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.

THE INTRODUCTION.

SECTION I. The State of Religion in France before the Reformation.

EƲrope a little before the Reformation was universally over-run with Idolatry, Superstition, Ignorance, and Prophaneness. The greater part of the Priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they who should have taught the Law of God, knew him not. The Pastors also transgressed against him, and the Prophets Prophesied by Baal. There was like People like Priest, sottish, brutish, and debauched.

Sect. 2. In this woful estate the Sovereign Mercy of God brake forth, as the Sun out of a dark Cloud in a most illustrious manner upon the King∣dom of France, visiting it in the first place, and before all the Nations of Europe, with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ the Day-spring from on high. The verity and purity of Christian Doctrine (God's great Ordinance to recover sinful Nations from their Antichristian pollutions) is Preached and published unto it. Angels as it were from Heaven, holy Men and Messengers of God, came flying with the little Book of Life in their hands (not as a Sealed Vision, dark and unintelligible, but open, plain, clear, and easy to be understood) into the Cities, and Towns of that Kingdom, and call aloud unto the Inhabitants thereof to repent of all their abominations, to turn from all their Idols, Superstitious, and irreligious practices, and to fear and serve God only through Jesus Christ the alone Mediator betwixt God and Man. This was done at first by that famous Trumpet of Reformation the blessed Waldo of Lions, who being a Neigh∣bour to the Vaudois, received the holy Bible, and Doctrine of Eternal Life and Salvation from them, in the year 1160. It having been conserved in their Valleys times immemorial, yea, said Fryar Reynerius, from the very days of the Apostles.

Sect. 3. But he was not alone in this Ministry: The Lord raised up, and Commissionated many other Worthies to labour in his Vineyard, and to ga∣ther in his great Harvest of precious Souls, for the Fields were already white, and longing for the Harvest, 'Tis 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 instru∣cted 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 Gos∣pel 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 remis∣sion 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, comman∣ded and animated to persecute them; and in case of neglect on their part, they themselves are reputed Favourers and Upholders of them, and are ex∣posed 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 destroy∣ed, 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 Par∣liament 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 Fa∣bey 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 Do∣ctrine 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 know∣ledge of him, or correspondence with him, had thundered against Indul∣gences, 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.* 1.1 And the Lord owneth him, and his Fellow-Servants, notwith∣standing 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 pre∣sence of their King Henry the Second, though to the loss of Honour, E∣state 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 Pi∣edmont) 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 comfort∣ing 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 stu∣died 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 U∣niversity 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 Gua∣dimel, 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 well as in the Pres des Clerks, by the Ladies, Princes, yea and by Henry the Second himself. This one Ordinance only contributed mightily to the down∣fal of Popery, and the propagation of the Gospel. It took so much with the genius of the Nation, That all ranks and degrees of Men practised it in the Temples and in their Families. No Gentleman professing the Reformed Religion, would sit down at his Table without praising God by singing. Yea it was a special part of their Morning and Evening Worship, in their several Houses, to sing God's Praises. The Popish Clergy raged, and to prevent the growth and spreading of the Gospel by it, that mischievous Cardinal of Lorrain, another Elymas the Sorcerer, got the Odes of Horace, and the filthy obscene Poems of Tibullus and Catullus to be turn'd into French, and sung in the Court. Ribaldry was his Piety, and the means used by him to expel and banish the singing of divine Psalms out of the prophane Court of France, The Holy Word of God is duly, truly, and powerfully Preached in Churches and Fields, in Ships and Houses, in Vaults and Cellars, in all places where the Gospel-Ministers can have admission and conveniency, and with singular success. Multitudes are Convinced and Converted, established and edified. Christ rideth out upon the white Horse of the Ministry, with the Sword and Bow of the Gospel Preached, Conquering and to Conquer. His Enemies fall under him, and submit themselves unto him. O! the unparallell'd success of the plain and zealous Sermons of the first Reformers. Multitudes flock in like Doves into the Windows of God's Ark. As innumerable drops of dew fall from the Womb of the Morning, so hath the Lord Christ the dew of his Youth. The Popish Churches are drained, the Protestant Temples are filled. The Priests complain that their Altars are neglected, their Masses are now in∣deed solitary. Dagon cannot stand before God's Ark. Children and Per∣sons of riper years, are Catechised in the Rudiments and Principles of Christian Religion, and can give a comfortable account of their Faith, a

reason of that hope that is in them. By this Ordinance do their pious Pa∣stors prepare them for Communion with the Lord at his holy Table. Here they communicate in both kinds, according to the Primitive Institution of this Sacrament, by Jesus Christ himself.

Sect. 7. Though the Churches of God walked in the Comforts of the Holy-Ghost, and were multiplied throughout the whole Kingdom, yet were they exercised with Fiery Tryals, and underwent most cruel and inhumane Suf∣ferings. Satan stormed that his Kingdom was assaulted, weakned, and subverted: this boileth up his Revenge, and causeth him to throw out Floods of Wrath against the Church travelling under the pangs of Refor∣mation. Hence the Saints of God are imprisoned, arraigned for their Lives, and condemned by merciless, unrighteous Judges, for their Profes∣sion of the Truth, unto the Flames. Others are murdered in cold Blood, and massacred without any legal forms of Justice in the least. And yet in the sight of those cruel Deaths, and most barbarous Executions, the first National Synod is called, and celebrated in the Metropolis of the King∣dom, at the very Doors of the Court. God inspiring with Zeal and Cou∣rage the Pastors of several Churches to meet and consult together about the arduous and most important Businesses of the Reformed Religion.

Sect. 8. Two things among others were dispatch'd in this Council, 1. They publish the Confession of their Faith: and tell the King and Kingdom what they believe and practise. This was put into the Hands of their Young King, lately come to the Crown, upon the Death of his Father, who though he had sworn to see that famous Martyr of Christ Annas du Bourg, Counsellour in the Parliament of Paris, burnt; yet was, at a Tilt by Count de Montgomery a Protestant, wounded with a Launce in the Eye, and died before he could perform his Oath. How Francis the Second entertained this Confession when it was tender'd him, is not my Business to relate: I shall only give my Reader the Confession itself: and I do the rather lay it before him, because it is a brief System of the Protestant Religion, con∣stantly read at the opening of all their Synods, and because of the frequent References unto it in and by all those National Synods which I now publish.

Sect. 9. The Confession of Faith, held and professed by the Reformed Churches of France, received and enacted by their first National Synod, Celebrated in the City of Paris, and Year of our Lord, 1559.

• ARTICLE I. WE believe and confess, That there is but one God only, whose Being only is simple, spiritual, eternal, invisible, immutable, infinite, incomprehensible, ineffable, who can do all things, who is all-wise, all-good, most just, and most merciful.
• ARTICLE II. This one God hath revealed himself to be such a one unto Men, first in the Creation, preservation, and governing of his works: secondly, far more plainly in his word, which from the beginning he revealed to the Fa∣thers by certain Visions and Oracles, and then caused it to be put in wri∣ting in those Books, which we call the Holy Scripture.
• ARTICLE III. All this holy Scipture is contained in the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, the Catalogue whereof followeth. The five Books of Moses, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Item

• Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the first and second Book of Samuel, the first and se∣cond Book of Kings, the first and second Book of Chronicles, otherwise cal∣led the Paralipomena, one Book of Esdras, Nehemiah, Hester, Job, the Psalms, Solomon's Proverbs or Sentences, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Esaiah, Jeremiah, with the Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonas, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Za∣chariah, Malachi. Item, the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, accord∣ing to St. Mark, according to St. Luke, and according to St. John, as also the second Book of St. Luke, otherwise called The Acts of the Apostles. Item, the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle, to the Romans one, to the Corinthians two, to the Galatians one, to the Ephesians one, to the Philippians one, to the Colossians one, to the Thessalonians two, to Timothy two, to Titus one, to Philemon one. Item, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of St. James, the first and second Epistle of St. Peter, the first, second, and third Epistle of St. John, the Epistle of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse or Revelations of St. John.
• ARTICLE IV. We acknowledge these Books to be Canonical, that is, we account them as the most certain Rule of our Faith, and that not so much because of the common consent of the Church, but because of the Testimony and Perswa∣sion of the Holy Ghost, by which we are taught to distinguish betwixt them, and other Ecclesiastical Books, upon which, although they may be useful, yet we cannot ground any Article of Faith.
• ARTICLE V. We believe, That the Doctrine contained in these Books is proceeded from God, from whom only and not from men it deriveth its authority. And forasmuch as it is the Rule of all Truth, containing all Matters necessa∣rily required for the Worship of God, and our Salvation, it is in no wise lawful for Men nor Angels to add unto, or to take from this Doctrine, or to change it. And hereupon it followeth, That it is not lawful to oppose either Antiquity, or Custom, or Multitude, or Humane Wisdom, Judgments, Edicts, or any Decrees, or Councils, or Visions, or Miracles unto this Holy Scri∣pture; but rather, that all things ought to be examined and tried by the Rule and Square thereof. Wherefore we do for this cause also allow of those three Creeds, namely, the Apostles, the Nicene, and Athanasius his Creed, because they be agreeable to the Word of God.
• ARTICLE VI. The Holy Scripture teacheth us, That in that one and simple Divine Being there be three Persons subsisting, the Father, the Son, and the Ho∣ly Ghost. The Father, to wit, the first Cause in order, and the Begin∣ning of all things; The Son, his Wisdom and Everlasting Word; The Holy Ghost, his Vertue, Power, and Efficacy: The Son begotten of the Father from everlasting, the Holy Ghost from everlasting proceeding from the Father and the Son; these three Persons are not confounded, but di∣stinct, and yet not divided, but of one and the same Essence, Eternity, Power, and Equality. And to conclude in this Mystery, we allow of that which those four ancient Councils have determined; and we detest all Sects and Heresies condemned by those holy ancient Doctors, St. Atha∣nasius, St. Hilary, St. Cyril, and St. Ambrose.
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• ... ARTICLE VII. We believe that God in Three Persons working together by his Power, Wisdom and incomprehensible Goodness hath made all things, not only Heaven and Earth, and all things in them contained, but also the invisible Spirits, of which some fell head-long into Destruction, and some continued in Obedience. That the fallen Angels, being corrupted by their Malice, are become Enemies of all good, and consequently of the whole Church. That the holy Angels having persevered by the Grace of God, are Mini∣sters to glorifie his Name, and serve his Elect in order to Salvation.
• ARTICLE VIII. We believe that God hath not only made all things, but also ruleth and governeth them, as he who according to his will disposeth and ordaineth whatsoever cometh to pass in the World. Yet we deny that he is the Au∣thor of Sin, or that the blame of things done amiss can be laid upon him, see∣ing his Will is the soveraign and infallible Rule of all Righteousness and E∣quity; but this we confess, That he hath those admirable Means, as where∣by he maketh the Devils and the Ungodly, as his Instruments, to serve him, and to turn the Evil which they do, and whereof they are guilty, in∣to good. So that when we acknowledge that nothing can be done without the Providence of God, we do most humbly adore his Secrets, which he hath hidden from us, nor do we enquire into those which are above our reach and Capacity. Nay, rather we apply unto our own use that which the Holy Scripture teacheth us for our Peace and Comfort; to wit, that God, to whom all things are subject, doth watch over us with a Fatherly Care; so that not so much as an Hair of our Head falleth to the ground without his Will, and that he hath the Devils and all our Adversaries fast bound in Chains, that they cannot, without leave first given them, do us any harm.
• ARTICLE IX. We believe that Man being created pure and upright, and conformable to the Image of God, through his own fault fell from that Grace, which he had received, and thereby did so estrange himself from God the Fountain of all Righteousness and of all good things, that his Nature is become alto∣gether defiled; and being blind in his Understanding, and corrupt in his Heart, he hath utterly lost that Integrity: and although he can somewhat discern between Good and Evil, yet we do affirm, That whatsoever Light he hath, it straightway becometh Darkness, when the Question is of seeking after God; so that by his Understanding and Reason he can never come to God. And although he be indued with Will, whereby he is moved to do this or that, yet forasmuch as that also is in bondage to Sin, that he hath no freedom to desire that which is good; but if he have any, 'tis the gra∣cious Gift of God.
• ARTICLE X. We believe that all the Off-spring of Adam are infected with the Conta∣gion of Original Sin; which is a Vice hereditary to us by Propagation, and not only by Imitation, as the Pelagians asserted, whose Errors are detested by us. Nor do we think it necessary to inquire how this Sin cometh to be derived from one unto another: For it is sufficient that those things which God gave to Adam were not given to him alone, but also to all his Posterity; and therefore we, in his Person, being deprived of all those good Gifts, are fallen into this Poverty and Malediction.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XI. We believe that this stain of Original Sin, is Sin indeed; for it hath that mischievous Power in it as to condemn all Mankind, even Infants that are unborn, as yet in their Mothers Womb, and God himself doth account it such; yea, and that even after Baptism, as to the Filth thereof, it is always Sin. Howbeit, they who are the Children of God shall never be condemn∣ed for it, because that God, of his rich Grace and soveraign Mercy, doth not impute it to them. Moreover, we say, that it is such a Depravedness as doth continually produce the Fruits of Malice and Rebellion against God; so that even the choicest of God's Saints, although they do resist it, yet are they defiled with very many Infirmities and Offences, so long as they live in this World.
• ARTICLE XII. We believe, That out of this general Corruption and Condemnation, in which all Men are plunged, God doth deliver them, whom he hath in his eternal and unchangeable Counsel chosen, of his meer Goodness and Mercy, through our Lord Jesus Christ, without any consideration of their Works, leaving the rest in their Sins and damnable Estate, that he may show forth in them his Justice, as in the elect he doth most illustriously declare the Riches of his Mercy. For One is not better than another, until such time as God doth make the difference, according to his unchangeable purpose, which he hath determin'd in Jesus Christ before the Creation of the World. Nor can any one, by his own power, procure unto himself so great a Bles∣sing; because we cannot, by Nature nor of our selves, excite in our selves any one good Motion, Thought or Affection, until such time as God does prevent, and incline us to it by his Grace.
• ARTICLE XIII. We believe, That whatsoever is requisite to our Salvation, is offer'd and communicated to us now in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is made of God unto us Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption; so that whosoever leaveth Christ, doth renounce all interest in, and title to the Mercy of God the Father, to which, as to our only Sanctuary, we are bound to have Recourse.
• ARTICLE XIV. We believe, That Jesus Christ, being the Wisdom and eternal Son of the Father, took upon him our Nature, so that he is one Person God and Man. Man, that he might be able to suffer both in Soul and Body, made like unto us in all things, Sin only excepted; so that as to his Humane Nature, he was in truth the very Seed of Abraham and of David, conceiv∣ed in due time in the Womb of the most Blessed Virgin, by the secret and incomprehensible Power of the Holy God. And therefore we detest, as contrary to that Truth, all those Heresies with which the Churches were troubled in times past, and particularly we detest those diabolical Imagina∣tions of Servetus, who ascribed to our Lord Jesus Christ an imaginary Deity, whom he asserted to be the Idea and Pattern of all things, and the counterfeit or figurative Son of God. In short, he framed him a Body, compacted of three Elements uncreated, and so did mingle and over∣throw his Nature.
• ARTICLE XV. We believe, That in one and the same Person, to wit, the Lord Jesus Christ, his two Natures are truly and inseparably conjoined and united;

• yet nevertheless in such a manner, that each Nature doth retain its distinct Properties. So that even as in this Divine Conjunction the Divine Nature retaining its Properties doth still abide uncreated, infinite, and filling all pla∣ces; so also the Humane Nature remaineth finite, having its form, measure, and property. And altho' the Lord Jesus Christ, when he rose from the dead, did give Immortality unto his Body, yet he never deprived it of the Verity of its Nature. Therefore we do so consider Christ in his Deity, that we do not spoil him of his Humanity.
• ARTICLE XVI. We do believe, That God, by sending his Son into the World, did de∣clare his infinite Love and inestimable Goodness to us; delivering him over unto death, and raising him again from the dead, that he might fulfil all Righteousness, and purchase Everlasting Life for us.
• ARTICLE XVII. We believe, That by that only Sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered upon the Cross, we are reconciled unto God, that so we may be held and account∣ed Righteous in his sight; because we can never please him, nor be parta∣kers of his Adoption, but so far only as he forgiveth us our sins, and buri∣eth them in his grave. Therefore we affirm, That Jesus Christ is our in∣tire and perfect Washing, and that by his Death we obtain full satisfaction, whereby we are delivered from all those sins of which we are guilty, and from which we could never be absolved by any other means or remedy.
• ARTICLE XVIII. We believe, That our whole Righteousness is founded in the Remission of our Sins, which is, as David calleth it, our only Happiness. Wherefore we do utterly reject all other means by which men do think they may be justified before God, and casting away all conceits of our own Vertues and Merits, we do altogether rest upon the sole Obedience of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to us, as well for the covering of our Offences, as that we may find Grace and Favour with God. And indeed, we believe, that should we in the least forsake this Foundation, we could not find elsewhere any repose, but must needs be agitated with Inquietudes in our Conscien∣ces, because we are never at peace with God, till we be perswaded upon good grounds, that we are beloved in Jesus Christ. For that in our selves we have deserved to be hated by him.
• ARTICLE XIX. We believe, That by this means we have liberty and priviledge of cal∣ling upon God, with full confidence, that he will shew himself a Father to us, for we have no access unto the Father, but in and through Christ the Mediator; And that we may be heard in his Name, it is meet, that we should hold and derive our Life from him as from our Head.
• ARTICLE XX. We believe, That we are made partakers of this Righteousness by Faith only; as it is written, He suffered to purchase Salvation for us, That whoso∣ever believeth in him should not perish. And this is therefore done, because the Promises of Life offered to us in him are then applied to our use, and made effectual to us, when we do accept of them, and in no wise doubt, but that we shall enjoy those things, which the Lord by his own mouth hath assured us of. So that the Righteousness which we obtain by Faith, depend∣eth upon the free gracious Promises of God, by which God doth declare and testifie unto us, that we are beloved of him.
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• ... ARTICLE XXI. We do believe, That by the secret Grace of the Holy Ghost, the light of Faith is ••inded up in us, so that it is a gracious and special Gift, which God bestoweth upon whom he pleaseth; and the Faithful have nothing whereof they may boast, because they are doubly obliged unto God, for having preferred them before others, and for that he never gave Faith unto the Elect once only to bring them into the good way, but also to cause them to continue in it unto the end. For as God doth begin Faith, so doth he also finish and perfect it.
• ARTICLE XXII. We believe, That by this Faith we are regenerated unto newness of Life, we being naturally imbondaged under Sin. And we do by Faith receive that Grace to live holily, and in the fear of God, in our receiving of the Promise which is given us through the Gospel, to wit, that God will give us his Holy Spirit. So that Faith is so far from freezing our Affections to Godliness and Holy Living, that contrariwise it doth engender and excite it in us, necessarily producing all manner of good Works. Finally, Altho' God, to accomplish our salvation, doth regenerate, and reform us, that we may do those things which are well-pleasing; yet notwithstanding we do confess, that the good Works which we do by his Spirit, are never ac∣counted to us for Righteousness, nor can we merit by them, that God should take us for his Children, because we should be always tossed with doubts and disquiets, if our Consciences did not repose themselves upon that satisfaction, by which Jesus Christ hath purchased us for himself.
• ARTICLE XXIII. We believe, That all the Types of the Law ended when as Christ came in the flesh. But altho' the Ceremonies are no longer in use, yet neverthe∣less the Substance and Truth of them abideth always in his Person, who ful∣filled them. Moreover, we must be holpen by the Law and the Prophets for the right ordering of our Lives, and that the Promises of the Gospel may be confirmed to us.
• ARTICLE XXIV. We believe, That forasmuch as Jesus Christ is conferr'd upon us to be our alone Advocate, and that he commandeth us even in our private Prayers to present our selves before the Father in his Name; and that it is in no wise lawful for us to call upon God in any other way than he hath taught us by his Word; that therefore all those Imaginations of Men about the In∣tercession of Saints departed, is none other than an abuse and imposture of Satan, whereby he may turn Men aside from the right method of Prayer. We do also reject those Means, which Men presumed they had, whereby they might be redeemed before God; for they derogate from the Satisfa∣ction of the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ. Finally, We hold Purga∣tory to be none other than a Cheat, which came out of the same Shop: from which also proceeded Monastical Vows, Pilgrimages, Prohibitions of Marriage, and the Use of Meats, a Ceremonious Observation of Days, Auricular Confession, Indulgences, and all other such like Matters, by which Grace and Salvation may be supposed to be deserved. Which things we reject, not only for the false Opinion of Merit, which was affixed to them, but also because they are the Inventions of Men, and are a Yoke laid by their sole Authority upon Conscience.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XXV. And forasmuch as we are not made partakers of Christ, but by the Gospel, we believe that that good order in the Church, which was established by his Authority, ought to be kept sacred and inviolable: and therefore that the Church cannot subsist unless there be Pastors, whose office it is to in∣struct their Flocks, and who having been duly called, and discharging their office faithfully are to be honoured and heard with reverence. Not as if God were tied unto such Ordinances, or inferiour means, but because it is his good pleasure in this sort to govern us. So that for these reasons we detest all those Fanatical Persons, who as much as in them lieth, would totally abolish the preaching of the word, and administration of the Sacra∣ments.
• ARTICLE XXVI. Therefore we believe that it is not lawful for any Man to withdraw him∣self from the Congregations of God's Saints, and to content himself with his private Devotions, but all of us jointly are bound to keep and maintain the Unity of the Church, submitting themselves unto the common instru∣ction, and to the Yoke of Jesus Christ, and this in all places wheresoever he shall have established the true Discipline, although the Edicts of earthly Magistrates be contrary thereunto: and whosoever do separate from this Order, do resist the Ordinance of God, and in case they draw others aside with them, they do act very perversly, and are to be accounted as mortal plagues.
• ARTICLE XXVII. However we do believe that we ought to distinguish carefully and pru∣dently betwixt the true and false Church, because the Word Church is very much abused. We say then, according to the word of God, That the Church is an Assembly of Believers who agree among themselves to follow God's word, and the pure Religion which dependeth on it, and who profit by it during their whole Life, increasing and confirming themselves in the fear of God, as being persons who do daily need a farther progress and ad∣vancement in godliness. Yet notwithstanding all their indeavours, they must have continual recourse to the grace of God for the forgiveness of their sins. Nor do we deny but that among the Faithful there be some Hypo∣crites, or despisers of God, or Ill-Livers: whose wickedness however can∣not blot out the name of the Church.
• ARTICLE XXVIII. In this Belief we protest that where the word of God is not received, and where there is no professed subjection to it, and where there is no use of the Sacraments, if we will speak properly, we cannot judge that there is any Church. Wherefore we condemn those Assemblies in the Papacy, because the pure word of God is banished out of them, and for that in them the Sacraments are corrupted, counterfeited, falsified, or utterly abolished, and for that among them all kinds of Superstitions and Idolatries are in full vogue. We hold then that all those who meddle with such actions, and Communicate with them, do separate and cut themselves off from the Body of Christ Jesus. Yet nevertheless, because there is yet some small track of a Church in the Papacy, and that Baptism, as to its substance, hath been still continued, and because the efficacy of Baptism doth not depend upon him who doth administer it, we confess, that they which are there bapti∣zed do not need a second Baptism. In the mean while because of those cor∣ruptions which are mingled with the administration of that Sacrament, no Man can present his Children to be baptized in that Church without pollu∣ting of his Conscience.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XXIX. We believe that this true Church ought to be governed by that Disci∣pline which our Lord Jesus hath established; so that there should be in the Church Pastors, Elders, and Deacons, that the pure Doctrine may have its course, and Vices may be reformed and suppressed, that the poor and other afflicted Persons may be succoured in their necessities, and that in the name of God there may be holy Assemblies, in which both great and small may be edified.
• ARTICLE XXX. We believe that all true Pastors in whatever places they may be dispo∣sed, have all the same authority, and equal power among themselves un∣der Jesus Christ the only Head, the only Soveraign, and only Universal Bishop; and that therefore it is unlawful for any Church to challenge unto it self Dominion or Soveraignty over another, however it is requisite that all care should be taken for the keeping up of mutual Concord and Brotherly Love.
• ARTICLE XXXI. We believe that it is not lawful for any Man of his own authority to take upon himself the Government of the Church, but that every one ought to be admitted thereunto by a lawful Election, if it may possibly be done, and that the Lord do so permit it. Which exception we have expresly ad∣ded, because that sometime (as it hath fallen out in our days) the state of the Church being interrupted, God hath raised up some persons in an extra∣ordinary manner for to repair the ruins of the decayed Church. But let it be what it will, we believe that this Rule is always to be followed, that all Pastors, Elders and Deacons, should have a Testimony of their being called unto their respective Offices.
• ARTICLE XXXII. We believe that it is expedient, that they who be chosen Superintendents in the Church, should wisely consult among themselves, by what means the whole Body may conveniently be ruled, yet so as they do not swerve from that which our Lord Jesus Christ hath instituted. And this doth not hinder but that in some Churches there may be those particular Constitu∣tions, which will be more convenient for them than for others.
• ARTICLE XXXIII. But we exclude all humane Inventions, and all those Laws which are introduced to bind the Conscience under pretence of God's service. And we do only receive such as serve to keep up Concord, and to retain every one from the highest unto the lowest in due obedience. In which we conceive that we are to observe that which our Lord Jesus Christ appointed concern∣ing Excommunication, which we do very well approve, and acknowledge the necessity thereof, and of its Appendages.
• ARTICLE XXXIV. We believe that the Sacraments are adjoined unto the word for its more ample confirmation, to wit, that they may be pledges and tokens of the grace of God, and that by these means our Faith, which is very weak and ignorant, may be supported and comforted. For we confess that these outward signs be such, that God by the power of his holy Spirit, doth work by them, that nothing may be there represented to us in vain. Yet nevertheless we hold, that all their substance and vertue is in Jesus Christ, from whom if they be separated, they be nothing else but shadows and smoak.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XXXV. We acknowledge, That there be two Sacraments only, which are com∣mon to the whole Church; whereof Baptism is the first, which is admini∣stred to us to testifie our Adoption, because we are by it ingraffed into the Body of Christ, that we may be washed and cleansed by his Blood, and af∣terwards renewed in Holiness of Life by his Spirit. We hold also, That altho' we be baptized but once, yet the Benefits which are signified to us therein, do extend themselves during the whole course of our life, even unto death; that so we may have a lasting Signature with us, that Jesus Christ will always be our Righteousness and Sanctification. And altho' Baptism be a Sacrament of Faith and Repentance, yet forasmuch as God doth, together with the Parents, account their Children and Posterity to be Church-Members, we affirm, That Infants born of believing Parents, are by the Authority of Christ to be baptized.
• ARTICLE XXXVI. We affirm, That the Holy Supper of our Lord, to wit, the other Sa∣crament, is a witness to us of our Union with the Lord Jesus Christ: be∣cause that he is not only once dead, and raised up again from the dead for us, but also he doth indeed seed us, and nourish us with his Flesh and Blood, that we being made one with him, may have our life in common with him. And although he be now in Heaven, and shall remain there, till he come to judge the World; yet we believe, that by the secret and in∣comprehensible vertue of his Spirit, he doth nourish and quicken us with the substance of his Body and Blood. But we say, that this is done in a spiritual manner; nor do we hereby substitute in the place of the effect and truth an idle fancy and conceit of our own; but rather, because this My∣stery of our Union with Christ is so high a thing, that it surmounteth all our Senses, yea and the whole order of Nature, and in short, because it is coelestial, therefore it cannot be apprehended but by Faith.
• ARTICLE XXXVII. We believe, as was said before, That both in Baptism and the Lord's Supper, God doth indeed truly and effectually give whatsoever he doth there sacramentally exhibit; and therefore we conjoyn with the Signs the true possession and injoyment of what is offer'd to us in them. Therefore we affirm, That they which do bring pure Faith, as a clean Vessel, unto the Holy Supper of the Lord, they do indeed receive that which the Signs do there witness, that is, That the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are no less the Meat and Drink of the Soul, than Bread and Wine are the Meat of the Body.
• ARTICLE XXXVIII. We say therefore, That let the Element of Water be never so despicable, yet notwithstanding it doth truly witness unto us the inward washing of our Souls with the Blood of Jesus Christ, by the vertue and efficacy of his Spirit, and that the Bread and Wine being given us in the Lord's Supper, do serve in very deed unto our spiritual nourishment, because they do as it were point out unto us with the finger, that the Flesh of Jesus Christ is our Meat, and his Blood our Drink. And we reject those Fanaticks who will not receive such Signs and Marks, although Jesus Christ doth speak plain∣ly, This is my Body, and this Cup is my Blood.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XXXIX. We believe, That God will have the World to be ruled by Laws, and Civil Government, that there may be some sort of Bridles by which the unruly Lusts of the World may be restrained; and that therefore he ap∣pointed Kingdoms, Commonwealths, and other kinds of Principalities, whether hereditary or otherwise. And not that alone, but also whatso∣ever pertaineth to the Ministration of Justice, whereof he avoucheth him∣self the Author: therefore hath he even delivered the Sword into the Magi∣strates hand, that so Sins committed against both the Tables of God's Law, not only against the Second but the First also, may be suppressed. And therefore, because God is the Author of this Order, we must not on∣ly suffer Magistrates, whom he hath set over us, but we must also give them all Honour and Reverence, as unto his Officers and Lieutenants, which have received their Commission from him to exercise so lawful and Sacred a Function.
• ARTICLE XL. Therefore we affirm that Obedience must be yielded unto their Laws and Statutes, that Tribute must be paid them, Taxes and all other Duties, and that we must bear the Yoke of Subjection with a free and willing mind, although the Magistrates be Infidels; so that the soveraign Government of God be preserved entire. Wherefore we detest all those who do reject the Higher Powers, and would bring in a Community and Confusion of Goods, and subvert the Course of Justice.

Sect. 10. This was the Confession which was owned in their First Nati∣onal Synod hold at Paris in the Year 1559. and presented unto Francis the Second King of France, first at Amboise, in behalf of all the Professors of the Reformed Religion in that Kingdom, afterwards to Charles the Ninth, at the Conference of Poissy. It was a second time presented to the said King; and at length published by the Pastors of the French Churches, with a Preface to all other Evangelical Pastors, in the Year 1566. It was also most solemnly signed and ratified in the National Synod held the first time at Rochell, 1571. the Year before the Bartholomean Massacre, by Jane Queen of Navarre, Henry Prince of Berne, Henry de Bourbon Prince of Condé, Lowis Count of Nassaw, and Sir Gaspard de Colligni Lord High Ad∣miral of France. Monsieur Chamier writ that Apologetical Preface which begins with these words Combien que nos sachions, &c. for that other which is prefixt to it in the Bible-Confession, and begins with these words, au Roy, & Sire, was done by the Reverend Mr. Calvin, who first drew up the Confession it self

One thing I must advise the Reader of, that there is a very great diffe∣rence in the Number and Matter of these Articles, which came not only in at first by the Printers, but by the various Copies which were transcribed with Emendations, Additions and Alterations, from the respective Natio∣nal Synods. The best Copy that I have met with, is that in the Harmony of Confessions, translated into English and Printed by Thomas at Cambridge, in the Year 1586. The Confession which is commonly added to the End of the Bible, and bound up with it, and with the French Psalm-Books, con∣sists of Forty distinct Articles. Yet there is an Edition of it by Justus Li∣vius a Printer of Leyden, and dedicated to the States-General of the Ne∣therlands, which hath Monsieur Chamier's Preface, and is distinguished in∣to Thirty five Articles, in the Year 1616. I have consulted and compared several Printed Editions of the Confession, as that of Hawtyn of Rochell, in the Year 1616. (and he was Printer to the National Synods) which ex∣actly

agreed with several others printed since, and with the Latin Edition in the Corpus & Syntagma Confessionum, printed by Chouet at Geneva in the Year 1654. And at Geneva was kept one of the three Parchment Originals of this Confession, as the other two were reserved, one at Paw in Berne, and the third in the Archives of the City of Rochell: and, unless my Memory fail me, there is one of these Originals in the City of Leyden in Holland, and in the Custody of the French Church there. But I will not be perem∣ptory.

Sect. 11. The next thing which was done by this first National Synod was a Draught of their Church-Discipline. The Canons of which at first were but a few; yet they did in three and twenty Synods alter, add, amend, augment and meliorate their first Plat-form, 'till they had brought it to that compleat Form and System of Articles, which was the established Order for the Conduct and Government of all their Churches. I have heard very many of their most grave, learned and judicious Divines magnifie it as a Master-Piece. In truth their pious Reformers saw a great necessity of reviving and restoring the ancient Discipline; and therefore at the same time that sound Doctrine, and pure Scripture-Worship was introduc'd into their Churches, they did also set up Discipline; and that it might be effe∣ctually practised, they did, in the Synod of Orleans (the sixteenth Article of General Matters) ordain, That the Canons of Church-Discipline should be read in the Consistories of the Reformed Churches in France. on those Days when as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administred; and all Pastors, Elders and Deacons, all Moderators, Assessors, Scribes and Deputies of their Synods National and Provincial, and all Members of Col∣loquies, were expresly injoined, according to their solemn Promises when they were first received into their respective Offices, to see that it was dili∣gently, faithfully and vigorously executed. And O! that the Generation which succeeded the first Reformers had not lax'd the Reins, how happy might they have been! In the Morning of the Reformation, they were fair as the Moon, clear as the Sun, and terrible as an Army with Banners. The greatest Princes of France submitted their necks to this golden Yoke of Christ. A National Synod was formidable to the most daring Sinner. Their Discipline duly and prudently managed, preserved the Purity of Do∣ctrine, Worship and Morals among them. And now I shall present it to me Reader.

SECT. XII. The Discipline of the Reformed Churches of France.

CHAP. I. Of Ministers.

• CANON I. THAT such Persons may be chosen into the Ministery as are meet for so sacred an Employment,* 1.2 let the standing Canon of the Apostle be observed, That inquiry be made into their Doctrine, whether they be apt to teach; and also into their Conversation, with all possible Diligence.
• CANON II. Novices lately received into the Church, especially Priests and Monks, shall not be admitted unto the Sacred Ministry, without a long and dili∣gent

• inquiry, and experience had both of their Life and Doctrine, appro∣ved, at least, by the space of two Years since their Conversion, and con∣firmed by good Testimonials from the places of their abode; nor shall they be ordained, no more than unknown Persons, without the Advice of Pro∣vincial and National Synods.
• CANON III. If any Bishop or Curate should desire to be employed in the Ministry of the Gospel, he cannot be admitted till he be first a true Member of the Church, and renounce all his Benefices, and all other Dependencies on the See of Rome, and make acknowledgment of all his Offences formerly com∣mitted by him, according as he shall be advised by the Consistory, and af∣ter long proof and experience had of his Repentance and godly▪ Conver∣sation.
• CAN. IV. A Minister of the Gospel (unless in times of Difficulty, and Cases of very great necessity, in which he may be chosen by three Pastors, together with the Consistory of the Place) shall not be admitted into this Holy Of∣fice, but by the Provincial Synod, or by the Colloquy, provided that it be at least composed of seven Pastors; which number being found in a Col∣loquy, some of the Neighbour Ministers shall be called in to concur with it, and the Minister elect shall be presented with good and valid Testimo∣nials, not only from the Universities, and particular Churches, but also from the Colloquy of that Church, in which he had been most conver∣sant.
• CAN. V. The Minister presented shall be examined in this manner, First, by Pro∣positions from the Word of God, upon such Texts as shall be given him; the one necessarily in French, the other in the Latin Tongue, if the Collo∣quy or Synod shall judge it expedient. One whole day shall be granted him to prepare himself for each of these Exercises. If by them he give satisfaction unto the Assembly, there shall be tendered him a Chapter of the New Testament, by which his skill in the Greek Language shall be known; and as to the Hebrew, they shall be careful to see that at the least he can serve himself of good Books for the understanding of the Scripture in that Original. Unto these there shall be added an Essay of his skill in the most needful parts of Philosophy; let the whole Examen be managed with singular Charity, and without Affectation of any thorny or unprofi∣table Questions. Finally, he shall compose a brief Confession of his Faith in Latin, on which he shall be opposed by way of Disputation. And if, after this Examination, he be found capable, then the Assembly remonstra∣ting to him the Duty of that Office whereunto he is called, shall further declare that Power which is given him in the Name of Jesus Christ,* 1.3 to minister both in the Word and Sacraments; and he shall be fully and solemn∣ly ordained in that Church unto which he is sent; and the said Church shall be informed of his Election by the Act or Letters of that Synod or Colloquy, which shall be delivered and read unto them by a Pastor or Elder.
• CAN. VI. He whose Election shall be declared unto the Church, shall Preach pub∣licity the Word of God on three several Sabbaths (but without power of administring the Holy Sacraments, or of solemnizing Marriages) in the audience of the whole Congregation, that so they may know his manner of Teaching, and the said Auditory shall be expresly charged. That if any one of them do know any impediment, for which his Ordination, who shall be then mentioned by his Name, may not be compleated, or why he may not

• be accepted, that they do then come and give notice of it unto the Con∣sistory, which shall patiently hear the Reasons of both Parties, that so they may proceed to Judgment. The Peoples silence shall be taken for a full consent. But in case contention should arise, and the afore-named Elect be pleasing to the Consistory, but not unto the People, or to the major part of them, his reception shall be deferred, and the whole shall be remitted unto the Colloquy or Provincial Synod, which shall take cognizance both of the justification of the before-named elect Minister, and of his recep∣tion. And although the said Elect should be then and there justified, yet shall he not be given as Pastor unto that People against their will, nor to the discontentment of the greatest part of them; nor shall the Pastor be im∣posed against his will upon that Church; and the difference shall be termi∣nated by order as above, at the Costs and Charges of the Church that shall have demanded him.
• CAN. VII. Who so consenteth to be chosen unto the Sacred Ministry, ought to ac∣cept of the Office, with which he shall be invested; and in case of his re∣fusal, he shall be solicited thereunto by fitting Exhortations, but he shall in no wise be constrained.
• CAN. VIII. The Election of Ministers shall be confirmed by Prayers and Imposition of Hands; always avoiding all Superstition, and according to this ensuing form:

  The Form of Ordination usually observed in the Churches of France at the Re∣ception of their Ministers.

  All things before-mentioned having been observed, two Pastors deputed by the Synod or Colloquy to lay their Hands upon the Minister elect, be∣ing come into that Church, one of them, who preacheth the Sermon, shall discourse briefly of the Institution and Excellency of the Ministry, alledging Testimonies pertinent to this occasion from holy Writ; such as Ephes. 4.11, 12. Luke 10.16. John 20.21, 22. 1 Cor. 4.1, 2. 2 Cor. 5.18, 19, 20. 1 Tim. 3.8. or others of the like nature, admonishing every one to see to it, that both Minister and People do perform their respective Duties. The Minister to acquit himself of his Charge the more carefully, because he knoweth it to be precious and excellent in the sight of God; and the People with all humility and reverence to receive the Word of God, which shall be declared by him, who is now sent unto them. Then shall be read in the hearing of the whole Congregation what is written in 1 Tim. 3. and 1 Tit. where the Apostle teacheth what kind of Man a Minister should be. And that it may please God to vouchsafe Grace unto this elect person to acquit himself worthily and faithfully of his holy Calling, a short Prayer shall be conceived to this purpose, in which the said Pastor shall insert these or the like words: O Lord God, we beseech thee to endow with the Gifts and Graces of thy holy Spirit this thy Servant lawfully chosen according to that Order established in thy Church, and abundantly to enrich him with all Abilities needful for his ac∣ceptable performance of the Duties of his Office, to the Glory of thy holy Name, the Edification of thy Church, and his own Salvation, whom we now dedicate and con∣secrate unto thee by this our Ministry. And then the Minister that prayeth, standing upright below the Pulpit, shall lay his Hands upon his Head, for whom Prayer is now made, he being humbly on his knees. And the new Pastor arising, the two Deputies sent from the Colloquy or Synod shall give him before the People the right hand of fellowship. And this Form

• ...

  and the above-mentioned Canon shall be unanimously observed in all the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom.

• CAN. IX. Our Confession of Faith and Church-Discipline shall be subscribed by such as are chosen in the Ministry, both into the Churches in which they shall be ordained, and in those unto which they shall be sent.
• CAN. X. No Ministers shall be ordained without appointing them unto a particu∣lar Flock; and they shall be the peculiar Pastors of those Churches unto which they be assigned. And no Church shall pretend right unto any Minister, by vertue of a particular promise made by him, without the authority of the Colloquy or Provincial Synod.
• CAN. XI. Such as shall be chosen unto the Ministry of the Gospel must know, that they be in that Office for term of life, unless they be lawfully discharged upon good and certain considerations, and that by the Provincial Synod.
• CAN. XII. The principal Duty of Ministers is to Preach the Gospel, and to declare the Will of God unto their People, and they shall be exhorted to forbear all strange ways of teaching, which have no tendency to edification; and they shall conform themselves to the simplicity and common stile of God's Spi∣rit, taking heed that there be nothing in their Sermons prejudicial to the Authority of holy Scripture; and they shall never Preach without having for foundation of their discourse a Text of holy Scripture, which they shall ordinarily follow, and they shall handle and expound as much of that Text as they can, forbearing all needless Enlargements, all tedious and unseason∣able Digressions, all superfluous heapings up of Scripture-Quotations, and vain recitals of various and different Expositions. They shall very rarely alledge the Writings of the Fathers, nor at any time prophane Histories and Authors; that so they may reserve unto the Scripture intirely its own Au∣thority. Moreover, they shall not handle any Doctrine in a scholastick way of Disputation, nor with a mixture of Languages. In one word, they shall avoid whatsoever may serve for ostentation, or in any wise occasion doubts or scruples. And that this Canon may be more carefully observed and practised, Consistories, Colloquies, and Synods shall put to their help∣ing hand.
• CAN. XIII. Churches are admonished to use more frequently the Ordinance of Cate∣chising, and Ministers are to treat and expound it by short, plain, and fa∣miliar Questions and Answers, accommodating themselves unto the capaci∣ty of the meanest People, without expatiating themselves into common pla∣ces. Yea, all Ministers shall endeavour to catechize every one in their Flocks once or twice a Year, and shall exhort them to conform themselves thereunto very carefully.
• CAN. XIV. Ministers and their Families shall actually reside on their Churches, on pain of being deposed from their Sacred Ministerial Office.
• CAN. XV. Those Persons to whom God hath given Talents and Abilities for Wri∣ting, are advised to use them in a modest manner, suitable to the Majesty of God's Word; and therefore consequently they shall not write after a ridi∣culous

• or injurious rate, and in their ordinary Sermons they shall express this self-same modesty and gravity. And they who are endowed with gifts for writing, shall he chosen by the Provinces; and if it happen that any Books be published against the true Religion, they shall be sent unto them, that they may be answered. And there shall be a Colloquy in each Pro∣vince appointed unto this peculiar business carefully to peruse all Manu∣scripts before they be Printed, and what is published, and to disperse the Copies.
• CAN. XVI. No Minister shall claim or exercise any Primacy or Jurisdiction over another.
• CAN. XVII. Ministers shall preside by turns in their Consistories, that so none may claim a Superiority over his Fellow, and none of them shall give any Te∣stimony in matters of importance, without having first Communicated un∣to his Brethren and Collegues in the Ministry.
• CAN. XVIII. That Custom used in some places of deputing certain Ministers from the Provincial Synods to visit the Churches, shall be for time to come to∣tally suppressed and abolished. That order which hath been used until now being sufficient enough for taking cognisance of Scandals. And this manner of erecting new Offices and Employments is condemned because of its dangerous consequence, as also all names of superiority are rejected, such as Elders of Synods, Super-intendents, and the like. And all Advertise∣ments for assembling Colloquies, or Synods, or concerning any businesses which depend upon them, shall be directed unto the Church, and not to any particular Minister in it. And if accidentally they have been so su∣perscribed, and for some certain Considerations addressed unto any one of the Ministers or Elders, they who have received them shall present them unto the Consistory, that so advice and deliberation may be taken of them.
• CAN. XIX. No Minister, together with the holy Ministry, shall be a Practitioner in Law or Physick; yet out of Charity he may give Counsel and assistance to the poor of his Flock, and of his Neighbourhood: provided always that he be not thereby diverted from his Calling, nor derive any gain from his practice, unless in times of trouble and persecution, and when he cannot exercise his Calling in his Church, and cannot be maintained by it. And those who shall thus employ themselves in Law or Physick, or in any other Worldly distracting business, shall be exhorted wholly to forbear it, and to∣tally to devote themselves unto the duties of their Calling as Ministers, and to the study of the Scriptures. And all Colloquies and Synods are admo∣nished to proceed according to the Canons of our Discipline against the re∣fractory, and such as be willfully disobedient, as also against those who spend so much of their time in teaching youth, that it is an hinderance to them in the principal duties of their Ministerial Office. And all Consisto∣ries, Colloquies, and Provincial Synods, shall have a most especial care and regard that this Canon be punctually observed, and to suspend such as do transgress it from their exercise of the Ministry.
• CAN. XX. Ministers shall exhort their People to be modest in their Apparel, they themselves also giving in this particular a good example unto the World, by their own, their Wives, and their Children's forbearing all bravery in their Habits.
• ...

