of Printing his History of the Vaudois and Albigeois 2 Vitre Observ on the former and he farther declared that he was now writing the General History of the Church from the beginning of the World to this Age in which we live This Assembly applauding him and thanking him for his Pains and Labours in the before-mentioned History leaveth it to his prudence and Conscience to judge whether such a Work as he is now undertaking will be of use and benefit unto the Churches because we would not impose that task upon him which would be needless and unprofitable And whereas the said Monsieur Perryn informed us of the numerousness of his Family and that he had a great charge of Children and humbly requested tha the might have some Relief from us especially for the breeding of a Son of his formerly debauched by the Jesuites but now through Grace brought home again unto Repentance a youth of Excellent parts and yielding great hopes that he may be hereafter eminently useful in the Ministry The Province of Dolphiny was exhorted to take care of him and his Family according to the Laws of Christian Charity and the great Merits of the said Monsieur Perrin 4. Monsieur Albiac Dr. of the Civil Law Living at Velleneusve in Berry petitioned to be reimburst the Summ of Fifty Crowns expended by him in executing a Commission for the Churches of the Four Neighbouring Province viz. of Lower Languedoc Dolphiny Sevennes Vivaretz This Assembly judgeth That the Provinces which imployed him ought to see him satisfied and each of them shall pay him equally their parts of so just a Debt and the quota of their Moneys shall to this purpose be detained in the hands of the Lord du Candal that he may be honestly repayed 5. Mr. Simon Daniel Hoslâ—ie Pastor of the Church of Villenusve in Berry petitioned that some Relief might be allowed unto his Church because of
the great losses it sustained in the Troubles of Privas as also to help defray the Expences they shall be at in a Suit at Court about the Consulship of their Town This Assembly judging that the Moneys granted us by His Majesty ought not to be diverted unto such uses doth notwithstanding recommend their Affair unto our Lords the General Deputies that they might get right due to them by the Lords of the Privy Council and because of the Necessities of the said Church there shall be a supernumerary portion assigned to them when we make the publick Dividend 6. Monsieur Massez Notary Publick and Secretary to the Consul of Montauban in the Higher Languedoc requesting to be reimburst by the Churches the great Expences he was at in prosecuting the wrongs done him by the Parliament of Tolouse It being a business of General Concern because of the Notorious Violations of the Edicts granted us by our Kings This Assembly exhorted the Province of Higher Languedoc to take care that the said Monsieur Massez have satisfaction given him for his past Losses and that he be indemnified for the future and that they extend their Charity to him in a most ample and exemplary manner sith they themselves have judged his case to be of very great Importance to all the Churches 7. The Magistrates Consuls and Consistory of the Town of Privas having represented both by Letters and Word of Mouth by Monsieur Tavernier one of their Elders deputed to us the great Losses Dammages and Afflictions sustained by them since the Death of Monsieur Chambaud whereby they be now reduced to a most lamentable condition and worthy of our most tender compassions which also was confirmed by Letters from the Synod and Political Assembly of Vivaretz and praying some Charitable Relief to be Exhibited to them that so this considerable and populous Church might not be totally desolated and dissolved This Assembly ordained That the Summ of Six Hundred Livres should be given the said Church of Privas for a present supply And all the Churches of this Kingdom shall by their Deputies here in this Assembly as soon as they return unto their respective Provinces be exhorted to open the Bowels of their compassion to the said afflicted Church of Privas and to relieve them by a General Collection upon the Lords Day in their respective Temples The Moneys of which Collection shall be sent unto the Churches of Lions and Nismes to be distributed by them unto that of Privas And Letters also shall be writ to the Lord Governour of Montauban to the Marquesses of La Charse of Montbrun and other the Parents and Kindred of the late Deceased Monsieur de Chambaud desiring them to take special care of the Religious Education of his Children that they may not be diverted from the True Religion and trained up in Popish Idolatry but that they would be pleased to undertake for them and become their Tutors and Guardians according to the known Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom 8. The Heads of Families professing the Reformed Religion in the Baylywick of Orillac in the Mountains of Upper Auvergne petitioned that the Portions granted them by the National Synods of Gap and Rochel might be contined to them This Assembly ordained that the Portion belonging unto the said Church in the Baylywyck of Orillac shall be given it free and discharged of all Taxes by the Province of Higher Languedoc Gap p. m. 18 3. Rochell 9. Monsieur Casaud Pastor of the Church of Lectoure petitioned on its behalf for some charitable Relief to raise it up from that woful Ruin and Misery into which it is now plunged and to sustain it against its Enemies for the future This Assembly compassionating the said Church did order and assign a free Portion out of the Dividend of Higher Languedoc and Guyenne unto it and one part of the Collection which shall be made in the Higher Languedoc and Guyenne for the Church of Privas shall be given unto the said Church of Lectoure 10. The Church of Tulette belonging to the Province of Dolphiny but inclosed on all parts with the County of Venisse humbly requested some relief for its subsistence Because this is a Church of great importance very poor exceeding feeble and unable to resist the many Enemies which do surround it This Assembly ordained that besides the free Portion which it should receive as well as others out of the Dividend for the said Province of Dolphiny It shall have also an half portion free out of the Common Stock of all the Churches until the sitting of the next National Synod 11. Hierome Quevedo a Spaniard escaped out of the Prison of the Inquisition demanded some relief that he might live in the profession of the Gospel This Assembly ordered him an Hundred Livres out of the common Moneys of the Churches which shall be put into the hands of the Consistory of Montpellier to pay him Quarterly a Portion that so he may learn some honest Trade whereby to gain a livelyhood Which Summ shall be continued to him or taken from him as the Consistory of the Church of Montpellier shall judge of his Deportments 12. Lawrence Joly one of the Exiled Protestants of the Marquisate of Salluces having brought Letters from the Church of Guillestre which is composed of the poor Refugees of the said Marquisate unto this Assembly did most humbly petition that they might have a Portion of the Moneys granted us by the King for the maintenance of a Pastor because they are in hopes that it may allure and attract a great many others who are groaning under that sore and heavy persecution in the Marquisate and doe hunger after the Bread of Life and ardently desire the Inlargement of Christ's Kingdom to quit and forsake it This Assembly in the Dividend of its Moneys will ordain a supernumerary Portion for the said Church of Guillestre 13. Monsieur Guingonis shall be assisted with Ten Crown out of the common Moneys belonging to the Province of Province And as for Mr. John Dury Student in Divinity the Province of Lower Languedoc is ordered to provide for him according to the Canons of our National Synods and in the mean while he shall receive Twenty Crowns out of the Moneys appropriated to the said Province of Lower Languedoc that so he may quit this Town and remove to Montauban 14. Anthony Verdier formerly a Priest in the County of Avignon had Six Livres given him that he might depart hence unto Grenoble 15. The Church of St. Paul Trois Chasteaux demanding some Relief to set up a School among them and to help build their Temple were dismissed over to the Province of Dolphiny which is exhorted to have a special care of that Church 16. Monsieur John Perier Pastor of the Church of Paillac in Auvergne did on behalf of his Church complain against the Provincial Synod of Burgundy for not giving him the Portions granted by the National Synod of Privas and requested that