Synodicon in Gallia reformata, or, The acts, decisions, decrees, and canons of those famous national councils of the reformed churches in France being I. a most faithful and impartial history of the rise, growth, perfection and decay of the reformation in that kingdom, with its fatal catastrophe upon the revocation of the Edict of Nants in the year 1685 : II. the confession of faith and discipline of those churches : III. a collection of speeches, letters, sacred politicks, cases of conscience, and controversies in divinity, determined and resolved by those grave assemblies : IV. many excellent expedients for preventing and healing schisms in the churches and for re-uniting the dismembred body of divided Protestants : V. the laws, government, and maintenance of their colleges, universities and ministers, together with their exercise of discipline upon delinquent ministers and church-members : VI. a record of very many illustrious events of divine providence relating to those churches : the whole collected and composed out of original manuscript acts of those renowned synods : a work never be extant in any language.

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 the Provinces, but with these Conditions: First, That they be not bound to send more than two Deputies unto our National Synods. Secondly, That Judicial Sentences past by and in the Province until now, shall not be revoked nor reversed. Thirdly, That Pastors serving in the said Province, shall not be transla∣ted into another Province. Fourthly, That the Appeals of private Per∣sons may not be received in these National Synods. The Synod absolute∣ly granting the two first Conditions, doth nevertheless exhort the said Province to send equal number of Deputies with the other Provinces, un∣to the National Synod, whenas his Majesty shall be pleased to permit one to be held in the Provinces bordering on that of Bearn: And as for the two other Conditions, provided that the said Deputies shall promise, on behalf of their Province, to own the Authority of our National Sy∣nods, and to take out their Appeals in the Form specified, Canon the 10th of the 8th Chapter of our Discipline, the Synod yieldeth unto their De∣mand, assuring them, that it will take a most particular Care of their Edification: and as it intendeth not to lose its Right unto divers Pastors born in the Provinces of the Higher and Lower Guyenne, who are now actually employed in that of Bearn; so also it will never use it to their evident Prejudice, but in every Matter, and especially in that of remo∣ving Pastors either from the Churches they are now serving, or from out of the Province, the National Synod will give full proof of their fraternal Charity and Affection.
• Article 2. Upon this Debate, the Lord Galland, his Majesty's Commissioner, remonstrated;

  That the Conjunction of the Churches of Bearn with those of this Kingdom, and particularly their Submission unto the Dis∣cipline of the Reformed Churches of France, and the Power of appeal∣ing from Bearn unto the National Synods here, were Matters of that Nature, that they could not be done without the King's Permission; because such Conjunctions depend upon Soveraign Authority; that the late King Henry the Fourth of happy Memory, had already determin'd this Question, having in the Years 1602, and 1604, permitted the Chur∣ches