• ... CAN. XXI. Princes, and great Lords following the Court, that would have a Church erected in their Houses, shall be desired to chuse their Ministers out of those Churches which be duly reformed, and can spare them a Pastor, and of whose lawful Call unto the sacred Ministry they may be well assured, and this with the good will and consent of the Colloquies or Synods. These shall in the first place subscribe the Confession of Faith of the Churches in this Kingdom, and our Ecclesiastical Discipline. And that the Preaching of the Gospel may be the more successful, they shall be every one of them desired to constitute in their Families a Consistory, composed of the Mi∣nister, and of the best approved persons for Godliness in their said Family, who shall be chosen Elders and Deacons: by which Consistory all Vices and Scandals in that Family shall be suppressed, and the common Discipline of our Churches shall be maintained. Moreover if it be possible for them, they shall personally appear at Provincial Synods. To which purpose Pow∣ers shall be given unto the Church, that convocates the Synod of that Pro∣vince, to call them to it. And the said Ministers by name, or some one or other of them, according as they shall be deputed by the rest, shall make their personal Appearance at the National Synods, in company with their Elders, who may inform the Synod of their Lives and Conversations; And if several of them meet together, none shall claim any preheminency or ju∣risdiction over his Brethren, according to that Canon of our Discipline made on this behalf. And when as the said Princes and Lords shall sojourn in their Houses, or other places in which a Church is already constituted, that all divisions may be avoided, they shall be desired to conjoin the Church of their Families, together with the Church of that place, to make but one Church, as shall be advised in an amicable Conference with the Ministers of both Churches, that so what may be most expedient may be followed.
• CAN. XXII. It shall not be lawful for the Pastor to desert his Flock without leave first had and obtained from the Colloquy, and Provincial Synod of that Church to which he was first given.
• CAN. XXIII. Deserters of the Sacred Ministry shall be finally Excommunicated by the Provincial Synod, unless they do repent, and return again unto their Charge which God had committed to them.
• CAN. XXIV. Ministers shall not be Vagrants, nor have liberty to intrude themselves of their own Authority into any place which best pleaseth them.
• CAN. XXV. The Minister of one Church shall not preach in another without the consent of its Minister, unless he were absent: in which case the Consistory shall authorize him; and if through persecution, or any troubles, the Flock should be dissipated, the strange Minister shall endeavour to assemble the Elders and Deacons: which if it cannot be done, yet nevertheless he may warrantably preach, that so the dispersed Flock may be reunited.
• CAN. XXVI. That Minister who intrudeth himself into a Church, although he get the People's Approbation, yet shall he not be approved of by the Neigh∣bour Ministers, or any others; but the cognisance of his Case shall be de∣volved upon the Colloquy, or Provincial Synod.
• ...

• ... CAN. XXVII. Ministers shall not be sent unto other Churches without authentick Let∣ters, or some other sufficient Testimonials from those places from whence they last came, which shall be put into the Consistories hands of that Church whereunto they be sent, and there carefully to be preserved.
• CAN. XXVIII. No Minister, who reports himself forsaken of his Church of persecuted, shall thereupon be received by another Church, until he have first produ∣ced valid Certificates of his holy and unblameable Conversation unto the Colloquy or Synod, and the whole Affair shall be remitted to the prudence and discretion of the Colloquy or Provincial Synod.
• CAN. XXIX. When as a Minister, who hath orderly obtained his Licence of departure from that Church in which he last served, shall be destitute of employment, the Colloquy or Provincial Synod are of duty bound to provide him of ano∣ther Church within one Month. And if within that term the Colloquy or Synod have not provided for him, he shall be then at liberty to get himself a Church out of that Province in any place where God shall open a door unto him according to the Canons of our Discipline.
• CAN. XXX. Authority is granted unto Provincial Synods for divers considerations to remove Ministers from their Churches, their Churches having been first heard, and their Reasons well and sufficiently weighed. But in case of discord, the whole shall be determined by a National Synod; and till the sit∣ting of which nothing shall be innovated.
• CAN. XXXI. When as a Minister is persecuted, or for some other reason cannot exer∣cise his Ministry in that Church unto which he was appointed, he may by the said Church be sent elsewhere, or they may exchange him with another for a certain time, by the good will and consent of both the Churches. But and if the Minister shall not submit unto the judgment of those two Churches, he shall give the Reasons of his refusal unto the Consistory, and in it their equity shall be debated and determined: and in case they be not esteemed valid, and the Minister shall notwithstanding persist in his reso∣lution of not accepting the said Employment, the difference shall be referred unto the next Provincial Synod, or else unto the Colloquy, if both those Churches do belong unto the same Colloquy.
• CAN. XXXII. Ministers may with their own consent be lent by the Consistory, accord∣ing as the Edification of the Church shall require: but the loan shall not be done without the advice of two or three Ministers, or of the same Colloquy, if it be for any longer term than six Months.
• CAN. XXXIII. Ministers, that have been lent, when as the time of their loan is expired, shall be restored again unto their Churches, from which they had de∣parted.
• CAN. XXXIV. If a Church do not redemand its Pastor within one Year after the time for which he was lent is expired, he shall then appertain unto that Church unto

• which he was lent, provided always, that the said Pastor do yield his con∣sent unto it; but and if he do not give his consent, he shall dispose of him∣self according to the advice of the Colloquy or Synod of that Church to which he had been lent. And this Canon shall be of force with reference to those Ministers, who because of persecution have betook themselves unto the service of other Churches, and the persecution ceasing they be not rede∣manded by their former Churches within one Year, which shall begin from that time in which those Ministers gave notice of it unto those aforesaid Churches.
• CAN. XXXV. A Minister destitute of a Church and unimployed in his Province, and lent by the Colloquy to a Church out of the bounds of the Province till the next Session of his Provincial Synod, if he be not employed by that Synod within their Province, he shall remain appropriate unto that Church to which he was lent, provided that he and the Church do mutually consent thereunto.
• CAN. XXXVI. That Churches may perform their Duties to their Pastors, according to those Obligations on them by the Word of God, and that Pastors may have no just ground of offence given them, nor to abandon their said Flocks, they shall be admonished to minister unto their Pastors all things necessary for their comfortable subsistence.
• CAN. XXXVII. And to prevent their ingratitude, who by experience are known to have dealt unworthily with their painful Ministers, this order shall be observed; one quarter of the yearly Pension which was promised them shall be paid in unto them by way of advance beforehand.
• CAN. XXXVIII. And for the future, lest through any ill management of this matter, the Churches should happen to be dissipated, those who are chosen Moderators in Colloquies, shall enquire of the Elders in every Church about the Main∣tenance afforded by them unto their Ministers, and of their Care in supply∣ing their Wants, according to the Canon before ordained; that so by the Authority of Colloquies provision may be made for them.
• CAN. XXXIX. When as necessary Maintenance shall have been detained from a Pastor, and three Months be laps'd since his Complaints and Remonstrances, it shall be then lawful for the said Pastor to joyn himself unto any other Church by consent of his Colloquy or Provincial Synod: And the Colloquy or Synod may shorten the term of three Months if there be urgent neces∣sity for it; yea, if that the necessity be pressing, and three Months are ex∣pired, and the Pastor is not supplied, though he had entered in his Peti∣tion to be discharged, it shall suffice if he call into his Consistory two neigh∣bour Ministers, and he shall not be bound to wait for the sitting of the Colloquy or Synod to obtain their advice and consent, unless that one of the said Assemblies were convocated and to meet in that very self-same Month in which he was to have departed.
• CAN. XL. In that tryal and judgment which shall be passed upon a Peoples ingra∣titude at the complaint of a Minister, all circumstances shall be prudently considered, and special regard shall be had unto the poverty of the Church, and of the Plaintiff's estate, that so they may use those means which will

• be most likely to promote the Glory of God, the Edification of his Church, and the Honour of the Ministry.
• CAN. XLI. A Church being found ungrateful shall not be provided of a Pastor till such time as they have given intire satisfaction according to their ability unto him of whom they be deprived. And this Pastor shall in the mean while remember always to keep himself disingaged from the Church of any other Province but his own, unless by a Decree of the said Province it may have been otherwise determined.

  N.B. The last Clause of this Canon is not in four Copies of different Editions, as that of the Year 1653. that of Geneva, 1666. that of Quevilly, 1678. and an English Translation of the Discipline, printed for Bourn in the Year 1642. But yet I find it in the Paris Edition by Vandôme in the Year 1663. and in ano∣ther Impression of it at Quevilly, I think in the same Year 1663 for I have not the Original now by me, (which I returned twenty Years ago to my Friend) but the Translation I made of it.

• CAN. XLII. Ministers, though they have Estates and Lands of their own, may yet nevertheless take Wages from their Flocks, yea and it is expedient that they should so do, in regard of its consequence, lest other Ministers and Churches be prejudiced by this their example. Yet shall they be advised so to manage this liberty as the Churches necessity, and their quality shall re∣quire it.
• CAN. XLIII. No Pastor, under the title of a Pastor, shall be permitted to possess an In∣heritance: but in case his Stipend or any part thereof were assigned upon some particular Tenement, Rent, or Revenue, the whole shall be admini∣stred by the Deacons, or other persons commissionated and ordained there∣unto by the Churches; through whose hands the Minister shall receive his Pension, that so all suspicion of covetousness may be removed, and lest by such worldly cares he should be diverted from the weightier Duties of his Calling.
• CAN. XLIV. That Church, in whose Service a Minister dieth, shall take care of his Wi∣dow and Orphans, and if the Church cannot do it through want of ability, the Province shall maintain them.
• CAN. XLV. Ministers shall be subject unto Censures.
• CAN. XLVI. The Duty of Ministers is to govern both themselves and their Flocks, and all their Members small and great, of whatsoever quality and degree, according to the Word of God and the Church-Discipline. But it belong∣eth properly unto the Magistrate to oversee all Orders and Degrees of Men, yea and Ministers also, and to take heed that they walk uprightly in their calling: wherefore if they offend, the Magistrate shall admonish them of their Duty (and that power is ascribed to him by our Church-Discipline) in Consistories, Colloquies, and Synods, unless their Offences be punish∣able by Law, the knowledge of which appertaineth unto the Civil Ma∣gistrate.
• ...

• ... CAN. XLVII. If Ministers should teach evil Doctrine, and after sufficient admonition given them do not desist, they shall be deposed. Item, Such as reject those holy Counsels made them out of God's Word, by their Consistories. Item, Such also as are of Scandalous Lives, and those who shall be con∣victed of Heresy, Schism, Rebellion against the Discipline of the Church, and open Blasphemies, deserving punishment by the Civil Magistrate, Si∣mony, all Bribery by gifts, briguings, and underhand dealings to get into another Mans place, desertion of their Flocks without lawful leave, and just occasion, falshood, perjury, whoredom, theft, drunkenness, battery, meriting punishment by the Laws, Usuries, scandalous Plays, and others forbidden by the Laws, Dances and such like dissolutions, Crimes branded with Infamy, and which in any other Person would merit Exclusion from the Church, and all persons uncapable of discharging the duties of their Calling.
• CAN. XLVIII. These shall not be deposed, who by reason of Sickness, old Age, or any other such infirmities, are rendred uncapable of discharging the Duties of their Ministry, in which case their honour shall be conserved them, and they shall be recommended unto their Churches for maintenance, and other Ministers shall be provided to perform the duties of their Calling.
• CAN. XLIX. Scandalous Crimes punishable by the Civil Magistrate, such as Murder, High-Treason, and other Vices redounding to the great dishonour and scandal of the Church, do deserve that the Minister, guilty of them, should be deposed, although he had committed them not only before his Ordina∣tion, but also before his Conversion. And this shall be the rather done, lest the Continuance of such a Wretch in the Ministry should draw greater scandal upon, than edifying unto the Church. Of which all Synods shall take Cognisance.
• CAN. L. In Case a Minister be convicted of enormous and notorious Crimes, he shall be deposed out of hand by the Consistory, they inviting unto that action their Colloquy, or through default thereof two or three disinter∣essed Ministers. And if the Delinquent Minister should complain of the Ac∣cusation and Calumny, the business shall be reported unto the Provincial Synod. If he hath Preached Heretical Doctrine (contrary to the Scriptures) he shall be suspended by the Consistory, Colloquy, or two or three Mini∣sters, invited thereunto as before, till the final decision of his Case by the Provincial Synod; and all Sentences of Suspension, for what cause or ac∣count soever, shall stand good, and be of force, notwithstanding his Ap∣peal, until the definitive Judgment of the next Synod.

  N.B. That Parenthesis in this Canon is not to be found in the four last Editions of the Discipline, but yet it is in two others that I have both Prin∣ted since the last National Synod.

• CAN. LI. Unless necessity so require it, the Causes of a Ministers Deposal shall not be published unto the People; of which those who were his Judges, and decreed his Deposal, shall take cognisance.
• CAN. LII. The National Synods shall be informed by the Provinces of all Deposed Ministers, that they may not be by them admitted into the Ministry any more.
• ...

• ... CAN. LIII. Ministers. Deposed for Crimes deserving Capital punishment, or bearing mark of Infamy, shall never be restored unto their Office, whatever satis∣factions may be given by them. But as for slighter faults, upon Confession of them, they may be restored by the Provincial Synod, but with this con∣dition, to serve in another Province, and not in their own.
• CAN. LIV. Vagrants, that is to say, such as having no Call, do thrust themselves in∣to the Ministry, shall be restrained. And whatever Ordinance shall be Decreed and Executed about the Interdiction of any Persons from the Mi∣nistry, shall be of equal vertue, with the Acts of the National Synod, and as if it had been done by it.
• CAN. LV. They who have been once denounced Vagrants, Apostates, Hereticks, and Schismaticks, shall be denounced such in all the Churches, that so they may be aware of them. And a List of these Wretches names shall be brought from the several Provincial Synods to be hung up in the National.
• CAN. LVI. Such as by the judgment of a National Synod have been once inrolled among the Vagrants, shall never be razed out of that black Catalogue but by the authority of another.
• CAN. LVII. Such as intrude into the Ministry in those places and Provinces where the pure worship of God is already established, shall be severely admonished to desist; and in case of their obstinate persisting in this their intrusion, they shall be declared Schismaticks, and their Followers also, if after the like ad∣monitions given, they do not leave them.

CHAP. II. Of Schools.

• CANON I. THE Churches shall do their utmost endeavour to erect Schools, and to take care of the instruction of their Youth.
• CAN. II. Regents and Masters of Schools shall subscribe the Confession of Faith and Church-Discipline, and the Towns and Churches shall nor admit any one into this Office without the consent of the Consistory of that place.
• CAN. III. Doctors and Professors in Divinity shall be chosen by the Synod of that Province in which our Universities do lie, and they shall be Examined, not only in Lectures made by them upon the authentick Edition of the Greek and Hebrew Texts of the Old and New Testament, which shall be given them, but also by a disputation of one or more days, as upon advice taken shall be judged best; and being found. Persons of sufficient abilities, if they are not Pastors, the right hand of Fellowship shall be given them, they having first promised, that they will with all faithfulness and diligence discharge their duty, and handle the holy Scriptures with all purity, ac∣cording

• to the Analogy of Faith, and the Confession of our Churches,* 1.4 which together with our Church Discipline shall be subscribed by them.
• CAN. IV. That our Churches may be always furnished with a sufficient number of Pastors, and of other Persons fit to govern them, and to preach the Word of God unto them, they shall be advised to chuse those Scholars who be al∣ready well advanced in good Learning, and be of the most promising hope∣ful Parts, and to maintain such in the Universities, that they may be there prepared and fitted for the Work of the Ministry, ever preferring the Chil∣dren of poor Ministers, if ingenious, before all others; of which the Col∣loquies shall take a most especial care. Kings, Princes, and Lords shall be exhorted and petitioned particularly to mind this important Affair, and to lay by some part and portion of their Revenues towards their maintenance, and the richer Churches shall do the like. Colloquies and Provincial Sy∣nods shall as they see meet notifie and sollicit this Affair, and take the best courses that matters of so great necessity may be successful; and if single Churches cannot do it, their Neighbours shall joyn with them, that one poor Scholar at the least may be maintained in every Colloquy; and rather than this design should miscarry, the fifth Penny of all our Charities shall be set apart, if it may conveniently be done to be imployed in this service.
• CAN. V. A Proposition out of the Word of God shall be made by the Scholars of every Church, as time and place may conveniently bear it; at which Exer∣cises Pastors shall be present to preside and order the said Proposans.

  N. B. There were general Statutes made for the Ʋniversities of the Reformed Churches of France, in the National Synod of Alez. By whom they were drawn up, is now out of my mind: but those for the Ʋniversity of Montauban were com∣posed by Monsieur Beraud the Father, who was the first Divinity-Professor in it. Those for the Ʋniversity of Die in Dolphiny were composed by the great Chamier; which I have lying by me, written with his own hand, and which I shall publish, if the Lord lend me life, in his Icon.

CHAP. III. Of Elders and Deacons.

• CANON I. IN those places where the Order of our Discipline is not yet set up, El∣ders and Deacons shall be chosen by the joynt Suffrages of Pastors and People; but where it hath been already established, the power of chusing them, and that with pertinent Prayers unto the occasion, shall reside in the Consistory together with the Pastors, and they shall be nominated with an audible Voice in the said Consistory, that they may know in what busines∣ses they are to be employed. If they consent, they shall on two Lord's days following be declared to the People, that so their consent also may be obtained; and if on the third Sabbath there be no opposition made, they shall be then publickly received with solemn Prayers, standing upright be∣fore the Pulpit, and be thus ordained unto their Offices, they subscribing our Confession of Faith and Church-Discipline; but if there fall out any opposition, it shall be determined in the Consistory, and in case it cannot

• be there composed,* 1.5 it shall be wholly remitted to the Colloquy, or Provin∣cial Synod.
• CAN. II. Henceforward, if it may be possibly avoided, none shall be chosen El∣ders or Deacons of the Church, whose Wives are not of the true Religion, according to the Apostles Canon. Yet notwithstanding, that the Church may not be deprived of the Labours of several worthy persons, who in the days of their ignorance espoused Women of a contrary Religion, they shall be tolerated, because of the present necessity: provided that they do pro∣duce good evidence of their serious endeavours for instructing of their Wives in that Faith and true Worship of God practised in our Churches.
• CAN. III. The Elder's Office is together with the Pastors, to oversee the Church, to gather and keep up the solemn Assemblies, and to take care that the Members in communion do personally appear at those holy Congrega∣tions, to make report of Scandals and Offences in Consistory, and with the Pastors to take cognizance, and pass censures on them. In general, it is to have the same care with them in all concerns about the Order, Mainte∣nance, and Government of the Church. Moreover, in every Church there shall be reserved in Writing a Breviate of the particulars belonging unto their Office, according as the circumstances of time and place may call for it.
• CAN. IV. The Deacon's Office is to collect and distribute, by the advice of the Con∣sistory, Moneys unto the Poor, Sick, and Prisoners, and to visit, and take care of them.
• CAN. V. It doth not belong unto the Deacon's Office to Preach the Word of God, nor to Administer the Sacraments; yet because of our present distress, the Consistory may chuse certain Elders and Deacons to catechize the respe∣ctive Families of the Church, as also in the Pastor's absence, Elders are per∣mitted on Week-days, if chosen thereunto by the Consistory, to Pray pub∣lickly with the Church, and therein they shall use the ordinary form, and in reading of the Scriptures, none other but the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament shall be read. And whereas in divers Provinces it hath been a custom for Deacons to catechize in publick, the Inconvenien∣ces which have already, and may hereafter happen from it, being well considered, the Churches are exhorted, where this custom is not intro∣duc'd, not at all to admit it, and those in which it hath took place to for∣sake it, and to endeavour, that the said Deacons, if of competent abilities, do enter as soon as may be into the Ministry.
• CAN. VI. Elders and Deacons may be present at Propositions of the Word of God, which are made by Ministers, besides their ordinary Sermons, or by Scho∣lars that are Proposans, and at those Censures which shall be past upon them, and shall give their judgment of these Exercises: but the decisive judgment in point of Doctrine is principally reserved unto Pastors, Ministers, and Do∣ctors of Divinity, who be duly called into that Office.
• CAN. VII. The Office of Elders and Deacons, as it is now in use among us, is not perpetual; yet because changes are not incommodious, they shall be ex∣horted to continue in their Offices as long as they can, and they shall not lay them down without having first obtained leave from their Churches.
• ...

• ... CAN. VIII. Neither Elders nor Deacons shall claim any primacy or jurisdiction over one another, whether in nomination unto the People, or in precedency,* 1.6 or in order of voting, or in any matters depending upon their Offices.
• CAN. IX. Elders and Deacons shall be deposed for those very crimes and causes for which the Ministers of God's Word are: and if being condemned by the Consistory, they should make an Appeal, they shall yet notwithstanding continue suspended from their Offices, until such times as the Colloquy or Provincial Synod shall have decided their affair.
• CAN. X. Elders and Deacons being deposed, shall not be restored in any other man∣ner or form than is used in the re-admission of deposed Ministers.

CHAP. IV. Of the Deaconship, or Office of dispensing the Churches Charities unto the Poor.

• CANON I. MOneys belonging unto the Poor shall not be dispensed by any other hands than those of the Deacons, by and with the advice and con∣sent of the Consistory.
• CAN. II. It is very requisite, that one or two Ministers be always present at the ordinary distributions, but most especially at passing of accompts.
• CAN. III. The People shall be informed of the days of Accompt, that so they may have liberty all of them, if they please to see the making of them up, as well for their discharge, who have the handling of those Moneys, as for notifying unto all the Necessities of the Church and Poor, and also that thereby they may be excited to more liberal Contributions.
• CAN. IV. To prevent those Disorders which daily fall out by reason of Certificates given unto the Poor, every Church shall endeavour to maintain its own: and in case any one be constrained through the urgency of his affairs to travel, Ministers shall examine with the greatest care in their Consistories the just causes of his Journey, and thereupon shall give him Letters di∣rected unto the next Church, lying in the straight way by which he must go, specifying his Name, Age, Stature, Hair, and the Place whither, and the Cause of his Travel, and the Assistance which was given him; nor shall the Date of the Day and Year be omitted; which Letters the Church he is directed to, shall keep by it, and give him others unto the next; and all Certificates formerly given shall be torn in pieces.

CHAP. V. Of the Consistory.* 1.7

• CANON I. IN every Church there shall be a Consistory made up of those who go∣vern it, to-wit of its Pastors and Elders, and in this Assembly as well as in all other Church-Assemblies, the Pastors are of right to be Presi∣dents.
• CAN. II. Whereas our Churches, by reason of the present distress, have hitherto most happily employed Deacons in their Government, and that they have discharged at the same time the Elder's Office; such as for the future shall be so elected or continued, shall have together with the Pastors and Elders, the Government of the Church, and therefore shall commonly appear with them at the Consistory, and at Colloquies and Synods, provided they be sent by their Consistory.
• CAN. III. In those places where the exercise of our Religion is not yet established, the faithful shall be exhorted by the Colloquies to chuse unto themselves Elders and Deacons, and to embrace our Church-Discipline. And in the said Colloquies it shall be advised to what Church they may most convenient∣ly join themselves, and for the better maintenance of their Minister, from which they shall not depart, without having first communicated it unto the said Colloquies.
• CAN. IV. There shall be but one Consistory in a Church, nor shall any other Council be allowed or established for Church-affairs as distinct from the Consistory, and if there be any such it shall be immediately suppressed. Nevertheless the Consistory may call at certain times unto it self such Mem∣bers of the Church as it shall think fit, when affairs so require it: But yet Ecclesiastical business shall not be handled any where else but in those pla∣ces where the Consistories do usually meet and assemble.
• CAN. V. A Consistory is at liberty to receive into it the Father and Son, or two Brothers, unless there should arise an inconvenience by it; of which the Colloquy or Provincial Synod shall take cognisance.
• CAN. VI. It is left unto the prudence of Consistories to call their Proposans into it, although they have no office in the Church, but not without very great causes and considerations, and upon good experience had of their prudence. And the said Proposans shall be present, not to give their Suffrages when as affairs are debated, but to prepare and fit them for the Government of the Church against such time as God shall call them to it. Moreover it is left to the discretion of Pastors to make tryal of their sufficiency by demand∣ing their advice, which yet shall not be done but with much prudence and judgment, and upon their promise of concealing all matters, which they had heard discussed.
• CAN. VII. The Civil Magistrate may be called unto the Office of an Elder in the Consistory, provided that his Exercise of one Office do not hinder the dis∣charge of the other, and that it be not in any wise prejudicial to the Church.
• ...

• ... CAN. VIII. The Churches Government shall be regulated according to the Discipline, made and decreed by our National Synods, nor shall any Church or Province make any Ordinance, which shall not be for substance conformable to the general Canons of our Discipline. To this end the Canons of our Church-Discipline shall be read in Consistory, at least before the Celebration of the Lord's Supper, and all Elders and Deacons shall be exhorted to keep a Copy of it by them for their private reading and meditation at their leisure.
• CAN. IX. The Cognisance of Scandals, and power of passing Sentence on them be∣longeth unto the Assembly of Pastors and Elders, and there shall be no Ex∣ceptions made against full Consistories, no nor against the greater part of them. Nevertheless Exceptions made against the minor part of the said Consistories, whether they be particular Pastors or Elders shall be valid, and admitted by the Consistory, which being once judged, they shall pro∣ceed farther notwithstanding an Appeal be interposed upon the admission or rejection of those Exceptions aforesaid.
• CAN. X. That Custom used in divers places of inquiring into, and passing a ge∣neral Censure upon offences in popular Assemblies before Men and Women, forasmuch as it is condemned by the word of God, the Churches are ex∣horted to disuse it, and in point of Censure to acquiesce in that order esta∣blished by the Discipline.
• CAN. XI. Elders shall be advised not to report the faults of any unto the Consistory, unless they have good Evidence and proof of them, and when they do it, it shall be done with singular Charity; and no Person shall be called into the Consistory without a sufficient cause or occasion for so doing.
• CAN. XII. All possible care shall be taken, that those formalities and terms which are used in Courts of Law, may be avoided in the exercise of Church-Di∣scipline.
• CAN. XIII. The faithful may be exhorted, yea and charged in the name of God by the Consistories to tell the Truth, forasmuch as it doth not in the least de∣rogate from the authority of the Civil Magistrate: nor shall they use any of those accustomed formalities in the taking of Oaths before the Magi∣strate.
• CAN. XIV. When differences arise, the contending Parties shall be exhorted by the Consistories to agree among themselves in a friendly manner. Yet Consi∣stories shall not appoint them any Arbitrators, nor deport themselves as if they 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 neces∣sity of inflicting greater punishment or censures upon Offendors, it shall be either Suspension or Privation for a time from the Lords Table, or else Ex∣communication 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 pru∣dently

• 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 offen∣ces. 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 Bap∣tism. 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 sin∣ful 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 pub∣lick Admonitions, made before the Congregation by the Pastor, on three Lord's days following, and for their greater shame, if it be thought need∣ful, they shall be mentioned by name, and the whole Church shall be desi∣red 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 with∣out a World of regret and grief. And if after all this there be no Conver∣sion on the Sinners part, but that they persist in their hardness and obsti∣nacy, on the fourth Sabbath, the Pastor shall publickly declare to the whole Congregation, that the said scandalous and obdurate Sinners, name∣ing 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 Excommuni∣cation. 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 sun∣dry 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 Hea∣ven, 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 astonish∣ment, 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 compas∣sionate 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 humilia∣tion, 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 Pro∣vincial 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 suspen∣ded had entered his Appeal unto the Colloquy or Provincial Synod.
• CAN. XIX. Such as have abandon'd the profession of our holy Religion, and adhere unto Idolatry, if they persevere in this their Apostasie, after serious endea∣vours used to bring them back again unto the Church, they shall be pub∣lickly denounced Apostates, to wit, those who have of late times revolted; unless the Consistory do judg, that by such a nomination, some great and considerable danger may redound unto the Church, in which case nothing shall be done without consulting the Provincial Synod. And as for those, who have long since revolted, the Execution of this denunciation is remit∣ted to the prudence of the Colloquy.
• CAN. XX. In publick Sins, that is to say, such as are really committed, and known to a great number of People, this Delinquent shall be restored by a pub∣lick acknowledgment of his offence, although he had been punished by the Sentence of the Civil Magistrate.
• CAN. XXI. Forasmuch as Whoredome carries with it a brand of Infamy, especially upon Women, the Confession and Penance for such Scandals is wholly left unto the prudence of Consistories.
• CAN. XXII. Publick Penance shall be undergone in Person, and the Delinquent shall give an open testimony of his Repentance.
• CAN. XXIII. The Delinquent who was suspended the Lord's Table by the Consistory, although that suspension was concealed from the People, shall demand his restoration from the Consistory, and he giving evident tokens of his Repen∣tance, he shall be restored without undergoing any publick Penance.
• CAN. XXIV. But he whose Suspension had been declared unto the People, producing Evidences of his Repentance before the Consistory by the fruits of good works, and sufficient Testimonies, shall be publickly reconciled unto the Church, upon the acknowledgment of his offence.
• CAN. XXV. Those who for their obstinacy and hardness in their sins shall have been out off from the Church, may not suddenly be restored unto their state, and reconciled unto the Church, but upon good and long tryal had of their Repentance they shall be heard in Consistory, and if they Petition to be re∣ceived unto the Churches Peace, they doing Penance for their offences, there shall be notice given of it unto the Congregation to stir them up to seek and praise God, and after some time they shall be presented unto the whole Church to confess their former Trespasses and Rebellions, and beg∣ging pardon of God and his Church, they shall be in this manner reconciled with joy, publick Prayers and Thanksgiving.
• CAN. XXVI. If the Members of a Church have fallen into Idolatry, and thereupon re∣moved their Habitation unto another place, in which their offence is not known, they shall only make acknowledgment of their Fall before the Consistory, but with this Proviso, that if they return unto the said Church where they had offended, they shall do publick Penance for it. However it is left unto the discretion of the Consistory to deal otherwise with them, if they judge it to be more expedient for the Churches edifying. The same judgment shall be made of all other sins deserving publick Penance.
• CAN. XXVII. All Sins acknowledged and repaired shall be razed out of the Consistorial Books, excepting those which drawing Rebellion with them had been cen∣sured by Suspension from the Lord's Table, or Excommunication out of the Church.
• ...

• ... CAN. XXVIII. Consistories shall not give in evidence unto the Civil Magistrate, neither by instrument in writing, nor any other way; nor shall particular Mem∣bers of the Consistories reveal unto any Person the Confessions of Penitents, who voluntarily, and of their own accord, or by admonitions made them, shall have confessed their offences to them, unless it be in case of High Treason.
• CAN. XXIX. Such Persons shall be prosecuted with all Church-Censures, yea and Ex∣communicated, who professing the Reformed Religion, do appeal the Pastors, Elders, or the whole Consistory before the Civil Magistrate, by that means to enforce them to give in Evidence against Delinquents, who confessed their faults unto them.
• CAN. XXX. Crimes secretly declared unto Ministers by Persons demanding their ad∣vice and comfort, Ministers are forbidden to discover them unto the Civil Magistrate, lest reproach should thereby redound upon the Ministry, and Sinners be hindred from coming unto Repentance, and making a free Con∣fession of their Sins. And this shall be a standing Rule for all Crimes re∣vealed to them, unless in Case of High Treason.
• CAN. XXXI. If one or more of the People stir up Contention, and do thereby break the Churches Union in any point of Doctrine, or of Discipline, or about the form of Catechising, or Administration of the Sacraments, or of pub∣lick Prayers, or the Celebration of Marriage, and that private admonitions have not been effectual remedies to appease them; the Consistory of that place shall immediately endeavour to compose and pacify the whole affair without noise, and with all sweetness from the word of God; and in case the Dissenters do not acquiesce therein, the Consistory of that Church shall intreat the Colloquy to assemble at such a time and place as will be most convenient, they having first ingaged the said Dissenters in express terms, and upon record to promise, that they will not spread their Opinions in any manner or way till the meeting of the said Colloquy, upon pain of be∣ing Censured as Schismaticks, excepting always freedom of Conference with Pastors and Elders, in case they have not been instructed. And if the said Dissenters shall refuse to give the said Promises, they shall be censured for Rebels according to our Discipline. And the Colloquy being met shall proceed as was before appointed them. And if the said Dissenters, having been patiently heard and confuted, be fully satisfied, the whole shall be re∣gistred, unless the Provincial Synod be requested to assemble, extraordinary necessity so requiring it, at such time and place as the said Colloquy shall judge most convenient, after that the Promises before-mentioned shall have been again repeated by the said Dissenters: The Synod being assembled shall first advise and consider with great and mature deliberation of the matter, places, time and persons, whether it will be expedient that a Con∣ference should be held with the said Dissenters publickly before the People, and with open Doors, and that Audience be given unto any there present to speak or not: However the Decision of the Points in Controversy shall not be left unto any other Judges besides the Delegates of the Provinces, according to the known Canon of our Discipline. And if the said Dissen∣ters refuse to conform, they shall then ingage in the same Promises as be∣fore, and be dismissed over to the ordinary National Synod; or if necessity so require, that it must be extraordinarily assembled, they shall be heard in

• it with all holy freedom,* 2.1 and there it shall be finally and intirely determined by the word of God; unto which if they refuse to yield full obedience, and in express terms to disclaim their recorded Errors, they shall be cut off by Excommunication from the Body of our Church.
• CAN. XXXII. A Pastor or Elder breaking the Churches Union, or stirring up Conten∣tion about any point of Doctrine, or of the Discipline, which he had sub∣scribed, or about the Form of Catechising, or Administration of the Sacra∣ments, or of our Common-Prayers, and Celebration of Marriage, and not conforming to the determination of the Colloquy, he shall be then suspen∣ded from his Office, and be farther prosecuted by the Provincial, or Na∣tional Synod.
• CAN. XXXIII. In every Church there shall be kept Memorials of all notable and remark∣able passages relating to Religion, and in every Colloquy a Minister shall be appointed to receive them, who shall carry them unto the Provincial, and thence unto the National Synod.

CHAP. VI Of the Union of Churches.

• CANON I. NO Church shall claim any Primacy or Jurisdiction over another, nor one Province over another.
• CAN. II. No Church shall assume unto it self a power of undertaking business of great consequence, in which the interest or damage of other Churches shall be comprised, without the advice and consent of the Provincial Synod, if it may possibly be Convened. And in case the affair be urgent, it shall at least be Communicated by Letters unto some other Churches in the Pro∣vince, and they shall receive and take their advice about it.
• CAN. III. Churches and particular Members shall be advised, that, whatever per∣secution may happen, to procure for themselves a private peace and liberty, they do not depart from the Sacred Union of the whole Body of our Churches. And whoever acteth contrary to this Canon, shall have such a Censure inflicted on him, as Colloquies and Synods shall judge expedient.
• CAN. IV. Disputes about Religion shall be so managed, that none of ours may be the Aggressors; and if they are ingaged in a verbal disputation, they shall in no wise undertake it without laying down this for a Foundation-Rule, That the Holy Scripture is the sole Judge of Controversies, nor shall they yield the power of judgment and decision in points of Doctrine unto the writings of the Ancients; nor shall they enter upon any Disputation, un∣less the conditions of it be first agreed on by Writings mutually and re∣spectively signed and executed: Nor shall they attempt a publick Dispu∣tation but with the advice of their Consistory, and of a select number of Pastors, who for this purpose shall be chosen by the Colloquies or Provin∣cial Synods. They shall not adventure upon any dispute or general Confe∣rence,* 2.2

• without the advice of all the Churches assembled in a National Sy∣nod, upon pain, if Ministers act otherwise, of being declared Apostates, and Deserters of the Churches Union.
• CAN. V. Churches shall be informed that our Ecclesiastical Assemblies of Collo∣quies and Synods, whether Provincial or National, are the Bands and But∣tresses of their Concord and Union against Schisms, Heresies, and all other inconveniencies; that so they may discharge their duty in the use of means for the continuance and upholding of those Ecclesiastical Assemblies. And in case any Churches, or particular Person, should refuse to contribute un∣to their expences who were obliged to be present in those Assemblies, they shall be grievously censured, as Deserters of that Holy Union, which ought to be kept up among us for our mutual preservation. And all Ministers who shall neglect the observation of this Canon, shall be most severely censured by National and Provincial Synods.

  N.B. That the Editions of the Discipline at Paris and Ronan, in the Year 1663. have in the last line of this Canon [National] inserted; but two other Edi∣tions of the Years 1666. at Geneva, and 1676. at Quevilly, do omit it, and have only [Provincial Synods.]

CHAP. VII. Of Colloquies.

• CANON I. IN every Province the Churches shall be divided according to their num∣ber and conveniency of neighbour places into Colloquies or Classes. And this Division shall be made by authority of the Provincial Synod. And the next adjoining Churches shall meet in Colloquies twice or four times a year, if it may be done, as of ancient times it hath been ordained. The ap∣pointment of time is left wholly to the prudence of Provinces, and unto these Colloquies the Ministers accompanied each of them with an Elder from every Church, shall give their personal attendance.
• CAN. II. And the proper business of such Colloquies and Assemblies, shall be to consult about composing differences and difficulties emerging in their Churches, according to the Canons of our Discipline; and in general to provide for whatsoever may be thought expedient and necessary to the weal and maintenance of our Churches.
• CAN. III. And in these Colloquies Ministers in their turns shall make a Proposition from the Word of God, that so their care and diligence in the study of the Scripture, and their method and form of handling it, may be known.
• CAN. IV. As Consistories are subject and subordinate unto Colloquies, so are Col∣loquies unto the authority of Provincial Synods.
• ...

• ... CAN. V.* 2.3Colloquies and Synods shall consult about the extent and bounds of those places in which each Minister shall exercise his Ministry.
• CAN. VI. In the close of Colloquies there shall pass a friendly and fraternal Cen∣sure upon Pastors and Elders there present, in all matters of which it may be thought fit to admonish them.

CHAP. VIII. Of Provincial Synods.

• CANON I. IN all Provinces the Pastors and Elders of every Church shall meet toge∣ther once or twice a year, if it can be done; which is left unto the prudence and discretion of the Synod.
• CAN. II. Ministers shall bring with them one or two Elders at the most, chosen out of their Consistory: And the said Ministers shall bring with them their Commissions. But if a Pastor come alone without an Elder, or an Elder without a Pastor, there shall be no regard had of their Memoirs. And this Canon shall be observed in all Ecclesiastical Assemblies. If they cannot appear, they shall excuse themselves by Letters (on which the Brethren then and there present shall pass judgment,) and send their Memoirs sub∣scribed by one Pastor and Elder. Such as having no lawful excuse shall yet forbear their appearance at Colloquies and Provincial Synods, shall be cen∣sured, and the said Colloquies and Provincial Synods may judge defini∣tively of their fact, and dispose of their persons.
• CAN. III. Churches which have many Pastors shall depute them by turns unto Col∣loquies and Synods.
• CAN. IV. Ministers and Elders, which are deputed unto Colloquies and Provincial Synods, shall have their expences defrayed out of the common stock of their Churches.
• CAN. V. Those Churches which refuse means unto their Ministers for their ap∣pearance at Colloquies and Synods, shall be admonished of this their duty, that they exhibit to them; and in case of failure in it, so that Ministers are inforced to come unto them upon their own charges, after two or three ad∣monitions, they shall be deprived of their Ministry, and the charges of those Ministers shall be defrayed by those Churches unto which they are sent, and in which they now serve; saving always their power of prosecu∣ting that ungrateful Church; which prosecution shall be managed accord∣ing to the judgment and direction of the Provincial Synod.
• CAN. VI. If a difference fall out betwixt a Church, and its Pastor, and in order to its composing the said Church hath been twice advised of the day when, and place where the Synod and Colloquy do meet, and refuseth to appear,

• notwithstanding the absence of one Party, yet the Synod or Colloquy shall have power to proceed to judgment.
• CAN. VII. In all Synods Provincial and National, one of the Pastors by common consent, and a low voice, shall be chosen President, and one or two Scribes. His Office shall be to guide and moderate the whole action, to give notice of the places, days and hours at which the Assemblies shall meet, to begin the Synodical Sessions, to propose and offer matters that are to be deliberated, to gather the particular Suffrages of all the Members, to declare the greatest number, and to pronounce the Conclusion. Item, He shall see that every one do speak in due order, and without Confusion; He shall silence the Contentious, and in case of Disobedience, he shall com∣mand them out of the Synod, that Consultation may be held about their Censure. He shall make all the Remonstrances, and Answers unto them who demand Counsel, or send Letters unto the Synod. Moreover he shall preside at those Censures which shall be made in the close of the whole Action, and all by the advice of the whole Assembly, and not otherwise. His Office shall expire together with the Synod, and the next Synod hath full Liberty to chuse him again or another. And all Moderators of Colloquy shall be governed by this self-same Canon.
• CAN. VIII. Elders that are Deputies of Churches shall have an equal power of Voting with the Pastors, and the Elders of that place where the Synod shall assem∣ble may be present, and propound matters in their turn. Yet notwith∣standing two only of them shall have power of Voting, to avoid all Con∣fusion.
• CAN. IX. Whatever hath been decreed by Provincial Synods for the Government of the Churches in their Province, shall be brought up unto the National Synod.
• CAN. X. Forasmuch as divers Persons, who that they may decline or delay the effect of Church Censures, passed on them for their offences, do appeal from one Ecclesiastical Assembly unto another, yea and unto the National Synod also, which is by this means more incumbred about the decision of their matters than of any thing else; It is now ordered, that for time to come, whatsoever differences may fall out within the Precincts of any Pro∣vince, shall be definitively judged, and without Appeal, by the Synod of that Province, unless it be the Case of Suspension, or Deposing of Pastors, Elders and Deacons, or the removal of Pastors from one Province unto another; Item, The changing of a Church in one Colloquy, and joining it unto ano∣ther; as also whatsoever may concern the Doctrine of the Sacraments, or the whole Body of our Discipline. In all which Cases there shall be a gradual process observed, till they come from the Colloquy to the Provincial, and from the Provincial to the National Synod, that then and there it may re∣ceive its last and final judgment.
• CAN. XI. If a difference fall out betwixt the Synods of two Provinces, they shall pitch upon a third to reconcile them.
• CAN. XII. The Synods in every Province shall keep a Register of the Widows and Children of those Ministers, who died in the service of their Churches, that

• so they may be holpen and maintained by the common stock and joint charges of all the Provinces, if their necessities do so require it. And in case a Province prove ungrateful, its Deputy shall make report thereof un∣to the National Synod, that provision may be made for them by its autho∣rity.
• CAN. XIII. The Deputies of Churches shall not depart from the Synod without leave, and they shall carry home with them the Synodical Decrees.
• CAN. XIV. The authority of a Provincial is subordinate unto that of National Synods. According to the Governments shall the Orders which refer un∣to Colloquies and Provincial Synods, be regulated, without exalting one above another.
• CAN. XV. At present the Provincial Synods shall be thus distributed.

  1. The Isle of France, the Land of Chartres, Picardy, Champagne and Brie. 2. Normandy. 3. Brittaine. 4. Orleans, Blesois, Dunois, Nivernois, Berry, Bourbonnois, & la Marche. 5. Touraine, Anjou, Loudunois, Le Maine, Van∣dôme, and the Perche. 6. The Higher and Lower Poictou. 7. Xaintonge, Aunix, the City and Government of Rochel, and Augoulmois. 8. The Lower Guienne, Perigord, Gascony, and Limousin. 9. The Higher and Lower Vivaretz, together with Vellay, and Forest. 10. Lower Languedoc, to wit, Nismes, Ʋsez, Montpellier, and as far as Beziers inclusively. 11. The rest of Languedoc, the Higher Guienne, Tholouse, Carcassonne, Quercy, Rovergue, Armagnac, and the Ʋpper Avergne. 12. Burgundy, Lyonnois, Beaujolois, Bresse, the neither Avergne, and Gex. 13. Provence. 14. Dolphiny, and Principality of Orange. 15. The Churches in the Soveraignty of Bearn. 16. The Sevennes and Guevaudan.

• CAN. XVI. If it should so fall out, that for the conveniency of a Church it should be divided into two or more, or that more Churches should be united into one, this shall be done by a Provincial Synod, of which also the National shall be advised.
• CAN. XVII. If a Minister be deputed by his Provincial Synod to go unto the Synod or Colloquy of another Province, about some common affairs, he shall have his Consultive Vote in it, and not only for that particular business about which he came, but also in all matters transacted during that Sessions, excepting al∣ways matters of his own private concern.

  N.B. The two last Editions of the Discipline do make but 16. Canons in this Chapter, and add the 16th unto the 15th Canon of the distribution of the Pro∣vinces, as if it were a branch or member of it. But the matter being diverse from it, and my Editions of Quevilly and Paris, in the Year 1663. making 17. I have therefore kept unto them.

CHAP. IX.* 2.4 Of National Synods.

• CANON I. NAtional Synods shall be held once every year, if it can possibly be done; and this Order shall be observed for its assembling, That in the closing up of every National Synod a Province shall be chosen, which shall be intrusted with the power of calling the next, and shall be charged to acquaint all the other Provinces with the day and place of its meeting.
• CAN. II. If difficult cases should be moved in any one of the Provinces, it shall give notice of it unto that Province, which is charged to assemble the Na∣tional Synod, and having ordered the time and place of its meeting, the other Provinces shall be acquainted with it, that so they may come unto the Synod ready and well-prepared for a Decision.
• CAN. III. And forasmuch as at this time it is very difficult and dangerous to assem∣ble the National Synod in a great number of Ministers and Elders: It is thought good for the present, and till such difficulties can be removed, that the Brethren assembled in every Provincial Synod, shall chuse out only two Ministers and Elders, who are Persons of great experience in Church-affairs, to be sent in the name of the whole Province, and these Deputies shall come with ample and sufficient powers, and furnished with good memorials, sub∣scribed by the Moderator and Scribes of the Provincial Synod; and lest any of the Deputies should fail, three or four Pastors more, and as many Elders shall be nominated by the Provincial Synods: that so if the first na∣med Persons should be by any accident hindered from taking their journey, yet others may be at hand to supply their places in the National Synod.

  N.B. That in all Letters of Commission signed by the Provinces to their De∣puties unto the National Synods, there was this Clause of submission to be inserted, viz. We promise before God to submit our selves unto all that shall be con∣cluded and resolved on in your holy Assembly, and to obey, and perform it to the best of our power; being well perswaded, that God presideth in the midst of you, and guideth you by his holy Spirit into all truth and equity by the Rule of his Word, for the weal and benefit of his Church, and the glory of his great Name. Which also we beg of him most ardently in our daily Prayers. See the Acts of the National Synod of Vitré, 1617. in that Canon next after the Catalogue of the Deputies.

• CAN. IV. Provincial Synods shall not limit any certain time for the return of the Ministers and Elders whom they had deputed unto the National Synod: but they shall suffer them to tarry at the said Synod so long as there shall be need of their presence and attendance in it, and these Deputies shall have all their expences born and defrayed out of the common stock of the whole Province.
• CAN. V. The Articles of our Confession of Faith, and the Canons of our Church-Discipline, shall be all read at the opening of every National Synod.
• ...

• ... CAN. VI. And that the National Synod may not be busied about Questions already determined in the Acts of former National Synods, The Provincial Depu∣ties shall be advised to peruse the Acts of former National Synods before they prepare their Memoirs, and they shall see that nothing be transmitted but what is of common and general concern to all the Churches, and which meriteth the decision of a National Synod.
• CAN. VII. All Ecclesiastical matters may be finally decided and resolved by the Na∣tional Synod, the Provinces having been in the first place informed of them, if possible, by that Province which had the charge of assembling the Na∣tional Synod.
• CAN. VIII. The Decisions shall be only made by the Provincial Deputies; but and if there be in the National Synod other Ministers besides the Deputies, they may propound their judgments as to what may be done, but they shall nei∣ther have consultive nor decisive Votes.

  N.B. This Canon is in three Editions, in that of 1653. in that of 1666. and in that 1676. but in those of Paris, and Quevilly, 1663. it is omitted.

• CAN. IX. Those that appeal from Provincial Synods unto the National, shall be bound to be present in Person at it, or else they shall send unto it most am∣ple Memoirs, with a lawful excuse for their absence: And on default hereof the Sentence of the Provincial Synod shall be ratified. The same course shall be taken with Appeals from Consistories unto Colloquies, and from Colloquies unto the Provincial Synods.
• CAN. X. The Provincial Deputies shall not depart from the National Synod with∣out carrying home with them the Synodical Decrees, subscribed by the Pre∣sident and Scribe: and a month after their return they shall give notice thereof unto the Colloquies of their Province, that so they may send for the Acts of the said Synod, and this at the sole charge of the said Colloquies.
• CAN. XI. And that Synodical Acts may be preserved, and that they may be of use and service in after times for the determining of Controversies which may be propounded for resolution unto our National Synods; The said Acts both for the time past and to come, and all others which concern those Sy∣nods, as also the Canons of Church-Discipline, and the Confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom, shall be left in custody with the Provincial Deputies, who are appointed to call the next National Sy∣nod, and that Province shall be obliged to bring them unto the Synod.
• CAN. XII. Before the breaking up of National Synods there shall be an amicable and fraternal Censure of all the Deputies, Ministers and Elders, about those matters only which had been managed during its Sessions, and whatever did in general respect their Provinces. And the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be Celebrated and partaken by them in testimony of their Cordial Union. Provided always that this holy Sacrament shall be Com∣municated in with that very Church in which they held their Synodical

• Assembly, and for this purpose the said Church shall be admonished to pre∣pare themselves for it.

CHAP. X.* 2.5 Of Religious Exercises performed in the Assemblies of the Faithful

• CANON I. THat great irreverence, which is found in divers Persons, who at pub∣lick and private Prayers do neither uncover their Heads, nor bow their Knees, shall be reformed, which is a matter repugnant unto Piety, and giveth suspicion of Pride, and doth scandalize them that fear God. Wherefore all Pastors shall be advised, as also Elders and Heads of Fami∣lies, carefully to oversee, that in time of Prayer, all Persons without excep∣tion or acceptation, do evidence by those exteriour signs the inward humi∣lity of their hearts, and of that homage yielded by them unto God, unless any one be hindred from so doing by sickness or otherwise; the judgment of which shall be remitted to the testimony of their own particular Consci∣ences.
• CAN. II. Singing of God's praises being a divine Ordinance, and to be performed in the Congregations of the Faithful, and for that by the use of Psalms their hearts be comforted and strengthned; Every one shall be advertised to bring with them their Psalm-Books unto those Assemblies; and such as through contempt of this holy Ordinance do forbear the having of them, shall be censured, as also those, who in time of singing, both before and after Sermon, are not uncovered, as also when the Holy Sacraments are Celebrated.
• CAN. III. In times of sore Persection, and of War, Pestilence, or Famine, or any other grievous affliction; Item, when as Ministers of the Gospel are to be Ordained, and when as question is moved about calling a National Synod, one day or more may be set a part for publick and extraordinary Prayers, and Fasting; yet without any scruple or superstition, and all this shall be done upon mature consideration of the grounds and causes of these Provi∣dences. And the Churches shall be advised to celebrate the Fast, as much as possible they can, unanimously at the same time, provided they have con∣veniency of times and places for it.
• CAN. IV. Whereas divers Churches have been accustomed to use publick Prayers on some particular day, they may, if they like it, retain this their practice, which for many years they have so happily observed, and others also may conform to it according to those means which God may graciously afford them, and which their edification may require. And all Pastors in the care∣ful and faithful discharge of the duties of their Function, shall by their most serious Remonstrances and Exhortations, remove that contempt, of which too many are guilty, who disdain to frequent Sermons, and neglect that Ordinance of Family-Prayers, which ought daily to be performed in private Houses by the respective Heads of Houses, with their Families and Domesticks. And all Churches in which over and besides Preaching of God's holy Word, there hath been usually performed Morning and Evening Prayers on those days in which they had Sermons, or in the Evenings of every day are exhorted to conform herein unto those Churches which

• ...have no such Custom; that so Superstition may be nipt in the bud, and that com∣mon carelesness, and notorious neglect of Sermons and Family Prayers, may be quite banished. Because the usage of common publick Prayers should only be reser∣ved for times of distress and affliction, as the general publick Fast is an Ordinance only to be used upon extraordinary occasions, and therefore ought not to be brought into ordinary common practice. For which causes those of our people who have had this Custom, shall be advertised by their Pastors to lay them down quietly, that no scandal may be taken at them. And all Heads of Families shall be carefully ad∣monished to pray ordinarily twice a day in the Morning and Evening with their Housholds.

  N.B. That this part of the Canon, which is in a different Character from the former, is not to be found in my Copies and Editions of 1653, 1666, and 1676. But it is in express words in the Editions of Paris and Quevilly, in the Year 1663. What were the grounds of the omission, I know not, guess I do. Those of Geneva might not have a perfect Copy of the Synodical Acts, and so Printed it according to what they had. The Reverend Pastors of Paris and Rouen, were obliged, at least their Consistories, to oversee all the Impressions and Editions of the Confession and Discipline, and they having in their Archives the best and most authentick Acts of their National Synods, might therefore see that this Canon should be Printed in its fullest and most comprehensive expressions. Sure I am this Canon was made and ratified in the Synod of St. Foy, 1578. Canon 12. and in the Synod of Montpellier, 1598. Canon the 18th of General Matters, and in the Synod of Tonneins, 1614. Canon the 4th of General Matters.

• CAN. V. At Funerals there shall be neither Prayers, nor Sermons, nor any dole of publick Alms; that so all Superstitions, and other inconveniences may be avoided; and those who attend the dead Corps unto its Sepulchre, shall be exhorted to behave themselves modestly whilest they follow it, meditating according to the object presented to them, upon the miseries and brevity of this Life, and the hopes of one more happy in the World to come.
• CAN. VI. Forasmuch as Mourning consisteth not in habits but in heart, the Godly shall be admonished to demean themselves with a modest decency, and to reject all Ambition, Hypocrisy, Vanity and Superstition.

CHAP. XI. Of Baptism.

• CANON I. BAptism administred by an Unordained Person is wholly void and null.
• CAN. II. A Doctor in a Church may not preach nor administer the Sacraments, unless that he be at the same time both Doctor and Minister.
• CAN. III. A Jew or Pagan of what age soever he be, shall not be baptized till he have been first instructed in the Christian Faith, and that he give evident proof thereof by his Confession.

• ...

  N.B. You may see the Form of Baptizing Jews and Infidels,* 2.6 in the Acts and Canons of the National Synod of Charenton, in the Year 1644. where it is at large inserted; and I must crave my Readers Pardon for not transcribing it.

• CAN. IV. Children, both whose Parents are Members of the Church of Rome, and those of Excommunicated Persons, shall not be baptized in our Reformed Churches, although they were presented by Godly Sureties, unless the Fa∣ther, or Mother, when there is no Father, shall consent and require it, and shall have resigned up their Authority unto the Sureties, by giving and granting them their right of Education, with Promise of suffering their Children to be educated and instructed in the true Religion.
• CAN. V. The Children also of Sarazins and Gipsies may be admitted unto Baptism in our Reformed Churches upon those conditions before mentioned; pro∣vided that there be not any presumption of their having been already bap∣tized, and the Sureties being first seriously admonished to consider how they can acquit themselves of their obligation and promise made unto the Church; and moreover, that those very Sureties will undertake for the Re∣ligious Education and instruction of those Children.
• CAN. VI. No Baptism shall be administred but in Church-Assemblies, or where there is a formed publick Church. But where there is no publick Church, and the Parents through infirmity are afraid to carry them unto publick Baptism in the Congregation, Ministers shall consult how far in prudence they ought to yield unto them. Yet nevertheless there shall be some face of a Church, and both Exhortation and Prayer; but if there be no Church, and a Congregation cannot be assembled, the Minister shall not make any difficulty to baptise the Infants of believing Parents tendered to him, with Exhortation and Prayer.
• CAN. VII. Forasmuch as we have no Commandment from the Lord to take God-Fathers, or God-Mothers, who may present our Children unto Baptism, there cannot be any particular Canon made which shall bind Persons to do it. But sith it is a very ancient Custom, and introduced for a good end, to wit, to testify the Sureties Faith, and the Baptism of the Infant, and also for that they charge themselves with the care of educating the Child, in case it should be deprived of its Parents by death; and for that it doth maintain a sweet Communion among the Faithful by a Conjunction of Friendship, they who will not observe it, but will by themselves present their own Children, shall be earnestly intreated not to be Contentious, but to conform unto the antient and accustomed Order, it being very good and profitable.

  N.B. The Clause inserted in the middle of this Canon is in my two best Editions of Paris and Rouen, though it be left out in the three others, and therefore I have caused it to be put into another Character.

• CAN. VIII. Women shall not be admitted to present Children unto Baptism unless 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 Cate∣chised.
• CAN. XI. Persons suspended from the Lords Supper may not in the quality of Sure∣ties 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 Reli∣gion, 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 neces∣sity for it in the course of God's Providence, it is most likely that their Chil∣dren will have a Religious Education.
• CAN. XIII. Such as by their Proxies presen•• Children to be baptized in the Church of Rome, shall be severely censured, because they consent thereby unto Ido∣latry.
• CAN. XIV. As for Names which are given Children in Baptism, Ministers shall re∣ject, if it can possibly be done, and without any inconvenience, those which yet remain of old Paganism, nor shall they impose on the said Chil∣dren 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 reve∣rently at the Administration of Baptism; And that the contempt of Bap∣tism, which is expressed by too many, even the far greater part of our Peo∣ple 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 Chil∣dren.
• ...

• ... CAN. XVII.* 2.7Although 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 Bap∣tism 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 Chil∣dren 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 Con∣junction, if they be known, shall be Recorded in the Book of Baptisms, un∣less of those Children who are born in Incest. That so the very Remem∣brance 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 ex∣press 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 Testi∣monial 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 con∣tempt 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 ac∣customed 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 ad∣monitions 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 Celebra∣ted, 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 conveni∣ent for them.

  N. B. Provincial Synod is only in my Parisian, and Quevilly Edition.

• ...

• ... CAN. XIV.* 2.8Although 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 Con∣sent 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 admo∣nished by the Minister in the publick Church-Assemblies, not to make any Promise of Marriage but in the presence of their Parents, Friends, Neigh∣bours, 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 Con∣tracting 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 Mar∣riages.
• CAN. V. For time to come all Promises of Marriages, and Espousals, shall be per∣formed by words de futuro, which shall not be counted as indissolvible as

• words de praesenti. Because words de praesenti do not so much promise Mar∣riage, 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 Espou∣sals (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 'tis 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 Ob∣servations upon the Discipline. The Synod of Privas, 1612. Art. 9. of Obser∣vations 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 Marri∣age, but with the Kings Licence, according to the Edict.
• CAN. VII. It is utterly unlawful to Petition the Pope for a Dispensation of the Impe∣diments 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 de∣grees 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 tem∣porary, 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 Na∣ture; because that Alliance was not Contracted by a Commixture of Blood: therefore such a Marriage may be admitted and approved. Yet notwith∣standing 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 Edi∣tions.

• CAN. XI. Likewise a Man may not marry his Wife's Aunt, such a Marriage be∣ing 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 autho∣rize the Contract, the Churches shall not make any difficulty to bless such a Mar∣riage. 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 com∣mitted Adultery during her Life; unless that such a Marriage were autho∣rized 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 else∣where, 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 Sab∣bath.
• 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 am∣ple 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 pro∣tested 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 Protesta∣tion shall be made. And it shall not be lawful for any Pastor or Consisto∣ries 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 Mar∣riage 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 Ta∣ble, 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 Pa∣stors, 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 Ceremo∣nies and Censures used as the Consistory shall judge fitting; unless those Persons had cohabited together in the days of their Ignorance, without de∣spising or contempt of our Church-Government. And those also who co∣habited as Man and Wife, when as there was no Church erected in the pla∣ces 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 Ce∣lebrated

• in the Church of God, if the Consistory shall judge it to be expe∣dient.
• 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 admo∣nished 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 wronged Party shall produce before the Consistory, and then the Consistory shall declare unto him that Liberty, which God in his holy Word hath given him. But in regard of our present difficulties, the Ministers of this Kingdom are advised not to re-marry the said Parties, to whom this Liberty of providing themselves elsewhere hath been granted. And as for the Delinquent Party, there shall be very great and mature Deliberation used, before she have any Liberty at all allowed Her.
• CAN. XXX. If it should fall out that after Marriage-Promises have past, and before its accomplishment, a betrothed Woman be found to have played the Whore, either before or after the said Promises, and that it was unknown to him, who had promised her Marriage, a definitive Sentence being given by the Magistrate upon it, the Consistory may proceed to bless a new Mar∣riage. And the betrothed Woman shall have the same Liberty, if it be found that her betrothed Husband had committed Fornication after he had made her Promises of Marriage.
• CAN. XXXI. Women whose Husbands are gone away, and have absented themselves a long time about Mercantile affairs, or for other Causes, if they demand Licence to be Married again, they shall have recourse unto the Civil Ma∣gistrate.
• CAN. XXXII. As for the Wives of Priests and Monks, who turn Apostates, and return unto their old Idolatry, chanting Masses, or re-entring into their Cells, from which they had formerly departed, they shall be admonished not to cohabit with their said Husbands during their Apostasie, that God's Ordi∣nance of Marriage may not be loaden with reproach and infamy, nor may they marry any other, until such time as their first Marriage shall be dis∣solved by the Civil Magistrate.

CHAP. XIV.* 2.9 Of particular Orders and Advertisements.

• CANON I. NO Person shall be received into Communion with the Church, till such time as be have first publickly renounced all the Superstitions and Idolatries of the Romish Church, and in particular the Mass.
• CAN. II. No godly Man shall be allowed to intermeddle with any matters con∣joined with Idolatry, such as those they call the Baisemains, or Le Dedans de Leglise, nor to cause Masses and Vigils to be said, nor to ordain Monks▪ who be solely ordained to this purpose. But to hold Priories, Revenues, Rents, Chanteries, and Tithes, and to pay the profits of them unto the Popish Ecclesiasticks, for as much as they be Temporal Lords, it is a thing indifferent, and they that will do it may take their Liberty. Nevertheless the Faithful shall be advised not to intermeddle with these matters if they find any abuses in them, or an appearance of evil Consequences, of all which Consistories and Colloquies shall pass a prudent judgment.
• CAN. III. Such as by unlawful means, as by Papal Bulls, or a sum of money, shall buy or hold Benefices, or such as in like manner shall directly or indirectly maintain Idolatry, shall be denounced Persons utterly unworthy of Commu∣nion with our Churches in the holy Supper of the Lord, nor shall they be admit∣ted to it. And as for Benefices, of which any one may have an Advowson∣age, whether by Presentation from the Lord of the Mannor, a Lay-Patron, or by the Bishops Gift, the Faithful are advised not to accept of them, though tender'd to them, if there be a tacit or express condition of any ser∣vice to be performed unto the Idol.
• CAN. IV. Printers, Booksellers, Painters, and other Artificers, and in general all the Faithful, and particularly such as bear Office in the Church, shall be admonished that they do not in the least act any thing in their Calling that tends directly to countenance the Superstitions of the Church of Rome; and as for secret Acts, and the Censure incurred by them, their judgment is left unto the Consistory.
• CAN. V. Notaries, Scrivenors, and others, who by the Duty of their Callings are obliged to sign and seal indifferently all matters which are brought unto them, they shall not be censured for receiving Testaments, passing Con∣tracts, and expediting Letters, which concern Idolatry, nor Judges for their judging Causes concerning Ecclesiastical Estates, and the Execution of the Edict.
• CAN. VI. Arbitrators shall not in any manner of way intermeddle with things, which concern Idolatry, either directly or indirectly.
• CAN. VII. Neither Counsellors nor Attorneys at Law shall plead in those Causes which tend to the suppression of the Ministry of the Gospel, or to the set∣ting up of Mass, nor shall they in any manner of way whatsoever be allowed to give their advice or assistance unto the Romish Churchmen, in those

• Causes which do either directly or indirectly tend unto the oppression of a Reformed Church.
• CAN. VIII. Neither Bishops, nor Officials, nor Arch-Deacons, as they be now Con∣stituted, have of right any Civil or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. However because the Faithful are sometimes constrained to appear before them for obtaining their own just dues, which otherwise would be detained from them, in case they he turned over to them by the Civil Magistrate (to whom they shall first make their applications) they may warrantably enough have recourse unto them.
• CAN. IX. Godly Advocates ought not in any wise to plead in the Officials-Court; unless in those Cases in which they be necessitated to prosecute the right of their Clients before them, according to the last foregoing Canon.
• CAN. X. It is not in it self unlawful to exercise civil Jurisdictions, as to act as At∣torneys for and under Ecclesiastical Persons, unless in such Cases, which they call spiritual.
• CAN. XI. The Faithful may not take out, or cause to be Executed, any Monitory or Writ of Excommunication from the Church of Rome.
• CAN. XII. Forasmuch as it is neither lawful not expedient to heat the Popish Preach∣ers, nor any others who have intruded themselves without a lawful Call, the Flocks shall be hindred by their Pastors from going to them, and such as shall go, they shall be called into the Consistory, and Censured according to the nature of their offence.
• CAN. XIII. Lords, Gentlemen and others, shall be admonished according to the Di∣scipline of our Church, not to entertain in their Houses, any scandalous or incorrigible Persons, and above all, that they do not suffer any Priests to sing Mass, or to dogmatize and debauch their Domesticks, nor shall they admit of any such again into their service, if they have once discarded them.
• CAN. XIV. Fathers and Mothers shall be exhorted to be very careful of their Chil∣drens Education, which are the Seed-Plot, and promising hopes of God's Church. And therefore such as send them to School to be taught by Priests, Monks, Jesuits and Nuns, they shall be prosecuted with all Church-Cen∣sures. Those also shall be Censured who dispose of their Children to be Pages, or Servant unto Lords and Gentlemen of the contrary Religion.
• CAN. XV. They whose Brethren, Sisters, or other Kindred, have quitted their Monasteries to serve God in liberty of Conscience, shall be exhorted to re∣lieve them, and to provide for them according to the duties of humanity and Consanguinity.
• CAN. XVI. Neither Ministers nor other Members of the Church may print any Books composed by themselves or others concerning Religion, nor may they at all publish them, until they have first Communicated them unto the Colloquy, or if need be, unto the Provincial Synod. And in case the matter be urgent (requiring speedy dispatch) unto the Universities, or to two

• Pastors appointed by the Synod, who shall attest under their own hands, that they have perused and examined the said Writings.
• CAN. XVII. They that handle the Histories of holy Scripture in Poems, are admo∣nished not to blend or intermingle Poetick Fables with them, nor to give unto God the names of a false God, nor to add unto, nor take any thing from the Sacred Scriptures; but they shall confine themselves as near as they can unto the words of it.
• CAN. XVIII. Neither the Canonical nor other Books of the Bible shall be transformed into Comedies or Tragedies.
• CAN. XIX. Churches, which have Printers belonging to them, shall advise them not to print any Books concerning Religion, or the Discipline of the Church, without having first Communicated them unto the Consistory, because of those manifold Inconveniencies, which have formerly happened upon this account. And neither Printers, nor Booksellers, nor Hawkers, shall sell any Books of Idolatry, or that be Scandalous, stuffed with Ribauldry, or Impiety, which tend to the corrupting of good Manners.
• CAN. XX. Although Priests cannot lay any just claim or title unto Tyths in regard of their Ministry: yet nevertheless they must be paid, because of the King's Command, and for the avoidance of Scandal and Sedition.
• CAN. XXI. According to his Majesties Edict the Faithful shall be exhorted to give none offence by working upon Holy-Days.
• CAN. XXII. All Usuries shall be most strictly forbidden and suppressed, and matters of Loan shall be regulated according to the Kings Ordinance, and the Rule of Charity.
• CAN. XXIII. All violence and injurious words against the Members of the Church of Rome, as also against Priests and Monks, shall not only be forborn, but also as much as may be shall be totally suppressed.
• CAN. XXIV. Swearers, who in passion or levity do take God's holy Name in vain, and others who blaspheme the Divine Majesty, shall be most severely censured; and if after the second admonition they be not reclaimed, they shall be then suspended from the Lord's Table. And all Outragious Blasphemers, For∣swearers, and such like Persons, shall in no wise be tolerated in Church-Communion: But immediately for their first offence shall be suspended the Lord's Supper: and if they continue in their Ungodliness, they shall be pub∣lickly Excommunicated.
• CAN. XXV. The Churches shall admonish the Faithful of both Sexes to retain Mode∣sty, and that most especially in their Habits, and shall take care, that all Superfluities, heretofore committed in them, may be retrenched. But yet our Churches shall not make any Decree about it, because it is an affair properly belonging unto the Civil Magistrate; yet may they endeavour by their Remonstrances, that his Majesties Edict concerning these matters be more diligently observed.
• ...

• ... CAN. XXVI. No Person shall be deprived of Communion at the Lord's Table for wear∣ing any fashion of Apparel, which is ordinarily and usually worn in this Kingdom. But under this head those ought not to be comprised which carry with them a notorious Badge of Lasciviousness, dissolution, or over-curi∣ous novelty, such as naked Breasts, Painting, and the like, with which Men and Women cloath and abuse themselves. And Consistories shall do their ut∣most to suppress these Impieties, and shall proceed against the Refractory by Suspension from the Lord's Table.

  N. B. That Clause in the middle of this Canon, Printed in another Letter, is found in my Parisian and Quevilly Editions of the Discipline, yet injoined by the National Synods held at St. Foy, 1578. Canon 21. of General Matters. The second of Rochel, 1581. Art. 41. Explaining the 26 Canon in the last Chap∣ter of the Discipline, and the Synod of Montauban, 1594. Canon 45. of Gene∣ral Matters.

• CAN. XXVII. All Dances shall be supprest, and such as make a Trade of Dancing, or make Custom of being present at Dances, having been sundry times ad∣monished, in case they prove contumacious and Rebellious, they shall be Excommunicated, and all Consistories are charged to see that this Canon be most heedfully kept and observed, and in the name of God, and by the Authority of this Synod, that it be read publickly in their Churches. And Colloquies and Provincial Synods are exhorted to have an observing eye on those Consistories, which shall not perform their duty in this particular, that they may be censured.

  N.B. Provincial Synods is left out by pure omission from my other Editions but those of Paris and Quevilly.

• CAN. XXVIII. Mummings and Juglings shall not be suffered, nor Wassail-days, nor keeping of Shrovetide, nor Players at Heypass, nor Tumblers, nor Tricks of Goblets, nor Puppet-Plays; and Christian Magistrates are exhorted not to permit them, because they do feed curiosity, and cause a great deal of waste and loss of time. Moreover it shall not be lawful for the Faithful to go to Comedies, Tragedies, Interludes, Farces, or other Stage-Plays, acted in publick or private, because in all Ages these have been forbidden among Christians, as bringing in a corruption of good Manners, but then most of all when as the Sacred Scriptures come to be profaned. Yet nevertheless when as in a Colledge it shall be found profitable for Youth to represent any History, it may be tolerated; (provided always, that the subject matter thereof be not comprised in the holy Scripture: which was never given us for matter of sport, but purely to be Preached for our Instruction and Com∣fort.) And this also shall be done very rarely, and with advice of the Col∣loquy, which shall first have the sight and perusal of the Composition.
• CAN. XXIX. All Plays forbidden by the Kings Edicts, as Cards, Dice, and other Games of hazard, avarice, lasciviousness, notorious loss of time, or scan∣dal, shall be suppressed, and the Persons reproved, and admonished in the Consistories, and censured according to Circumstances. No Lotteries can be approved, although they were or were not allowed by the Civil Magi∣strate: and the godly Magistrates professing the Reformed Religion, are exhorted to restrain them.

• ...

  N. B. This last Clause of the Canon is only in my two Editions of Paris and Quevilly.

• CAN. XXX. It is a thing purely indifferent to be present at those Feasts and Banquets which are made by those of the Popish Religion, when as they are Espou∣sed, Married, or their Children are born. However the Faithful are ad∣monished to use them for edification, and seriously to ponder with them∣selves whether they be Masters of so much strength as to resist the dissolu∣tions and other evils committed at them, and especially whether they can reprove them. And under these Feasts those are not to be comprised, which Priests make at the Celebration of their first Mass; for it is utterly unlaw∣ful for any one who 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, 'tis 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 of∣fence.
• 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, Collo∣quies, or Provincial Synods have power to add, change or diminish, with∣out 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-Mem∣bers were ordered and conduced. As to their Ministers in the worst times it was strictly exercised upon them. If any of them proved Scanda∣lous 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 De∣posed 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 Cere∣monious 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 remain∣ders pining away in their Dispersions and Exiles) to appear before them, and give an account of his Preaching within their Jurisdiction, and spread∣ing 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 won∣dered at their quarrels with him, and the Frenth Churches, who abhorred those fierce digladiations with which the German Churches and Universi∣ties 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.* 2.10 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 Galile∣ans 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 up∣ward 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 won∣derfully 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 Nor∣mandy 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 'tis as clear as the Sun at Noon-day, that the summ is vastly more. For 'tis 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, 275, 276, 277.

SECT. XIV.

THE Churches after the Parisian Massacre were at a stand. That De∣luge of Protestant Blood, which was then shed had exhausted their best Spirits. Multitudes were frighted out of their Native Land, which like another Akeldama devoured Men, ate up its Inhabitants; and others were frighted out of their Religion. In such a dreadful Hurricane as that was, no wonder if some leaves, unripe fruit, and rotten withered Branches fell to the Earth, and were lost irrecoverably. However, a Remnant esca∣ped, and, which was no less than a Miracle, generally the Ministers, God Reserving them to gather in another Harvest. And the Churches in many places revived. God staying the rough Wind in the day of his East Wind, and giving them a breathing time, a little reviving under their hard Bond∣age. They declined not much in number for two and twenty years after. But Henry the Fourth having been exalted to the Throne of France by the Reformed Party, and revolting from them unto the Popish, and embracing that Religion that he might be secured in the Throne, the Interest of the Churches did from that day decline visibly. Many of the Nobility imitated their King in his Apostasie. And the united Example of King and Nobi∣lity had a most pernicious influence upon the Populace. All the Arts and Tricks of the Court were set on foot to palliate the King's Prevarication, and to divide and weaken the Reformed.* 2.11 There arose a Combination of Men, such as Morlas, Rotan, de Serres, &c. who were for accommoding and re∣conciling the two Religions. And these were put upon it by the Bribes and Pensions of the Romish Clergy, and Promises of great Preferments. They declaim against the nakedness and simplicity of the Reformed Religion, and cry up the necessity and beauty of Pomp and Ceremony,* 2.12 which made the Roman Religion so august and venerable in their Eyes, blinded with Am∣bition and Covetousness. The National Synods of Saumur, Montauban, Mont∣pellier and Privas, did what they could to stem the Current, and to pre∣vent these avaritious Spirits from doing mischief unto their Churches. They threaten and order all Accommodators of the two Religions to be actually deposed, as being the Servants of Mammon, not of God. This did some∣thing, and it stopped the Gap for the present. And when the Court saw they could not break the Union of the Reformed, and that they were yet a very considerable Party for Wisdom, Strength, Resolution, Union, Courage and Conduct: Things being also unsetled in the State, and the Spaniard sit∣ting close upon the Skirts of the King, and possibly he retaining yet some love and sparks of Gratitude for his old Friends of the Reformed Religion, and not counting it safe to exasperate them any more, he granted them a Fundamental and Irrevocable Edict at Nantes in Brittaine, April 1598. for their Liberty and Security.

SECT. XV. The King's Edict for pacifying the Troubles of the Kingdom, made at Nantes in the Month of April, 1598. and published in Parliament, February 15. 1599. As also those particular Articles about it which were afterward verified in Parliament.

HEnry by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre.

To all present and to come, Greeting.

Among those infinite Favours which God hath been pleased graciously to vouchsafe unto us, this must be confessed by all to be one of the most remarkable and illustrious, that he hath en∣dowed us with that Courage and Vritue, as not to be over-born with those dreadful Troubles, Disorders, and Confusions, which we encountered with at our first coming unto the Crown. For the Kingdom was then di∣vided into so many Parts and Factions, that that which was the most just and lawful was become the least and weakest; and yet notwithstanding we were so supported against the assaults of those storms, that we have at length surmounted them, and are now safely arriv'd at the Port of Peace, and have setled the state in repose and tranquillity. For which let God only have the Praise and Glory, to whom it is most peculiarly due, and let our Subjects also be sensible of his Grace, and their obligation to us, that he hath honoured us to be his Servant in the Production of so good a Work, which, as all of them may see, is not only the fruit and effect of our Duty and Authority, but of something else, which possibly at another time might not have been so fit and convenient for our Royal Dignity, exposed by us without fear unto the greatest Dangers, as we have very frequently and freely hazarded our Life also. And for as much as there was a great con∣course of arduous and perillous Affairs, which could not possibly be compo∣sed all at once, we were necessitated to use this method, First, to under∣take them, which could not be terminated by any other way or means than those of Force and Arms, and to defer and suspend for some time the executing and dispatch of others, which ought and might have been finished by Reason and Justice; such were those general differences between our Subjects, and those particular Diseases, which had seized on the sounder parts of the State, which we conceived might be more easily cured, when as the principal cause was removed, which was the continuance of the Civil War. And now having (through the grace of God) well and hap∣pily succeeded in it, and all Arms and Hostilities being wholly ceased with∣in the Kingdom, we have great hopes, that we shall be as successful in those other Affairs, which are yet to be decided, and that by this means we shall be enabled to establish a good, firm, and durable Peace and Tran∣quillity, at which we have ever levell'd and aimed in our Vows and In∣tentions, and which hath been the designed prize of all our painful Labours and Travails, undergone by us during the whole course of our Life. Among those Affairs which have most exercised our Patience, the principal and chiefest were the Complaints brought in unto us from our Catholick Towns and Provinces, That the exercise of the Catholick Religion was not univer∣sally restored, as had been imported by the former Edicts made for pacify∣ing the Troubles occasioned by Religion: And also the Petitions and Remonstrances tendered to us by our Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion, for that those Edicts granted them were not at all executed, and for that they desired some further Concessions to be accorded to them about the exercise of their said Religion, the Liberty of their Con∣sciences,

and the security of their Persons, Lives, and Fortunes: They presuming, that they had too just grounds to fear and appre∣hend new and greater dangers, because of the last Troubles and Commo∣tions, of which the first and main pretext and foundation was their utter ruine. Wherefore, that we might not overburden our selves with too great a load of businesses all at once, and for that the fury of War is incompatible with the Constitution of good and wholesome Laws, we did prudently de∣fer and delay their full and particular satisfaction, till such time as we might make the best provision for them that could be desired. And now at last, through the divine goodness, enjoying a greater quiet than ever, we be∣lieved, that we could not better employ our selves, than in those concerns of the glory of his holy name and service, and that he may he religiously adored, invocated, and worshipped by all our Subjects, and although it be not his good pleasure to permit at this time, that it should be in one and the self-same form and mode of Religion, yet at least that it may be with one and the self-same mind and intention, and in such an order and manner, as there may not be any trouble or tumult among them for it, that so both we our selves, and this Kingdom, may always merit and preserve that glo∣rious Title entail'd upon us by the noble Atchievements of our Progenitors, of being the Most Christian: and so by this means to remove the cause of all those evils and troubles, which might fall out upon the score and account of Religion, they being of all others the most spreading, taking, and influ∣ential. For these reasons, we knowing that this was an affair of the great∣est importance, and meriting our best thoughts and deepest consideration, after we had taken in hand the Bills of Grievances presented us by our Ro∣man Catholick Subjects, and had permitted our other Subjects of the afore∣said pretended Reformed Religion, to assemble themselves by their Depu∣ties to prepare their Bills also, and to bring them in together with their Remonstrances unto us, and had several Conferences with them about those very matters at sundry and divers times, and revised all former Edicts, we have judged needful now upon the whole to give unto all our said Sub∣jects one, and that a general, clear, plain, and absolute Law, by which they may be ruled and governed in and about all those differences, which have heretofore fallen out, or may hereafter happen and fall out among them, which, 'tis our hope, will most effectually contribute to their mutual and full contentment upon all occasions and emergencies whatsoever. Sith, that we never deliberated nor advised with our Privy-Council about it, upon any other ground or respect, than that great zeal which we have for God's Service and Glory, and that he may be more religiously obeyed and wor∣shiped by all our said Subjects, and that there might be setled and establish∣ed among them, a good, and firm, and durable Peace; For the obtaining of which, we do most devoutly implore and wait upon his Divine Good∣ness, hoping and expecting the continuance thereof, and of that wonderful Protection and Favour he hath always most illustriously vouchsafed unto this Kingdom, from its first Foundations laid many hundred years ago un∣to this very day, and that he will be so merciful unto our said Subjects, as to give them to understand, that in the observation of this our Law, con∣sists (next and after their duty unto God and us) the principal basis and ground-work of their Union, Concord, Tranquillity and Peace, and the setling and restoration of the whole state in its primitive splendour, opu∣lency, and power: As we for our part do purpose, resolve and promise, to see that it be exactly observed, without suffering it in any manner to be transgressed or violated. For these Causes, We with the Advice of the Princes of our Blood, and other Princes and Officers of the Crown, and other great and Honourable Persons in our Council of State, who are near about us, and attend upon us, having well and diligently pondered and

considered this whole affair, we have by this perpetual and irrevocable Edict, said, declared, and Ordained, and we do say, declare, and Ordain,

I. In the first place, That the sense and remembrance of all matters passed both on the one side and the other, from the beginning of March in the year 1585. unto the day of our coming unto the Crown, and during all the preceding Troubles, and all causes and occasions of them, shall be for ever suppressed and forgotten, as if they had never been. Nor shall it be lawful for our Attorney-Generals, or any other Persons whatsoever, whether publick or private, at any time, or on any occasions that may be, to men∣tion, sue, implead, or prosecute for them in any of our Courts or Ju∣risdictions whatsoever.

II. We forbid all our Subjects, whatsoever their Estate or Quality may be, to revive the memory of past matters, or to assault, incense, injure, pro∣voke, or reproach one the other upon those accounts, or upon any cause or pretext whatsoever, to dispute, contend, or quarrel with, or to wrong and offend any one, either in word or deed; but that they contain them∣selves within bounds, and live together peaceably as Brethren, Friends, and Fellow-Citizens, on pain of punishing the Transgressors as Breakers of the Peace, and Disturbers of the quiet and settlement of the Common-wealth.

III. We Ordain, That the Roman, Catholick, and Apostolick Religion shall be restored and set up again in all places and quarters of this our Kingdom, and in all other our Dominions subject to us, where the exercise thereof hath been intermitted, that it may be peaceably and freely exercised with∣out any trouble, lett, or hinderance. And we do most straitly forbid all Persons, whatsoever their quality, estate, or condition may be, upon the Penalties before-mentioned, to trouble, molest, or disquiet the Eccle∣siasticks in the Celebration of Divine Service, or in the receiving or injoy∣ment of their Tithes, Emoluments and Revenues of their Benefices, and of all other rights and duties appertaining to them. And that all persons, who in the late troubles, have seized upon Churches, Houses, Goods and Revenues belonging to the said Ecclesiasticks, and who do possess and occu∣py them, do entirely relinquish the same, and do peaceably resign and yield up their possession and enjoyment of them, and of all rights, priviledges and securities unto those Churchmen who are disseized of them. Moreover we do most straitly forbid all those of the said pretended Reformed Religi∣on, to have any Sermons preached, or any other exercise of their Religion aforesaid in any Churches, Houses, or other Habitations of those the said Ecclesiasticks.

IV. And the said Ecclesiasticks shall have full liberty to buy those Houses and Edifices which have been built, not upon holy but profane grounds, taken from them in the late troubles, or to compel the Possessors of the said Build∣ings to purchase the land of them, at a certain rate and price, which shall be estimated and set upon it by persons of judgment and experience in such matters, and for which both the Parties shall agree. And in case of non-agreement between them, the Judges of those places shall determine, saving always to the said Possessors, that they may have recourse at Law against the Proprietors. And in those places in which the said Ecclesiasticks shall compel the said Possessors to buy the Land, the Moneys accruing from the said purchace shall not be paid into their hands, but the said Possessors shall be accountable for them, and shall pay interest for them at the rate of five

per Cent. until such time as the Principal may be better disposed for the pro∣fit of the Church. All which shall be done within the term and space of one year. And when as that time shall be laps'd, if the said Purchaser shall refuse to pay any longer the said rent of Interest, he shall be acquitted, by delivering up the purchace-moneys into the hands of a sufficient responsible Person, by the authority of a Judg. And as for places Consecrated, there shall be an especial care taken by those Commissioners, who shall be ap∣pointed to put this present Edict in Execution, according to particular Orders and Instructions, which they shall receive from us.

V. However no grounds nor places occupied in the repairing and fortifying of the Cities and Garrisons of our Kingdom, nor any of the materials em∣ployed therein shall be claimed or redemanded by those Ecclesiasticks, nor by any other publick or private Persons, unless the said Reparations and Fortifications shall be demolished by express Orders from us.

VI. And that we may leave no occasion of troubles and differences among our Subjects, we have permitted, and do permit all those who profess the said pretended Reformed Religion, to live and dwell in all Towns, Cities, and places whatsoever of this our Kingdom, without ever being sued, vexed, molested, or constrained to do any thing upon the account of their Religi∣on against their Conscience, nor shall they by reason thereof be examined or searched for in those Houses and places in which they would inhabit, they always behaving themselves in all things according to the import of this present Edict.

VII. We have also permitted unto all Lords, Gentlemen, and other Persons, as well Natives of the Kingdom as others, who make profession of the said Reformed Religion, and have in this our Kingdom, and the Land of our Obedience, the priviledge of High Justice, i. e. Authority to judge and de∣termine in Criminal and Capital matters, or a whole Fief of Haubert, i. e. to serve us compleatly armed in our Wars (as there be many such in our Dukedom of Normandy) whether they hold it as Proprietors, or as Usu∣fructuaries, in the whole, or by the moiety, or by a third part, to have in any one of their Houses of High Justice aforesaid, or Fiefs aforesaid, which they shall be bound to nominate before every one of our Bayliffs and Seneschals, in his or their respective districts, for their principal dwelling House, the exercise of the said Religion, as long as they shall reside in it, and in their absence, whilst their Wives, or their Family, or else any part of it is there. And although the right of Justice, or the Fief of Haubert should be controverted, yet nevertheless the exercise of the said Religion may be there performed, provided that those persons aforesaid who profess the said Religion, be in actual possession of the said High Justice; yea, and although our Attorney-General himself were the Party against them. We do also permit them to have the said exercise in all their other Houses of High Justice, or Fiefs of Haubert aforesaid, at all times when as they are present in them, but not otherwise. The whole as well for themselves, their Family, their Tenants, and all other persons whatsoever who shall please to go unto the said Houses for Religious Worship.

VIII. But in those Houses of Fiefs, where those of the said Religion have not the priviledge of high Justice, or Fief of Haubert, they shall injoy the ex∣ercise of their Religion for their Families only. Yet nevertheless, if other

persons, even to the number of thirty over and above the Family should come thither, whether it be upon the occasion of Baptisms, or Friendly Visits, or otherwise, 'tis not our intention that they shall be sought after for this; provided always those Houses aforesaid be not in any Cities, Towns, or Villages, belonging unto Catholick Lords, who have the right and pri∣viledge of high Justice, as we our self have, and in which the said Catho∣lick Lords have their Houses: In which case those of the said Religion may not exercise it in the said Cities, Towns, or Villages, unless it be by Permission and Licence from the said Lords High Justicers, and not other∣wise.

IX. We do also permit unto those of the said Religion to have and continue the exercise thereof in all Cities and Places under our Obedience, in which it had been established and publickly solemnized for sundry and divers times in the year one thousand, five hundred, ninety and six, and in the year one thousand, five hundred, ninety and seven, until the end of August last, not∣withstanding any Decrees or Judgments to the contrary.

X. Moreover the exercise of the said Religion may be established and resto∣red in all Cities and places in which it was established, or ought to have been established by the Edict of Pacification made in the year 1577. and ac∣cording to the secret Articles and Conferences made and held at Nerac and Fleix: nor shall the said establishment be in the least hindred in the Lands of those Towns and places given by the said Edict, Articles, and Conferences for the places of Bailywicks, or which may be hereafter, al∣though they may have been since alienated unto Persons of the Roman Ca∣tholick Religion, or may be hereafter alienated unto such. But yet never∣theless 'tis not our mind nor meaning, that the exercise of the Religion aforesaid, should be restored in those places and dwellings of the said De∣means, which were formerly possessed by those of the pretended Reformed Religion, in which it had been set up out of pure respect unto their persons, or because of the priviledges of those Fiefs, if now those Fiefs aforesaid be at present possessed by persons professing the said Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Religion.

XI. Moreover in every one of those ancient Bailywicks, Seneschallies, and Governments, and reputed Bailywicks, clearly and immediately depending upon our Courts of Parliament, We do Ordain, That in the Suburbs of one Town, over and besides those other Towns, which have been accorded to them by the said Edict, secret Articles, and Conferences, and in such Baily∣wicks where there be no Towns, there shall be a certain determined place in a Burrough or Village of the said Bailywicks, in which the exercise of the said pretended Reformed Religion, shall be publickly performed by all persons whatsoever, who will go unto it; although that in the said Bai∣lywicks, Seneschallies, and Governments, there be already several other places in which the exercise of the said Religion is established, excepting always by the said place of Bailywick newly granted by this present Edict, those Cities in which there is a Bishoprick, or Archbishoprick: but yet this shall not in the least prejudice those of the said pretended Reformed Re∣ligion, so as to disable them from demanding or nominating, for the said place of Worship, the Burroughs and Villages near unto the said Cities; ex∣cepting also the places and Lordships belonging unto the Ecclesiasticks, in which 'tis not our Intention that the said second place of Bailywick should he established: We having out of our special Grace and Favour excepted and reserved them. And we will and understand, that by and under the

name of ancient Bailywicks, be meant those which were in being during the Reign of our Honoured Lord and Father-in-Law, the late King Henry the Second, and were reputed for Bailywicks, Seneschallies, and Govern∣ments depending immediately on the Jurisdiction of our Courts aforesaid.