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  of Bearn to assist at the National Synods of France, hereby to con∣serve an Union in Doctrine: but he also decreed, that they should bring in their Cahiers of Complaints distinct from those of France. And in the Year 1615, whenas the Political Assembly of Grenoble demanded this Union, it was denied in that Answer given to the 22d and 23d Ar∣ticles in these Words, That the late King did never permit nor approve of the Ʋnion of the pret. Reformed Churches of Bearn with those of France, nor will his Majesty now permit it, until such time as the said Principality shall be re-united and re-incorporated with the Crown of France. But yet in the mean while, the Deputies of Bearn may bring in their Petitions by them∣selves, which shall be answered according to Reason. Against which An∣swer the Assembly of Rochel having took great Exceptions, and in a particular Article at the Conference of Loudun in the Year 1616, there was returned an Order little differing from the Cahier of Grenoble: so that the Land of Bearn not having since had any Permission from the King to join it self unto the Churches of France, it cannot be done, but must be confined to the plain and simple terms of Petition. Besides, the Consequences of this Union have been formerly resented; for the Churches of Bearn, shrowded with the shadow and hope of a powerful Assistance, were transported to such dismal Excesses, as make a very mournful History in that of our Times. And all Authors are agreed, that the Land of Bearn was originally a Member of the Kingdom of Navarre, lying on the other side of the Pyrenean Mountains, though subject to our Kings of the Merovingian Line; as is evident from Grego∣ry of Tours, who relateth, that the Bishops of the said Territory came unto the Council of Agde in the Year 506, and to that of Mascon in the Year 588. And the Lord of Bearn acknowledged the Kings and King∣dom of France for his supream Lord, and did Homage to them and to their Sovereign Authority. But in the Year 1512, Louis the twelfth, King of France, to make some Compensation for, and to sweeten the Loss of the Kingdom of Navarre, usurped by Ferdinand King of Arra∣gon, granted unto John of Albret and Katharine of Navarre his Wife, that the Land of Bearn should enjoy its Charters and Priviledg of Sove∣raignty, until such times as it should be otherwise determined by meet and competent Judges. And since that the Country of Bearn hath been accounted a Principality, distinct from the Kingdom, and independent without any reservation. That in the Year 1571, Jane Queen of Na∣varre set up a Church-Discipline, whose Execution is limited within the Bounds of that Principality; and the Laws are all enacted and sworn to by the States of the Country, and maintained to this very day, from the observation whereof the Subjects cannot withdraw them∣selves, nor, without the permission of their Prince, may they take up∣on them to constitute Judges in Church or State, much less to enlarge the Bounds of Appeals, whenas by the Laws of Bearn they are to be terminated by its Provincial Synods, and within the Country it self; as is in like manner done in the City of Metz, and Principality of Sedan. And should this Conjunction be admitted, Causes would be drawn out of the Province, which would be an Innovation of dangerous Conse∣quence to his Majesty's Authority, and to this little Province, and con∣trary to its Union, which hath preserved the Country in its Laws, Forts, Customs, and domestick Prerogatives.

  The Deputies of Bearn, to give some colour unto this Union, say, That this Union was permitted by the King, that it hath been exercised by his Majesty since the uniting of Bearn with the Crown of France, that it was approved by the said Lord Commissioner in the National Synod of Castres in the Year 1626. But here are divers Mistakes. The

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  Truth is, that Henry the Fourth of happy Memory, and the King now reigning most gloriously, have not permitted nor promised the Union of the said Churches, nor was it permitted by the Cahier of the Year 1615. But the Answer unto the Union demanded, was deferred till af∣ter the Country was united with that of France: so that the victorious Arms of his Majesty having subjected the Land of Bearn to his Obedi∣ence, and the Union of the Country made by his absolute Authority, notwithstanding all former Grants and Priviledges, the Subjects are bound to have recourse anew unto his Majesty. And although by the Cahiers of the Year 1615, the Union of the Churches was put off till the Union of the State; yet none may therefore assert, that because the State is united with the Crown of France, the Union of the Churches must therefore of Right be made also; but that it may be obtained, there is need of a new Address unto his Majesty, that he would by his Sovereign Authority be pleased to enact such Laws about it, as will be most agreeable to him: And the Synod wanting this Sanction of Royal Authority, the Union now desired is null; nor can the said Lord De∣puties gather from any one act of his Majesty, that he approveth of the Union of the said Churches since the submission of Bearn.

  And if in any Cahiers presented by the Churches of France since the Union of that Country, the Petitions of those of Bearn have been made use of against the reservation set down in the Cahier of 1615. This Error must not be drawn into practice, because the Churches have not to this very day made any absolute Declaration of Union; and such important Actions require Concessions and solemn Declarations, and Preliminaries animated by Verifications in the Parliaments of Paris, and of Pau.