XII. Nor do we intend by this present Edict to derogate from those Edicts and Grants, which we have formerly made for the reducing of divers Princes, Lords, Gentlemen, and Catholick Towns unto our obedience by any thing which concerneth the exercise of the said Religion; which E∣dicts and Grants shall be maintained and observed in this particular, accord∣ing to the import of those Instructions, which shall be given by us unto those Commissioners, who shall be appointed for the executing of this pre∣sent Edict.

XIII. We do most strictly forbid all those of the said Religion to exercise any part thereof, whether as to the Ministry, or Order, or Discipline, or pub∣lick Instruction of Children, and any others in this our Kingdom, or any Lands under our Dominion, in what concerneth the said Religion, unless in those places permitted and granted by this present Edict.

XIV. As also there shall be no exercise of the said Religion in our Court or Retinue, nor in our Territories or Countries on the other side of the Alps, nor also in our City of Paris, nor within five Leagues of the said City. Yet notwithstanding the Professors of the said Religion, who live in the Terri∣tories and Countries on the other side of the Alps, and in our said City, and within five Leagues thereof, shall not be sought after in their Houses, nor be obliged to do any thing upon the account of the Religion aforesaid against their Consciences, provided that they do in all other things demean themselves according to the import of this present Edict.

XV. Nor may the publick exercise of the said Religion be performed in our Armies, unless in the Quarters of the Chieftains professing the said Reli∣gion; excepting always the place where our Royal Person shall be Lodged.

XVI. In pursuance of the second Article of the Conference at Nerac, we do not permit those of the said Religion to build places for its exercise in those Towns and places, where we have granted it unto them; and those which they have already built shall be restored to them, or the Landlord of them, in that condition in which it is at present, and that in those places, where the said exercise is not permitted them, unless they have been since con∣verted into some other kind of Buildings. In which case, they, who now possess the said Edifices, and Buildings, Lands and places of equal price and value, according as they were rated, before they had built them, or their just price, as they shall be estimated by persons of skill and judgment in such matters. Saving always to the said Proprietors and Possessors their recourse against all to whom they may belong.

XVII. We forbid all Preachers, Readers, and other Persons, who speak in pub∣lick, to use any words, discourses, or talk, which tendeth to stir up the People unto Sedition. Yea, we have enjoined, and do enjoin and Command them to contain and deport themselves soberly, and to speak nothing but

what may be for the instruction and edification of their Hearers, and that they maintain the repose and tranquillity established by us in our said King∣dom under those penalties expressed in our former Edicts. Enjoining most strictly our Attorneys General, and their Substitutes, that according to the duties of their Office they do make information against those who shall break and transgress this our Law, upon pain of answering for it in their own private and particular Capacities, and of forfeiting their Offices.

XVIII. We do also forbid all our Subjects of whatever quality or condition they may be, to take away by force, or by inticements, against the will of their Parents, the Children of those of the said Religion, and to cause them to be baptized or confirmed in the Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Church; as also the same Prohibitions are made by us against those of the said pre∣tended Reformed Religion, and all this on pain of exemplary punishment.

XIX. The Professors of the said pretended Reformed Religion, shall not be in any manner constrained, nor stand obliged by reason of Abjurations, Pro∣mises, and Oaths, which they have made heretofore, or for any securities given by them, upon the account of the said Religion, nor shall they be molested nor troubled in any manner whatsoever.

XX. They shall be bound also to keep and observe the Holy-Days Comman∣ded by the Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Church, nor may they work, sell, nor keep open Shops on those Days, nor may Artificers work out of their Shops, unless it be in their Chambers, and Houses close shut upon those Holy-Days, and other days prohibited, in any Trade, so that the noise thereof should be heard without by the Passengers or Neighbours. However none but the Officers of Justice shall make inquiry after it.

XXI. Nor may any Books of the said pretended Reformed Religion be Printed or sold publickly, unless in those Towns and Places where the publick Ex∣ercise of the said Religion is allowed. And as for other Books, which shall be imprinted in other Towns, they shall be seen and perused, as well by our Officers as by Divines; according to the import of our Decrees. And we do most strictly forbid the Imprinting, Publishing, and Sale of all Books, Libels, and defamatory Writings, under the Penalties contained in our Decrees; and we enjoin all our Judges and other Officers to look care∣fully unto it.

XXII. We do Ordain, That there shall be no difference nor distinction made upon the account of Religion, in the receiving of Scholars for their Edu∣cation in Universities, Colledges, and Schools, and of sick and poor Per∣sons into Hospitals, and Spittles, or to the participation of publick Alms.

XXIII. Those of the said pretended Reformed Religion shall be obliged to keep the Laws of the Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Church, received in this our Kingdom about Marriages Contracted, or to be Contracted with∣in the degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity.

XXIV. In like manner those of the said Religion shall pay according to the usual Custom, the Fees for entrance into those Offices and Charges, which are bestowed upon them, without ever being compelled to assist at any Cere∣monies contrary to their said Religion: and when ever they be called to take an Oath, they shall not be obliged to do it in any other manner than by listing up of their Hand, Swearing and promising by God, that they will speak the truth, nor shall they be bound to take out a Dispensation for that Oath given by them in passing of Contracts and Obligations.

XXV. We Will and Ordain, That all those of the said pretended Reformed Re∣ligion, and all others who have followed their Party, of whatsoever estate, quality or condition they may be, shall be bound and constrained by all due and reasonable ways, and under the penalties contained in our Edicts, to pay and deliver unto Curates, and other Ecclesiasticks, and to any other Persons to whom they do belong, the Tithes, according to the use and cu∣stom of the places in which they be.

XXVI. All disinheritings or privations, made either by disposition of the Living, or Testamentary of the dying out of hatred, or upon the account of Religion only, shall no more take place, either for time past, or for the future, a∣mong our said Subjects.

XXVII. And that we may use our best skill for reuniting the hearts of our Subjects, as it is our Intention, and that we may take out of the way all Complaints for the future, We do declare, that all those who do or shall make pro∣fession of the said pretended Reformed Religion, shall be capable of hold∣ing and exercising all publick, Royal, or Seignoral Estates, Dignities, Of∣fices, and Charges whatsoever, or in and belonging to the Cities of our Kingdom, the Countries, Territories, and Lordships under our Obedi∣ence, notwithstanding all Oaths to the contrary; and they shall be indiffe∣rently admitted and received into them, and our Courts of Parliament shall content themselves and all other Judges with an Information and En∣quiry, into the Life, Manners, Religion, and civil Conversation of those, who shall be provided unto those Offices, as well of the one Religion as of the other, without exacting from them any other Oath than to serve the King well and faithfully in the exercise of their Charges, and to keep the Laws, as hath been in all times observed. And when as ever those said Estates, Charges, and Offices shall become vacant, which are in our gift and disposal, we will bestow them indifferently, and without distinction of persons, upon those who are capable of them, as being a matter tending very much to the Union of our Subjects. And 'tis our mind and meaning, that those of the said pretended Reformed Religion, shall be admitted and received into all Councils, Deliberations, Assemblies, and Functions which depend upon those matters aforesaid; so that upon the account of the said Religion they may not be excluded, nor hindred from the injoyment of them.

XXVIII. And we do Ordain, That in all Cities and places of this Kingdom, there shall be speedily provided in every one of them, by our Officers and Ma∣gistrates, and by those Commissioners, whom we shall Constitute for the executing of this our present Edict, a place as commodious as may be for the Interrment of the dead of the said Religion. And those Burying places,

which they have had heretofore, and of which they have been deprived by reason of the late troubles, whatever their quality was, shall be re∣stored to them, unless that it appear, that they be now at present occupied by Edifices and Buildings, in which case they shall be provided of some others freely.

XXIX. We most straitly injoin our said Officers to put to their hand, that there be no scandal committed at the said Interrments; and they shall be bound within a fortnight after it shall be required of them, to provide for those of the said Religion a commodious place for the said Burials, without using any protractions or delays, on pain of being fined in their own private Ca∣pacities the summ of five hundred Crowns. And the said Officers and all other persons are forbidden to exact any thing for the convoying of the dead Corps, upon pain of being guilty of Extorsion.

XXX. That Justice may be rendred and administred unto our Subjects with∣out any suspicion of hatred or favour, which is one of the chiefest means to preserve them in Peace and Concord, we have Ordained, and do Ordain, that there shall be established in our Court of Parliament at Paris a Cham∣ber composed of a President and sixteen Counsellors of the said Parliament, which shall be called and entitled the Chamber of the Edict, and it shall not only take cognisance of the causes and processes of those who profess the said pretended Reformed Religion, and live within the Jurisdiction of the said Court, but also in the Districts and Jurisdiction of our Parliaments of Normandy and Brittain, according to that Authority which shall be at∣tributed to it by this present Edict, and this until such time as in every one of those Parliaments there shall be a Chamber established to distribute Ju∣stice upon the Places. We do also farther Ordain, that of four Offices of Counsellors in our Parliament aforesaid remaining of our last Erection, four Persons professing the said pretended Reformed Religion, being qualified and capable of them, and the said Offices be vacant and to be distributed, shall be invested with them, and received into the said Parliament; to wit, the first shall be received in the said Chamber of the Edict, and the other three in order shall be received into the three Chambers of Inquests. More∣over that of the two first Offices of Lay-Counsellors, which become vacant by death, two persons professing the said pretended Reformed Religion, shall be provided of them, and these being received shall also be distributed into the two other Chambers of Inquests.

XXXI. Besides that Chamber heretofore established at Castres, for the Extent and Jurisdiction of our Court of Parliament of Thoulouse, which shall be con∣tinued in the state in which it is; We have for the self-same Considerations Ordained, and do Ordain, that in every one of our Courts of Parliament of Grenoble and Bourdeaux, there shall be in like manner a Chamber established composed of two Presidents, the one a Catholick, and the other of the pre∣tended Reformed Religion, and of twelve Counsellors, six of whom shall be Catholicks, and the other six of the said Religion, which Catholick Pre∣sidents and Counsellors shall be taken and chosen by us out of the Bodies of our Courts aforesaid. And as for those of the said Religion, there shall be a new Creation of a President and six Counsellors for the Parliament of Bour∣deaux, and of a President and three Counsellors for that of Grenoble, who together with those three Counsellors of the said Religion, who are now in the said Parliament, shall be imployed in the said Chamber of Dolphiny. And the said Offices of the new Creation shall be Created to the same Wa∣ges,

Honours, Authorities, and Preheminencies as those others in the said Courts. And the said Chamber of Bourdeaux, shall sit either at Bourdeaux, or at Nerac, and that of Dolphiny at Grenoble.

XXXII. The said Chamber of Dolphiny shall take cognisance of the Causes of those of the said pretended Reformed Religion within the Jurisdiction of our Parliament of Provence, they not needing to take out Letters of Evocation, or other Provisions, but in our Chancery of Dolphiny: As also those of the said Religion in Normandy and Brittaine, shall not be obliged to take out Letters of Evocation, nor other Provisions but from our Court of Chan∣cery in Paris.

XXXIII. Our Subjects of the Reformed Religion in the Jurisdiction of the Parliament of Burgundy, shall according to their will and choice, plead in the Chamber ordained for that purpose, either in the Parliament of Paris, or in that of Dol∣phiny. And they also shall not be bound to take out Letters of Evocation, nor any other provisions, unless from out of the said Chanceries of Paris or Dolphiny, at their choice and pleasure.

XXXIV. All these said Chambers composed as aforesaid shall take cognisance, try and judge Soveraignly, and without Appeal, by Decree, privatively of all others, of all Suits and Differences moved or to be moved, in which those of the said pretended Reformed Religion shall be the principal Parties, or Defendants, in demanding or defending, in all matters, as well Civil as Criminal, whether the said Suits and Processes be by writing, or by verbal Appeals, and if it seem good unto the said Parties, and one of them do re∣quire it before the Cause come to be contested, with respect unto the Pro∣cesses which may be moved; excepting always all matters beneficiary, and the Possessors of Tithes not impropriated, Patronages of Churches, and those Causes in which the rights and duties, and Demean of the Church shall be debated, all which shall be tryed and judged in the Courts of Par∣liament, without granting any power unto the said Chambers of the Edict to take Cognisance of them. As also we will, that when as Criminal Pro∣cesses shall fall out between the said Ecclesiasticks, and those of the said pre∣tended Reformed Religion: if the Ecclesiastical Person be Defendant, in this Case the Cognisance and Judgments of the Criminal Process shall be∣long unto our Soveraign Courts, privatively of the said Chambers: or if the said Ecclesiastical Person be Plaintiff, and he of the said Religion De∣fendant, the Cognisance and Judgment of the said Criminal Process shall belong by Appeal, and finally without Appeal unto those Chambers before∣said established. Moreover those said Chambers shall take Cognisance in times of Vacations of matters attributed by the Edicts and Ordinances unto the Chambers established in time of Vacation, every one of them in their Jurisdiction.

XXXV. The said Chamber of Grenoble shall be from this instant united and incor∣porated with the Body of the said Court of Parliament, and the Presidents and Counsellers of the said pretended Reformed Religion, shall be accoun∣ted and called the Presidents and Counsellors of the said Court, and shall be reckoned and taken in the rank, quality, and number of them. And for these ends they shall be first distributed by the other Chambers, and then extracted and drawn out from among them to be imployed and serve in that which we ordain anew; but always on this condition, that they shall assist, and have Voice and Sessions in all Deliberations that shall be made,

when as the Chambers are Assembled: and they shall enjoy the same Salla∣ries, Authorities and Preheminencies, which the other Presidents and Counsellors of the said Court do.

XXXVI. We will, and it is our mind and intention, that the said Chambers of Castres and Bourdeaux, shall be reunited and incorporated in those Parlia∣ments in the same form as others, when as there shall be need of it, and that the Causes which have moved us to make the establishment shall cease, and there shall be no place left for them among our Subjects: And to this purpose the Presidents and Counsellors in them of the said Religion, shall be accounted and held for Presidents and Counsellors of the said Courts.

XXXVII. There shall be also a new Creation and Erection in the Chamber Ordain∣ed for the Parliament of Bourdeaux, of two Substitutes of our Attorney and Advocate-Generals, one of which said Proctors shall be a Catholick, and another of the said Religion, who shall be possessed of the said Offices with competent Sallaries.

XXXVIII. And the said Substitutes shall not take unto themselves any other quality than that of Substitutes, and when as the Chambers ordained for the Par∣liaments of Tholouse and Bourdeaux shall be united and incorporated with the said Parliaments, the said Substitutes shall be provided of Offices of Counsellors in them.

XXXIX. The Dispatches of the Chancery of Bourdeaux shall be made in presence of two Counsellors of that Chamber, one of which shall be a Catholick, and the other of the said pretended Reformed Religion, in the absence of one of the Masters of Requests of our Houshold. And one of the No∣taries and Secretaries of the said Court of Parliament of Bourdeaux, shall make his Residence in the place where the said Chamber shall be establish∣ed, or else one of the ordinary Secretaries of the Chancery, to sign the Dispatches of the said Chancery.

XL. We Will and Ordain, That in the said Chamber of Bourdeaux there shall be two of the Register of the said Parliament, the one for Civil, the other for Criminal Causes, who shall discharge their Offices by our Commissions, and shall be called the Deputies or Commissioners in the Civil and Crimi∣nal Office of the Register, who notwithstanding may not be abandoned nor revoked by the said Registers in Parliament: Yet nevertheless they shall be bound to bring in the Emoluments of the said Registers Office un∣to the said Registers, and the said Deputies shall be paid their Sallaries by the said Registers, as it shall be advised and arbitrated by the said Cham∣ber. Moreover it shall be ordained, that the Catholick Ushers shall be ta∣ken out of the said Court, or from elsewhere, according to, our pleasure; over and besides which there shall be two new ones erected of the said Re∣formed Religion, and who shall be put into those places without payment of Fine or Fees. And all those said Ushers shall be regulated by the said Chamber, as well for the exercise and division of their offices, as for the E∣moluments, which they are to receive. There shall be also set up by Com∣mission, a Payer of Wages, and Receiver of Fines in the said Chamber, which office shall be given by us to whom we please, in case the said Chamber be established any where else than in the said City. And that Commission formerly granted unto the Payer of Wages in the Chamber of

Castres, shall be in full power and effect, and the Commission of the Receit of the Fines in the said Chamber shall be joined unto the said Office.

XLI. There shall be good and sufficient Assignments made for the Officers Wa∣ges in the Chambers ordained by this Edict.

XLII. The Presidents, Counsellors, and other Catholick Officers of the said Chambers, shall be continued as long as may be, and as we shall see meet for our service, and the benefit of our Subjects; and when any one shall be dismissed, others shall be provided and put into their places before their de∣parture, without ever being able, during the time of their service, to de∣part, or absent themselves from the said Chambers without leave, of which a judgment shall be made according to the Causes of that Ordinance.

XLIII. The said Chambers shall be established within six Months; till which time, (if the said Establishment should be so long delayed) the Processes moved, or that may be moved, in which those of the said Religion shall be Parties, within the Jurisdictions of our Parliaments of Paris, Rouen, Dijon, and Rennes, shall be called out unto the Chamber which is now established at Paris, by vertue of the Edict made in the year 1577. or else unto the great Council, at the choice and will of those of the said Religion, in case they shall require it. Those which shall be of the Jurisdiction of the Parliament of Bourdeaux unto the Chamber established in Castres, or unto the great Council, at their choice; and those which shall be of Provence, unto the Parliament of Grenoble. And if the said Chambers be not established within three Months after this our present Edict shall have been tendered to those our Parliaments, that Parliament which shall refuse so to do, shall be in∣terdicted the Cognisance and Judgment of their Causes who profess the said Reformed Religion.

XLIV. The Processes which are not as yet judged, hanging in the said Courts of Parliament and great Council, of the quality beforesaid, in whatsoever estate they may be, shall be dismissed over unto the said Chambers, and to their respective Jurisdictions, if one of the Parties being of the said Reli∣gion do so require it, within four Months after their Establishment: and as for those which shall be discontinued, and are not yet in a condition to be judged, those of the said Religion shall be bound to make Declaration at the first intimation and signification that shall be made them of their being prosecuted, and the said time being lapsed, they shall not be any more ad∣mitted to require such Dismissions.

XLV. The said Chambers of Grenoble, and Bourdeaux, as also that of Castres, shall keep to the Forms, and Stile of the Parliaments, in whose Jurisdiction they shall be established, and shall give judgment in an equal number, both of the one and other Religion, unless the Parties do consent that it should be otherwise.

XLVI. All Judges to whom the Executions of Decrees, Commissions of the said Chambers, and the Letters obtained out of their Chanceries shall be di∣rected, as also all Ushers and Sergeants shall be bound to put them in Exe∣cution, and the said Ushers and Sergeants shall execute all Warrants through∣out our Kingdom, without demanding a Placet, or a Visa ne pareatis, on

pain of being suspended from their Offices, and of paying the expences, dammages, and Interests of the Parties, the Cognisance of which shall ap∣pertain unto those Parties aforesaid.

XLVII. There shall be no Evocations of Causes granted, the Cognisance of which belongeth unto the said Chambers, unless in the Case of Ordinances, which shall be dismissed unto the next Chamber established according to our Edict, and the Division of the Processes of the said Chambers shall be judged of in the next, observing the proportion and forms of the said Chambers, from which the Processes shall be issued out; excepting for the Chamber of the Edict to our Parliament of Paris, where the several Processes shall be divi∣ded in the self-same Chamber by those Judges, which shall be appointed by us, and by our particular Letters to this very purpose; unless the said Par∣ties would rather wait for the Renovation of the said Chamber. And if it so fall out that one and the same Process should be divided among all those mixed Chambers, then the Division shall be dismissed over to the said Chamber of Paris.

XLVIII. When as there be exceptions made against the Presidents and Counsel∣lors of the mixed Chambers, they shall be only made against six of them, to which number the excepting Parties shall be bound to confine them∣selves; but if they will not, then there shall be a proceeding unto Tryal, without any regard had of the said Exceptions.

XLIX. The Examen of the Presidents and Counsellors newly erected, in the said mixed Chambers, shall be made in our Privy-Council, or by the said Chambers, every one in his District, when as there shall be a sufficient number of them: and yet nevertheless the Oath accustomed shall be taken by them in the Courts where those said Chambers shall be established; and if they refuse it in our Privy-Council; those of Languedoc always excepted, who shall make Oath before our Chancellor, or in that Chamber.

L. We Will and Ordain, that the Reception of our Officers of the said Re∣ligion shall be adjudged in the said mixed Chambers by plurality of Voices, as it hath been accustomed to be done in other Judgments, without any need of having more than two thirds of the Suffrages, according to that Ordinance, from which in this respect only there is a derogation.

LI. In the said mixed Chambers shall be handled the Propositions, Delibera∣tions, and Resolutions which belong unto the publick Peace, and the par∣ticular Estate and Government of the Towns in which those Chambers shall be.

LII. That Article of the Jurisdiction of the said Chambers, Ordained by this present Edict, shall be followed and observed according to its form and te∣nour, yea, and as to all concerns about the Execution, or Unexecution, or Infraction of our Edicts, when as those of the said Religion shall be Parties.

LIII. The Subalternate Royal Officers, or others, whose Reception appertain∣eth to our Courts of Parliament, if they be of the said pretended Reformed Religion, may be examined and received in the said Chambers: To wit,

those of the Jurisdictions of the Parliaments of Paris, Normandy, and Brittaine, in the said Chamber of Paris; those of Dolphiny and Provence, in the Cham∣ber of Grenoble; those of Burgundy in the Chamber of Paris, or of Dolphiny, at their own choice; those of the Jurisdiction of Tholouse in the Chamber of Castres, and those of the Parliament of Bourdeaux in the Chamber of Guienne, nor may any other Persons oppose their Reception, or become Parties against them, unless our Attorneys-General, or their Substitutes, and those who be provided unto the said Offices. Yet nevertheless the ac∣customed Oath shall be taken by them in the Courts of Parliament, which hath no power to take any Cognisance of their said Receptions; and in case those said Parliaments should refuse, the said Officers shall take their Oaths in the said Chambers, and after they have so took it, they shall be bound to present by an Usher or Notary the Act of their Receptions unto the Registers of the said Courts of Parliament, and to leave a Copy thereof collationed with the said Registers, who are injoined to Register those said Acts, upon pain of the expences, dammages, and interests of the Par∣ties; and in case the said Registers shall refuse so to do, it shall be enough for the said Officers to make report of the said Citation expedited by the said Ushers or Notary, and to cause it to be recorded in the Register of their own Jurisdiction, that so they may have recourse unto it when ever they shall need it, on pain of a nullity in all proceedings and judgments what∣soever. And as for those Officers who were never used to be received in those said Parliaments, in case those to whom it doth belong, should refuse to proceed unto the said Examen and Reception, the said Officers shall be∣take themselves unto the said Chambers, to be provided for as in that case it behoveth.

LIV. The Officers of the said pretended Reformed Religion, who shall be hereafter appointed to serve in the body of our Courts of Parliament aforesaid, in the great Council, Chamber of Accompts, Courts of Aid, Courts of the Gene∣ral-Treasurers of France, and other Officers of the Exchequer, shall be ex∣amined and received in those places where they have been accustomed to be, and in case of refusal, or denyal of Justice, they shall be provided for by our Privy-Council.

LV. The Reception of our Officers made in the Chamber formerly established at Castres, shall remain in force, notwithstanding all Decrees, and Orders to the contrary. And the Reception of Judges, Counsellors, Comptrol∣lers, and other Officers of the said Religion made in our Privy-Council, or by Commissioners ordained by us upon the refusal made by our Courts of Parliament, of Aids, and Chambers of Accompts, shall be valid as if they had been done in the said Courts and Chambers, and by those other Judges to whom the Reception doth belong: And their Salaries shall be allowed by the Chambers of Accompts, without any difficulty. And in case any of them hath been rased, they shall be restored, without needing any other Command than this present Edict, and without binding the said Officers to cause any other Reception to appear; notwithstanding all Decrees given unto the contrary, which shall abide null, and void, and of none effect.

LVI. And till that there be some way and means found out for defraying the charges of Justice in the said Chambers out of the Fines and Mulcts, that may be levied, we shall take care to provide some valuable and sufficient Assignments for the paying of those Charges, excepting always our rede∣manding the said summs out of the Goods and Estates of Condemned Per∣sons.

LVII. Presidents and Counsellors of the said pretended Reformed Religion, who were formerly received in our Court of Parliament of Dolphiny, and in the Chamber of the Edict incorporated with it, shall continue, and have their Sessions, and Orders in it, that is to say, The Presidents as they have en∣joyed, and do enjoy them at present, and the Counsellors according to the Decrees and Provisions which they have obtained in our Privy-Council.

LVIII. We declare all Sentences, Judgments, Arrests, Proceedings, Seizures, Sales, and Decrees made and given against those of the said pretended Re∣formed Religion, as well living as dead, since the Death of the late King Henry the Second, our Most Honoured Lord and Father-in-Law, upon accompt of the said Religion, the tumults and troubles since happened, together with the execution of those Judgments and Decrees from this present to be broken, revoked, and disannulled, and we do break, revoke, and disannul them. We ordain also; that they shall be rased and taken out of the Re∣gisters Office, and the Courts, as well Soveraign as Inferiour. As it is also our will, that all Marks, Prints, and Monuments of these Executions afore∣said, Books, and defamatory Acts against their Persons, Memories, and Posterity, shall be removed and blotted out: And that the places in which upon this occasion there have been demolitions and ruins, shall be restored in that Estate in which they are at present unto their Proprietors, who may enjoy and dispose of them as best pleaseth them. And in general we have broken, revoked, and disannulled all proceedings and Informations done upon the accompt of any Enterprises, pretended Crimes of High Trea∣son, and others; notwithstanding that such Procedures, Decrees and Judg∣ments, do contain Reunion, Incorporation, and Confiscation. And we will that those of the said Religion, and others who have followed their Party, and their Heirs do re-enter into the real and actual possession of all their goods and estates.

LIX. All Proceedings made, Judgments, and Decrees given in the late troubles against those of the said Religion, who have born Arms, or have departed the Kingdom, or are in it, in the Towns and Lands held by them, or for any other matter than that of Religion, and troubles; as also all non-suit∣ing of Causes, and Legal, Conventional and Customary Prescriptions, and Foedal Seizures happened during the late troubles, or by lawful Impedi∣ments proceeding from them, the cognisance of which shall abide with our Judges, shall be all esteemed as if not done, given, or happened; and we have declared, and do declare them to be such, and we have put, and do put them to nought, so that the Parties cannot be in the least holpen or be∣nefitted by them; so that they shall be remitted into that estate in which they were before, notwithstanding the said Decrees, and their Execution, and they shall be restored in this respect unto the possession of them. And all this as abovesaid shall in like manner take place for them, who have fol∣lowed the Party of them of the said Religion, or who have been absent from our Kingdom upon the accompt of the Troubles. And as for the Children Minors of those Persons of the quality abovesaid, who are dead in the late troubles, we leave those Parties in the same estate in which they were before, without refunding of the Expences, or being bound to make any amends. Yet nevertheless 'tis not our mind nor intention that those Judgments given by Presidial Judges, or other inferiour Judges against those of the said Religion, or who have followed their Party, should be

null, in case they were given by Judges sitting on the Bench in those Towns which were held by them, and whereunto they had free access.

LX. The Decrees given in our Courts of Parliament in matters whose Cog∣nisance belong unto the Chambers ordained by the Edict of the year 1577. and the Articles of Nerac and Flex, in which Courts the Parties have not proceeded voluntarily, that is to say, they have alledged and proposed de∣clinatory ends, or which have been given for default, or by fore-clusion, whether in Civil or Criminal matters, notwithstanding which ends the said Parties have been constrained to go on farther, they shall be in like manner null, and of no value. And as for those Decrees given against them of the said Religion who have proceeded voluntarily, and without proposing Declinatory Ends, those Decrees shall stand: Yet nevertheless, and without prejudice unto their Execution, they may, if it seem good unto them, provide against them by a Civil Request to the Chambers ordained by this present Edict, without suffering the time imported by those Ordinances to be ran out to their prejudice: And till such times as the said Chambers, and their Chanceries shall be established, Appeals either by word of mouth, or tendered in by writing by those of the said Religion before the Judges, Registers, or Deputies, Executors of the De∣crees and Judgments, shall have the same effect, as if they had been up∣lifted by Royal Letters.

LXI. In all Inquests which shall be for any cause whatsoever in civil mat∣ters, If the Inquisitor be a Catholick, the Parties shall be bound to agree among themselves of another to be in Conjunction with him: and in case they cannot agree, the said Inquisitor or Commissioner, shall by ver∣tue of his Office, take one unto himself who shall be of the said pretended Reformed Religion: And the same also shall be practised when as the Commissioner or Examiner shall be of the said Religion, he shall take an Assessor to himself, who shall be a Roman Catholick.

LXII. We Will and Ordain, that our Judges may take knowledge of the vali∣dity of Testaments, in which those of the said Religion are concerned, in case they do require it; and Appeals from those Judgments may be taken out from the said Chambers ordained for the Processes of those of the said Religion, notwithstanding all Customs to the contrary, yea and those of Brittain also.

LXIII. To prevent all differences which may fall out in our Courts of Parlia∣ment, and the Chambers of those Courts ordained by our present Edict, we shall make a good and ample Regulation betwixt the said Courts and Chambers, and such an one as that those of the said pretended Reformed Religion may intirely enjoy the benefit of the said Edict, which regula∣tion shall be verified in our Courts of Parliament, and shall be kept and ob∣served, without any respect had unto the former.

LXIV. We do prohibit and forbid all our Soveraign Courts, and others of this Kingdom to take Cognisance of, or judge in the Civil or Criminal Processes of those of the said Religion, the Cognisance of which by our Edict is at∣tributed unto the said Chambers; provided that they demand the dismission of them thither; according to what was said before in the 40. Article.

LXV. We will also by way of provision, and till we have taken some further course, and shall have otherwise ordained, that in all Processes moved, or to be moved, in which those of the said Religion shall be in the quality of Plaintiffs or Defendants, principal Parties, or Securities in civil matters, in which our Officers and Presidial Courts have full power of judging finally without Appeal, that they shall be permitted to require, that two of the Chamber where the Processes ought to be judged, shall abstain from giving judgment on them; who without any cause shown, shall be bound to ab∣stain, notwithstanding that Ordinance, that the Judges may not be held for persons excepted at without cause offered; they retaining over and above this those exceptions of right against the rest. And in criminal mat∣ters in which also the said Presidial, and other Subalternate Royal Judges do judge without Appeal, the accused also of that Religion may require that three of the said Judges do abstain from judging of their Processes, without shewing of any Cause. And the Provosts of the Mareschals of France, the Vice-Bailiffs, the Vice-Seneschals, the Lieutenants of short Robe, and other Officers of the like quality, shall judge according to the Ordinances and Regulations formerly given upon the account of Vagabonds. And as for the Inhabitants in the Jurisdiction of those Provosts, charged and accused, if they be of the said Religion, they may require that three of those Judges aforesaid, who may take cognisance of their cause, do abstain from judging of their Processes, and they shall be bound to abstain, with∣out any cause shewed by them, unless in that Company where the said Pro∣cesses shall be judged, there be no more than two in Civil matters, and three in Criminal matters of the said Religion; in which case they shall not be permitted to except against, or refuse those Judges without shewing of a cause why: And this shall be common and reciprocal with the Catho∣licks in that form as above, as to their refusing of Judges, where those of the pretended Reformed Religion shall be the greatest number. And 'tis not our meaning nor intention that the said Presidial Courts, Provosts of Mareschals, Vice-Bailiffs, Vice-Seneschals, and others who judge Sove∣raignly and without Appeal, should in virtue of what hath been said, take Cognisance of the palled troubles. And as for Crimes and Riots which have fallen out upon other accounts than those of the late Troubles, since the beginning of March in the year 1585. unto the end of the year 1597. In case they should take Cognisance of them, we will that they may take out their Appeals from those judgments, and bring them before the Cham∣bers Ordained by this present Edict. And the same shall be likewise pra∣ctised by the Catholick Complices, and where those of the said pretended Reformed Religion shall be Parties.

LXVI. We Will also and Ordain, that from henceforward in all Instructions, besides the Informations of Criminal Processes in the Seneschallies of Tho∣louse, Carcassonne, Rouergue, Loragais, Beziers, Montpellier, and Nismes, the Magistrate, or Commissioner deputed for the said Instruction, if he be a Catholick shall be bound to take an Assessor who shall be of the said preten∣ded Reformed Religion, of which the Parties shall agree, and in case they cannot agree, there shall be chosen by vertue of his office one of the said Religion by the Magistrate or Commissioner aforesaid. As also in like man∣ner, if the said Magistrate or Commissioner is of the said Religion, he shall be bound in the same form as was said before, to take unto himself a Catho∣lick Assessor.

LXVII. When as the Provosts of the Mareschals of France, or their Lieutenants shall be demanded to issue out a Criminal Process against an Inhabitant with∣in their Jurisdictions who is of the said Religion, and is charged and accused of a Crime, which is triable in their Provost's Courts, the said Provosts or their Lieutenants, if they be Catholicks, shall be bound to call in to the drawing up of the said Processes an Assessor of the said Religion: which said Assessor shall be present at the Judgment of the Competency, and at the definitive Judgment of the said Process. Which Competency may not be judged but in the next Presidial Court, in an Assembly of the principal Officers of the said Court, who shall be present upon those very places, upon pain of nullity, unless that the Accused should require that the Com∣petency should be judged in the said Chambers, ordained by this present Edict. In which Case as to what concerns the Inhabitants in the Province of Guienne, Languedoc, Provence, and Dolphiny, the Substitutes of our Ge∣neral-Attorneys in the said Chambers shall cause, at the request of the said 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-Se∣neschals, 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 accu∣stomed 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 Audi∣tory 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 with∣out 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 Own∣ers and Proprietors, although the said Papers, or the Castles and Houses, in which they were kept, had been taken and possessed by special Commis∣sions 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 Go∣vernours, and Lieutenants-General of our Provinces, or by the Authority of the heads of either Party, or by any other means and pretext whatso∣ever.

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 Naturaliza∣tion, or other provisions from us besides this present Edict: notwithstand∣ing 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 apper∣taining 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, not∣withstanding all Obligations made and passed by them on this occasion.

LXXII. All Places, Towns and Provinces of our Kingdom, the Countries, Ter∣ritories, and Lordships under our Jurisdiction, shall use and enjoy the same Priviledges, Immunities, Liberties, Franchises, Fairs, Markets, Jurisdi∣ctions, 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 As∣sizes 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 Sub∣jects, both of the Catholick and pretended Reformed Religion, shall be in∣differently 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 re∣demand 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 Trou∣bles

fallen out before, and till our coming unto the Crown, whether by the Edicts, Commands, of the late Kings our Predecessors, or by the Ad∣vice and deliberation of the Governours and States of the Provinces, Courts of Parliaments and others, from which we have discharged, and do dis∣charge 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 di∣rectly 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 Per∣sons, their Rents, Revenues, Plate, Sale of Houshold Goods, of Ecclesi∣astical 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 any, or supplied them by ver∣tue of their Orders, shall be hereafter, or at present sued for; and they shall be acquitted, both they and their Agents, from all management and administration of the said moneys, they producing for their discharge, with∣in four Months after the publication of this present Edict, made in our Court of Parliament in Paris, Acquittances duly expedited by the Chief Commanders in the said Religion, or of those, who were Commissionated by them to audit and finish those Accompts, or of those who bore Office and Command in those said Corporations and Towns, during the said troubles. Moreover they shall be acquitted and discharged of all Acts of Hostility, raising and leading of Souldiers, coining and valuing of money, done in Obedience to the Orders of the said Chief Commanders, melting up and taking of Artillery, and Ammunition, making of Gun-powder, and Salt-Peter, Surprizals of Fortifications, Dismantlings and demolishing of Towns, Castles, Boroughs and Villages, Attempts upon them, burnings and demolishments of Churches and Houses, Establishment of Justice, Judg∣ments and their Executions, whether in matters Civil or Criminal, Policy and Reglements made about them, Voyages and Intelligences, Negotiati∣ons, Treaties and Contracts made with all Foreign Princes and Communal∣ties, and Introduction of the said Strangers into the Cities and other parts of our Kingdom, and generally of all that hath been done, acted, and ne∣gotiated during the said troubles (since the Death of the late King Henry the Second, our most Honoured Lord, and Father-in-Law) by them of the said Religion, and others who have followed their Party, as if it had been particularly exprest and specified.

LXXVII. Those also of the said Religion shall be discharged of all general and pro∣vincial Assemblies made and held by them, whether at Mantes, or since that time at any other place until now, as also of Councils by them Or∣dained and established for the Provinces, of Ordinances and Reglements made in the said Assemblies and Councils, placing and increase of Garison, Assemblies of Men of War, levy and raking of moneys, whether in the hands of general or particular Receivers, Collectors of the Parishes, or

otherwise in whatsoever way and manner it might be done, Decrees about Salt, Continuance or new erection of Tolls, Customs, and their receits at Royall, and upon the Rivers of Charante, Garonne, the Rhone, and Dor∣donne, Armings and Fights at Sea, and all accidents, and excesses fallen out about paying the said Tolls, and Customs, and other moneys, Forti∣fying of Towns, Castles, and Places, Impositions of moneys, and services, receits of those moneys, rejection of our Receivers and Farmers, and other Officers, setting up of others in their Places, and of all Unions, Dispatches, and Negotiations made both within and without the Kingdom: And gene∣rally of all that hath been done, deliberated, written and ordained by the said Assemblies and Council, without suffering those who have given their advice, Signed, Executed, caused to be Signed and Executed the said Or∣ders, Reglements and Deliberations, to be sued, nor their Widows, Heirs and Successors, neither now, nor for the future, although the particulari∣ties be not here amply declared. And our General-Attorneys, and their Substitutes, and all those who may claim any Interests in whatsoever fa∣shion or manner it might be, shall for ever forbear all Prosecutions, not∣withstanding all Decrees, Sentences, Judgments, Informations, and Pro∣ceedings done to the contrary.

LXXVIII. Moreover we do approve, strengthen, and authorize those Accounts which have been heard, examined and shut up by the Deputies in the said Assembly. We will that they, and their Acquittances which were brought in by those Accountants, shall go and be carried into our Chamber of Ac∣counts in Paris, three Months after the Publication of this Edict, and shall be put into the hands of our Attorney-General to be delivered in, and kept in the Books and Registers of our Chamber, that upon all needful occasi∣ons there may be recourse had unto them; nor shall those Accompts be ever revised, nor those Accomptants be bound to appear, nor shall there be any Correction of them, unless in Case of omitting the receit, or of false Ac∣quittances. And our Attorney-General shall not at all act or proceed, al∣though there be very many defects, and the formalities have not been duly kept nor observed. And we forbid our Officers in the Chamber of Ac∣compts in Paris, and in all the other Provinces in which they be established, to take any manner of Cognisance whatsoever of them.

LXXIX. And as for those Accompts which have not been yet brought in, we will that they be Audited, Examined, and shut up by our Commissioners, who shall be deputed by us, who shall, without any difficulty, pass and allow all the parts payed by the said Accomptants, by vertue of the Orders made by the said Assembly, or others that were in Power.

LXXX. All Collectors, Receivers, Farmers, and all others, shall be duly and le∣gally discharged of all summs of money, which they have paid in to the said Agents of the said Assembly, of whatsoever nature they may be, until the last day of this Month. And 'tis our Will and Pleasure, that all their Accompts which shall be brought into our Chamber of Accompts, shall be passed and allowed purely and simply by vertue of the Acquittances, which shall be produced by them. And if any shall be hereafter expedited and delivered, they shall be all null; and those who shall accept or deliver them shall be condemned in a Mulct and Fine for mis-employment of them. And if in some Accompts already rendred there shall be found rasures and charges, we have upon this respect removed and taken them away; we

have restored, and do restore the said parts intirely, by vertue of these Pre∣sents, without any need for all abovementioned of particular Letters, or other matters except the Extracts of this present Article.

LXXXI. The Governours, Captains, Consuls, and Persons Commissionated to recover moneys to pay the Garisons of the places held by those of the said Religion, to whom our Receivers and Collectors of the Parishes may have lent moneys upon their Bills and Obligations, whether it were by Com∣pulsion, or out of obedience to the Commands which were given them by the General Treasurers of all these necessary summs for the maintenance of the said Garrisons until that time when we agreed about the state of that Accompt, which we dispatched in the beginning of the year 1596. and the augmentation we have since granted, they shall be acquitted and dis∣charged, and for what is already paid to the purpose above mentioned, al∣though and for what is already paid to the purpose above mentioned, al∣though that the said Schedules and Obligations do not expresly mention them, which shall be yielded up unto them as if they had been null. And that they may be satisfied, the General-Treasurers in every Generality, shall furnish the said Collectors by their particular Receivors of our Taxes with Acquittances, and by the Receivers-General their Acquittances for the Re∣ceivers particular, and for the discharge of the said General-Receivers the said summs, of which they have brought in the Accompts as was said, shall be endorsed upon the Commands issued out by the Treasurer of the Exchequer, in the names of the extraordinary General-Treasurers of our Wars, for the payment of the said Garrisons. And in case the said Com∣mands should not amount to as much as our said Accompt for the year sis∣teen hundred ninety and six, and the augmentation, we ordain, that to make it up there shall be expedited new Commands for what is wanting to discharge the said Accomptants, and for restitution of the said Promises and Obligations, so that nothing shall be demanded for the future from them who shall have thus acted, and all Letters of Confirmation, which may be needful for the discharge of the said Accomptants, shall be expedi∣ted by venue of this present Article.

LXXXII. Moreover those of the said Religion shall quit and abandon from this day forward all Correspondencies, Negotiations, and Intelligencies, as well within as without our Kingdom; and the said Assemblies and Councils, established in the Provinces, shall break up speedily; and all Leagues and Associations done or to be done, under what pretext soever it be, in preju∣dice of this our present Edict, shall be broken and disannulled, as we do now break and disannul them: We most expresly forbidding all our Sub∣jects, that for the future they do not make any Assessments, or Levies of money without our Permission, Fortifications, Enrollments of men, Ga∣therings or Assemblies, besides these which are permitted by this our pre∣sent Edict, and these to be unarmed; which we do prohibit and forbid them upon pain of being punished most rigorously, and as Contemners and Transgressors of our Commands and Ordinances.

LXXXIII. All Prizes taken upon the Sea during these troubles by vertue of Grants, and Warrants then given, and those which have been done ashore upon those of the contrary Party, and which have been judged by the Judges and Commissioners of the Admiralty, or by the Commanders in Chief of those of the said Religion, or their Council, shall be all suppressed by the benefit of this our present Edict, so that upon those accompts, there

shall never be made any Prosecution: Nor shall the Captains, nor any o∣thers who made the said Prizes, nor their Sureties, nor the said Judges, Officers, their Widows and Heirs be sought after, nor molested in what∣soever manner it may be, notwithstanding all Decrees of our Privy-Coun∣cil, and of Parliament, and Letters of mark and seizures, yet depending and not judged, all which we will shall be fully and entirely released and discharged.

LXXXIV. Moreover those of the said Religion shall not be prosecuted for those op∣positions and hindrances, which they have made before or since the trou∣bles, about the Decrees and Judgments given for the establishment of the Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Religion, in divers places of this King∣dom were Executed.

LXXXV. And as for what was done or taken during the troubles, not in ways of Hostility, or by Hostility, against the publick or private Reglements of the Heads or Communalties of the Provinces, who then had Command, such matters may be prosecuted according to due Form of Law.

LXXXVI. Yet nevertheless sith that what was done on the one side and other a∣gainst their Reglements is indifferently excepted, and reserved in that Ge∣neral Abolition granted by this our present Edict, and is subject unto pro∣secution, and that there is no Souldier but is thereupon liable unto Im∣peachments, from whom new troubles may arise: for this Cause, We will and ordain, that only Execrable matters shall stand excepted, in and by the said Act of Indemnity, such as Rapes, and forcings of Women and Maids, Burnings, Murders, and Robberies committed treacherously, wit∣tingly, and of set purpose, not in ways of Hostilities, but to exercise par∣ticular revenges, against the Laws of War, Infractions of Passports and Safeguards, with Murders and Plunderings, without Authority, of those of the said Religion, or of any who have followed the Party of the Com∣manders who had Authority over them, grounded upon special occasions, which moved them to command and order it.

LXXXVII. We Ordain also, that those Crimes and Offences committed among Per∣sons of the same Party, unless it be in acts commanded by the Chiefs of both sides, according to the necessity, Law, and order of War, shall be pu∣nished. And as for all Levies and Exactions of moneys, bearing of Arms, and other exploits of War done by private Authority, and unavowed, shall be prosecuted according to due course of Law.

LXXXVIII. The Towns which were dismantled in the late troubles, their ruins, Li∣cence being first had and obtained from us, may be reedified and repaired by the Inhabitants, and their charges and expences, and provisions formerly granted to this purpose shall be allowed.

LXXXIX. We Ordain, and 'tis our Will and Pleasure, that all Lords, Knights, Gentlemen and others, of whatsoever quality and condition of the said pre∣tended Reformed Religion, and others, who have followed their Party, may re-enter, and shall be effectually conserved in the injoyment of all and singular their Rights, Titles, Priviledges, and actions, notwithstanding the Judgments issued out against them during the late troubles, or by rea∣son

of them: which Decrees, Seizures, Judgments, and all that hath en∣sued upon them, we have to this end declared, and do declare to be null and void, and of none effect and value.

XC. Those Purchaces made by the Professors of the said pretended Reformed Religion, and of others who have followed their Party, by other Authority than that of the late Kings our Predecessors, of the immoveables belonging unto the Church shall not be allowed, nor take effect; but we do Ordain, and 'tis our Will and Pleasure, that the Ecclesiasticks shall re-enter imme∣diately, and without delay, and shall be conserved in the real possession and actual injoyment of the said alienated goods, without ever being bound to restore the price for which they were sold, and this notwithstanding the said Contracts of sale, all which we have to this purpose broken and revo∣ked as null, without suffering the said Purchasers to recover it from their Chief Commanders, by whose Authority the said goods were sold. And yet nevertheless, that the moneys which they had truly, and without fraud paid down, may be reimbursed to them, we will Expedite our Letters Pa∣tents to those of the said Religion, with License, that they shall impose upon themselves, and equalize the summs unto which the said Sales did amount, without enabling the said Purchasers to take forth any action for their dammages and interests through want of enjoyment, but they shall rest contented with the reimbursement of the moneys paid in to them for the price of the said purchaces; they first deducting out of the said price the profits received by them, in case it should appear that the said Sale was made at a very low and unjust price.

XCI. And that our Justices, Officers, and other our Subjects, may be clearly and certainly informed of our will and intention, and that we may take away all ambiguities and doubts, which may be made because of former Edicts, about that difference that is found in them, we have declared, and do declare all other preceding Edicts, secret Articles, Letters, Declarati∣ons, Modifications, Restrictions, Interpretations, Decrees, and Registers, as well secret as other Deliberations done formerly by the Kings our Prede∣cessors, in our Courts of Parliament or elsewhere, concerning matters re∣lating to the said Religion, and to the troubles happened in our said King∣dom, to be of no effect nor force: From which, and those derogations in them contained, we have by this our Edict derogated, and do derogate from this very instant, as we do now break, revoke, and disannul it. Ex∣presly declaring, that we will that this our Edict shall be firmly and invio∣lably kept, as well by our said Justices, Officers, as by all other our Sub∣jects, without standing upon, or having any regard unto all that, which may be contrary to, or derogate from it.

XCII. And for greater assurance of the maintaining and observing of this our Edict, which is so very much desired by us, We Will and Ordain, and 'tis our Pleasure, that all Governours and Lieutenant-Generals of our Provin∣ces, Bayliffs, Seneschals, and other ordinary Judges of the Towns of our said Kingdom, incontinently after their reception of this our Edict, do swear, that they will cause it to be kept and observ'd every one of them in their District: As also all Mayors, Sheriffs, Head boroughs, Consuls, and Magistrates of Towns, whether annual or perpetual, shall swear it also. And we do also enjoin that our said Bayliffs, Seneschals, or their Lieutenants, and other Judges, shall cause the principal Inhabitants of the said Towns,

both of the one and other Religion, to swear immediately after the Publi∣cation of this our Edict, that they will keep and maintain it. We taking all the Inhabitants of the said Towns into our Protection and Safeguard, the one to keep the others, charging them respectively, and by publick Acts to answer in a Court Civil for the transgressions that shall be made of this our present Edict in the said Towns, by their Inhabitants, or to bring them before, and to yield them up into the hands of Justice, who shall have broken it.

We do Command our Beloved and Faithful Officers in our Courts of Parliament, Chambers of Accompts, and Court of Aids, that as soon as they shall have received this our present Edict, that, leaving all other bu∣sinesses, on pain of nullity for those Acts, which they shall do otherwise, they do take the like Oath as above, and that they do cause this our Edict to be published, and registred in our said Courts, according to its form and tenour purely and simply, without using of any Modifications, Restricti∣ons, Declarations, or secret Registers, or without waiting for any farther Command or Warrant from us: And our Attorneys-General shall incon∣tinently, and without delay, require and pursue the said Publication.

And we Command the said Officers in our said Courts of Parliament, Chambers of Accompts, and Courts of Aids, Bailiffs, Seneschals, Provosts, and other our Justices, and other Officers to whom it shall appertain, and to their Lieutenants to keep and observe punctually, and to cause the Con∣tents and Articles of this said Edict to be used and injoyed fully and peace∣ably, by all those to whom it shall appertain, ceasing and causing to cease all troubles and impediments to the contrary. For such is our Pleasure. In testimony whereof we have Signed these Presents with our own Hand, and that this matter may be firm and stable for ever, we have caused to be put unto it, and backed it with our Seal.

Given at Nantes in the Month of April, in the Year of Grace, one thousand, five hundred, ninety and eight, and of our Reign the Ninth.

Signed HENRY. And below, by the King sitting in his Council. Forget. And at the side. Visa.

And Sealed with the Great Seal in green Wax, on threads of red and green silk.

Read, Published and Registred, the Kings Attorney-General hearing and con∣senting to it at Paris in Parliament,

this 25th of February, 1599.

Signed Voysin.

Read, Published and Registred in the Chamber of Accompts, the Kings Attor∣ney-General hearing and consenting to it at

Paris in Parliament the last of March, 1599.

Signed De la Fontaine.

Read, Published and Registred, the Kings Attorney-General hearing and con∣senting to it at

Paris in the Court of Aids the 30th being the last day of April, 1599.

Signed Bernard.

Particular Articles extracted out of the general ones, which the King hath granted unto those of the pretended Reformed Religion, which his Ma∣jesty would not have to be comprised in the said Generals, nor in the Edict which was made and framed for them, given at Nantes the last April: and yet nevertheless his said Majesty hath accorded, that they shall be entirely fullfilled and observed, as if they had been contained in the said Edict. And therefore they shall be registred in his Courts of Parliament, and elsewhere, as there shall be need, and all Declarations, Provisions, and necessary Letters shall be expedited about them.

• ARTICLE I. THE sixth Article of the said Edict, concerning Liberty of Consci∣ence, and Permission to all his Majesties Subjects to live and dwell in his Kingdom, and the Countries under his Jurisdiction shall hold good, and be observed according to its form and tenour; as well for Ministers, Schoolmasters, and all others who are or shall be of the said Religion, whe∣ther Natives of the Kingdom or others, they as to all other things deport∣ing themselves according to the Edict.
• ARTICLE II. Those of the said Religion shall not be constrained to contribute any thing to the Repairings or Buildings of Churches, Channels, or Priests Houses, nor to the buying of Priests Ornaments, Lights, founding of Bells, holy Bread, rights of Confraternities, hire of Houses in which Priests and Religious Persons do dwell, and other such like matters, unless they be ob∣liged to it by Foundations, Dotations, or other Disposals made by them, or their Authors and Predecessors.
• ARTICLE III. They shall not be constrained to hang or cloath the forepart of their Houses on those Festivals and Holy-days, in which it is ordered to be done: but only to suffer that they be hung, and clad by the Authority of the Lo∣cal Officers; nor shall the Professors of the said Religion contribute any thing on this account.
• ARTICLE IV. Moreover those of the said Religion shall not be bound to receive Exhor∣tation when as they be sick, and near unto Death, whether Condemned to it by Justice, or otherwise, from any others than those of the same Religion, and they may be visited and comforted by their Ministers, without ever being troubled: And as for such who are Condemned by Justice, the said Ministers may in like manner visit and comfort them, without praying in publick, unless in those places, where the said publick worship is allowed them by the said Edict.
• ARTICLE V. Those of the said Religion may lawfully injoy the publick exercise thereof at Pimpoul, and for Diepe in the Suburbs of Paulet: and the said places of Pimpoul and Paulet shall be ordained to be places of Bailywicks. As for San∣cerre, the said exercise shall be continued as it is at present, saving that it shall not be set up again in the said Town; the Inhabitants there making it appear, that the Lord of the place consenteth to it; and care shall be ta∣ken herein by those Commissioners which his Majesty shall depute for the executing of the said Edict. And also the said exercise shall be established free and publick in the Town of Montagnac in Languedoc.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE VI. Upon that Article which maketh mention of Bailywicks, it was decla∣red and granted as followeth: First, For the establishing the exercise of the said Religion in two places granted in every Bailywick, Seneschalsy, and Government, Those of the said Religion shall name two Towns, in the Suburbs of which the said Exercise shall be established by those Com∣missioners whom his Majesty shall depute for executing the said Edict. And in case they should not judge it to be meet for them, those of the said Re∣ligion shall name two or three Boroughs or Villages near unto the said Towns: and for every one of them the said Commissioners shall chuse one. And if by reason of Hostility, Contagion, or other lawful impediment, it may not be continued in those said places, others shall be given them for that time, that the said Impediment shall last. Secondly as to the Govern∣ment of Picardy, there shall be but two Towns provided for, in whose Sub∣urbs those of the said Religion may have the exercise thereof for all the Bailywicks, Seneschalsies, and Governments which depend upon it. And in case it shall not be judged meet to establish it in those said Towns, there shall be given them two commodious Boroughs or Villages. Thirdly be∣cause of the great extent of the Seneschalsy of Provence, and Bailywick of Viennois, his Majesty granteth, That in every one of the said Bailywicks and Seneschalsies, a third place, which shall be chosen and named as above, in which the said exercise of the said Religion shall be established, over and besides those other places in which it is already established.
• ARTICLE VII. That which is accorded by the said Article for exercise of the said Reli∣gion shall have place for those Lands, which belonged unto the late Queen Mother-in-Law of his Majesty, and for the Bailywick of Beaujolois.
• ARTICLE VIII. Over and above the two places accorded for the exercise of the said Reli∣gion, by the secret Articles in the year 1577. in the Islands of Marennes and of Olleron, there shall be given them two others, which may be most com∣modious for the said Inhabitants, to wit one for all the Islands of Marennes and another for the Isle of Olleron.
• ARTICLE IX. The Provisions granted by his Majesty for the exercise of the said Reli∣gion in the City of Mets, shall obtain their full and intire effect.
• ARTICLE X. 'Tis his Majesties will and intention that the 27. Article of his Edict concerning the admission of them of the said pretended Reformed Religion unto Offices and Dignities, shall be observed and maintained according to its form and tenour, notwithstanding the Edicts and Grants formerly made for the Reduction of some Princes, Lords, Gentlemen, and Catholick Cities unto his Obedience, which shall have no place to the prejudice of those of the said Religion, as to their exercise of it. And the said exercise shall be regulated according to what is imported in the ensuing Articles, according to which shall the Instructions be prepared for those Commissioners whom his Majesty shall depute for execution of his Edict, according to its import.
• ARTICLE XI. According to the Edict made by his Majesty for reduction of the Lord Duke of Guise, the exercise of the said pretended Reformed Religion sh••••••

• not be, nor set up in the Cities and Suburbs of Rheims, Rocroy, Saint Disier, Guise, Joinville, Fismes, and Moncornet in the Ardennes.
• ARTICLE XII. Nor may it be exercised in other plates near adjoining to those Towns and Places forbidden by the Edict in the year 1577.
• ARTICLE XIII. And to remove all ambiguity which may arise out of these words, near adjoining, his Majesty declareth, that he would be understood to speak of those places within a league of the Precincts of those said Towns, in which places the exercise of the said Religion may not be established, unless it were permitted by the Edict of 1577.
• ARTICLE XIV. And forasmuch as by that Article the Exercise of the said Religion was permitted generally in all Fiefs possessed by those of the said Religion, without exceptions made of the Banlieue before-mentioned (the space of a League beyond the Precincts of those Towns) his said Majesty declareth, that the same Permission shall hold good as to those Fiefs, which shall be held within the said Banlieue by those of the said Religion, even according to the sense and import of the Edict given at Nantes.
• ARTICLE XV. And in pursuance of the Edict made for Reduction of the Lord Mare∣schal de la Chastre, in every one of the Bailywicks of Orleans and Bourges, there shall be but one place of Bailywick ordained for exercise of the said Religion; which yet nevertheless may be continued in those places in which it is permitted to be continued by the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XVI. That grant of Preaching in Fiefs shall likewise take place in the said Bai∣lywicks, according to the form prescribed by the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XVII. That Edict likewise for reducing the Lord Mareschal of Boisdauphin shall be observed, and the said Exercise may not be made in the Towns, Suburbs, and places brought by him unto his Majesties Service; and as for those Lands near adjoining to their Bandlieue, the Edict of 1577. shall be observed, yea and in the Houses of Fiefs, according to the sense and im∣port of the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XVIII. The said Religion shall not be exercised in the Towns, Suburbs, and Castles of Morlais, according to the Edict made for the Reduction of the said Town, and the Edict of 77. shall be observed throughout its whole Jurisdiction, yea and as to the Fiefs, according to the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XIX. In consequence of that Edict for the Reduction of Quinper-Corantin, there shall be no exercise at all of the said Religion in the whole Bishoprick of Cor••wall.
• ARTICLE XX. In pursuance also of the Edict for Reduction of Beauvais, there shall be no exercise of the said Religion in the said City of Beauvais, nor within three Leagues thereof round. Yet nevertheless it may be exercised and es••ablished beyond the bounds of the Bailywick in those places permitted by

• the Edict of 1577. yea and in the Houses of Fiefs, even as it was intended and imported by the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XXI. And whereas the Edict made for reducing the Lord Admiral of Villars is only provisional, and till such time as his Majesty should give some further order, now his Majesty willeth and intendeth, that notwithstanding it, his said Edict of Nantes shall take place in all the Towns and Jurisdictions brought under his obedience by the said Lord Admiral, as for all other places of his Kingdom.
• ARTICLE XXII. In pursuance of the Edict for reducing the Lord Duke of Joyeuse, the said Religion may not be at all exercised in the City of Tholouse, nor in the Sub∣urbs thereof, nor within four Leagues round, nor nearer to it than the Towns of Villemur, Carmain, and the Isle of Jordain.
• ARTICLE XXIII. Nor may it be restored and set up again in the Towns of Alet, Fiac, Au∣riac, and Montesquiou: but yet and if any of the said Religion should peti∣tion for a place where it might be exercised, the Commissioners which shall be deputed by his Majesty to execute his Edict, or other Officers shall out of the places assigned for every one of those Towns assign a commodious place, and of safe access to them, and which shall not be in distance removed from the said Towns above one League.
• ARTICLE XXIV. The Exercise of the said Religion may be restored, even as it was granted by the Edict of Nantes, within the Jurisdiction of the Court of Parliament of Tholouse, excepting always in the Bailywicks, Seneschalsies, and their Pre∣cincts, whose principal Seat was reduced under his Majesty's obedience by the said Lord Duke of Joyeuse, for which the Edict of 1577. shall stand good and be observed. Yet notwithstanding 'tis his Majesty's intention and purpose, that the said Exercise shall be continued in the borders of the said Bailywicks and Seneschalsies, where it was in the time of the said redu∣ction, and that the priviledge of Fiefs shall take place in the said Bailywicks and Seneschalsies, according to the intendment and import of the said Edict.
• ARTICLE XXV. The Edict made for the Reduction of Dijon shall be observed, and ac∣cording to it there shall be no other Exercise of Religion than that of the Catholick, Apostolick and Roman Church in the City and Suburbs thereof, nor in four Leagues round.
• ARTICLE XXVI. The Edict likewise for Reduction of the Lord Duke of Mayenne shall be observed, according unto which the said pretended Reformed Religion may be exercised in the Towns of Chaalon, Seure, and Soissons, in the Bailywick of the said Chaalons, and in two Leagues of the borders of Soissons, for the term of six Years, to begin from the first day of January, 1596, which being expired, the Edict of Nantes shall be observed, as in all other parts of the Kingdom.
• ARTICLE XXVII. Those of the said Religion, of whatsoever quality, shall be permitted to come and go freely unto and from the City of Lions, and unto the other Cities and places of the Government of Lyonnois, notwithstanding any Pro∣hibitions to the contrary made by the Syndicks and Sheriffs of the said City of Lion, and confirmed by his Majesty.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XXVIII. There shall be but one place of Bailywick ordained for the Exercise of the said Religion in the whole Seneschalsie of Poictiers over and besides those which are at present established; and as for the Fiefs, the Edict of Nantes shall be followed. The said Exercise also shall be continued in the Town of Chauvigny. But the said Exercise may not be restored in the Towns of Agen and Perigueux, although that by the Edict of 1577. it might have been.
• ARTICLE XXIX. There shall be but two places of Bailywicks for the Exercise of the said Religion in the whole Government of Picardy, as it hath been before decla∣red, and the said two places may not be given within the Bailywicks and Governments reserved by the Edicts made for the Reduction of Amiens, Pe∣ronne, and Abbeville. Yet notwithstanding the said Religion may be exer∣cised in the Houses of Fiefs throughout the whole Government of Picardy, according as it was decreed in and by the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XXX. There shall be no Exercise at all of the said Religion in the City and Su∣burbs of Sens, and there shall be ordained but one place of Bailywick for the said Exercise in the whole Circuit of the said Bailywick; however this shall not in the least prejudice the priviledge of Houses of Fiefs, which shall hold good, according to the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XXXI. In like manner the said Exercise may not be in the City nor Suburbs of Nantes, nor shall there be any one place of Bailywick ordained for the exer∣cise of the said Religion within three Leagues round of the said City; yet notwithstanding it may be done in the Houses of Fiefs according to the Edict of Nantes.
• ARTICLE XXXII. 'Tis his Majesty's Will and Pleasure, that his said Edict of Nantes shall be observed from this very instant as to what concerns the Exercise of the said Religion in those places, where by the Edicts and Grants made for the re∣duction of some Princes, Lords, Gentlemen, and Catholick Cities, it was prohibited only for a time, and till further order. And as for those places where the said Prohibition was limited to a fixed certain time, the said time being passed, the Prohibition shall cease and be of no force.
• ARTICLE XXXIII. There shall be given unto those of the said Religion a place for the City, Provostship, and Viscounty of Paris within five Leagues at farthest of the said City, in which they may enjoy the publick exercise thereof.
• ARTICLE XXXIV. In all those places where the said Religion shall be exercised publickly, the People may be assembled and called together even by found of Bells, and they may do all Acts and Duties of the said Religion, as the exercise of Disci∣pline, the holding of Consistories, Colloquies, National and Provincial Sy∣nods by his Majesty's permission.
• ARTICLE XXXV. Ministers, Elders, and Deacons of the said Religion shall not be constrained to answer before a Court of Justice in quality of Witnesses about matters which were revealed to them in their Consistories, when as Censures were

• to be inflicted, unless it were for any matter concerning the King's Person, or the preservation of the State and Government.
• ARTICLE XXXVI. The Professors of the said Religion who live in the Country may lawful∣ly go unto the exercise thereof in the Cities, and Suburbs, and other places where it shall be publickly established.
• ARTICLE XXXVII. Those of the said Religion may not keep any Publick Schools, unless in those Cities and places in which the publick exercise thereof is permitted them, and those provisions which were formerly granted them for the erection and maintaining of Colleges, shall, if need so require, be verified, and obtain their full and entire effect.
• ARTICLE XXXVIII. It shall be lawful for Parents professing the said Religion to provide for their Childrens Education in such a manner as best pleaseth them, and to substitute one or more Tutors and Guardians to them by their last Will and Testament, or by a Codicil, or any other Declaration passed before a Notary, or written and signed with their own Hands, the Laws, Ordinances and Customs of those places in which they live, and received in this Kingdom, abiding in force and vertue as to all gifts and provisions of Tutors and Guardians.
• ARTICLE XXXIX. And whereas several Priests and Nuns have formerly contracted Mar∣riage, 'tis his Majesty's Will and Pleasure for very many and good Conside∣rations, that they shall not be prosecuted nor molested, and to this purpose our Attorneys General are injoyned silence, as also are all other our Officers. Yet nevertheless his said Majesty declareth, that 'tis his intention that the Children issued of the said Marriages shall succeed only unto their Houshold-goods, acquired and purchased Lands, and Immoveables of their Fathers and Mothers, and in default of such Children, the nearest of Kin shall in∣herit them; and the last Wills, Gifts and other Legacies made or to be made by persons of the said quality, of their said Estates, Houshold-goods, acquired and purchased Lands and Immoveables, are declared good and va∣lid. However his said Majesty will not that the said religious Persons, Priests and Nuns, who were professed, shall succeed directly or collaterally unto any Inheritance, but only they may enjoy those Goods which are or may be left unto them by Testament, Gifts, or otherwise bequeathed to them, excepting always those said direct or collateral successions; and as for those who made profession before that Age required by the Decrees of Orleance and Blois, the tenor of the said Decrees shall be followed and obser∣ved in all cases relating unto the said successions, every one for that time, in which they take place.
• ARTICLE XL. His said Majesty will not, that those of the said Religion, who have for∣merly, or may hereafter contract Marriages in the third and fourth degrees, should be molested, nor that the validity of the said Marriages should be called in question, nor in like manner, that the Children born or to be born of them should be quarrelled with or deprived of their succession. And as for Marriages which have been already contracted in the second degree, or of the second and third degree betwixt those of the said Religion, they apply∣ing themselves unto his Majesty who are of that quality, and have contract∣ed Marriage in such a degree, all needful Licences shall be granted them, that so they may not be prosecuted nor molested, and that their Childrens right of Inheritance may never be cavilled nor disputed.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XLI. That the validity of those Marriages made and contracted by those of the said Religion may be judged, and decided as to their legality; if the Pro∣fessor of the said Religion be defendant, in that Case a Royal Judge shall take cognizance of the fact of the said Marriage; but in case he be plaintiff, and the defendant a Catholick, the cognizance thereof shall belong to the Official or Ecclesiastical Judge: and if the two parties be of the said Reli∣gion, the cognizance thereof shall appertain unto the Royal Judges. It be∣ing his Majesty's Will and Pleasure, that as to what concerneth the said Mar∣riages, and differences which may happen about them, that the Ecclesia∣stical and Royal Judges, as also the Chambers established by his Edict shall take cognizance of them respectively.
• ARTICLE XLII. All Gifts and Legacies given and already bequeathed, or which may be so hereafter given and bequeathed, whether by the last Will and Testament at their death, or whilest they are alive, towards the maintenance of Mini∣sters, Doctors, Scholars, and the Poor of the said pretended Reformed Reli∣gion, or to other Pious Uses shall be valid, and obtain their full and entire effect, notwithstanding all Judgments, Decrees, and other Matters contrary thereunto, and provided they do not in any wise prejudice his Majesty's Rights, or those of any other person, in case the said Legacies and Gifts should fall under a Mortmain. And all Actions and necessary Prosecutions for the injoyment of the said Legacies and Pious Uses, and other Rights, as well for Judgments as without them, shall be done by an Attorney, in the Name of the Body and Commonalty of those of the said Religion who shall be concerned, and in case it shall appear, that the said Gifts and Legacies shall have been otherwise disposed than was intended by the said Article, they shall not be able to claim any restitution of what is past, but only of what is now in being.
• ARTICLE XLIII. His said Majesty permitteth those of the said Religion to assemble them∣selves before a Royal Judge, and by his Authority to equalize and levy upon themselves such a Sum of Money as they shall conceive needful to defray the Charges of their Synods, and their Maintenance who are imployed in the Exercise of the said Religion, of which an account shall be given in unto a Royal Judge, to be kept by him, the Copy of which Account shall be sent by the said Royal Judge every six Months unto his Majesty, or to his Chan∣celer, and the Taxes and Impositions of the said Moneys shall be raised and gathered, notwithstanding any Oppositions or Appeals whatsoever.
• ARTICLE XLIV. The Ministers of the said Religion shall be exempted from all Guards and Rounds and Billetting of Soldiers, Assessings and Gatherings of Taxes, as also of being Overseers, and Guardians, and Commissioners for Goods seized by Authority of Justice.
• ARTICLE XLV. Whereas those of the said Religion have heretofore buried their Dead in the Church-yards of the said Catholicks, or in any Place or Town whatso∣ever, 'tis his Majesty's Will that they shall not be sued or prosecuted for it, and his Officers shall be injoyned to see that there be nothing as to this mat∣ter done unto them. And as for the City of Paris, over and above the two Church-yards which are at present possessed by those of the said Religion, to wit, that of the Trinity, and that of St. Germain, there shall be given them a third commodious place for the enterment of their Dead in the Suburbs of St. Honorius, or of St. Denis.
• ...

• ... ARTICLE XLVI. The Catholick Presidents and Counsellors, who shall serve in that Cham∣ber ordained in the Parliament of Paris shall be chosen by his Majesty out of the written Roll of the Officers in Parliament.
• ARTICLE XLVII. The Counsellors of the said pretended Reformed Religion, who shall serve in the said Chamber, shall assist, if they think good, at those Proces∣ses which shall be determined by Commissioners, and shall have their Con∣sultive Vote, but without participating in the moneys consigned, unless it be that they be bound by the Order and Prerogative of their reception to assist at them.
• ARTICLE XLVIII. The most ancient President of the mixt Chambers shall preside at the Hearing, and in his absence the Second, and the Processes shall be distribu∣ted by the two Presidents, conjunctly or alternatively, by Month, or by Week.
• ARTICLE XLIX. The vacant Offices, of which those of the said Religion are or shall be provided in the said Chambers of the Edict, shall be supplied with Persons capable, who shall bring a Certificate from the Synod or Colloquy unto which they do belong, that they are of the said Religion, and honest Men.
• ARTICLE L. That Act of Indempnity granted unto those of the said pretended Re∣formed Religion by the 74. Article of this said Edict, shall be of force, as to all taking away of Royal Moneys, whether by breaking up of Coffers, or otherwise, yea, and as for those which were levied upon the River of Charante, although they had been affected and applied unto private uses.
• ARTICLE LI. The 49. Article in the secret Articles made in the year 1577. touching the City and Archbishoprick of Avinion, and County of Venise, as also the Treaty made at Nismes, shall be observed according to their form and te∣nour, and there shall be no Letters of Mark given by vertue of those Arti∣cles and Treaties, but only by the Kings Letters Patents Sealed with his Great Seal. Yet nevertheless such as would obtain them may get them by vertue of this present Article, and without any other Commission from the Royal Judges, who shall take informations of the contrary actings, denial of Justice, and iniquity of Judgments, propounded by those, who shall de∣sire to obtain the said Letters, and shall send them, together with their ad∣vice, closed and sealed up unto his Majesty, that he may Ordain therein according as he shall see reason.
• ARTICLE LII. His Majesty accordeth and willeth, that Master Nicholas Grimoul be re∣stored and maintained in his Title and Possession of the Offices of ancient Lieutenant-General Civil, and of Lieutenant-General Criminal in the Baily∣wick of Alanson, notwithstanding that Resignation by him made unto Mr. John Marguerit, and his admission into it, and the Provision obtained by Mr. William Bernard, of the Office of Lieutenant-General Civil and Cri∣minal in the Court of Eximes, and the Decrees given against the said Mar∣guerit, resigning it during the Troubles, unto the Privy-Council, in the years 1586, 1587, and 1588. by which Mr. Nicholas Barbier is maintained in the Rights and Prerogatives of the ancient Lieutenant-General in the said Bailywick, and the said Bernard in the said Office of Lieutenant at Eximes,

• whom his Majesty hath cashiered, and all others contrary to this Article of the Edict. Moreover his said Majesty for certain and good Considerations, hath granted and Ordained, that the Grimoult shall reimburse, within the space of three Months, the said Barbier, of that Revenue which he paid in unto the Casual Parties, for the Office of Lieutenant-General Civil and Criminal, in the Viscounty of Alanson, and of fifty Crowns for charges, and he shall order the Bailiff of Perche, or his Lieutenant Mortaigne, to do it. And the money being reimburst, or if the said Barbier shall refuse or delay to receive it, his Majesty hath forbidden the said Barbier, as also the said Bernard, after the signification of this present Article, to intrude themselves into the exercise of the said Offices upon pain of being guilty of Cheating; and he the said Grimoult is put into the possession of his Offices and Rights unto them appertaining; and thus doing, those Suits which were depend∣ing in his Majesty's Privy-Council, betwixt the said Grimoult, Barbier, and Bernard, shall be terminated and suppressed; his Majesty forbiding the Parliaments, and all others, from taking Cognisance, and the said Parties from all Prosecutions for them. Moreover his said Majesty hath undertook himself to reimburse the said Bernard of a thousand Crowns furnished unto the Casual Parties for his Office, and of the sixty Crowns for the mark of gold and costs, having to this purpose now ordained a good and sufficient assignment, which the said Grimoult shall diligently get in, and at his sole Charges.
• ARTICLE LIII. His said Majesty shall write unto his Ambassadours, that they do impor∣tunately desire, on behalf of all his Subjects, yea, and for those of the said pretended Reformed Religion, that they be not prosecuted for their Con∣sciences, nor subjected unto the Inquisition, going, coming, sojourning, trading, and trafficking in all Foreign Countries, Allies and Confederates of this Crown, provided that they commit no offence against the Govern∣ment of those Countreys in which they shall be.
• ARTICLE LIV. It is his Majesties Pleasure, that there shall be no inquiry made after the receipt of those Impositions which were levied at Royan, by vertue of the Contract made with the Sieur de Candelay, and others who succeeded him; and he confirmeth and approveth of the said Contract for that time in which it took place in the whole Contents thereof, until the 18th day of May now coming.
• ARTICLE LV. Those Riots which were occasioned about Armand Courtines in the Town of Millaud in the year 1587. and of John Reines, and Peter Seigneuret, together with the proceedings against them by the Consuls of the said Mil∣laud, shall by vertue of this Edict be abolished and supprest; nor shall it be lawful for their Widows and Heirs, nor for the Attorneys-General of his Majesty, their Substitutes, or other Persons whatsoever, to make any men∣tion, Inquiry, or Prosecution, notwithstanding, and without any respect had unto the Decree given in the Chamber of Castres the tenth day of March last, which shall be null and without effect, as also shall be all Informations and Proceedings, both of the one and other side.
• ARTICLE LVI. All Prosecutions, Proceedings, Sentences, Judgments and Decrees, given as well against the late Lord of La Noue, and against the Lord Odet of La Noue, his Son, since their detention and Imprisonment in Flanders, which happened in May 1580. and in November 1584. and during their continual imploy∣ment in the Wars, and for the service of his Majesty, shall be void, null,

• and of none effect, and whatsoever hath ensued in consequence thereof. And both the said Lords De la Noue, shall be admitted to defend themselves, and be restored unto that Condition and State in which they were before the said Judgments and Decrees, they not being obliged to refund the expen∣ces, nor to pay the Fines, if they had incurred any, nor shall there be al∣ledged against them any non-suit or prescription during the said time.

Done by the King in his Council at Nantes, the second day of May, 1598.

Signed HENRY. And a little lower. Forget.

Sealed with the Great Seal upon yellow Wax.

HEnry by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre,

To our Belo∣ved and Faithful Officers holding our Court of Parliament at Paris, Greeting.

We did the last April cause to be expedited our Letters of Edict for the establishment of a good order and peace between our Catholick Sub∣jects and those of the said pretended Reformed Religion. Moreover we have granted unto those of the said Religion, certain secret and particular Articles, which we will to be of the self-same force and vertue, and to be observed and accomplished in like manner as our Edict. For these Causes, We Will, We Command, and do most expresly injoin you by these pre∣sents, That the said Articles, Signed with our Hand, and attacked unto this, under the Counter-Seal of our Chancery, you do cause to be Recor∣ded in the Register of our said Court, and that in every point and parti∣cular, 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 Mon∣sieur de Thou, President in the Parliament of Taris, and the Lord de Calig∣non (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 Po∣pery, 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 compound∣ed 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 Sub∣jects, of the Towns, Champain Countrey, Castles, and places in the Provin∣ces of Higher and Lower Languedoc, Sevennes, Gevaudan, Gui∣enne, Foix, and elsewhere, together with the Articles.

Done at Nismes in July 1629. and verified in the Parliament of Tho∣louse 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 Miseries brought upon them by the Wars and Divisions with which this poor Kingdom hath been a long time af∣flicted, 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 de∣parted 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 obstina∣cy, or by the violence and artifice of those Factions in which they were in∣gaged, 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 Prosperi∣ty, 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 Good∣ness, 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 pardon∣ed 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 suf∣fered. 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 sub∣mission, 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 We were pursuing Our Victories, the Duke of Rohan, the Citizens of Anduze, those of Sauve, Gange, Le Vigan, Florac, Meruez, and all other places of the Sevennes, Nismes, Aymargues, Ʋsez, Milhaud, Cornus, St. Af∣frique, St. Felix, St. Rome of Taon, the Pont de Camarez, Viane, Castres, Rogve Courbe, Reuel, Montauban, Caussde, Mazeres, Saverdun, Carlat, Le Mas d' Azil, and generally all Fortresses and places in the Higher and Lower Languedoc, Sevennes, Gevaudan, Guyenne, and Foix, the Gentlemen and others who were in Arms yet against Us and Our Service, did send their Deputies unto Us, to testifie their Repentance for having fallen into Rebellion, and promising to yield unto Us in the face of the whole World all that Obe∣dience and Fidelity which good and loyal Subjects owe unto their King, they petitioning Us, that We would pardon them, and grant them an Act of Oblivion for their said Rebellion, and for all Matters passed and done by occasion thereof; and they offered of their own accord, to raze the Fortifi∣cations of the said Towns, that so there might be no cause given us to di∣strust their Fidelity, or that might minister an occasion unto any one of de∣parting from it; and farther to assure Us, they would put into our Hands such Hostages out of those Towns, and such a number of them as We should demand; unto which We did the more readily incline, because We would by so rare an Example of Clemency, after so many Relapses, gain the greater Interests upon the Hearts and Affections of Our Subjects, and spare the estusion of their Blood, the desolating of the Province, and all those Confusions and Calamities which be the inseparable attendants of War; We being solely moved hereunto by our meer compassion of their Miseries, and desire of their Welfare. And this causeth Us to hope, that Our said Subjects, having such manifest Tokens of that Goodness which is treasured up in our Heart for them, will return the more sincerely unto their Duty,

and that it will serve as an everlasting Cement to keep them inseparably united unto our obedience; We waiting for that Grace and Mercy of God in Heaven to touch and illuminate their Minds, that they may be re∣united unto the Catholick Church, and so dry up the Fountain of these most lamentable Divisions; For these Causes, after that the Hostages of the said Towns were delivered to Us, and that We had put them into safe places ap∣pointed by Us to this purpose, where all and every one of them respective∣ly should dwell, until the said Fortifications were perfectly rased and de∣molished, We desirous to take some course about the past Disorders, and to prevent the like for the future, We do give you to know and understand, that after We had maturely debated this Affair with our Council, took their ad∣vice, from Our certain Knowledge, full Power, special Grace, and Royal Authority, by this Our present, perpetual and irrevocable Edict, signed with Our Hand, We have declared, enacted, and ordained, We do declare, enact, and ordain, We will, and 'tis Our pleasure,

I. That the Roman Catholick and Apostolick Religion shall be set up again and restored in all Towns and places of the said Countrey••, from whence it had been removed or diverted; And all Churches, Goods, and Ecclesia∣stical Houses in those said places and Provinces shall be restored unto them to whom they do belong, without any suing for the Profits past and recei∣ved. In which Churches and in all those said places the said Religion shall be exercised freely and peaceably without any trouble or obstruction what∣soever. But nevertheless we ordain, that in all the Monasteries which are in those Towns returned unto their obedience to our Authority, that there shall not be placed any other Religious Persons than those who live in a most exact observation of the Rule of their Order, according to those Let∣ters, which they shall obtain from us.

II. And whereas we desire above all things to see for the future a perpetual Union among our Subjects, tho' we will and intend to maintain them who profess the said pretended Reformed Religion in the free and peaceable exercise thereof, and without any trouble, yet we cannot but desire their conversion, which we beg heartily of God in our daily Prayers. Wherefore we exhort all our said Subjects of the said pretended Reformed Religion to divest themselves of all passion, that so they may be the more capable of re∣ceiving the Light of Heaven, and of returning into the Bosom of the Church, in which for above eleven hundred Years continuance the Kings our Predecessors have lived without any interruption or change. For we cannot any other or better way express unto them our paternal affection, than by desiring that they would walk with us in the same Path-way unto Eternal Salvation in which we our selves are going.

III. We do farther ordain, that all Patrons, to whom of right it appertain∣eth, shall provide for all the vacant Parishes in those Countreys, good, suf∣ficient, and able Curates: and that they so order it, that they have a suf∣ficient Income for their Maintenance, that so they may acquit themselves worthily of their Functions, according to the tenour of those Ordinances made by us the last January, or by some other means more commodious, according to that Report which shall be made by those Commissioners, who shall be deputed by us to this purpose.

IV. We have remitted, pardoned, and indemnified, we do remit, pardon, and indemnify, unto the said Duke of Rohan, and Lord of Soubize, and all the Inhabitants of the said Towns and Places, and those of the Champain Country, which adhered to them, all matters passed since the 21. of July, 1627. unto the day of the Publication made in every Seneschalsy, of these Articles of Grace, which we accorded them the 27. day of June last. We have discharged, and do discharge them of all acts of Hostility, raising of Armies, leading of Warlike Souldiers, Enterprizes by Sea and Land, of general or particular Assemblies, yea, and of that Assembly at Nismes, sei∣zing of Ecclesiastical, or of the Royal Moneys, or of Moneys belong∣ing unto private Persons, Coining of Money under whatsoever title or va∣lue, Imprinted Libels, Insurrections and popular Commotions, Riots, Vio∣lences, Attempts made upon the two Towns of St. Amand, and the Castles of that Lord, the taking of the Castles of St. Stevens, of Valfrancesquez, and Florac, and the rasing of it; as also the Murder and other Accidents fal∣len out in that Enterprize upon St. Germier and Castres the last January; as also the Inhabitants of Ʋsez for the Murder of the Sieur du Flos: and the Consuls of the said place, the Decrees denounc'd against them in the Par∣liament of Tholouse, and in the Court of the Edict of Beziers, and the Sieurs D'aubais, James Genoier, Paul Saussier, and Andrew Pelissier, for their being named and chosen to be Consuls of Nismes in the year 1627. and their ex∣ercise of the said Offices for the said year, as also all the Political Consuls and Counsellers, and the Consular Town-Clark, and all those mentioned by name in that Decree past in the Court of the Edict at Beziers about the proceedings of the Sieurs de Suc, and Maussac, who were Counsellors there, and of their prosecution by reason of the said Consulship of Nismes, and the Decrees thereupon made, both in our Privy-Council, and said Court of Parliament, Court of the Edict, and Court of Aids sitting at Montpellier. And the Inhabitants of Anduze of their Murder of the Sieur de Mantaille, and the Sentences of Condemnation issued out against the Consuls and par∣ticular Inhabitants of the said Town during those Commotions. The In∣habitants of Milhaud, their fact against the Sieur de la Roquesavas, and the restitution of the summ of 4000. Livers unto the Jacobine Fryars. The Sieur de Gasque for his Imprisoning of sundry the Inhabitants of Alez, the violations of safe-conduct, Impositions and raisings of money, erecting of Courts of Justice, of Officers and Councils, by the Provinces, and Execu∣tions of Judgments ordered by them in Civil or Criminal matters, Govern∣ment and Regulations made among themselves, and their exercising those Offices in the said Towns whilst they were in Rebellion against us, and the Attorneys demanding Justice, when as they exercised their Offices be∣fore the said Judges, Officers and Counsellors established in the said Towns, yea, and those who had Licence from us to sojourn and act during the said time in those Towns aforesaid: Journeys, Intelligences, Negotiations, Trea∣ties, and Contracts made with the English by the said Towns and Inhabi∣tants, and by the said Dukes of Rohan, and Lord of Soubize, as well with the said English, as with the King of Spain, and Duke of Savoy, and the Letters written unto the Protestant Cantons of Switzerland, and the Sieurs Clausell and Du Cros, who have been imployed. All Sales of Goods, Church Furniture, or other things, felling of Timber on other Mens Lands, Fines, carrying away of Plunder, Ransoms, or Moneys of any other nature ta∣ken away by reason of the said Commotions, melting down, and seisings of Artillery and Ammunitions, making of Powder and Saltpetre, Takings, Fortifyings, Dismantlings or demolishing of Towns, Castles, Boroughs and Villages; yea, the taking of Meruez, Aymargues, and other burnings

and demolishings of Churches, and Ecclesiastical Houses, and others, by order and authority of the said Duke of Rohan, and all Criminal Prosecu∣tions thereupon, without prejudice unto the Civil Interest of the said Religi∣ous Ecclesiasticks, for which they shall have recourse unto the Chamber of the Edict. We discharge them also of all Farmings of Benefices, and Church Lands, Goods, of which they were spoiled by those who Commanded un∣der their General. We will likewise, that they injoy the benefit of the whole Contents of all former Acts of Indemnity, and for whatsoever hath been done or negotiated since the time aforesaid, notwithstanding all Proceed∣ings, Decrees, and Condemnatory Sentences had and passed against them, yea, those very Decrees in the Parliaments of Tholouze and Bourdeaux, a∣gainst the said Duke of Rohan, who shall be preserved in all his Honours and Dignities, which he formerly injoyed, nor shall he for those aforesaid matters be in the least sued or prosecuted, for which we do impose a per∣petual silence on all our Attorneys-General and their Substitutes, excepting always all Cases execrable which were reserved in the Edict of Nantes, and others depending on the Civil Interest, about matter of fact happened at Vezenobre and Tournac, and for Houshold-goods which are found to be the very same, and were taken away from those, who were in Obedience to the King.

V. And in pursuance of our Intention to maintain all our Subjects, profes∣sing the said pretended Reformed Religion, in the free exercise of the said Religion, and injoyment of the Edicts accorded to them: We Will that all those aforesaid shall intirely enjoy the said Edict of Nantes, and other Edicts, Articles, and Declarations Registred in our Parliaments, and that in pursuance hereof, they shall have the free Exercise of the said Religion in all those places in which it hath been granted to them.

VI. And all those Temples and burying places, which were either taken away from them, or demolished, shall be restored to them with Licence to rebuild them, if they think it needful.

VII. We Will that all Fortifications of the said Towns and places, shall be intirely rased and demolished (except it be the whole compass of those Walls) within three Months, and this to be diligently dispatched by the said Inhabitants; and because of our confidence in them for so doing, we do not place any Garisons, nor any Cittadels among them. And the said demolitions shall be made according to the Orders and Directions of those Commissioners which shall be appointed by us, and according to those Or∣ders and Instructions, which they shall have received from us. And in the mean while for greater assurance that this our Will shall be performed, Hostages shall be given by the said Towns, who shall be kept in those pla∣ces ordained by us, until the said Demolishments be fully accomplished.

VIII. We Will that these aforesaid have their Estates, Moveable and Immove∣able, their Priviledges, Titles, Rights, and Suits, Ordered and restored to them, notwithstanding all Condemnations, Gifts, Confiscations, and Reprizals, which may have been made and granted, excepting only the Profits and Revenues of their said Estates, and those Houshold-Goods which are not now in being, the Woods which are cut down, the Debts which have been received unto this present day, actually and without fraud, after judicial Prosecution and Compulsion. Yet nevertheless, we will, that the

precedent Declarations given upon the fact of the said Reprisals, until these present Commotions, Decrees given forth contradictorily, and matters transacted in and upon them shall take place, and be Executed, notwith∣standing all Decrees to the contrary. We will also, that the Heirs of the Sieur de Mormoirac, shall be restored unto their Estates.

IX. We do permit these aforesaid to return again unto their Houses, and if there be need to rebuild them, yea, and we do permit them as to our good and faithful Subjects to dwell in such Towns and Places of our Kingdom as shall best please them, excepting in the Isles of Olleron, and Ré, and Ro∣chell, and Privas. We do also permit those Inhabitants of Pamiers, who were not in that City at the time of its taking to re-enter into it, and to injoy all their Estates, they yielding all obedience to us, and taking the Oath of Fidelity to us before our Commissioners, whom we have appoint∣ed to receive it.

X. Our Officers dwelling in those Cities, who have not payed their annual Fee, shall be admitted to pay it within two Months, both for the time pas∣sed, and the year now current. And as for those who are dead, in case they have paid the said Annual Fee, those Offices of which they were pro∣vided, shall be conserved for their Widows and Children. And as for those whose Offices we have filled up with other Persons, by reason of the pre∣sent Commotions, they shall be conserved in their said Offices, notwith∣standing we had set in others into them for a time, yea, and that they had been received and installed in them. We will also, that the Officers of par∣ticular Lords, provided of chargeable Offices, and who were deprived of them during these last Commotions, shall be restored unto their Offices.