  Nor ought the presence of the Deputies of Bearn, in the political As∣semblies of this Kingdom, where they laid the first Foundations of their Attempt against his Majesty's Authority, and which hath been since most exemplarily chastised, be made a Precedent; nor ought the appearance of the Ministers of Bearn, in the National Synods of France, before and since the establishment of Commissioners, who were impo∣sed in the Year 1623, be took as an advantage to them in any-wise, be∣cause they appeared upon doubtful and uncertain Conditions, not as to the Point of Submission to the Discipline of the Reformed Churches of France, or unto the National Synods, or for the drawing of Appeals without the Limits of that Principality: all which were contrary to the Laws made by Jane Queen of Navarre, but only to testily their Union in Doctrine, which is evident by perusing the Acts of those Synods. The first Synod unto which the Deputies of Bearn presented themselves, was that of Rochel in the Year 1607, and the Quality of the Times gave an occasion for it: And as that Introduction was a meer Novelty, there being but one Minister sent, so they were enjoined for the future to commissionate together with him an Elder. In the Year 1612, four Deputies assisted in that of Privas; but this their Presence was floating and wavering; nor had it any other end, than to testify their Consent and Union in Doctrine, as his Majesty had willed them so to do in the Year 1602, and 1604. They came also unto that of Tonneins, in the Year 1614, under the same Conditions; and they then had granted to them the priviledg of calling the next National Synod, which was a great expression of Love unto that Principality, and an oblique Means to bind them more strictly to the Discipline of France: And because the Chur∣ches of Bearn would not submit themselves thereunto, they resigned their right of Convocating the National Synod unto the Church of Vitré in Brittain, where also it conven'd accordingly in the Year 1617.

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  And in the six and thirtieth Article of General Matters, there passed this Decree; This Assembly doth not conceive it meet, considering their pre∣sent Circumstances, that the Churches of Bearn should subject them∣selves to the Church-Discipline of this Kingdom, nor that they should depend upon these National Synods: But nevertheless they shall give in their final Resolutions, what they intend to do, unto the next National Synod; and in case they be of the same Mind then, as they are now, this Assembly declared, That their Deputies may have the priviledg of sitting and voting in the National Synods of this Kingdom, upon this condition, that they shall first have leave given them, by the Provinces, to give in their Suffrages in such Cases as concern the Churches of this Kingdom; which Terms are totally contrary to the Pretensions of the said Deputies, and evidently prove, that their admission into the Synod was wholly precarious, and only to testify their mutual Church-fellow∣ship. And in the Synod of Alez, called in the Year 1620, whenas the Deputies of Bearn had remonstrated, that they could not wholly sub∣ject themselves to the Discipline of the Churches of France, because of the present juncture of Affairs, they were admitted under that re∣striction of the Synod of Vitre, That they shall first have leave from the Provinces to vote, in certain Cases, concerning the Churches of France; and this too with this Proviso, that it should only be till the next Natio∣nal Synod. An Argument unanswerable of the Difference between the Church-Discipline of Bearn, and that of this Kingdom, although the Deputies, to ingratiate themselves with this Synod, do urge, that they be both alike one and the same. Thus I have given you the true History of this Union, till the Conquest and Submission of Bearn; at which time, by special Letters-Patents, his Majesty granted unto the said Principality, that they should be maintained, and live under their own particular Laws: Which Laws are partly made up of the Constitutions of the Lady Joan Queen of Navarre, who had enacted, That all Diffe∣rences in Church-Matters should be finally determined within the Pro∣vince. Since the Submission of Bearn, the Churches have lived under the same form, and never pretended to be united to those of France, but by virtue of his Majesty's Answer to the Cahier of the Year 1615, or some others of a later date: For in the Synod of Charenton, Septem∣ber the 2d, in the Year 1623, upon the appearance of the Deputy of Bearn, an Ordinance passed as formerly, That according to the Restri∣ctions of former Synods, the Provinces have liberty to demand, that the Deputy of Bearn shall not have power of voting in some certain Cases concerning the Churches of this Kingdom; and that before the Separa∣tion of this Synod, he shall produce the Reasons for which they defer their plenary Submission to the Church-Discipline of France: And this is another certain Mark of the Difference between the Discipline of France, and that of Bearn. In the last National Synod held at Ca∣stres, in the Year 1626, which was four Years after that of Charenton, because in their Letters of Commission there was wanting the Clause of Submission required by the foregoing Synods, the Deputies of Bearn were told, in open Synod, that for this time they were admitted, but for the Con∣ditions expressed in the Acts of the last National Synod, they should not for the future have a consultive Vote in the National Synods of this King∣dom, excepting only at the reading of the Confession of Faith, in which they were united with the Churches of France. Until that time the Churches of Bearn neither pretended nor demanded Union with the Churches of France; nor till then did his Majesty's Commissioners contend with them about it; but now whenas against so many pre∣ceding Instances to the contrary, they demand, without his Maje∣sty's

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  permission to be admitted, it cannot, it ought not to be granted to them.