XI. All these aforesaid shall be discharged, and we do discharge them of all Contributions and Quarterings of Souldiers, both in the former and these present Commotions. And likewise the said Commonalties, and the parti∣cular Members of them, of the Indemnities and Securities that may be pre∣tended against them upon the account of Imprisonments, Executions, or Expulsions out of Towns, done by Order of the said Duke of Rohan, or of the Council of the Towns, or of others established by him, either in the present or former Commotions. And as for the Taxes, and other Moneys imposed upon the Country, in case any of them should be of no value, through default of payment by those aforesaid of the moneys imposed on them, whatever those summs might be, the Receivers of the said Provin∣ces may not prosecute these aforesaid for them, saving that the Syndic of the Country may be prosecuted till such time as he shall have brought those moneys in upon the general account of the Country.

XII. We do likewise discharge the Consuls and particular Persons, who are obliged during the Commotions of the Years 1621, 1622, and 1626. and those who do now manage the affairs of the said Towns from payment of the said Obligations, notwithstanding all Clauses inserted into Contracts, excepting that Creditors shall have power to prosecute those Consuls of the pretended Reformed Religion, we shall be found in actual Office, to cause those of the said pretended Reformed Religion to be Condemned to divide the said Debt among themselves, and to make payment of it.

XIII. They shall also be discharged from all prosecution and exaction done up∣on the Catholicks and other Inhabitants for the remainders of the Assess∣ments of the former years owing by them, although they may have ob∣tained discharges, either by our Letters Patents, or by the Decrees of the Court of Aids of Montpellier; and likewise of what remaineth to be paid of the Impositions and Contributions put upon any of them, (excepting the Catholicks who be exempted,) by Orders from the Governours of the Pro∣vinces, or others, who Commanded for us in the War, during the present or preceding Commotions.

XIV. The Inhabitants also of Castres shall be discharged from making any re∣stitution for their having taken up Arms against our Service.

XV. The Burdens which shall be imposed upon the said Towns shall be equal∣ly born by all their Inhabitants, according to the ancient Custom; except∣ing that the Debts Contracted by the Catholick Inhabitants, shall be born by them only, and those Contracted by them of the said pretended Reform∣ed Religion, shall be acquitted also by themselves only.

XVI. All judgments given by the Judges of those Towns, whether in Civil or Criminal matters shall be valid, excepting an Appeal unto the said Cham∣bers, in Cases which have not been decided by Martial Law, or a Coun∣cil of War.

XVII. That Order anciently kept in the said Towns for the Consulship, Go∣vernment, and Assembling of the said Consuls, and Town-Councils, shall be kept and observed in the same manner as it was before these Troubles.

XVIII. The States of the County of Foix shall meet according to the usual man∣ner, and all those Towns which had priviledge of sitting in those Assemblies shall be called to them.

XIX. The Consuls, Collectors, Receivers and Commissioners, who have hand∣led the publick moneys, during these present, or former Troubles, shall be acquitted and discharged, they bringing in an Accompt unto the Chamber of Accompts, of moneys received and paid by them; nor shall the said Chamber claim any Fees from them, nor revise those said Accompts. And whereas the Inhabitants of Nismes do claim a priviledge, that they be not obliged to carry their accompts unto the said Chamber, We will that they shall injoy their ancient usage and custom.

XX. The Tribunals of Justice, and Offices of Receipt, and others transferr'd because of the present Troubles, shall be returned and restored unto those Places in which they were before, yea, the Comptroler's Office newly crea∣ted for the City of Montauban, but established in that of Moissac, shall be set up in the said City of Montauban, as soon as the Fortifications of those Towns shall be demolished.

XXI. We will that the Court of the Edict, now sitting at Beziers, shall be again set up in the City of Castres, after that its Fortifications shall be rased and demolished, and shall be fixed in the said Town of Castres according to the Edict of Nantes, notwithstanding our Order made in January last, and the Decree published by the Parliament of Tholouze upon the 102 Article there∣of. Which said Court of the Edict his Majesty will have maintained in all its Powers given it by the Edicts and other Ordinances.

XXII. And 'tis our will and pleasure, that those aforesaid who were in Arms against us the 27th day of June last shall enjoy all these Favours and Grants. And as for those Towns and Persons who subjected themselves before that day to our Authority, they shall injoy more especially the Matters contain∣ed in those Letters which we have granted them.

And we command our beloved and faithful Officers in our Court of Par∣liament of Tholouze, that they cause this our present Edict to be read, pub∣lished, and registred, and its Contents to be kept, observed, and maintained, according to its form and tenor, without transgressing, or suffering it to be transgressed. For such is our pleasure. And that this Matter may be firm and stable for ever, we have caused our Seal to be affixed and set unto these Presents.

Given at Nismes inthe Month of July, and the Year of Grace 1629.And of our Reign the Twentieth.

Signed, LOƲIS.

And a little lower, By the KING. Phelippeaux.

And sealed on threads of Silk with the great Seal on green Wax. At the side, Visa.

And there was farther witten, Read, Published, and Registred, the King's Attorney General having heard and required it. At Tholouze in Parliament the 27th of August, 1629.

Signed, De Malenfant.

SECT. XIX.

This Edict was observed even as all others which had been given by the former Kings, no farther than it pleased them. Many Complaints were brought in by their Deputies of its Non-performance and Violations. Some small Redresses of their many Grievances, to stop their mouths, were now and then given them. But Lewes dying in the Year 1642, and this present King succeeding his deceased Father, there was a Declaration in their fa∣vour published by the Queen Regent and Council in his Name, July 8. 1643.

And the Reformed having stood by him in those difficult times, (when the late Prince of Condé designed for the Crown) and secured it upon his head, this important Service drew from him the ensuing Edict, given at St. Germans en Laye, May 21. 165••.

The Declaration of Louis the Fourteenth confirming the Edicts of Paci∣fication,

Given at St. Germans in Laye, May 21. 1652.

LOUIS, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre,

To all Per∣sons who shall see these Presents, Greeting.

The late King, our most honoured Lord and Father, whom God absolve, having acknowledged, that it was most needful for preserving the Kingdoms peace, that his Sub∣jects of the pretended Reformed Religion should be maintained in the full and intire enjoyment of those Edicts made in their favour, and that they should enjoy the free exercise of their Religion; did therefore take a most especial care by all convenient means to hinder their being troubled in the enjoyment of those Liberties, Prerogatives and Priviledges granted them by those said Edicts; and having to this purpose immediately upon his coming unto the Crown by his Letters Patents, dated May 22. 1610. and since his Majority by his Declaration of the 20th of November, 1615. de∣clared, that he would that those said Edicts should be executed, that so he might thereby ingage his said Subjects to continue in their Duty. Now we following the example of so great a Prince, and imitating him in his good∣ness, we are willing to do the like: Having for those very same Motives and Considerations by our Declaration of the Eighth of July, 1643. willed and ordained, that our said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion shall enjoy all Grants, Priviledges and Advantages, especially the free and full exercise of their said Religion, according to the Edicts, Declarations and Orders made on this account for them. And for as much as our said Subjects of the said pretended Reformed Religion have given us certain proofs of their affection and fidelity, particularly on those occasions which occur'd unto them, to our very great satisfaction, Be it known, that we for these Causes, and at the most humble Petition presented to us by those our said Subjects professing the said pretended Reformed Religion; and after that we had caused it to be debated in our presence, and with our Council, We, by their advice, and from our certain knowledge, and Royal Autho∣rity, have commanded, declared and ordained, and we do command, de∣clare and ordain, and 'tis our will and pleasure, that our said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion shall be maintained and preserved, as in∣deed we do now maintain and preserve them in the full and entire enjoy∣ment of the Edict of Nantes, other Edicts, Declarations, Decrees, Articles, and Warrants, done and dispatched in their favour, registred in Parlia∣ments, and Chambers of the Edict, particularly in the free and publick exercise of the said Religion in all those places in which it was accorded them, notwithstanding all Letters and Decrees either of our Council, or of the Sovereign Courts, or other Judgments to the contrary. We willing that the transgressors of those our Edicts shall be punished and chastised as distur∣bers of the publick peace. And we command our beloved and faithful Offi∣cers in our Courts of Parliament, Chambers of the Edict, Bailiffs, Senes∣chals, their Lieutenants, and other our Officers to whom it shall appertain, every one in his place, that they do cause these Presents to be registred, read, and if need be, published; and that the Contents of them be kept, observed and maintained according to their form and tenor. And because there will be need of this present Declaration in many and divers places, we will, that unto Copies duly collationed by one of our beloved and faithful Counsellors and Secretaries there shall be as much faith given as to this pre∣sent

Original. For such is our pleasure. In testimony whereof we have caused our great Seal to be put unto these Presents.

Given at St. Germain in Laye, the 21st day of May, and in the Year of Grace 1652. And of our Reign the Tenth.

Signed, LOƲIS. And a little lower,
By the KING.
Phelippeaux. And sealed with the great Seal.

SECT. XX.

Now as well at Court as in the Field each strove to proclaim loudest the Deserts of the Reformed. The Queen Mother herself ingenuously acknow∣ledged, that they had preserved the Government for herself and the young King. This is a Truth that cannot be contested, and yet as true as it is, what I shall add will seem incredible; But the Enemies of the Reformed have told it them an hundred times over, and the sequel hath perfectly ve∣rified it, That this Great Service of theirs in Saving the King and Kingdom was the precise, the principal, and proper Cause of their Ruine, and of all those Evils which have since befallen them. For their restless Adversaries, the Popish Clergy, used all endeavours to envenom the sence of that Im∣portant Service of theirs in the Minds of the King and his chief Ministers; for they never left suggesting to them, That if upon occasion the Reform∣ed could save the State from ruine, they might likewise upon another, and siding with its Enemies utterly overthrow it. That therefore in prudence this Party must be suppressed, and what good they had done, must be no longer regarded, but as an Indication of that Mischief which some time or other they were capable of effecting. This diabolical Policy, which hinders Subjects from serving their Prince, to avoid the pulling down upon them∣selves and children Chastisements instead of Recompences, took immediate∣ly with the ungrateful Court. For as soon as the Kingdom was setled in Peace, the Design was put on foot of destroying the Reformed; and that they might clearly understand, that it was their Zeal and Loyalty for their King which had ruin'd them, Those Cities, which had given the noblest Instances of it, were first assaulted. Immediately, on very slight pretences, they fell foul on Rochel, Montauban, and Milhaud, three Towns where the Professors of the Reformed Religion had most signalized themselves for the Court's Interests. Rochel was plagued with an infinite number of Pro∣scriptions, her best Ministers and Citizens being driven out and exiled. Montauban and Milhaud are sack'd by Soldiers. These were but particu∣lar Strokes, and the beginning of those dreadful Woes, which followed after.

SECT. XXI.

'Twill be a difficult matter to give in an exact account of those various methods used for their destruction. For the malice of their Enemies was exceeding fruitful in plotting and contriving of mischiefs. Every day pro∣duced a superfetation of them for twenty Years together. I will instance but in a few, for it would be an endless work to enumerate all. These were some of the chiefest.

First, Law-Suits in Courts of Justice. Secondly, Deprivations of all kinds of Offices and Employments, and in general of all manner of ways

for subsistence. Thirdly, The Infractions of the Edicts, under the plau∣sible gloss of explaining them. Fourthly, New Laws and Orders. Fifth∣ly, Juggles and amusing Tricks. Sixthly, The animating and exaspera∣ting of the Rabble with Hatred and Rage against them, and barbarous Cruelties and Torments.

These were some of the most considerable Machins which the Persecu∣tors employed for the attaining their ends several Years together. It being no easie matter presently to accomplish their designs, they needed time for the sharpning of their Tools, and the better ordering of their Engins; to pass by the many Traverses and Interruptions they had by foreign Wars, yet that great success they had in them did mightily inflame their courage and hopes, and confirm them in their grand design of a total extirpation of the Reformed.

SECT. XXII.

Their first method of Law-Suits in Courts of Justice had an infinite ex∣tent. By the Tricks and Quirks of Law a multitude of Churches were condemn'd, and the crafty wicked Commissioners totally suppressed all Exercise of Religion in them. This Trap was cunningly laid as soon as the Treaty of Peace and the King's Marriage with the Infanta of Spain were concluded. For under the specious pretence of repairing the Infra∣ctions of the Edict of Nantes, Commissioners were dispatched into the Pro∣vinces. The Roman Catholick Commissioner was always the Intendant of the Province, a proper Tool to do the Court's business, armed with Royal Authority, and privy to the secret of the Plot. The other, a Protestant in profession, some needy, hungry Officer, a devoted Slave unto the Court, who had neither Intelligence necessary for the Affairs, nor Liberty to de∣clare his Sense and Sentiments about them. The Clergy set them both up, and their Agents were received as formal Parties in all Matters relating to the Reformed, yea and the very Citations and Prosecutions went all in their Names. And in case of different Opinions betwixt the Commissioners, all Appeals from their Ordinances must be finally decided by the King and Council.

Thus in general, all the Rights of the Reformed Churches for Exercise of Religion, and for those places in which they buried their Dead, and all their Dependencies were ordered to be reviewed, and thereby exposed to the fresh Suits and Prosecutions of the Clergy, and the mischievous Inten∣tions of their Judges. And in all this transaction you should rarely meet with one dram of Equity. For the Edict having been once executed, ac∣cording to the intention of Henry the Fourth, it needed no revisal. Besides, how improbable a thing was it, that the Reformed, who had always been the suffering Party in the Kingdom, should usurp any thing in it, or extend their bounds beyond what of right belonged to them? But there were o∣ther designs in hand than to provide against the Violations of the Edict, and therefore by those Orders given unto the Commissioners, the greatest part of the Churches cited before them to prove their Rights, saw them∣selves condemned immediately one after another by the Decrees of the Pri∣vy-Council, tho' their Titles were never so clear and evident, and their de∣fence managed with as much strength and reason as possible. Scarcely a Week passed in which some of these Decrees were not made and pronoun∣ced. And if it fell out, that the Judges for meer shame could not condemn them, as it sometimes so happened, tho' their number was very small in comparison of those which were condemned, yet the Judges receive perem∣ptory Orders from above to do it, and do it they must, tho' against their Consciences. At this rate, before the Year 1673, they had desolated hun∣dreds

of Churches. A Monk of the Barnabite Order, and Deputy for the Clergy of Bearn, gloried, that of One hundred and twenty three places which the Protestants had to worship God in, and those upon the most le∣gal and unquestionable Titles, there remained but twenty, all the rest ha∣ving been demolished. The Temple of Vitré in Brittaine was destroyed, because they could not produce their Titles to it, when as they were irre∣coverably lost by Fire, War, or the perfidious hands of Revolters. If a Church was near the Sea, that was reason enough why it must be demo∣lished. So was the Temple of Carantan in Normandy served, altho' a Baily∣wick. One while they pretend, the Town, in which it is, was taken in the Civil Wars, and therefore their Temple must be returned either to the Papists, or else be utterly ruinated. This was the fate of that of Negrepe∣lisse, tho' it had been in the possession of the Reformed ever since the Year 1561. Nay, a Church expresly mentioned in the Edict, and that they had not impudence enough to call in question its Title, yet they had the malice to demolish, viz. the Church of Chauvigny in Poictou; this was done Aug. 6. 1665. Of threescore and one Churches in Poictou in the Year 1674. there remained but one uncondemned, viz. that of Niort. So that above 80000 Souls were obliged to live without any Publick Worship of God at all. In the Country of Gex they reduced three and twenty Churches to but two. In Guienne, of fourscore Churches there were but three left uncondemned by the Catholick Commissioner, who was wholly governed by the Jesuite Meisnier. In Normandy their fury had brought all their Churches unto those three of Caen, Rouen, and Diep. In Provence, of their sixteen Churches there remained but three. If there be any Churches standing, and not con∣verted into ruinous heaps, they be such as are most inconveniently situa∣ted, in Marshes or low Grounds, which were often overflown with Wa∣ters, or unpassable in Winter; so that these poor Christians were depri∣ved of all possibility of hearing God's Word, and necessitated to travel forty Miles and more to worship God publickly, and to get their Chil∣dren baptized; for they may not do any exercise of Religion, as Preach∣ing, Marrying, or Administring of the Sacraments, but in those places which by the Edict of Nantes were appointed for Divine Worship.

Besides, the Papists were very barbarous and inhumane in the cruel exe∣cution of their Decrees, for they would oblige the Protestants themselves to demolish their Temples with their own hands. And because many of them, out of Honour and Conscience, would not contract the guilt of so great a Sacriledge upon their Souls, as to ruinate those holy Places which were dedicated to the Service and Glory of God, nor have any thing to do in that Diabolical Work, their own Houses have been plundered, and level∣led with the ground, and unconscionable Fines laid upon them. This hath been the case of divers Persons of eminent quality in Poictou.

I could here have exhibited a Catalogue of Churches demolished in France by the King's order, and that of the Council, in several Provinces and Dioceses of that Kingdom, in the Years 1661, 1662, 1663, 1664, 1665, 1672, and 1673. But because by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes they are now all a heap of Ruines, I shall spare my self the labour of transcribing, and my Reader the pains and time of reading them. The Zeba's and Zalmunna's of that Kingdom have either burnt up all the Sy∣nagogues of God in it, or else they have took those Houses of God into their possession.

SECT. XXIII.

But the Oppressions of this kind did not terminate in the bare condemna∣tion of Churches, but particular Persons also had a very large share and

part in them. In common civil matters, as about a piece of Land, an House, a Debt between a Roman Catholick and a Protestant: Religion must be one of the chief Heads of Accusation against the Protestants. The Monks, the Missioners, the Confessors, and that whole Crew of ma∣licious fiery Zealots, interessed themselves immediately in the affair. They bawl out in Courts of Justice, I plead against an Heretick. I have to do with a Man of a Religion odious to the State, and which the King will have extirpa∣ted. By this means there was not any Justice to be expected. Few Judges were proof against this false Zeal, for fear of drawing down the fury of the whole Cabal upon themselves, or passing for Favourers of Hereticks. 'Tis not to be imagined, how many unjust Sentences these prejudices procured in all the Courts of the Kingdom; and how many Innocent Families were ruin'd by them. If any one complained of the wrong done them, they were presently twitted in the Teeth, You have the remedy in your own hands. Why do you not become Catholicks? Thus the Consciences, Goods, Honour, and Lives of these poor Servants of God lie at the mercy of unrighteous Judges, and of their merciless perfidious Enemies. A Roman Catholick may at his pleasure destroy a Protestant: Witnesses are never wanting, the Kings Attorneys-General, or their Deputies, or the Agents and Syndicks of Bishops, or Judges for Convents, and Collegiate Churches, will never fail to prosecute. Some have been Condemned to the Pillory, others to the Chain in the Gallies, others to exorbitant Mulcts and Fines, for but rela∣ting a story out of known Authors, how a Priest cheated the World with a false Miracle, by passing a Vine through the Head of an Image, which be∣ing pierced in that Season of the Year, when the sap ascends upward, the sap would drop out of the Eyes, whereat the deluded People believed that the Image did weep of it self. Another Protestant was forced to stand in the Pillory, and severely Fined for saying, That God had buried the Body of a dead Saint lest his Bones should be adored, and that when the Devil of∣fered to take them up again, an Angel from God opposed him, with, The Lord rebuke thee, Satan! Another was cast into Prison, because he had said, that the Roman Priests did hide their Lights under a Bushel. Another had an Unconscionable Fine put upon him for saying, That the Cross which they worshipped, was but a piece of Wood.

SECT. XXIV.

Let the Protestants prove the Witnesses which swear against them to be suborned, to have sworn falsly, yea, though they proved Perjury upon them, they are either not punished at all, or else their punishments be so slight and trifling, that instead of terrifying, they do embolden these mali∣cious Villains to do the more mischief. I shall produce a few Instances.

The Priest of Eymet in Guienne accused very many of the Inhabitants of that place for profaning the holy Mysteries of the Church of Rome. The Judges examining this matter found his Accusation to be false, a most ma∣licious and mischievous Calumny; which though it tended to the destru∣ction of so many Innocent Persons, of their Lives, and Estates, yet he escaped without punishment.

The Priest of Chastelheraut accused a poor harmless Damsel for speaking disrespectfully of the King. For this she was in danger of having her Tongue cut out, and being whipped by the Common Hangman. But though the Judges discovered this Priest to be a Villain, an impudent, bloody, false Accuser, yet no punishment was inflicted on him.

Monsieur de la Touche was accused by the Abbot of La Chappelle before the Parliament at Rennes, to have taken a Chalice out of a Church; for this supposed Crime he was, by Order of that Parliament, burnt alive. But

though since this horrible Execution his Innocency hath appeared, and he was found guiltless of the fact, the real Offender having confessed, when and how he stole it, for which he suffered condign punishment; yet they have done nothing to repair the injury done unto the name and memory of the Innocent Sieur de la Touche, but declared, That because he was an He∣retick, he deserved to be burnt to ashes, as he was.

Monsieur Robineau, Pastor of the Church in Pausange, was also falsly ac∣cused by an Augustinian Fryar, and a base Curate, to have Preached Sedition, and for this pretended Crime only, he was kept many Months in the Prison at Poictiers: and though at last his Accusers were convicted of Falshood▪ Calumny, and Perjury, yet he could never get any satisfaction for his great Sufferings.

Monsieur Borie, Pastor of the Church in Turenne, for Preaching that none but Jesus Christ was born without sin, was accused of blaspheming the blessed Virgin, and yet this very Doctrine is that of the Dominican Fry∣ars. However this Godly Minister is handled most unmercifully, he is thrown into a deep Dungeon, bound with Iron Chains, menaced with Death, and treated after a most inhumane manner for a whole year, and at last by an Order of the Parliament of Bourdeaux, he was banished for ever the Land of his Nativity.

A Priest of Niort was Convicted before the King and Council for falsify∣ing an Order to demolish the Protestant Church in that Town, which was intended against the Church of Mer: Never was there a more bold attempt before his Majesty and the Privy-Council: Yet instead of punishing him according to his Deserts, they turned the whole fact into a piece of Raillery and Laughter.

SECT. XXV.

They gave all manner of freedom to the Priests and Monks, whose Car∣riage was most insolent, to insult over the poor Protestants, and to execute the severest and most unrighteous Decrees and Orders of the King against them, as in Poictou, where the Priests of any were the most furious and in∣dustrious in demolishing of Temples, and rasing their Foundations, and over-throwing several private Houses, plundering the Castles of Persons of Quality, who professed the Reformed Religion. If unhappily any Division were in private Families between Man and Wife, or other Relations, these Fomenters of strife, these Firebrands of Hell, would come and offer them the Protection of the Church against their adverse Party. If a Man were poor and brought to Beggary, they promise him the Protection of the Church against his Creditors, and Mountains of gold, if he will but change his Religion. They will provide for his Children, put his Daughters into Nunneries, his Boys into Abbies, or good Imployments: but no sooner are they debauched, but as the Priests said to Judas, after he had betrayed his Lord, See thou to it, so they chouse and slight him, leave him in the lurch, never perform their Promises; so that through despair, some of them have ended their days as Judas did, by laying violent hands upon themselves. If a debauched Son would shake off his Father's Yoke, they shall flock to him with the greatest profession of kindness imaginable, pitying him, and wheedling him with the deceitful Promises of what great matters they will do for him, provided he will but relinquish his Religion (who had none) and become of theirs, a Catholick. If a Daughter be unruly and unduti∣ful to her Parents, they will seduce her away from them and God, flatter∣ing her with the false hopes of a good Match, or intice her into their Nun∣neries (those sinks of Uncleanness) and oblige her Father to maintain her, to give her an yearly Pension, far above what his Estate can possibly allow or bear.

If a Man be prosecuted for any Crime, let him but change his Religion, he gets a Pardon, and gets into a Sanctuary from Justice. By this means the old Count de L'orge saved his life, when he was clapt into the Bastile for coining Money. But these Cheaters have been cheated themselves. 'Tis a diverting story for my Reader, out of Les derniers efforts de l' Innocence affli∣gée, p. 176, & 177.

Conversions are now adays in fashion. Every one will be in the mode. Cavaliers, Soldiers, and Ladies, as well as our Bigots, must be Converters. One told me lately a pleasant passage of a common Soldier in the Garrison of Fribourg, who for a considerable Robbery was clapt up in Prison. This Fellow was a subtil shaver, and very well perceived there was no hopes of Life or Mercy for him. As soon as he was brought into Gaol, the first Question put to him was about his Religion. And you may be sure a Thief hath enough of that and to spare. But without any hesitation, he professeth himself an Hugonot, that is, a Protestant. Immediately all the devout persons in Town bestir themselves to save the Soul of this poor Heretick, and who more zealous with him and for him than my Lady Chamilly, the Governor's Wife. This Heretick stands out against all their assaults, and resolves to die a Martyr for his Religion. Never did a Martyr defend his Cause better than he. Nay Monsieur de Chamilly hath a pang of zeal for the perishing Soul of this wretched Hugonot, and out of pure compassion to him visits him in his Dungeon, tells him he is a dead man, as well as damned, if he don't turn Catholick. Eternal dam∣nation doth not fright him, only the dread of the Wheel and Halter put him into an Ague-fit. He begins to relent; the Piety and Charity of my Lord-Governor and his Lady work a Miracle upon him: He is wil∣ling, provided he may have good Terms, to relinquish his Heresie, and go to Heaven. But it must be upon sure Grounds; He will have his Par∣don first, in due form of Law, under the King's Hand and Seal, that he may not be cheated nor surprised, nor hung up after he is converted. And they deal (which is a wonder indeed) honestly and honourably with him; They get him his Pardon, he pleads it in Court, where 'tis accepted, and he is discharged by open Proclamation. No sooner is this Convert at large, but he declares to all the World what a precious Con∣vert he was, who had never been an Heretick but a Roman Catholick all his days.

This Trick was a little mortification to the Bigots of Fribourg. But let us pass from raillery unto something more sad and serious.

SECT. XXVI.

If a man be sick, and by reason of poverty is carried to the Hospital, his Entertainment will be very harsh and cruel; unless he renounceth his Reli∣gion, he shall have no attendance, but die miserably. A Danish Gentle∣man was carried to the Hospital at Paris, called l' Hostel Dieu, being mor∣tally wounded; The Papists earnestly press him to renounce his Heresie, but finding him fixt and immoveable in it, they make use of false Appari∣tions of supposed Devils, appearing with a Death's Head, in which they had put lighted Candles, telling this poor young Gentleman, that he should be damned, if he did not change his Religion, and of a Lutheran become a Catholick. They follow him so often and closely with these Mormo's, that being worn out with terrors, he died in despair. This happened Jan. 24. 1666.

The Liberty of Conscience formerly granted is miserably abridged, and the Inquisition in effect set up; no Protestant daring to discover his Faith before the Papists, lest he should be prosecuted for Blasphemy.

The Sick cannot lye quiet in their Beds, in their own Houses, no more than in Hospitals, without being persecuted with the continual Sollicita∣tions of Priests and Monks to change their Religion, they having got liberty to enter their Houses at pleasure, which to dying men, tho' never so well setled in their Religion, must needs be a very grievous torment.

The Priests with this Licence do frequently and falsly pretend, that the deceased party by signs or otherwise discovered a desire, that their Children should be bred up in the Popish Religion. Thus did they deal with Monsieur Rossell, a Minister in Xaintonge.

If a man in a violent Feaver, tho' under a delirium, do but let fall the least expression, the Priest snatcheth at it immediately, and pretends there is a real Conversion, and then all the Friends and Relations of this delirious per∣son are driven out of the Chamber, even his own Wife and his Children are taken into custody. And if he chance to recover, they will force him to go to Mass, or else put the Decree against Apostates in execution against him.

If a sick man be in his right senses, they will then by subtil insnaring Questions interrogate him, whether he would not imbrace a true Faith, a good, sound and orthodox Doctrine, and whether he desireth not to die in the bosom of the true Church. If he answer, that he doth, or not, 'tis all as one, he is persecuted to death. Take an instance or two out of Les derniers Efforts de l' Innocence affligée, p. 62, 63, 64.

In the Suburbs of St. Marcel in Paris, a poor Woman lay delirious, The Commissary and Priests of the Parish enter into her Chamber, drive out all her Relations and Friends that attended her, and made her speak what they pleased; then they go and fetch the consecrated Host and holy Oils for her viaticum: and lest any one in their absence should get into the Chamber, they lock it, and carry away the Key with them. In the mean while this sick Woman returns to her right senses, but is affrighted at the sight of a Cross at her Bed's foot, which they had left behind them. She immediate∣ly conjectures what had befallen her during her delirium; and thereupon ariseth, goeth to the door to save herself; but finding it shut, she resolves to escape by the window. This was too bold an Enterprise for so feeble a creature; and as she was sliding down from the third story, she falls upon the Pavement, and with the violence of the fall, dieth in the place.

There was another sorrowful Accident at Ville Dieu, a Village in Poictou. The Curate and Sexton of the Parish visit an aged person upon his sick bed. They drive away from him all his Children, terribly threatning them, that if ever they came near him any more they should be hanged. These poor Creatures terrified with these and other Persecutions, which they had al∣ready suffered, fled into the Woods, not daring to return to assist their af∣flicted Father. In their absence the old man stands his ground stoutly, against all the Assaults, Temptations and Vexations of this Irreligious Cu∣rate and Sexton; and finding they could not prevail upon him, they at last forsake him. This poor man was now left succourless, and dies of fa∣mine. For when he was found dead, he had eaten the flesh off his Hands for hunger.

SECT. XXVII.

I should never have done, if I should set down all the Histories of their Sufferings by the Tricks and Quirks of Law, but I will add one more: Monsieur Mandeville de Fanue, a Gentleman of an ancient Family, was kept in the Common Gaol of Normandy three Years, and was there in the Year 1674. He married a Gentlewoman bred up in the Popish Religion. By her he had several Children; the first was a Daughter, and his Wife's

Kindred intended to carry her away by force to be baptized according to the Romish Superstition. To that end his Mother-in-Law procured from the Judges of Caen, an express Command to the Ministers of the Protestant Church, not to baptize the Child on pain of five hundred Livers. This is directly contrary to the King's Declaration, Anno 1669. Article 39. expres∣sed in these very terms, We Order and Command, That the Children whose Fa∣ther is a Protestant, shall remain in their Parents Custody, and those that shall take them away and detain them, shall he constrained to restore them. Hereupon he was constrained by night, to avoid the insolency and fury of the com∣mon People, to carry the Child as far as Bayeux, five French Leagues di∣stant from Caen, there to be baptized after the manner of the Reformed Churches.

As he was going to baptize his third Child at the Protestant Temple near Caen, the Vicar of St. John's Church stopped him, and took him by the Throat suddenly, in so violent a manner, that he almost choaked him, and to avoid the fury of the common People, who began to stock about, he returned to his House.

The last Child, being a Daughter, was carried away by stealth by the forementioned Vicar, and was Baptized in the Romish way. The Mother of these Children dying a short time after, although by the Custom of the Country the Father hath the right of being Guardian and Tutor of his Children, yet most unjustly, and contrary to the 39th Article of the Edict, The Relations of the deceased Gentlewoman, who were all Papists, chose her Brother (who being a Minor needed a Guardian himself,) to take the care of these Children. And thereupon he was Condemned to give up his Children into the care and custody of this young Guardian: from this Sen∣tence he made his Appeal to the Parliament of Rouen. But his Adversaries by their false Witnesses, and a Counterfeited Contract before Marriage, al∣lowing the Education of his Children in the Superstitions of the Romish Church (which he proved forged) got two Judgments passed against him, and executed, enjoining him to deliver up his Children, under the penalty of eight hundred Livers French money. Upon this he Petitioned the Privy-Council, and obtained a Letter under the Kings Seal, to Monsieur Chamilla Intendant of Caen, Commanding him to put a period unto this Affair. But he being wholly governed by the Bishop of Bayeux, and other of the Clergy and rigid Papists: This poor Gentleman was made a Prisoner; and at the taking of him, they miserably abused him, beating him, tearing his Cloaths, breaking his Sword, dragging him in a brutish manner through the streets, and in all probability, had not a Gentleman, named the Viscount of Caen, come by, and took him into his Coach, and conducted him, with his Guard, to the Prison, he had been Massacred by the bloody Rabble. Over and above all this bad usage, some Debtors to him have obtained an injun∣ction upon any proceeding at Law against them, until he shall have delivered up his Children. His Estate is all seized, and he kept at the Kings allowance, that he may thereby be compelled, not having wherewithal to buy Bread for his Children, to deliver them up. This Order was Confirmed, and gi∣ven forth by six Ecclesiastical Councellors.

All that these inhumane Wretches have to alledge for this barbarous usage, is this, That they hold it just and equitable to deprive a Man of all the goods and comforts he enjoys, provided it be for the advancement of their Religion, which ought to be prefer'd before all private Interests whatsoe∣ver, according to their Maxim, Summa enim est ratio quae pro Religione fa∣cit. And by this goodly Maxim of theirs, was this worthy Gentleman, for not prostituting his poor Children to their Diabolical Idolatries and Su∣perstitions, more than three years Imprisoned, and placed among the most notorious Rogues, who for their Villanies are under Restraint, without any hope of deliverance unless by Death.

SECT. XXVIII.

We shall add but one method more under this first head, and that is a general Inundation of Criminal Processes against the Reformed. Writings were Printed at Paris, and sent down from thence to all Cities and Parishes in the Kingdom, Impowering Curates, Church-Wardens, and others, to make an exact inquiry into whatsoever those of the Reformed Religion had either said or done for twenty years past, as well upon the occasion of Re∣ligion as otherwise, and to give information of it unto the Local Magi∣strates, that they might be prosecuted without delay, and punished with∣out remission. So that for divers years together, in the execution of these Orders, the Prisons were every where filled with new kind of Criminals, with the most Innocent Persons in all France. Nor were false Witnesses wanting, and which was most horrible, though the Judges were convin∣ced in their Consciences, that they were Knights of the Post, yet they main∣tained and abetted them in their horrid Wickedness. Thus they Con∣demned innocent and godly Persons to be scourged, to be Chained in the Gallies, to Banishment and publick Penances. And this kind of Persecu∣tion fell chiefly upon Ministers, Pastors of Churches. For a long time they might not Preach without having for their Auditors, and Observators, a swarm of Priests, Monks, and Missioners, and such kind of Cattel, who made no scruple to charge them with things which never entered into their thoughts, and to turn others into a contrary meaning. Yea they went so far as to divine thoughts, and to make Crimes out of their own imagina∣tions. For as soon as ever any Minister spake of Egypt, Pharaoh, the Isra∣elites, of good or bad People, These Spies had their forced Innuendo's, and accused these poor Ministers for slandering the Catholicks, and that they meant by the Israelites the Reformed. The Judges concerned themselves in this, and which is most strange, The Ministers of State construed these In∣terpretations of thoughts as real, evident, and undeniable proofs. On these grounds the Magistrates filled the Prisons with many worthy Ministers, de∣taining them many Months, and whole Years together, yea, and often in∣flicted upon them severer punishments.

SECT. XXIX.

But they did not stop here, they proceed farther, To deprive the Re∣formed of all Offices and Employments, and in general of all means of gaining a Livelyhood. An infinite number of Protestants being dispersed in all parts of the Kingdom, it could not be but that many Families of them must subsist by serving the publick, either in Offices, Arts, Trades, or one Faculty or other, according to their Education and Callings. Henry the Fourth was so much convinced of the necessity and justice of this very thing, that he made it an express Article, and perhaps the most distinct and formal one of all the rest, which are contained in his Edict: and therefore the Persecutors thought themselves obliged to use their utmost endeavours to elude and evacuate it. Here then they began with Arts, and Trades; which under several pretences, they rendred almost inaccessible unto the Protestants, by the many difficulties they met with in attaining to their Mastership in them, and by the excessive expences they must be at to be received therein. For every Candidate (who would set up his Trade) was forced to this effect, to commence and carry on tedious Law-Suits, under the weight of which they sunk, and were over-whelmed, they being in no wise able to hold out the prosecution of them. But this not being suffici∣ent enough to ruine them, out cometh a Declaration in the Year 1669. by

which they be reduced to one third in those Towns where the Protestants were the greatest number of Inhabitants; and they were forbidden to re∣ceive any of the Religion into their company till this diminution was made. Thus at one stroke, one dash of the King's Pen, all Pretenders are totally ex∣cluded.

Some time after they drive all the Reformed from the Consulships; and other municipal Offices in Cities. Which was in effect to deprive them of all knowledge of their proper Affairs and Interests, and wholly to invest the Catholicks with them.

In 1680. The King issued out an Order, depriving them in general of all kind of Offices and Employs whatsoever from the greatest to the mean∣est. They were rendred uncapable of serving in the Custom houses, in the Guards, Treasury, or Post-Office, of being Messengers, Coach-men, or Wag∣goners, or any thing of this nature.

In the Year 1681. By a Decree of Council, all Notaries, Attorneys, Solicitors and Serjeants professing the Reformed Religion were rendred utterly uncapable of these Imployments in any part of the Kingdom.

In the Year 1682. All Lords, Gentlemen of the Reformed Religion, were ordered to discharge their Officers and Servants of the said Religion, and not to make use of them in any case; and this upon no other reason than this, because they were Protestants.

In the Year 1683. All Officers belonging to the King's Houshold, and those of the Princes of the Blood, were also rendred uncapable of holding their Places. The Counsellors, and other Officers in the Courts of Aids, and Chambers of Accounts; and those in County Courts, Bailywicks, in the Courts Royal, of the Admiralty, in the Provost's and Marshals Court, in the Treasury, Excise, and all Offices of the Toll, and such like busi∣nesses, were ordered to leave their Places, that the Catholicks might enjoy them.

In the Year 1684. All Secretaries belonging to the King, and great Of∣ficers of France, whether Real or Honorary ones, yea, and their very Wi∣dows, were deprived by a Revocation of all their Priviledges of what nature soever they were. They also deprived all those that had purchased any Priviledges for exercising any Professions, as Merchants, Surgeons, Apothe∣caries, Vintners, and all others without exception.

Yea, they proceeded to this excess, that they would not suffer any Mid∣wives of the Reformed Religion to do their Office, and expresly ordained for the future, That the Protestant Women when they were in Travel should receive assistance from none but Roman Catholicks. It cannot be express'd how many particular Persons and Families they reduced every where by these strange and unheard of methods to ruine and misery.

SECT. XXX.

But because there were yet many which could sustain themselves, other Methods of Oppression must be invented. To this end they issued out an Edict from the Council by which the New Converts, as they call them, were discharged from paying any of their Debts for three Years.

This for the most part fell sore and heavy upon the Reformed; who having had a more particular tie of interest and business with these pre∣tended Converts, because of their Communion in Religion, were reckon∣ed their chiefest Creditors. By this Order they had found the Secret to recompence those that changed, at the charge of those who continued firm; and this they did likewise by another way. For they discharged the New Converts of all Debts, which those of the Religion had contracted in Fel∣lowship with them. So that the poor Protestants must pay all. Horrible In∣justice! Cruel, hellish Oppression!

Add to this, The Protestants are prohibited to sell, or alienate their Estates, on any pretence whatsoever, the King disannulling and vacating all Contracts and other Acts relating to that Matter; if it did not appear, that after these Acts, they had stayed in the Kingdom a whole Year: so that the last Remedy of helping themselves with their Estates in extream necessity was now wholly taken from them.

There remained yet a Sheet-Anchor for the poor Protestants, and that was all which was left them to save themselves in this storm, to retire into other Countreys, where they might get their living by their labours, since it was not permitted them in France. But the King by repeated E∣dicts forbad them to leave the Kingdom upon very severe Penalties. This rendred their case desperate; for they saw themselves reduced to that hor∣rible necessity of being starv'd to death, to die of famine.

And yet the cruelty of their Enemies did not stop here. For there re∣maining some gleanings in the Provinces, tho' very few, and those as thin, lean and blasted as the Ears of Corn in Pharaoh's Dream. The Intendants in their respective Districts had express order to load the Reformed with Taxes, which they did in this manner: Either by laying upon them the Tax of the new Catholicks, who were discharged thereof on favour of their conversion, or by laying exorbitant Taxes, which they call Duties; that is to say, He, who in the ordinary Roll was assessed at forty or fifty Livers, was charged by this Imposition with seven or eight hundred. Thus had they nothing more left, for all was a Prey to the griping Covetousness and brutish Cruelty of Inhumane Intendants. They levied their Taxes from them by the effectual quartering of Dragoons upon them, or by close Imprisonment; from whence they were never freed, till such time as they had paid down the utmost farthing.

SECT. XXXI.

These were the two first Engines which the Popish Clergy used against the poor Reformed in that Realm. But now followeth a third; which we have termed Infractions of the Edict of Nantes, under pretence of Expli∣cation. Those who would know their Number and Quality need only cast their eyes upon the Books written and published on this occasion by Father Meisnier the Jesuit, an Author famous for his Illusions, and by one Baanard, a pitiful Officer in the Presidial Court of Beziers in Languedoc. There you will meet with all the Windings and Turnings, the Shifts and Evasions, which the silliest and most unworthy Sophisters could invent, whereby to elude the clearest Text of the Edict, and to corrupt and pervert its very heart, sence, and sincerest meaning. And that I may avoid prolixity, I shall only produce a brief Account of some few particular Instances of their Troubles. As for example, Was there any thing more clear, evident, and unquestionable in the Edict than this, viz. That it was given with an intention to maintain those of the Reformed Religion in all the Rights that Nature and Civil Society give to Men? Yet in 1681. there came out an Edict, that Children might at the age of seven Years abjure the Reformed Religion, and em∣brace the Catholick, under pretence forsooth, That the Edict did not pre∣cisely mark, that at this age they should continue at their Parents disposal. Who sees not, but that this was a meer Trick, seeing that at one hand the Edict forbad to take away Children by force from their Parents, or by Flat∣teries: and on the other hand, the Edict supposed and confirmed all the natural Rights, of which, without controversie, this is one of the most inviolable. Was there ever a more notorious Infraction of the Edict than that, which forbad those of the Reformed Religion, who had passed over to the Romish, to return unto that which they had quitted? because for∣sooth,

That the Edict did not, in express formal terms, give them this Li∣berty. For when the Edict permitteth generally all the King's Subjects Liberty of Conscience, and forbiddeth to perplex and trouble them, or to act and offer any thing contrary to this Liberty; who seeth not this excepti∣on touching the Pretended Relapsers, is so far from being an explication of the Edict, that it is a most notable Violation of it.

Unto this we may add the Charge given unto the Roman Catholicks not to change their Religion, and embrace the Reformed. For when the Edict giveth Liberty of Conscience, it doth in plain terms grant it unto all Per∣sons whatsoever, who are, or shall be of the said Religion. Yet if we be∣lieve the Clergy, this was not Harry the Fourth's meaning; for he intended that Grant only to those who then, at that time when the Edict was made, professed the said Religion.

SECT. XXXII.

This Edict of Nantes also gave unto the Reformed the Priviledge of keeping small Schools in all places where they had the Exercise of their Re∣ligion, and by common acceptation those were always understood Lesser Schools in which Children were taught Latin and Humanity. This was the known received sense of these words throughout the Kingdom, and it is thus taken when it doth concern the Roman Catholicks: Yet, by a new In∣terpretation, this permission was restrained to the bare liberty of Teaching to read and write; as if the Reformed were unworthy to learn any more. And this on purpose to tire out the Parents, and drive them to this extre∣mity, either not to know what to do with their Children, or be forced to send them to the Roman Catholicks for Education.

The Edict gave them Liberty in all places where they had Churches, to instruct publickly their Children, and others in what concerns Religion: and this did visibly establish them in the right of teaching them Philosophy and Theology, especially Theology, because this is nothing else but Reli∣gion.

Moreover, the Edict of Harry the Fourth had promised unto the Pro∣testants Letters Patents to be expedited in due form of Law for the Erecti∣on of Colleges, in which their Youth might be educated and instructed in the Liberal Sciences. For whence should their Churches be supplied with Ministers, if they had no Seminaries, nor Colleges? And yet the Clergy supposed that the Edict gave no right to the Reformed to instruct them in Philosophy or Theology; nor were they upon this supposition to have any Colleges. Hence their Universities and Colleges were all condemned and suppressed, that so the Ministery might be destroyed. This was the very self same course that Julian the Apostate took of old to extirpate Christi∣anity.

They had Colleges almost in every Province. All these are supprest: They had six Academies, one at Die in Dolphiny, another at Nismes in Lan∣guedoc, a third at Pau ill Bearne, a fourth at Montauban in Quercy, a fifth at Saumur in Anjou, and a sixth at Sedan. This last, though grounded on a particular Edict, was suppressed as well as all the others; yea, and had the Honour to be first ruinated. It led the Van to the other Universities, and preached to them, in its Rubbish, what kindnesses they must expect from the Jesuitical Councils at Court. They had been very fuitful Nurseries of many excellent Scholars, furnished the Churches with some thousands of able, godly and painful Ministers. This was the great eye-sore of the Jesu∣its, and cause enough for their bigotted Disciples at Court to procure their Ruine. The Professors in these Academies were Men of most eminent Learning and Piety, exceeding studious and laborious in their Calling.

They read four Lectures every Week publickly, besides the private Colle∣ges they had in their own Houses daily: for a number of young Students would combine together to prosecute one body of Controversies, and the Professor reads to them at home, and they draw up their Theses and dispute upon it. We have a world of these Exercises in the Foreign Universities. Their Professors exercise their Scholars with publick Disputations, and strict∣ly examin their Proficiency once a quarter. Their stipends were but mean, never amounted to Seventy pound a year; yet they were generally Men as of great parts, so of great reputation, and highly esteemed by their Churches, Synods and the Nobility. I shall insert here a Catalogue of the Prefessors in Divinity in the University of Montauban, from its first founda∣tion in the sixteenth Century unto the year 84. of the seventeenth, when the University was suppress'd, and all the Professors clapt up in the Prisons of Tholouse, by a Decree of that Parliament; where they were kept in du∣ress till the month of October, in the year 1685. and were then banished the Realm, with all the other Ministers.

1. Dr. Michael Berault was the Founder of, and first Professor in the Uni∣versity of Montalban in the year 1590.

2. Monsieur Peter Sohuis was his Collegue in the same Office, and at the same time.

3. Monsieur Daniel Chamier, that great Man, and invincible Champion of the Truth. The Jesuits could never stand before him. He was killed upon the Lord's day, when the City was besieged, with a Cannon Bullet, in the year 1621.

4. Monsieur John Cameron, that most pious Bishop of Norwich: Dr. Jo∣seph Hall gave this Character of him, That he was one of the most learned Men that Scotland ever bred. He had been formerly Minister of Bourdeaux, thence translated to the Professor's Chair of Divinity at Saumur, and lastly unto Montauban, where he died in the year 1625. But more of him in my Icones.

5. Peter Berault, the Son of Michael, a Son not unworthy his Father, who founded the University.

6. Anthony Garrissoles, who died in the Lord, Anno 1651.

7. Paul Charles, though he was called to the Professorship in Divinity after Monsieur Garrissoles, yet entered he into his rest two years before his Reverend Collegue, viz. 1649.

8. John Verdier, he died in the year 1668.

9. Andrew Martell, he went into exile, with his Brethren, in the year 1685, and was called to be Professor of Divinity in the University of Berne in Switzerland, where he is yet living. In his time the University was re∣moved from Montauban to Puy-Laurens in Languedoc, in the year 1660.

10. Anthony Peres was called in to succeed Monsieur Verdier immediately upon his death. This very learned and godly Divine died in my Neigh∣bourhood in the year 1686. here in King-street near Bunhil fields, Lon∣don.

This University of Montauban (the first and eldest Protestant University of France) had subsisted the just age of a Man; and then, purely out of a design to facilitate its Ruine, it was removed, in the year 1660. to Puy-Laurens.

The University of Saumur had its foundations shaken in the year 1675. though it had a quiet and uninterrupted possession of threescore and ten years, and was grounded upon the Edict of Nantes, and confirmed by other Edicts of Henry the Fourth, and of his Son and Successor Lewis the Thir∣teenth. Henry the Fourth comprehended them both in the Gift he made them Anno 1599. And in the Articles of Peace granted by Lewis the Thir∣teenth to the City of Montauban they were again ratified, and he formally

promised to continue his Bounty (which in truth was no bounty but a Debt, for the Reformed compounded with his Father to pay their Tithes to the Popish Parish Priests (which they did honestly and justly) provided the King would allow such a summ of 135000 l. in good money) unto them for their Ministers, Schools, Colleges and Universities.

And in his Answer to their Bill of Grievances, in the second year of his Reign, and of our Lord, 1611. Article 19. He granted to the Universities of Saumur and Montauban, the same Priviledges, Immunities, and Preroga∣tives, as the other Universities in the Kingdom enjoyed, according to the will and intention of King Henry the Fourth, expressed in his Answer to the Bill of Grievances presented him by the Reformed, Article the Fourth. Yet all these Engagements and Obligations, both of Honour and Consci∣ence, could not contain the present King, nor his Council, within any Bounds; But that all the Schools, Colleges, and Universities of the Re∣formed, must be dissolved, dissipated, and they be utterly ruined.

SECT. XXXIII.

But we shall proceed one step farther, and discover in this short Abridg∣ment how the Faith and Patience of God's Saints was farther tryed and ex∣ercised in France, before the last deluge of Popish Fury was poured out upon them. There were new Laws and Orders as so many new Engines and Racks invented to torment them. This is the fourth method devised by them.

The first of these Orders which appeared was touching the manner of Burial, and Interring the dead. In those places where the exercise of our Religion was actually established, the number of Attendants was reduced to thirty Persons, and to ten where it was not.

Orders were also issued out to hinder the Communication of one Province with another, by Circular Letters, or any other way whatsoever; though it were about matters of Alms, and the distributions of Charity.

There were likewise Prohibitions made of holding Colloquies in the In∣terval of Synods, excepting in two Cases, viz. to provide Ministers for Churches destitute upon the Death of their Pastors, and the censuring of greater Scandals.

They despoiled also those places, which they called Exercises de Fief, of all the Characters and Priviledges of a Temple, as the Bell, Pulpit, and other things of that nature.

They forbad also the Reception and Ordination of Ministers in any Sy∣nods, or to have their Decisive Vote in them, or to Register them in the Catalogue of those Churches to which they appertained.

One Decree forbiddeth the singing of Psalms in their private Houses, yea, and another to forbear singing in their Temples, when as their Consecrated Host was carried by in Procession.

One Decree forbids all Marriages at such times as they be prohibited by the Church of Rome, viz. Lent, and the Ember Weeks, &c.

By another Decree their Ministers are not suffered to Preach at any con∣siderable distance from their Residence, lest they should have the sorry pri∣viledge of an annexed Congregation, a poor plurality. For one Church being of it self utterly unable to maintain a Minister, sometimes two or three would join together to make up a Competency for his subsistence.

Other Decrees forbid their setling in any places, unless sent unto them by their Synod, though the Consistories had given them a solemn Call, ac∣cording to their usual Forms.

Another Decree comes forth to hinder Synods from sending to any Churches more Ministers than were there in the preceding Synod.

Another Decree prohibits all Proposans, Students in Divinity, to study in Foreign Universities.

Other Decrees banish all Foreign Ministers, not born in the Kingdom, though they had been Ordained in France, and spent the greatest part of their Lives in it, out of it.

Another Decree forbad all Ministers, and Candidates for the Ministry, to reside in those places where Preaching was forbidden, or nearer to them than six Miles.

Another Decree forbad the People to assemble in the Temples, under pretence of praying, reading, or singing of Psalms, except in the presence of a Minister, placed there by the Synod.

There was one Decree, and that a most ridiculous one, Enacted, That all the backs of the Seats in their Temples must be removed, that so they might be reduced to most accurate and decent Uniformity.

Another Decree to hinder richer Churches from assisting the weaker, in maintaining of their Ministers, and other necessities.

Another Decree obligeth Parents to give their Children, who had chan∣ged their Religion, great Pensions.

Another forbiddeth Marriages betwixt Persons of different Religions, not∣withstanding their Scandalous Cohabitation.

Another prohibiteth those of the Reformed Religion from that time to entertain in their Houses any Domestick Servants, who were Roman Ca∣tholicks.

Another maketh them uncapable of being Tutors or Guardians, and con∣sequently did put all Minors, whose Fathers died in the Profession of the Protestant Religion, under the Power and Education of Roman Catho∣licks.

Another forbiddeth Ministers and Elders to hinder any of their Flock, either directly or indirectly, to embrace the Roman Religion, or to dis∣swade them from it.

Another forbiddeth Jews and Mahometans to embrace the Reformed Reli∣gion, and the Ministers, either to instruct or receive them into it.

Another injoineth Synods to receive such Roman Catholick Commission∣ers as should be sent them from the King, with an express Order to do no∣thing, but in their presence.

Another forbiddeth Consistories to assemble oftner than once a fortnight, and that too only in the presence of the Roman Catholick Commissioner.

Another forbiddeth Consistories, on pretence of Charity, to assist poor sick Persons of their Religion, and ordaineth, that our sick shall be carried into the Popish Hospitals, most strictly forbidding all Persons to entertain them in their Houses.

Another Decree doth in favour of the Popish Hospitals, confiscate all the Lands, Rents, and other Profits of what nature soever, which might have appertained to a condemned Church.

Another forbiddeth Ministers to come nearer than three Leagues to that place, where the priviledge of Preaching was under debate or question.

Another Decree confiscated to the Popish Hospitals all Rents and Reve∣nues set apart for maintaining the Poor, even in those Churches which were yet standing.

Another subjecteth sick and dying Persons to the necessity of receiving visits sometimes from Judges, Commissioners, Church-Wardens, some∣times of Curates, Monks, Missionaries, or other Popish Ecclesiasticks, thereby to induce them to change their Religion, or to require of them an express Declaration concerning it.

Another forbiddeth Parents to send their Children before sixteen years of age, on any pretence whatsoever, to travel in Foreign Countries.

Another doth prohibit Lords and Gentlemen to continue the Exercise of Religion in their Houses, unless they had first produced their Titles before the Commissioners, and obtained from them a Licence for Preaching in those their Houses.

Another Decree restraineth the right of entertaining a Minister, to those only who were in possession of their Lands ever since the Edict of Nantes in a direct or collateral Line.

Another forbiddeth the Churches of one Bailywick to receive into their Temples the Members of another Bailywick.

Another doth injoyn all Physicians, Apothecaries, and Chirurgions, to notifie unto Curates and Magistrates the condition of sick Protestants, that so those dying persons may be visited by them.

SECT. XXXIV.

But among all these New Laws none did more effectually promote the designs of the Romish Clergy than that perfidious Prohibition unto the Reformed, of Receiving into their Temples any of those who had changed their Religion, no nor their Children, nor any Roman Catholick, of what Age, Sex, or Condition soever, on pain of forfeiting their Temples, and upon the Ministers of undergoing l'Amende Honorable, (a punishment far more ignominious than that of the Stool of Repentance in the Church of Scotland, or the most rigid publick Penance in the Church of England) together with banishment, and confiscation of their Goods and Estates. Moreover, the Reformed were injoyned to set up in all their Temples a particular Seat for the Roman Catholicks to sit on. For by this means, no sooner had any one a design and resolution of changing his Religion, but they would make him do it in private, and the next Morning find him in the Temple; who being there observed by the Roman Catholicks, who were in their Seat, immediately Informations were given unto the Magi∣strates, and then without delay ensueth a Condemnation of the Temple, which was put in execution you cannot tell whether with greater speed and diligence than rigour and severity. The Roman Catholicks needed only to enter into the Temple upon pretence that they had places there, and then they slipt in among the Crowd, and this is made a Violation of the King's Laws and Declaration, which is immediately followed with an un∣avoidable Decree of Condemnation. By this Engine they destroyed a vast number of Temples, and clapt into Chains and Irons a multitude of inno∣cent and godly Ministers. For wicked Informers and false Witnesses were never wanting on this occasion.

SECT. XXXV.

Such violent Proceedings as these must needs make a strong impression upon the minds of the poor Reformed, and tell them plainly unto what mark they tended. And therefore very many of them, whose prudence foresaw the Evil approaching, did in time provide for their safety, by lea∣ving their Native Country. Some transported themselves, their Families, and their Effects into one Kingdom, others into another, according as their Interests, Necessities, Conveniencies, and Inclinations led them. And I very well remember, that in the Year 1681. in May and June, whilest I was Pastor of the English Church of Middleburgh, it was then credibly re∣ported, that 500 Families of French Merchants had quitted France, and setled themselves at Amsterdam, and 50 Merchants more with their Hous∣holds had in those very Months also retired unto Hamburgh. But this was what the Court never intended, for more reasons than one. And therefore

to prevent and hinder them, they renewed from time to time that Decree which we have formerly mentioned, that strictly prohibited under the se∣verest Penalties, any Persons to depart the Kingdom without leave; and to this end they guarded all Passages on the Frontiers. But these Precautions could never fully answer their Expectations. And that they might blind the poor Reformed with some hopes that their rigorous Usage would be abated at home, in the Year 1669. the French King revoketh several vio∣lent Decrees, which indeed produced Effects for the present answerable to their Designs. For these wise and judicious Men saw well enough, that this Moderation sprang not from a good Principle, and that in the sequel, the same Decrees would be again put in execution some other time, yet the greater part conceived and hoped, that they would contain themselves within some bounds, with respect unto the general Body of the Reform∣ed, and not pass on to a total extirpation and destruction of them.

SECT. XXXVI.

And these very self-same Conclusions have been often drawn from the several verbal Declarations, which did many times drop from the King's own Mouth, That He would indulge the Reformed, and do them per∣fect Justice, and let them enjoy the benefit of his Edicts in their full and most comprehensive extent. That tho' he should be very glad to see all his Subjects reunited to the Catholick Religion, and would for the effect∣ing thereof contribute all his Power, yet should there no Blood be shed for Religion during his Reign, nor upon this account any Violence exercised. Those very Declarations having been frequently repeated, reiterated over and over, gave the poor Reformed some ground of hopes, that his Majesty would not forget them, and especially that in essential matters He would let them injoy the effects of his Goodness and Equity. And this was the ra∣ther expected by a Letter he wrote to that most serene and excellent Prince his Electoral Highness the Duke of Brandenburgh; Copies of which the Mi∣nisters of State took care to disperse throughout the whole Kingdom. In this Letter the King assures him, that he was well satisfied with the beha∣viour of his Protestant Subjects: And for the Reader's satisfaction I have here inserted it.

A Letter of the French King to the Prince Elector Duke of Bran∣denburgh.

BROTHER,

I Would not have discoursed the Matter you write to me about, on the behalf of my Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion, with any other Prince, besides your self. But to shew you that particular esteem I have for you, I shall begin with telling you, that some persons disaffected to my Service, have spread seditious Pam∣phlets among strangers; as if the Acts and Edicts that were passed in favour of my said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion by the Kings my Predecessors, and confirmed by my self, were not kept and executed in my Dominions; which would have been contrary to my Intentions: for I take care, that they be maintained in all the Priviledges, which have been granted them, and be as kindly used as my other Subjects. To this I am engaged both by my Royal Word, and in acknowledg∣ment of the Proofs they have given of their unspotted Loyalty during the late Trou∣bles, in which they took up Arms for my Service, and did vigorously oppose, and suc∣cessfully overthrow those ill Designs which a rebellious Party were contriving within my own Dominions against my Royal Authority. I pray God to take you, Brother, into his Protection.

LOUIS.

N.B. That Rebellious Party, which the French King stigmatizeth so hainously in this Letter, were the Roman Catholicks adhering to the late Prince of Condé, who having some Evidences of the Illegitimacy of the present French King, began with the Sword in his hand to publish his own Banes unto the Crown of France. And the Loyal Protestants opposing this Rebellious Prince, and his Rebellious Army, and in the Providence of God having been the unhappy Instruments of his and their overthrow, are applauded by the King himself: from whence they drew this natural Conclusion, that he then, when he writ this Letter to the Duke of Bran∣denburgh, had no intentions to destroy them. But that they were mistaken, and that Prince Elector abused, is notorious to the whole World.

SECT. XXXVII.

Another, and the fifth method used by the Council for their ruine, were those jugling Tricks with which they were frequently amused. As for Ex∣ample. At the same time that some Churches were Condemned, and ac∣cordingly demolished, others were conserved and confirmed: To make the World believe they were very Conscientious Observers of the Rules and Measures of Justice; and that those Temples condemned by them were such, as were not grounded upon any good Titles. Sometimes they would mollify over-rigorous Orders and Decrees: At other times they seemed not to approve of those violences which were offered by the Intendants and other Magistrates; and would therefore grant out new Orders to restrain and moderate them. After this manner did they hinder the Execution of a Decree made in the Parliament of Rouen, which injoined those of the Re∣formed Religion to fall on their Knees when they met the Sacrament. Thus they also granted a Noli prosequi against the actings of a puny Judge of Cha∣ranton, who had ordered that Prayer in the Protestant Liturgy, who groaned under the Tyranny of Antichrist, to be struck out of it. And thus also they seemed not to favour another Persecution which began to spread and become general in the Kingdom against the Ministers, under pretence of obliging them to take an Oath of Allegiance, in which other Clauses were inserted contrary to what Ministers do owe unto their Callings and Religion. And 'twas thus also that they suspended the Execution of some Edicts, which they themselves had procured, as well to tax the Ministers as to oblige them to a precise Residence upon those places where they exer∣cised their Ministry. With the same design the Syndicks of the Clergy had the art to let the principal Churches of the Kingdom to be at rest for many years together, without any disturbance in their religious Assemblies, whilst at the same time they desolated all others in the Country. They suspended also the Condemnation of the Universities to the very last.

The Court seemed at first unable to believe, and at last in no wise to ap∣prove the horrible excesses of Marillac, the Intendant of Poictou, which he committed in his Province; though yet that poor and bloody Fellow did nothing but by their express Order.

SECT. XXXVIII.

But amongst all those illusions there be five or six which are most remark∣able. The first was that at the very time when the Court issued out all those Decrees, Declarations, and Edicts, which we have before recited, and which they caused to be put in execution with the greatest severity, yea at the very same time that they interdicted Church-Assemblies demolished the Temples, deprived particular Persons of their Offices and Employments, reduced People to Poverty and Famine, flung them into nasty Jails, loaded them with grievous Fines, banished them from their Houses and Estates,

and in a word, had almost ravaged all: The Intendants, Governours, Ma∣gistrates, and other Officers in Paris, and generally over all the Kingdom, did very coolly and gravely give out, That the King had not the least in∣tention to touch the Edict of Nantes, but would most religiously ob∣serve it.

The second was, that in the same Edict, which the King published in the year 1682. to forbid Roman Catholicks to embrace the Reformed Re∣ligion, that is to say at a time when they had made considerable progress in their grand work of the Protestants destruction, they caused a formal Clause to be inserted in these terms, That he confirmed the Edict of Nantes, as much as it was or should be needful.

The third remarkable is, That in the Circular Letters which the King wrote to the Bishops and Intendants, obliging them to signify the Pastoral Advertisement of the Clergy to the Consistories of the Reformed, He tells them in express terms, That his intention was not that they should do any thing against those Grants, which had been formerly made by Edicts and Declarations in favour of those of the Reformed Religion.

The fourth, That by an express Declaration published about the latter end of the year 1684, the King ordained, That Ministers should not re∣main in the same Church above the space of three years, nor return to the first within the space of twelve. And that they should be thus translated from Church to Church, at least twenty Leagues distant from the other. Supposing by a most evident consequence, that his design was yet to per∣mit the exercise of Religion to the Ministers in the Kingdom, for at least twelve years. Though at that very moment they had fully resolv'd in Council upon the Edict of Revocation.

A fifth Remark is, a Request presented to the King by the Assembly of the Clergy, at the same time that they were drawing up an Edict to repeal and abrogate that of Nantes, and giving instructions unto the Attorney-General how to frame it. And in that Decree which was granted on this Request of theirs, the Clergy complained of the mis-representations which Ministers are wont to make of the Roman Church, unto which they attribute Do∣ctrines which are none of hers, and beseech his Majesty to make some pro∣vision against it. And farther they expresly declared, that they did not de∣sire the Revocation of the Edict. Whereupon his Majesty did straitly for∣bid all Ministers to speak either good or hurt, directly or indirectly, of the Church of Rome in their Sermons; supposing as every one may see, that 'twas his intention still to let them continue in the exercise of their Mi∣nistry.

But were there ever such illusions known? or was there ever any greater than this which they have put into the Revocatory Edict we are now speak∣ing of? The King after having Cancelled and Disannulled the Edict of Nantes, and all its Members, Articles, and Dependencies, after that he had for ever interdicted all publick Religious Exercises of the Reformed Reli∣gion, and had for ever banished all the Ministers from his Kingdom, yet notwithstanding he doth peremptorily declare, That 'tis his will, that his other Subjects, who are not willing to change their Religion, may remain where they are in all liberty, enjoy their Estates, and live with the same freedom as formerly, without any trouble or molestation upon pretence of their Religion, 'till it shall please God to enlighten and convert them. These were the amusements and gins laid to intrap the poor Reformed, as hath since appeared, and is daily more and more notorious by those barbarous usages they suffer, of which we shall give some few instances by and by, leaving the larger and fuller account of them unto that Reverend and Learn∣ed Exiled Pastor Monsieur B. who will publish to the World very shortly his laborious Martyrology of the French Churches under this present Reign and Persecution.

SECT. XXXIX.

But I shall add, the sixth preparatory Machin used by the Persecutors for the ruine of the poor Reformed in that Kingdom, which was an insensible and gradual disposing of the People by Declarations and Decrees to desire their utter extirpation, or to approve of it when once done, and to miti∣gate in their minds that Horrour which common Humanity hath of unjust and cruel Persecutions. For this purpose they turn'd a great many Stones, used various Means, but the most common were the Sermons and Preach∣ments of their Missionaries, and of other controversial Predicators, with which they had stock'd the Kingdom of late Years, under the specious Title of Royal Missions. These were choice Youths, cull'd out for the nonce, whose Education had nothing of moderation, but were all fire and flame. There was no difficulty to judge what kind of Actors these would be upon the Stage of the World, when they were not only excited, but knew them∣selves supported by Authority to blow the flames. And these Incendiaries did acquit themselves so zealously of their Imploy, that it was not long of them if Tumults and Seditions have not arisen in the greatest and most po∣pulous Cities of the Realm, yea and in Paris itself: for which the pru∣dence of the Magistrate is to be thanked and commended. Together with these Predicators we must yoke the Directors of Mens Consciences, Confes∣sors, Monks, Parish-Priests, and all Church-men from the highest Digni∣tary to the meanest Curate. For being acquainted with the Court's Inten∣tion, they contended one with another to manifest the greatest zeal and a∣version against the Reformed Religion, because it was their interest so to do, and the only Ladder by which to mount up unto Ecclesiastical Prefer∣ments, and to acquire the fattest Benefices and most advantagious For∣tunes in the Church. Hence the Streets in most Towns rang every day with the publication of new Decrees, Orders, Edicts, and Declarations, a∣gainst the Protestants, as also of Satyrical Lampoons and Seditious Li∣bels, which hit the humour of the French, and was most acceptable to them.

But this Engine gratified only the little People, and the Persecutors had that mortification to see that the most sober persons, who were a degree above the Mobile, disallowed these Acts and Practices. Wherefore they set the Pens of some Authors a work who had acquired by their Writings a reputation in the World, and amongst others the Writer of the History of Theodosius the Great, and of Maimbourg, who was once a Jesuite. He writ the History of Calvinism. But hath done Penance for it ever since, Mon∣sieur Jurieu in his Parallel of Papism and Calvinism, and in his Apology for the Reformation, having exposed his Ignorance, Falshoods, and Malice to the learned World. Monsieur Arnaud the Jansenist would make his Court also by venting his Choler against the Calvinists. But tho' his Apology for the Catholicks was writ with as much gall, fire, and passion as the Bigots them∣selves could desire, yet it did not take, because his person was not accep∣table. The Old Man complained of it in a Letter to the Archbishop of Rheims, (Copies of which were dispersed through all Paris) and aggravates his own Misfortunes, for that another who had done far less Services was gratified with 20000 Livers from the King, but He, good Soul, tho' he had deserved much more, could not meet with so much as one Liart.

But we must not pass by another of their famous Authors, Father Sou∣lier, who was bred a Taylor, and had the wit to stitch and patch up An History of the Edicts of Pacification. And Monsieur Nicole once a great Jansenist, but now a Convert of his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Paris, he sends forth a Child of his own begetting with this fine Name,

Protestants convinced of Schism. Nor may we overlook the Author of the Journal des Scavans, who in his ordinary Gazetts stoutly affirms, that the Catholick Faith must be planted as Mahomet's Alcoran by Fire and Sword, alledging this most unanswerable Argument, That a King of Norway con∣verted all the Nobles of his Country by threatning to kill their Children before their faces, if they would not consent to have them baptized, and to be baptized themselves. For a long time in Paris, and other Towns and Cities of the Kingdom we rencountred none but these kind of Writings, to so high a pitch was their passion flown.

SECT. XL.

But tho' by these steps the Court advanced greatly in their Designs, yet they had not attained their end. For the Reformed were not wanting to their common Interest, nor did they neglect their just and lawful De∣fence. They sent frequently from the farthest and most distant Provinces their Deputies to the Court. They asserted their Rights before the Privy-Council. They bring their Complaints and Bills of Grievances from all parts of the Kingdom to that Honourable Board to be redressed. They em∣ploy their Deputy-General to sollicit their Interests both with the Judges and chief Ministers of State, and the King himself. Sometimes they pre∣sented their General Addresses, in which they exposed their Grievances with that profound humility and deference, which Subjects owe their Sove∣raigns.

I do here tender to the Reader but one Instance among many, viz.

The Humble Address of the distressed Protestants in France, as it was delivered to the French King in the Year 1681.

SIR,

YOur Majesty's Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion, do with all humility represent to your Majesty, that your Declaration of the 17th of June last, does so overwhelm them with grief, that they are almost out of themselves; but nevertheless, they are so bold as once more to have recourse to your Majesty, hoping, that being still your most faithful Sub∣jects, they shall not be denied access for Justice; and that rather, like God Almighty, your Majesty will be tender to hearken to the Voice of the af∣flicted.

Upon this confidence they throw themselves at your Majesty's Feet, and desire you to consider, that this Declaration is directly contrary to all the Edicts granted to those of that Religion, and particularly to the Edict of Nantes, which has been given to them as a perpetual and irrevocable Law, and which your Majesty has frequently confirm'd; for besides, that this does all along suppose, that your Subjects of that Religion shall enjoy in this your Kingdom all rights as well natural as civil, which are common to any of your Subjects; and that among those Rights, that of the Power of Pa∣rents over their Children to the Age of Puberty is one of the most general; the 18th Article of that Edict does expresly provide, That none shall by force take away any Children from their Parents, to baptize, or give them the Sacrament of Confirmation, against the will of their Parents.

'Tis well known that Confirmation is never given to Children till they are past Seven years old; and if the Edict forbids to give them Confirmati∣on at that Age, sure much less will it allow them to be at liberty to chuse their Religion, and to make abjuration, at that age, of a Religion in which they were born and educated.

'Tis with the same Intention that the 38th Article of the same Edict does in express words say, That the Parents making profession of that Religion, may provide their Children of such Tutors and Guardians as they shall think fit, nay, that they may name one or more either by Will or Codicil, before a Notary, or written with their own Hand.

Your Majesty, Sir, is most humbly supplicated to weigh the force of the word Education, even after the Death of the Parents; for it evidently demonstrates, that the Edict had a regard to the paternal Right of Parents over their Children, not only as inviolable during their Life; but extending it self even after their Death; so as no zeal of Religion, nor any other Pretext could take it away; nay, it was so far from being limited to the age of Seven years, that it was to be preserv'd during the whole Course of the Education, which scarce begins at that Age, and is very narrowly limited when it ends at that of Fourteen.

Besides, Sir, The Edict of Nantes is not either the onely or the first Law, that speaks in favour of this Power, which, being a Law of Nature, is as ancient as the World, (and 'tis a Maxim, that natural Rights are immuta∣ble) but it is found also in an Answer given to the Protestants in the year 1571. under the Reign of Charles the Ninth; which was the severest reign against those of that Religion.

The Power of Fathers over their Children was thought so sacred, that it was said upon the 24th Article, that Fathers should not be hindred in the Education of their Children according to the Principles of their Religion, and the Motives of their Conscience, and that even after the Death of the Parents, their Children should be Educated in the same Religion, till they had attained the full Age of Fourteen years, and then should be left to their Choice and Liberty.

But, Sir, none of your Royal Ancestours have more authentically ac∣knowledged this right of Parents than your Majesty. For besides divers Judgments given in your Council of State in the years 63 and 65 which are expresly in favour of this Power, your Majesty's Declaration in the year 69. has it in express words, That it is prohibited to all Persons whatsoever, not only to take away from their Parents the Children of those of the pre∣tended Reformed Religion, or to allure them; but they shall not also make any Change or declaration of Change of their Religion, before they have attained the compleat Age of Fourteen years for the Males, and Twelve for the Females; and that till they have respectively attain'd the same age, they, the said Children, shall, after the decease of their Parents, remain in the hands of their nearest Relations of the same Religion; and that any that shall detain them shall be oblig'd to restore them back to their Relations. All this has been put in execution and confirm'd by divers Pre∣cedents, and particularly by a Judgment given by the Archbishop of Rheims in the Month of August 76. by which it is ordain'd, that none of the Female Sex shall be received into the House of the Propagation of the Faith at Se∣dan, till they have attain'd the Age of Twelve years compleat.

Your Majesty's Suppliants beg leave to represent to your Princely Consi∣deration the Difference that will be found between the Declaration of 1669. and this last of 1681. the first leaves to Nature its Rights and Priviledges, to Conscience its Motives and Impulses, to the civil and common Laws their Principles and Maxims, to your Parliaments their Rules and constant Me∣thods of proceeding, to foreign Nations an Example worthy their Imi∣tation, and lastly to the Roman Catholick Religion the honour of keeping within some bounds of Equity, in Conformity to Reason and the Practice of the Primitive Church: whereas, under this new Law Nature suffers, and groans to see Children torn from the Bosom of their Parents to whom she had given them, and who ought to be more theirs at the Age of Seven

years, than before; since 'tis properly at that time, that their Education begins, and that Parents do as it were take possession of their right.

The Conscience of your Petitioners will be troubled, and disquieted in the most cruel manner imaginable, since the Paternal care of Children, for their Education, is one of the most important and indispensable duties of Conscience; every Parent being responsible to God Almighty for his Chil∣drens actions, while nature has deposited them in his hands.

The Civil and Canon Laws will both speak in favour of your Suppli∣ants; for if Children before the age of puberty, which is at fourteen, can neither make a Will, nor be Witnesses at Law, nor make Vows, nor do any Act of their own will; how can it be thought reasonable, that they should before that age make choice of their Religion, which is the most im∣portant Act of their whole Life. Your Parliaments, Sir, who following the common Principles of Reason and Equity, did never yet subject Chil∣dren to capital Punishments, before the age of Puberty, must now violate that Custom of all Nations, and practised in all Ages: for by making Chil∣dren of seven years old, capable of chusing their Religion, they are at the same time expos'd to contract the crime of those that are called relapse, and by consequence do undergo the capital Punishment, ordain'd by your Maje∣sties Laws, in that case.

Foreigners, and Infidels themselves, will think themselves well Autho∣riz'd by this Example, to take the Children of those, who profess a Reli∣gion contrary to theirs.

And lastly, the Roman Catholick Religion will hardly avoid the re∣proach of all good Christians, when it shall appear, that it not only receives, but forces Conversions from Children of seven years old, that is in an age, when they have but the first appearances of reason, and when their Judg∣ments scarce begin to act; and where by consequence any change of their Religion cannot proceed from a determinate choice, but from a blind obe∣dience, or yielding to the threat or allurements that can move them. That it is contrary to the Practice of the Primitive Church is so visible, that even admitting your Suppliants to be Hereticks; 'tis most certain, that in antient times, the Church never took away Children under age from those that liv'd under the same ties of civil society with them, though at the same time they thought them Infidels. In a word, Sir, it is an unheard of practice to this day, in all the Nations of the World, that the Power of Fa∣thers should be restrain'd to seven years over their own Children, particu∣larly in Cases of Religion.

Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest Doctors of the Roman Catholicks, decides positively, that it is not lawful to baptize the Children of the Jews against the will of their Parents, and that for two Reasons, one, that it was never the practice of the Church, and the other, that it is against the course of natural Justice, and when the Kings of Spain and Portugal, Sise∣buth and Emanuel, carried on by a Zeal of Religion, went about to practise something like it, the fourth Council of Toledo oppos'd the action of the King of Spain; and all the World has blamed the proceeding of Emanuel, when he took away from the Jews their Children under fourteen years of Age. The famous Bishop Osorius, who speaks of it, says, that it was an action neither founded in Justice nor in Religion; though it proceeded from a good Intention, and aim'd at a good End, because God Almighty requires from Mankind a voluntary not a forc'd Sacrifice. It being against his Laws, that any violence should be offer'd to Conscience, to which he adds this terrible Circumstance, that divers of those unfortunate Fathers threw their Children headlong into deep Wells, and precipitated themselves after them.

It cannot be alledg'd, Sir, that the Declaration of your Majesty does not

order the taking away of Children from their Parents, and that it only gives them the liberty of chusing their Religion. For in the first place, the Violence is not so much to be look'd upon as offer'd to the Children, but to the Parents whose Children they are by the Gift of God and Nature; 'tis the sence of the same Thomas Aquinas, who speaking of the Jews says, that it were injustice to baptize their Children against their will, because it were the taking away from them that paternal Power, with which they are invest∣ed by nature, which, says he, the Church never did, even in the most Chri∣stian Princes times, as Constantine, and Theodosius, who without doubt would have permitted it, had it not been against all Reason. And the Edict of Nantes it self in the 18th Article, forbids equally Force and Persua∣sion, and calls them both Violence, and all Laws have as severely punish'd the Rape of Seduction, as that of force in Children under Age.

Secondly, The Age of seven years fully attain'd does not hinder, but that as to the Parents the Violence is as great, as if their Children were torn from their Mothers Breasts; because that all Laws, both natural and civil, do submit Children to their Parents till the Age of Puberty, and there∣fore 'tis equally unjust to take them away at seven years old, as in the Cradle.

If it be alledg'd that Children at seven years old are capable of sinning mortally, and so may be admitted to the choice of their Religion. We An∣swer, that besides that, that Principle is not generally allow'd, and that it would be very hard to judge your Petitioners by Maxims which they do not receive; 'tis easie to see, that it is a very unjust and unequal Inference, and that there is a great deal of difference between the first Idea's of good and evil, which Children may begin to have at seven years old, and the discerning or examining of two Religions, with a determination to leave that in which they have been brought up, to follow another, which must of necessity be less known to them, if they are not altogether ignorant of it, and which the World knows to be a choice of so difficult a nature, that it is the earnest endeavour of human Mind animated with the most diligent inquiry of its way to Heaven.

Your Petitioners shall not here touch upon the fatal and sad Consequen∣ces which are like to attend the Execution of so severe a Law; the despair of Fathers and Mothers, the inevitable Discord between Parents and Chil∣dren; the change of Education from the tender hands of Parents into those of Strangers: the liberty it gives to ill-dispos'd Children who will scorn the Correction of their Parents, having means ready to shake off their Autho∣rity, the exaction of unreasonable Pensions from Parents for the keeping of their Children out of their own Families; the forc'd retreat of many thou∣sands out of your Majesties Dominions; the apprehension that those who remain will be in to have any Children born to 'em, and a thousand other Inconveniencies, and Interruptions of the Bonds of civil Society.

Your Petitioners, Sir, are convinc'd as well as all the World, that nothing here can resist your Power; but they know likewise, that your Majesty loves to temper that Power with Sweetness and Justice, after the Imitation of God Almighty, who never displays the Infinity of his Power upon his poor Creatures, but that he doth at the same time look upon 'em with Eyes of Compassion.

'Tis your Justice, Sir, that your Petitioners implore in the Excess of their Grief, and 'tis to you, Sir, alone, that they direct, their sighs and tears, taking the confidence to say, as it is true, that they had rather endure all things, and death it self, rather than be separated from their Children in so tender an Age, and so be hinder'd from Educating them in their own Re∣ligion, according to the obligation of their Consciences.

Therefore your Petitioners humbly beg, that it may be your Royal

Pleasure to revoke and annul the Declaration of the 17th of June last, and to order, that that of February 1669. be in full force, and your Petitioners shall continue to offer up their Vows and Prayers, for your Majesty's most prosperous and glorious Reign.

But they were so far from being heard, that their Troubles became greater, and their repeated Petitions render their Condition still worse and worse. When as Deputies from Cities and Provinces have come to the Louvre, in the most dutiful manner, with the most humble Supplications of the sorely distressed Protestants, for Relief under their heavy pressures, they have received an express Order from the King to be gone home again im∣mediately. Thus was Monsieur de Vignolles, Deputy for the Province of Languedoc, used: No sooner was he arrived at Paris, but one of the Kings Pursuivants is dispatched to him, with a peremptory Command, to depart the City in eight days, upon pain of close Imprisonment. And Monsieur Faissé, deputed by the Inhabitants of Privas, did no sooner appear at Court with their Complaints, but the Captain of the Kings Guards commands him, in his Majesty's Name, to depart the Court instantly, upon the like peril of being clapt up in Prison. And when the Province of Lower Guienne had sent Monsieur Sarrau to lay at his Majesty's Feet an humble Represen∣tation of their many Grievances, he received a private Letter, under the Kings Seal, forbidding him to come to Court. A multitude of such Prece∣dents might be produced. And if at any time, and after many difficulties they have been successful, and weathered out the storms of affronts and in∣juries they have met withal, yet when their businesses hath come to an hear∣ing, oftentimes no Advocate could be got to plead their Cause; or if they have been heard, although their Arguments were never so strong, yet they have been at last slighted and rejected, and no right done them. They have some times spent whole years in pursuit of their Causes, and in hope of Audience; but have been worn out with delays, whereas Sentences against them have been obtained, by the Clergy, in twenty four hours. Yea many times after long waiting, and great Charges, the Protestant Agents and De∣puties have been forced to return home with the sad tidings of the loss of their most righteous Causes.

The last Petition presented to the King himself by the Lord Marquiss of Rouvigny, the General-Deputy, in March 1684. was couched in the most submissive terms, that would have moved and melted into pity the hardest heart (thousands having seen and read it, for it was afterward Printed,) yet they got nothing by it, but the hastening of their ruine and de∣struction.

SECT. XLI.

This was effectually accomplished some few Months following, and in such a terrible and violent manner hath it been Executed, that the darkest and most distant Corners of Europe, yea, and of Asia and America, have heard and rung of it. But the circumstances are not known to all, and therefore I shall give an account of them in a few words; that the mouth of Impudence may be stopped, who publish abroad, That no Violences have been offered in France unto the Reformed, and that the Conversions there have been voluntary, and of their free consent.

At first they took these measures, to Quarter Souldiers in all the Provin∣ces, almost at the same time, and chiefly Dragoons, which are the most resolute Troops of the Kingdom. Terrour and dread marched before them, and as it were by one common Intelligence, all France was allarm'd and filled with this News, that the King would no longer suffer any Hugonots in his Kingdom, and that they must resolve to change their Religion. For there was no human Power could preserve them in it.

SECT. XLII.

They began with Bearne, in this Province the Dragoons first exercised their skill in Persecuting. Soon after the storm breaks out in the High and Lower Guienne; from thence it rides post unto Xaintongue, Aunix, Poictou, the Upper Languedoc, Vivaretz, and Dolphiny. Then they roar and ravage in Lionnois, Sevennes, and the Lower Languedoc, Provence, and in the Valleys of Piedmont, and the little Country of Gex. Afterwards they fall with a most horrid rage upon the rest of the Kingdom, upon Normandy, Burgun∣dy, Nivernois and Berry, the Provinces of Orleans, Tourain, Anjou, Brittain, Champagne, Piccardy and the Isle of France, not excluding Paris it self, which underwent the same Fate with the other Protestants.

The first thing the Intendants were to do, according to their Orders and Instructions, was to summon the Cities and Commonalties before them; and when those Inhabitants which professed the Reformed Religion were as∣sembled, they then very gravely acquaint them, That it was his Majesty's pleasure they should without delay become Roman Catholicks, and if they would not do it freely, they would make them do it by force. These poor People, surpriz'd with such a proposition, answer, That they were ready to sacrifice their Lives and Estates to the King, but their Consciences and Souls being not their own but Gods, they could not in any wise dispose of them.

There needed no more to bring in the Dragoons upon them: these armed and booted Apostles are at hand; they seize immediately on the Gates and Avenues of the Cities, they place their Guards in all the Passages, and brandishing their naked Swords, the Cry is, Kill! Kill! or else turn Catho∣licks! They be quartered on the Protestants at discretion, and are strictly charged by their Officers to let none go out of their houses, nor to hide and conceal their goods or effects, on great penalties. The Catholicks also are threatned in like manner, in case they should receive, harbour, or assist them. The first days are spent in consuming those Provisions the house afforded, and plundering them of Moneys, Rings, Jewels, and whatever was of any esteem or value. Then they set to sale all the goods of the Family, and invite the Papists not only of that place, but also those of the neighbour Towns and Cities to come and buy them. And be sure they could sell them cheap pennyworths, and give them a very good Title.

SECT. XLIII.

* 8.1Afterwards they fall upon the Persons of the Protestants, and there was no Wickedness, though never so horrid, which they did not put in practice, that they might enforce them to change their Religion. Amidst a thousand hideous Cries and Blasphemies they hang up Men and Women by the Hair or Feet upon the roofs of the Chambers, or hooks of Chimneys, and smoakt them with wisps of wet Hay, till they were no longer able to bear it; and when they had taken them down, if they would not sign an abjuration of their pretended Heresies, they then truss them up again immediately. Some they threw into great Fires, kindled on purpose, and would not take them out till they were half roasted. They tied ropes under their Arms, and plung'd them to and again into deep Wells, from whence they would not draw them till they had promised to change their Religion. They bound them as Criminals are when they be put to the Rack, and in that po∣sture putting a Funnel into their Mouths, they pour'd Wine down their throats till its fumes had deprived them of their reason, and they had in that con∣dition made them consent to become Catholicks. Some they stripped stark

naked, and after they had offered them a thousand Indignities, they stuck them with Pins from Head to Foot: They cut them with Penknifes, tear them by the Noses with red hot Pincers, and dragged them about the Rooms, 'till they promised to become Roman Catholicks, or that the dole∣ful outcries of these poor tormented Creatures, calling upon God for Mercy, constrained them to let them go. They beat them with Staves, and dragged them, all bruised, to the Popish Churches, where their en∣forced presence is reputed for an Abjuration. They keep them waking se∣ven or eight days together, relieving one another by turns, that they might not get a wink of sleep or rest. In case they began to nod, they threw Buckets of Water in their Faces, or holding Kettles over their Heads, they beat on them with such a continual noise, that those poor Wretches lost their Senses.

If they found any sick, who kept their Beds, Men or Women, be it of Feavers or other Diseases, they were so cruel, as to beat up an alarm with twelve Drums about their Beds, for a whole Week together without Inter∣mission, till they had promised to change.

In some places they tied Fathers and Husbands to the Bed-Posts, and ra∣vished their Wives and Daughters before their Eyes. And in another place Rapes were publickly and generally permitted for many hours toge∣ther.

From others they pluck off the Nails of their Hands and Toes, which must needs cause an intolerable pain. They burnt the Feet of others. They blew up Men and Women with Bellows, 'till they were ready to burst in pieces.

If these horrid usages could not prevail upon them to violate their Con∣sciences, and abandon their Religion, they did then Imprison them in close and noisome Dungeons, in which they exercised all kind of Inhumanities upon them. They demolish their Houses, desolate their Hereditary Lands, cut down their Woods, seize upon their Wives and Children, and mew them up in Monasteries.

When the Souldiers had devoured all the goods of a House, then the Farmers and Tenants of these poor persecuted Wretches must supply them with new Fewels for their Lusts, and bring in more subsistence to them; and that they might be reimbursed, they did, by Authority of Justice, sell unto them the Fee-simple Estate of their Landlords, and put them into pos∣session of it.

If any, to secure their Consciences, and to escape the Tyranny of these enraged Cannibals, endeavour'd to flee away, they were pursued and hun∣ted in the Fields and Woods, and shot at as so many wild Beasts.

The Provosts, with their Archers, course it up and down the high ways after these poor Fugitives; and Magistrates in all places have strict Orders to stop and detain them without exception; and being taken, they are brought back, like Prisoners of War, unto those places from whence they fled.

SECT. XLIV.

But this Storm did not fall only upon the Commons, but Noblemen, and Gentlemen of the best Quality are exposed to it. They also have Souldiers Quartered upon them, who do rage and spoil them every way as much as the Citizens and Peasants. Their Houses are pillaged and plundered, their Goods dissipated and wasted, their Castles rased, their Woods felled, and their very Persons affronted with the Insolencies and Barbarity of the Dra∣goons. They spare neither Sex, nor Age, nor Quality. They practise their Violences upon all Persons, who are non-compliant with their Com∣mands of changing their Religion. Several Officers and Members of Par∣liament

underwent the very self-same Fate. For they were first deprived of their Offices, and then the Military Officers, who were actually in ser∣vice, are ordered to quit their Posts, and to come and Quarter upon them, that they may by these new Apostles be necessitated to turn Catholicks.

Many Gentlemen, and Persons of great Quality, and many aged Ladies of ancient and noble Families, seeing all these Outrages, retired unto Paris, and hoped, that in that Forest of Houses, and so near the Court, they might find a safe retreat. But this hope soon vanisheth. For a Decree of Council is Published, Commanding them to leave Paris in fifteen days, and to return back again without tarrying, unto their own homes. And whereas some presumed to Petition his Majesty to stop the current of this violent Storm and Injustice, they were immediately sent Prisoners to the Bastile.

The French King about the 6th of October 1685. was heard to say, That he hoped by that time his Grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, came to years of Ʋn∣derstanding, he should never know what an Hugonot was in France, but by History.

In Sedan (a Principality by the Kings Edict annexed but of late unto the Crown) the Desolation by the Dragoons is unspeakable. The Fami∣lies of Protestants being inforced to pay unto these Guests Quartered upon them, from ten to fifty and sixty Crowns a day, till they were totally beggar'd.

There have been rare and great Examples of Patience and Constancy among these Suffering Protestants. I shall produce a few Instances.

In Guyenne, Monsieur de Bergues Lord of Feus, ever since the Dragoons came into the Province, hath had seventy of them continually lodged up∣on him at Free Quarters, where they made a total Consumption, devour∣ing all that he had, even to the very Stones and Walls, and not content with ruining him, they compelled his poor Tenants to contribute also to their Livelyhoods. After they had by main force dragged his Lady and Children to the Popish Church, they Imprisoned them in several Nunne∣ries: and as for that Pious Lord, having by their Cruelties and ill usages confined him to his Bed, yet they continued their Torments of him in his Sickness, four Souldiers guarding him night and day, as if he had been some Notorious Traytor, and those brutal Wretches treating him with ex∣cessive Indignities. However they could not shake the Constancy of this Noble and Religious Gentleman.

Five Citizens of Sedan, after these Missionaries had tryed their skill upon them, by destroying and eating up all their Substance and Estate, and other Hellish ill usage in Prison, to induce them to renounce their Religion, and not prevailing, they at last Condemn'd them to the Gallies. Unto which they went most Couragiously, Rejoycing at their great Afflictions for the Gospel.

Two ancient Gentlewomen of Sedan, one being the Widow of Mon∣sieur Dreall Seneschal of the City, and the other the Relict of Monsieur de Beaulieu, who in his Life time had been Pastor and Professor in that Church and Academy, they both yielding up their Houses and Estates (which were very considerable) to be spoiled and plundered by these Dragoons, did for some weeks hide themselves from their Violence, by climbing from the Tops of Houses, from one House unto another, and indured those hardships, which would have been the bane of others younger and stronger than themselves; but hereby being worn out and quite spent with the labours and fatigues of their frequent removes, they fell sick, and were both seized on by their Persecutors, who banished them unto Rheims, and are now doing penance for their Heresie (as the Papists call it,) and you may be sure a severe Penance it is, that will be inflicted on them by the bigotted Nuns in their Con∣vents.

The Lady Vielle Vigne, ne••r Nantes in Brittany, being accused of holding a Conventicle in her house, that is, for keeping a day of Prayer, was im∣mediately arrested, and all that had been found at that Religious Meeting were carried to prison, where this Excellent Pious Lady abides in Du∣ress.

Monsieur de Rosemont, formerly Pastor of Giens, having through humane Infirmity fallen with the Multitude, fell sick in danger of death; the Priest of his Parish comes to visit him, and offers to administer the Popish Sacra∣ments, Extream Unction, and the Eucharist unto him; but the poor Man refuses them, and declares his mind boldly against them, and in particular against their Sacrilege in robbing the People of the Cup. Finally, it pleas∣ed God that he recovered of his distemper; and being in perfect health, he was demanded whether the words he had spoken, and the discourse he had held in his Sickness were the effects of his Fever and Delirium, or of his fixed and settled Judgment. He answered couragiously, that what he had spoken in his Sickness he would stand to in his Health, that they were his present Thoughts and Faith; and expressing a great deal of Remorse and Sorrow for his Fall, he begg'd pardon of God for it: whereupon he was brought before a Judge, who condemn'd him forth-right unto the Gallies, there to be hung till he was dead.

Monsieur Bayley, Minister of Carla in the County of Foix, and who was in June 1685. seized on by the Provost of Montauban, and thrown into a Dungeon in the Castle of Trumpet at Bordeaux, not one of his Friends or Relations being ever permitted to visit him, or to know the cause of his Im∣prisonment; died the 12th of November following, but with that Constan∣cy as became a Martyr of Jesus Christ, praising and blessing God for his Sufferings. These Sufferings of his had been very great and exceeding grie∣vous: He lay a long while together sick without any relief or assistance; yea, they were so barbarously cruel to him as to deny him a Cup of cold Water to quench his burning Thirst; his merciless Guards treating him in his very malady with all manner of Barbarities, that by those Torments he might be enforced to apostatize from the Truth; but this excellent man of God held stedfastly to the last, and by his Faith and Patience conquered the Cruelties of his Tormentors, and died triumphantly. He was a Person of great Worth and Learning, all which was communicated by him to the Edification of his Flock. His Brother, one of the rarest Scholars of this Age, is that famous Author of the Republique des Lettres.

The Widow of Monsieur Fremont, that rich famous Banker of Paris, to∣gether with her two Sons, left above 200000 Liveres in their House and e∣scapt most fortunately their Persecutors. Monsieur Fremont putting him∣self and six more into the Habits and Arms of the Life-Guard, and himself as an Officer in the head of them, coming upon the Frontiers to the Guards, demands whether none had passed them lately? To which they replied Yes, some had done it a little before with Pass-ports. But this new Officer tells them they were counterfeited, and he was ordered to pursue these Counterfeits, and so saved himself and Company.

In Poictou the Houses of the Gentry are demolished, and excessive Cru∣elties by the Mission to make them renounce their Religion. The Lady of a Person of Quality, who for his Constancy was imprisoned, after that his House had been pulled down, was clapt up between four Walls, where, though she was big with child and very near her time, yet she was starved to death with Cold and Famine.

In the Burrough of Torique three Leagues from Niort, Frances Aubin, a Country Woman, declaring her resolution to persist unchangeably in the Protestant Religion; they first squeezed her Fingers to pieces with Iron Skrews, and then hung her up by her Arm-pits, smoaking and forcing her

to suck in with her Nostrils Tobacco and Brimstone: afterward these bloody Villains tied her Legs unto a Horse, who drew her upon burning Faggots. Her own Brother, of the same name, was an Eye-witness of all her Suf∣ferings, who also was tortured by them, but in another manner. And forasmuch as none of these Cruelties could make them either loose their Resolutions or their Lives, they flung them both into a low Ditch, whence they were taken out almost knee deep in Mud and Water.

Another Inhabitant of the same place called Fountayne, was hung up also by the Arms, smoakt with Tobacco, her Fingers burnt by a light fire, and then thrust into a Dungeon to die of Cold and Hunger, as a Man of S. Maixant had done before her.

A Gentleman of Augumois they tormented to death, by pouring into his Mouth boiling Aqua Vitae, and Wines, and Water.

They gagged two Gentlewomen of the same Province, and had almost killed them by a great quantity of Wine which they forced down their Throats.

Another Lady of Quality, whilst they consum'd her Goods before her face, they, watching her by day and night, forced her to turn the Spit without any Rest or Intermission: and this hath been an ordinary practice to keep people so long waking, 7, 8, 9. days and nights together, the Dragoons watching by turns, till these poor Creatures having lost their Senses, and not knowing what Questions are put them, or Answers they make unto them, are intangled, carried to a Popish Church, and two Witnesses swear∣ing they saw this (though a delirious) Person at Mass, if afterward, by Sleep or Food they came to themselves again, and declare that they be Pro∣testants, they are condemned for Relapse, and burnt to death without Mercy.

An Eminent French Minister gave the Writer hereof this Relation, That Jan. 23. 1685. a Woman had her sucking Child snatch'd from her Breasts; and put into the next Room, which was only parted by a few Boards from hers. These Devils incarnate would not let the poor Mother come to her Child, unless she would renounce her Religion and become a Roman Catho∣lick. Her Chiled crys and she crys; her Bowels yearn upon her poor mi∣serable Infant; but the Fear of God, and of hell, and losing her Soul, keep her from Apostasie: however she suffers a double Martyrdom, one in her own person, the other in that of her sweet Babe, who dies, in her hearing, with Crying and Famine before its poor Mother.

Monsieur Elias Boutonnet, a Merchant of Marans near Rochell, was mar∣tyr'd by these bloody Miscreants, after this manner, They hung him up by the Heels to a Post of his own House, and smoak'd him to death with wet Straw set on fire.

SECT. XLV. The Martyrdom of Monsieur Homel, Pastor of the Church of Viva∣retz, in the Province of Sevennes, in the Kingdom of France; who was, with most Hellish Cruelty, broken upon the Wheel at Tournon, a City in the same Province, October, 1683.

THE Professors of the Reformed Religion in France having for these last Twenty Years seen the Infraction and Seizure of their Privileges, the Violation and Abrogation of those Royal Edicts that had been formerly granted to them, the suppression of their Assemblies for Religious Wor∣ship, the demolition of their Temples, and their poor Children (whose

Souls could not but be dear unto them) taken away from them by Violence, and hurried into Monasteries, to be trained up in Idolatry, and groaning under a world of other Miseries; divers of them in the Provinces of Poi∣ctou, Xaintonge, Guyenne, the Higher and Lower Languedoc, Sevennes, Dol∣phiny and Vivaretz, consulting together, laid a general Project: about resto∣ring their ruinated Churches. One of the Articles concluded by them was, That the 18th day of July, in the Year 1683. their Pastors should jointly set upon the Exercise of their Publick Ministry, in preaching of the Word, &c. in all those Places where for some time before it had been interdicted. Yet before they undertook it they presented their most humble Address unto their King, in which, with the profoundest Submssiions, they protested unto his Ma∣jesty their inviolable Loyalty and Fidelity, and only craved this favour of him their Soveraign, that under his gracious protection they might serve their God according to his appointment in the Sacred Scriptures (to which they were obliged by all Bonds imaginable) and that they might enjoy the Liberty of their Consciences according to the former Concessions of his Royal Predecessors.

'Tis not certain whether this their Petition ever came unto the King's hands. The malicious Popish Clergy having blockt up all ways of Access for the poor Protestants at Court.

Immediately after this there was a particular Assembly held in Vivaretz, in which they came to the same Resolutions of setting up the publick Worship of God according to the Gospel. 'Tis true, neither of these, not the former nor this latter, were to any effect executed at all, unless in the Province of Vivaretz, and some certain places of Sevennes and Dolphiny. Yet this their Declaration of their purposes cost them dear; for it brought upon those poor people a Royal Army, who put to fire and sword whatever, of the Protestants they met with, sparing neither Sex nor Age, butcher∣ing them after a most barbarous manner, and with extream Inhumanity and Cruelty. Now the Dragoons live at discretion, eat up and devour the whole substance of these miserable Protestants. All sorts of Torments are lawful, scarce any unpractised; but the greatest and most especial subjects of their rage were the Ministers of the Gospel. None of these that fell into their hands could believe them Men, they found them by woful Expe∣rience to be incarnate Devils. The Stories are too many and too large to be here recorded. Yet, Reader, you shall have a taste of one or two.

At a Village in Dolphiny called Bourdeaux, there was a solemn day of Pray∣er and Fasting observed by these poor Christians, Monsieur St. Ruth,* 8.2 Ma∣schal de Camp, brings in 6000. Dragoons upon them: his Dragoons were three to one of these Protestants. They are now surprised, and command∣ed every Man to lay down their Arms; but knowing that if they did, both they and their Ministers should be hanged out-right, they refused. Here∣upon St. Ruth commands his Dragoons to give sire, and at this first discharge kills a Multitude of these Meeters. However seeing no other way but Death before them, such as had escaped this first Volley, resolve to sell their Lives at the dearest rate, and in their own defence killed some of the Dragoons, who fell dead at the feet of their murdered Companions. A∣bout Fifty or sixty broke through the Army, designing to save themselves in an adjoining Barn, who all, excepting some few, were burnt alive. Those few that endeavour'd their Escape were taken, who were every Man of them hang'd without delay by one of their own Party, whom they con∣strained to become their Executioner, and whom also they executed after∣wards themselves.

There was among the Prisoners Monsieur Daniel Chamier, great Grandson to that famous Divine of the same name, Pastor and Professor at Montauban, This Young man was executed after a most horrible manner. He was car∣ried

to Montelimar, and there broken upon the Wheel. He received fifty Blows of the Iron Bar upon the Scaffold, before they gave him the mortal Blow, and was left alive under those exquisite torments three days toge∣ther e'er he died. He endured these Cruelties with an exemplary Con∣stancy and Fortitude.

Some one had interceded with the Duke of Nouailles for a young Gentle∣man, not twenty years of age, who had an Estate of 30000 Livers; the Duke promised him his life, provided he would turn Roman Catholick. This heroick, religious Youth rejecteth the Conditions, he will not buy Re∣pentance so dear, he scorneth life with sin, a life bought with the loss of God, of Heaven, and Glory: He chuseth therefore death, because he belie∣ved and hoped for a better Resurrection; And, having with his own hands fitted the Halter to his Neck, he suffers death joyfully.

But among all the instances of these Martyrs, this which I am about to relate of Monsieur Homel is the most remarkable.

Monsieur Homel was sometime Minister of the Church of Soyon, but when he was executed he was Pastor of the Church of Vivaretz; He was a Venerable Divine, aged some sixty five Years, whose whole Life has been unblameable. He was deputed by his Church and Province unto the last National Synod held at Loudun in the Year 1659. This eminent Servant of God was broken alive upon the Wheel at Tournon (where, by the way, Reader, the Jesuites have a College.) He received forty Blows of the Iron Bar upon the Scaffold. He languished under this Hellish Cruelty two days together. The very thoughts thereof strike an horror into the hearts of them that hear it. My Author tells me, he trembled, his Hair stood an end, at the remembrance of it. Certainly this Minister must have been guilty you will say of some very horrid Crime, of some unheard of piece of Treason against his King and Country, for which he suffer'd a death far worse than drawing in pieces by wild Horses. But he was no Trumpet of Sedition or Rebellion, he was no James Clement, nor John Chatel, nor Francis Ravaillack, to assassinate his Prince. This holy Man of God ab∣horr'd such abominable practices. All the crime laid unto his charge, that could be prov'd against him, was matter of Duty to God, of Duty to his Church, over which the Holy Ghost had made him Overseer. He faithful∣ly and zealously exhorted his Brethren in the Ministry to preach the Go∣spel even upon the Ruines of their Temples, yet without quitting their Al∣l••giance and Obedience to the King their Soveraign. This was all his of∣fence, but his Function was the greatest. For this he must die. But he suf∣fers death triumphantly. Died Abner as a Fool? Monsieur Hommel liv'd a Saint, died a Martyr. Some Passages of his Martyrdom are fallen into my hands, written by an eye and ear Witness of them, which for the Rea∣der's satisfaction are here communicated, without addition or altera∣tion.

I count my self happy, said this dying Saint, that I can die in my Ma∣ster's quarrel. What! would my gracious Redeemer descend from Hea∣ven unto Earth, that I might be lilted up from Earth to Heaven? would he undergo an ignominious Death, that I might be possessed of a most blessed Life? Verily, if after all this, to prolong a frail and miserable life, I should lose that which is everlasting, should I not be a most ungrateful wretch unto my God, and a most cruel Enemy to my own Happiness? No! no! the Dye is cast. I am immoveable in my resolution. I breath after that Hour. O! when will that good Hour come, which will period my present miserable life, and give me the injoyment of one which is in∣finitely more blessed! Farewel, my dear Wife. I know your Tears, your continual Sighs hinder your bidding me Adieu. Don't be troubled at this Gibbet upon which I must expire; 'tis to me a triumphal Chariot,

which will carry me into Heaven. I see Heaven open'd, ••••d my sweet Jesus with his out-stretched Arms ready to receive me; yea, he will re∣ceive me, who is the Divine Spouse of my Soul. I am leaving the World, in which is nothing but adversity, that I may get to Heaven, and enjoy everlasting felicity. You shall come unto me, I shall never any more come back to you. All that I recommend unto you is, Educate our dear Children in the fear of God, and be careful that they swerve not from that way prescribed them in the Holy Scriptures. I have bequeathed them a little Formulary for their Instruction, that if ever they be brought into the like condition with my self, they may undergo it couragiously: And be confident in the goodness of our God, who will send them the Divine Comforter to strengthen them in all their Straits and Distresses. Prepare them for Suffering betimes, that so in that great day, when we shall appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, we may be able to be∣speak him, Lord! Here we are, and the Children which thou hast gra∣ciously given us! Ah! I shall never have done. Ah! why am I hindred from my departure? why am I kept so long in this my earthly Taber∣nacle? Farewel my dear People, 'tis the last Farewel I shall ever give you. Be ye stedfast, be ye fixed! And know, that I never preached to you any thing but the pure Truth of the Gospel, the true way which leads unto Heaven.

Some one then told him, He spake too much.

How, said he, do I speak too much? I speak nothing but the very truth. I have neither spoken nor done any thing that was in the least offensive to the Sacred Majesty of our August Monarch. But on the contrary, I have always exhorted the People, committed by the Lord unto my charge, to render those Honors which are due unto our King, and have inform'd them, that our Lives and Fortunes are at his disposal, and that we are bound to employ them in the defence of his Estate and Crown. But as for our Consciences, we hold them of our God, and must keep them for him.

Then his Judges leaving him, ordered the Executioner to do his office, which he did, breaking his Arms and his Legs. And being then demanded whether he would die a Roman Catholick? He answer'd,

How, my Lords! Had it been my design to have changed my Religion, I would have done it before my Bones had been thus broken to pieces. I wait on∣ly for the hour of my dissolution. Courage! Courage! O my Soul! Thou shalt presently injoy the delights of Heaven. And as for thee, O my poor Body, thou shalt be reduc'd to dust, but 'tis that thou may'st be raised again a Spiritual Body. Thou shalt see things that never en∣ter'd into the heart of man, and which are in this life impossible to be con∣ceived.

He again addressed himself unto his Wife.

Farewel once more, my well-beloved Spouse! I am waiting for you. But know though you see my Bones broken to shivers, yet my Soul is replenished with unexpres∣sible Joys.

He utter'd many excellent Matters, which are now slipt my memory. Only I shall not omit, that he kiss'd his very Judges, who poured out a shower of Tears, being astonished at so great a constancy. His eyes were always lifted up to Heaven. He never gave one Cry for all the Blows that were laid upon him after the first. His Life was had in singular venera∣tion, and as long as this Earth shall continue, his Death will be in admira∣tion.

Let's imitate this Great Man of God, and persevere unto the end (tho' with the loss of our Lives) in the true Religion, which is that only that will conduct us to the Heavenly Paradise. Amen.

I intended ••••od willing, to write his Life at large, and to publish it shortly in my Icones.

N. B. Every Limb, every Member, and every Bone in his Body were bro∣ken with the Iron Bar forty Hours before the Executioner was permitted to strike him upon the Breast, which gave him, as they call it, Le Coup de Grace, the Blow of Mercy, that Death-stroke which put an end unto all his Mise∣ries.

Before we proceed any farther, I shall desire the Reader to remark,

SECT. XLVI.

1. That in the Head of these booted and armed Apostles, besides their own Military Officers and Commanders, there marched the Intendants of every Province and District, together with the Bishops of the Diocess ac∣companied with a Troop of fiery Zealots, Missionaries, Monks, and other Romish Churchmen. The Intendants gave out such Orders as they con∣ceived would most effectually promote and facilitate the conversion of the Hereticks, and suppress natural Bowels and Pity, in case any such arise and move in the Dragoons or their Officers. The Prelates kept open House to receive Abjurations, and to have a strict and careful eye, that nothing might be done contrary to the Intentions of the Clergy.

2. When the Dragoons had made some to relent and yield by their inhu∣mane Cruelties, they presently change their Quarters, and are sent to plague those of the Reformed who do yet persevere in their fidelity to Christ and the Gospel. So that often times these had at once all the Dragoons quarter∣ed upon them, which were before dispersed among all the Inhabitants of that place. This was a burden insupportable.

3. That in the most eminent Cities and Towns of the Province they were careful by the Intendants or some other means to procure some per∣sons to change their Religion, before they sent their Troops thither, and these new Converts must be aiding and assisting in perverting others. So that when the Dragoons had done their part as effectually as they could, the Intendant, with the Bishops and the Military Commander do once again assemble these miserable Inhabitants totally ruined, and exhort them to obey the King, and become Catholicks; adding, in case of obstinacy, most terrible Threats. And the new Converts never failed in this juncture to execute what they had promised, to entice and seduce them from the true Religion. This they could do the more successfully, because the Reformed had yet some kindness for, and confidence in them.

4. When the Master of a Family, thinking to get rid of the Dragoons, had obeyed and signed an Abjuration, yet, for all this, he was not freed from his Tormentors, unless that his Wife, Children, and the meanest of his Ser∣vants did not also follow his example. And if Wife, or Children, or any of his Domesticks escaped their hands, and fled for their Lives, they renew∣ed their Persecutions upon him till such time as he had brought them back again; which being sometimes utterly impossible, their change of Religion did not in the lead benefit or avail them.

The Form of Abjuration imposed upon the Protestants when they turn'd Papists, and which they stiled, The Mark of the Beast, I here offer to my Reader's perusal.

THE Mark of the Beast: OR, The Profession of the Catholick, Apostolick, and Romish Faith, which the Protestants in France were inforced to make and subscribe, through the Violence of Persecution in France.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

I 〈1 span left blank〉〈1 span left blank〉 do believe, and profess with a firm Faith, all and every thing and things contained in that Creed which is used by the holy Church of Rome, to wit:

I believe in one God the Father Almighty, who hath made Heaven and Earth, and all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all Ages, God of God, Light of Light, True God of the True God, Begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us Men and our Salvation, came down from Heaven and was Incar∣nate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man, and was Cru∣cified also for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sit∣teth on the right hand of the Father, and he shall come again with Glory, to judge both the quick and the dead: whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father, and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is Wor∣shipped and Glorified, who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the Remission of Sins, and I look for the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Life of the World to come. Amen.

I receive and embrace most firmly the Apostolick, and Ecclesiastical Traditions, and the other Observations and Constitutions of the same Church.

In like manner I receive the holy Scripture, but with that sence which the holy Mother Church hath, and doth now understand it, to whom it doth, belong to judge of the true sense, and interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, and I shall never take it, nor interpret it otherwise than according to the unanimous Consent of the Fathers.

I profess also, that there be truly and properly seven Sacraments of the new Law, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and needful for the Salvation of Man∣kind, although not alike needful to every one, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Ʋnction, Orders, and Marriage, and that they do confer Grace. And that Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders, cannot be reiterated without Sacriledge.

I receive and admit also the Ceremonies received and approved by the Catholick Church, in the solemn Administration of all these for-mentioned Sacraments.

I receive and imbrace all and every thing and things, which have been determi∣ned and declared concerning original Sin and Justification by the holy Council of Trent.

I likewise profess, that in the Mass there is offered unto God a true, proper, and propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy Sa∣crament of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood, tog••••her with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that in it there is made a Change of the whole substance of the Bread into his Body, and of the whole substance of the Wine into his Blood, which Change the Catholick Church calls Transubstantiation.

I confess also, that under one only of those two Elements, whole Christ and a true Sacrament is received.

I constantly affirm, that there is a Purgatory, and that the Souls there detained are relieved by the Suffrages of the Faithful.

In like manner the Saints reigning with Jesus Christ are to be Worshipped, and Invocated, and that they offer up Prayers unto God for us, and that their Relicks are to be honoured.

I do most stedfastly avow, that the Images of Jesus Christ, and of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, and also of the other Saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration must be yielded to them.

Moreover I affirm, that the power of Indulgences was left unto the Church by Jesus Christ, and that their usage is very beneficial unto Christians.

I acknowledge the Holy Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Church, to be the Mother and Mistress of all other Churches.

And I promise and swear true Obedience to the Pope of Rome, Successor of Bles∣sed St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.

In like manner, I receive and profess, without doubting all other things left, defined, and declared by the holy Canons, and General Councils, and especially by the most holy Council of Trent.

And withal, I do condemn, reject, and accurse all things which are contrary, and whatever Heresies have ken condemned, rejected, and accursed by the Church.

And swearing upon the Book of the Gospels, he must say,

I promise, vow, and swear, and most constantly to confess (God aiding me) and to keep intirely and inviolably unto the death, this self-same Catholick Faith, out of which no Person can be saved, which I do now most willingly and truly pro∣fess, and that I will endeavour, to the utmost of my Power, that it shall be held, taught and preached by my Vassals, or by those who shall belong unto my charge. So help me God, and these holy Gospels. So be it.

I 〈1 span left blank〉〈1 span left blank〉 of the Parish of 〈1 span left blank〉〈1 span left blank〉 do Certifie unto all whom it may concern, that having acknowledged the falseness of the Pretended Reformed, and the truth of the Catholick Religion, of my own free will, and without any Compulsion, I have made Profession of the Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Religion in the Church of 〈1 span left blank〉〈1 span left blank〉 in the hands of 〈1 span left blank〉〈1 span left blank〉 In Testimony of the Truth hereof, I have signed this Act in presence of these Witnesses, whose names are hereunto sub∣scribed this 〈1 span left blank〉〈1 span left blank〉 day of the Month of _____ _____ and in the year of our Lord ________

SECT. XLVII.

When these poor Wretches had signed this Abjuration, and hoped there∣by to be at rest, they were far enough from it; for their Consciences flew in their Faces, and many of them were driven unto despair. Yet their Per∣secutors never ceased tormenting them; they must own and attest it before the World, that they embraced the Roman Religion freely, voluntarily,

and of their own accord, and that no Violence was offer'd them to move or induce them to turn from the Reformed Religion. And if after this they scrupled to go to Mass, to communicate after the Popish way, to tell over their Chaplet of Beads, or if a Sigh escaped from them, indicating their Grief and Sorrow for their great Sin in forsaking the Truth, immediately there were great Fines laid upon them, and their old Guests the Dragoons are sent back again to beat up their quarters, and they must entertain a∣fresh those old Guests, who had wearied them out of their Faith and Life.

I have by me a Letter from Mets, giving an account of the state of the poor Protestants upon their Abjuration; which may not be unacceptable to the Reader.

My Dear F.

YOUR's of the Thirteenth of September is come to my hands, by which I perceive you are well informed of all things relating to those Holy Missionaries, our Dragoons. You cannot for all that imagine what it is to fall into the hands of such Apostles. Of all the Families of* 10.1 Mets, there are left but two Persons which have not subscribed, viz. Madamoi∣selle Goffin, who is a Prisoner in the Nunnery of the Female Preachers, and Madamoiselle Ferry, Sister to Monsieur Le Bachelier the Counsellour, who is also clapt up in the Nunnery of St. Clare. These are the only two Persons who have refused Subscription; yet do not persuade your self into that O∣pinion, that because they have subscribed, therefore they must needs be of the Roman Religion: nay the very contrary is true, for we were never more estranged from it. I shall deal plainly with you, we ought not to be blamed for our weakness in subscribing; for had all the Ministers of France, now exiled the Kingdom, been resident in it, and lain, as we have, at the cruel mercy of Dragoons; I am certainly persuaded, that not five in an hun∣dred could have stood it out, but must have subscribed as well as we. Do not then believe that such as have subscribed have changed their Religion, I can give you full evidence that they were never more zealous for the Re∣formed Religion than now. I know we have too too much neglected your Advices; but the most eminent among us were too secure, even our Mini∣sters themselves, who, because of the profound peace in which we lived, had made Purchaces, and richly furnished their houses with the best of Goods. And if, after all this, we have had the Misfortune to expect that ill Hour and Lot of Subscription, 'twas because there was no means left of saving our selves; and whereas we be condemned for our foolish confidence in those golden Promises, That neither by word or deed we should be in the least hurt upon the score of Conscience; I must reply, it was because, the Passages on the Frontiers being so strictly guarded, we could not possi∣bly escape; for on this side of the Kingdom all were so narrowly watched, that a poor Cat could not meet with an Hole, by which to creep out.

You writ to me concerning Monsieur N. pray when you see him, tell him that Madam N. his Sister-in-law lodgeth at my house, with her Family, and that already three of her Sons are departed the Kingdom. She is one of the sweetest Gentlewomen that may be, the Lord bless and assist her in all her designs. She ran the same risk with the rest, but is little concerned for it. There be daily brought into the Prisons of this City, Persons of Vitry, Chalons, and Sedan, who are Condemned unto the Gallies, or to perpetual Duress. Finally on our side we have no means left us of escaping, so that we must absolutely resign our selves to the will of our God, 'till he open a Door for us. Yet I beseech you, do not believe, that Worldly consi∣derations, as of goods and estates, do detain us here; No, no, could we but have had liberty of departure, we had long e'r this gone away, though

only with our Shifts about us, yea, tho' we had left our Children behind us. But it is not God's will that we should yet quit this place, nay, 'tis his will that we be patient, and that we hinder our Childrens falling into such hands as would educate them in Idolatry, in a false Religion, and in an aver∣sion for our selves also. I must add, that we had no preservative from sub∣scribing, it was wholly impossible to avoid that Subscription against the Protestant Reformed Religion, tho' as yet we are not obliged to go to Mass; but expect once more the Dragoons with their Swords in their hands to drive us to it. We know we have subscribed, but we know also we have not changed our Religion, and through Grace we shall never change it. I may assure you, that so great were our Oppressions, that they might have oblig'd us to have been Turks as well as Papists, and to have wore a Turban, had it been as high again as the Triple Crown. Our wi∣sest Catholicks for these last six Months have told us, That we should short∣ly be of one Religion, but never be of one belief. And they had reason for what they said. For we were never more fixed in our Religion than now. Sometimes, for fashions sake, we go unto their Sermons, but return ex∣treamly dissatisfied with those Discourses, and more confirmed in our first Faith than before. Poor Monsieur de Chevenix lies very ill, the Curate of his Parish was with him to oblige him to Confession; but he positively told him, he would not confess himself to any but God, who alone could forgive him his sins; and not to any mortal creature, who was as much a sinner as himself. Afterwards he was visited by the Archbishop, who would have obliged him to communicate before death, which he also as stiffly refused. The Archbishop acquainted him with the King's Orders, concerning such who being sick refuse to communicate e'er they die. He replied, that he cared not a Rush for them, and that he would never communicate after the Popish manner. I know not what may happen hereafter, but at present he is mending, and I believe he will perfectly recover. But the Ordinances of the King, or rather of the Clergy, are, That the sick shall communicate before death; and in case they do not, their dead Carkasses shall be drawn upon the Hurdle, and then thrown into the Common Jakes, and all their Goods confiscated; and if they 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 plea∣sed 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 Ber∣lin, 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 Learn∣ing and Godliness, and Counsellor to the King in the Court of Metz. He per∣sisted faithful to death; and when dead they dragged most inhumanly his dead Car∣kass upon a Hurdle, and buried it in a Dunghil. He hath a Brother, a very Re∣verend 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 Passa∣ges, 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 Bi∣shop 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 Coun∣try. 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 neigh∣bouring States are imperiously required not to harbour any more Fugitives, and to dismiss or send back again such as they had already received, and At∣tempts 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 dis∣pleased at the reading of it.

From Geneva, Nov. 1685.

SIR,

IT's a good while ago that the French Protestants began to secure them∣selves 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 Montau∣ban, and the great consternation of the other Provinces, Geneva never fail∣ed to receive and relieve with Monies and other Supplies all that had re∣course 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 Person•• 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 pas∣sed the first Barricado, but prostrating themselves upon their Knees, sung a Psalm of Thanksgiving for their happy deliverance, tho', poor Crea∣tures, 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 Ex∣amples of Self-denial, and that divers-ways. I shall give you a few Instan∣ces. 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 Te∣melac, 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 sub∣sistence. My Lord de* 11.1 Bougi departed hence some few days ago with eight or ten Gentlemen for Germany. I cannot reckon unto you an infinite num∣ber 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 Comman∣der 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 Bag∣gage hither in safety. The City of Lyons hath given illustrious Examples of remorse of Conscience; in particular, no longer than yesterday, we had one, and that a very sensible one. A Woman and her Son, to secure an Estate of an hundred thousand Crowns, had sunk under the temptation, and revolted unto Popery; but they were so tormented in their Conscien∣ces night and day after their Apostasie, that they could have no peace nor rest till they had quitted both their Estate and Habitation. Some others who had miscarried in the same manner, durst not tarry (through the stings of their inraged Consciences) any longer than for the first opportuni∣ty of escaping, and brought with them to this City their Abjuration. This Abjuration of theirs is a certain Paper in which is written the Name of this new Popish Convert, together with the Seal of the Bishop and that of the Magistrate of the place; by vertue of which they be freed from quar∣tering of Dragoons, and are permitted to go and come and traffick when and wheresoever they please. And among our new Converts this Paper is call'd, The Mark of the Beast. I have seen several Copies of them.

But you must not imagine, that all are come unto Geneva. Switzerland hath entertain'd a vaster multitude than we, who have come unto them, and are daily coming from all quarters, some one way, some another, some as if they dropt down from the Clouds, that is from the tops of the Mountains, either of the Franche County, or from those of Chablays; in short, no man can tell how or which way they are come unto them. No longer than yesterday, in despite of all Guards at the several Passes, and dangers of the Gallies, there arrived hither no less than fifty Persons. A tall Chair∣man, who had been a Lacquey, as he was coming from his House, espying Monsieur de Cambiaquet passing over the Bridge, immediately stopt, and

imbraced him in his Livery Coat. Four young Ladies of Grenoble disgui∣sed in Mens. Apparel, after they had lodged four or five days in the Forests and Mountains, without any other Provision than a little Bread, and their Arms, having travell'd only by night, came hither but a few hours ago in this their gallant Equipage. Should I write you all the stories I know, we should never have done.

About a Fortnight since a panick fear of the Dragoons coming into the Land of Gex (where yet are reckoned about 17000. Protestants, though most of them very poor People) had so seized upon their Spirits, that one Morning, we saw at our Gates, five hundred Carts loaden with Houshold Goods, and follow'd with an innumerable multitude of Persons, who went and came from all Quarters. On that side of Switzerland, and of the Moun∣tains, there was yet a far greater power of them, in so much that it af∣frighted all the Country. The Governour came and complain'd of it unto our Magistrates; but they replied, they could not shut the Gates of their City upon his Majesty's Subjects, and had they done it, there had been an unavoidable uproar among the People. However these poor People were desired to depart elsewhere, and not to expose our Commonwealth. To which they readily obeyed.

And in as much as the Governour, a notorious bitter Enemy of the Ma∣gistrates and City of Geneva, though without cause, would not fail to make a foul brabble of this business, and because our Resident was expected in three or four days, we intreated generally, but with a great deal of sweetness, the greatest part of the French to withdraw themselves, as soon as possible, which they did, and of their own accord, without delay; but with a great deal of grief on our part, who lost at this first bout abundance of very godly People, with whose Company we were very much comforted. The Resident being arriv'd told us he had no order to speak about these matters, yea contrariwise, that he was only to treat with them as with particular Friends. But three days after a Letter comes, by which, the King, all in Choler, commands his Resident to be instant with our Ma∣gistrates, that immediately they drive out of the City, all his Rebellious Subjects, and charge them to return unto their respective dwellings. But mark the stinging consequence hereof.

Hereupon the Council is assembled, and after divers Debates they re∣solv'd, though to the great heart-breaking and general sorrow of the Citi∣zens, to make Proclamation, that all the French should immediately be gone. Which was no sooner ordered but observed, yet not without a re∣doubled grief on their hearts, who had not departed the first time, and would willingly have continued.

This Proclamation being published just as we were coming forth from Evening Prayers, it perfectly astonished and over-whelmed those poor Peo∣ple, who reckoned this expulsion as a second banishment from their Native Country.

In the mean while our Resident inform'd the King of the submission of Geneva unto his Orders, and that in the fairest manner, and dispatched al∣so our Magistrates Memorial with reference to the particular Complaints and Accusations of the Governour of Gex, our Magistrates intending a sincere performance of his Majesty's Order, sent the Tithing-men to intreat every one to depart with the first conveniency. This Order Executed with too much severity by the Under-Officers, caused a new uproar among the People. However every one took Boat without delay, dreading worse News and Orders that might inforce them to return to their own Houses. In three days time there departed from us above a thousand Persons. Yet this wrought a very bad effect among the Commonalty of Switzerland, who were not able to penetrate into the Causes moving our Commonwealth to

yield this obedience at this time unto his Majesty. But these is yet some∣thing more Cruel. For the King sends us a thundering Letter, by which he approves the whole procedure of the Governour of Gex, in hindring all Commerce between Gex and Geneva; so that not only no Provisions can from thence be imported into the City, but also none of the Inhabitants of Geneva dare fetch in Herbs or Corn from their Gardens and Barns; yea, over and above, he commands them immediately to expel, out of the City, all Ministers that had been setled in it within three years last past, as a Company of Seditious Fellows, that held private Cabals in Geneva to embroil his Kingdom. And he requires also of them an ac∣count what they had done with his Subjects whom he had ordered them to dispatch back again to their own homes, and that if he had not a sa∣tisfaction in full to all his Commands, he would make them repent that ever they had offended him.

In a word, never had we a Letter, a Letter of this Nature, in such a daring, menacing stile. Truly had it not been for our Magistrates the People, who were exceedingly concerned at it, had quite broken out. The Switzers have a General Assembly this Week. And thus you have a faith∣ful account of our present Condition.

We wait impatiently for the King's Answer to those Letters which in∣form'd him of our ready Obedience unto his Orders. But we fear every thing, because he having once begun to make his demands, sets no bounds to them. The Switzers are hastning to their Assembly, and the People seems very resolute to stand up in defence of their Liberties and Religion. Every one is ready to march at the first Signal. In the mean while the Switzers have been wonderful in their Charity. The Country of Vaux is fill'd in every Corner with French Fugitives. Within these three Weeks there have been reckon'd above 17500. Persons that have passed unto Lausanne. Zurich writ admirable Letters to Berne and Geneva, desiring them to send of those poor People to them, and that they would receive them as their own natural Brethren into their Country, into their Houses, yea, and into their very Hearts.

We long to know, whether the King will not make the same demand unto the Switzers as unto Geneva. But 'tis hoped they'll not bate his Majesty an ace, but assert their own Rights and Soveraignty. Yet there being a Spi∣rit of Bigottry crept in among the Popish Cantons, even in the very face of the Protestants, this troubles a World of People.

Yours, N. N.

SECT. XLIX.

Whilst all this was acting abroad, and other mischiefs done unto the Re∣formed at home; The French Court sate close in Consultation about gi∣ving the last blow at the Roots of the Religion in that Kingdom, and how, and in what manner to repeal the Edict of Nantes. Very much time was spent in drawing up the matter and form of this new Edict. Some in the Council would have the King detain all the Ministers, and compel them, as he had done the Laity, to change their Religion, or in case of stubborn∣ness and refusal, he should condemn them to perpetual Imprisonment.

The reasons alledged for this were, that in case he did it not, they would be so many dangerous Enemies against him in Foreign Nations, and Trum∣pets of his Cruelty and Tyranny; others on the contrary affirmed, that as long as the Ministers continued in France, their presence would incourage the People to abide in their Religion, whatsoever care might be taken to

hinder them; and that supposing they should change, they would be but so many secret Adversaries nourished in the bosom of the Romish Church, and the more dangerous because of their great knowledge and skill in con∣troversial Matters. This last Argument prevailed. And thereupon they came to a final conclusion of banishing all the Ministers, and to give them no more than fifteen days time to depart the Kingdom.

The Edict is now given unto the Attorney-General of the Parliament of Paris, to draw it up in such a Form as he should judge most fitting. But before the publishing thereof, two things were thought necessary to be done. The first was, to oblige the Assembly of the Clergy to present by themselves unto the King a Petition about this Matter before mentioned; in which also they told his Majesty, that they desired not at present the Repealing of the Edict of Nantes. The second was, to suppress univer∣sally all Books made by those of the Reformed Religion, and that an Order should be issued out to that purpose. By the first of these the Clergy sup∣posed they might shelter themselves from those Reproaches which would otherwise be flung upon them, for being the sole Authors of those many Miseries, Injustices, and Oppressions, which would infallibly be occasioned by the Repeal of that Edict. And by the other they designed to make the Conversions of the Hereticks more easie and feasible, and to confirm those which had been already made. For Ministers and Books being all remo∣ved, they could not possibly be instructed, nor confirmed, nor reduced back again to their old Religion.

SECT. L.

In fine, this Edict, revoking and repealing the Edict of Nantes, was signed and published on Thursday, October the 8th, in the Year 1685. 'Tis said the High Chancellour of France, Le Tellier, expressed an extream joy when he put the Seal to it. But his joy was but as the crackling of Thorns under a Pot. It was the last act of his life. For no sooner did he return from Fountainbleau to his own House, but he fell sick, and died in a few days. 'Tis certain, that the Policy of this old Man, rather than any Cruelty in his Nature, induced him in his declining Years to join himself unto the Persecutors of the Reformed.

This Revocatory Edict was registred in the Parliament of Paris, and im∣mediately after in all other the Parliaments of this Kingdom.

This great Instrument of the ruine and desolation of the Reformed Reli∣gion, of all its Ministers and Professors in that Kingdom, was couched in these Terms.

SECT. LI. The King's Edict, forbidding all Publick Exercise of the Pretended Re∣formed Religion in this Kingdom.

LEWES, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre, To all present and to come, Greeting. Whereas King Henry the Great, our Grand∣father, of glorious Memory, having procured a Peace for his Subjects, after those great Losses they had sustained during the Civil and Foreign Wars, endeavoured that it might not be disturbed upon the account of the Pre∣tended Reformed Religion, as it had fallen out in the Reigns of the Kings his Predecessors, had therefore by his Edict, given at Nantes in the Month of April, in the Year one thousand five hundred and eighty eight, esta∣blished such Measures as should be observed with reference to those of the

said Religion, the Places in which they might exercise it, and ordained extraordinary Judges for the ministring of Justice to them, and finally, had provided also by special Articles whatsoever he conceived needful to main∣tain Tranquillity in his Kingdom, and to diminish that Aversion which had arisen between persons of the one and other Religion, that so he might be the better enabled to carry on his design of reuniting them unto the Church, who had been too easily estranged from it. And forasmuch as this Inten∣tion of the aforesaid King, our Grandfather, could not by reason of his sud∣den death be accomplished, and the Execution of the said Edict was also interrupted; during the Minority of the late King our most honoured Lord and Father of glorious Memory, by reason of the new Enterprises of those of the Pretended Reformed Religion, so that occasion was taken to deprive them of divers Priviledges which had been granted them by the said Edict. Nevertheless, the said King, our late Lord and Father, using his ordinary Clemency did yet vouchsafe them a new Edict at Nismes, in the Month of July one thousand six hundred and twenty nine, by means whereof Peace being again restored, the said late King, animated with the same Spirit and Zeal for Religion, as the King our Grandfather, had resolved to improve to the utmost this Peace, by endeavouring to bring his godly design into pra∣ctice: but the Foreign Wars falling out a few Years after, in such a manner, that from the Year 1635. until the Truce concluded with the Princes of Eu∣rope in the Year 1684. the Kingdom having but little rest, it was scarce possible to do any thing for the advancement of Religion, unless it were to diminish the numbers of the Churches belonging to those of the Pretended Reformed Religion, by interdicting such as had been built contrary to the Orders of the said Edict, and by suppression of the Mixt Chambers, which were erected only provisionally.

God having at last granted to our People the injoyment of a perfect Peace, and we also not being occupied with those cares to protect them a∣gainst our Enemies, and being able to improve this Truce, which we ef∣fected for this very end, that we might wholly apply our selves to seek out such means whereby we might accomplish successfully the design of the said Kings our Father, and Grandfather, upon which also we entred as soon as we came unto the Crown, we now see, and, according to our Duty, thank God for it, that our Cares have at last obtained that end we had pro∣pounded to our selves, inasmuch as the far greater and better part of our Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion have embraced the Ca∣tholick. And inasmuch as hereby the Execution of the Edict of Nantes, and of whatsoever else hath been ordained in favour of the said Pretended Re∣formed Religion is become useless, we have judged, that we could do no∣thing better towards the total blotting out of the remembrance of those Troubles, Confusions and Mischiefs which the progress of that false Reli∣gion had caused in our Kingdom, and which occasioned that Edict, and several other Edicts and Declarations which had preceded it, or had been in consequence thereof Enacted, than totally to revoke the said Edict of Nantes, and the special Articles which in pursuance of it had been conceded, and whatsoever else had been done in favour of that said Religion.

I. We therefore make known, that for these Causes, and others thereunto us moving, and of our certain knowledge, full power, and Royal Autho∣rity, we have by this present perpetual and irrevocable Edict, suppressed and revoked, we do suppress and revoke the Edict of the King our said Grand∣father, given at Nantes in the Month of April, one thousand five hundred eighty and two, in its whole extent, together with those special Articles ordained the second day of May following, and the Letters Patents expedi∣ted

thereupon, and the Edict given at Nismes in the Month of July, one thousand six hundred and twenty nine, we declare them void, and as if they had never been, together with all Grants made as well by them, as by other Edicts, Declarations and Decrees, to those of the said Pretended Reformed Religion, of what kind soever they may be, which shall in like manner be reputed as if they had never been: And in consequence hereof we will, and 'tis our pleasure, that all the Temples of those of the said Re∣ligion, situated within our Kingdom, Countries, Lands and Lordships of our subjection shall be immediately demolished.

II. We forbid our said Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion any more to assemble themselves, for exercise of their said Religion, in any Place or Private House, under any pretence whatsoever, yea, and all real Exercises, or such as were in Lordships, although the said Exercises had been maintained by the Decrees of our Council.

III. In like manner we forbid all Lords of every degree the Exercise of their Religion in their Houses and Mannors, whatsoever may be the Quality of their said Mannors, and that upon pain of Confiscation of Bodies and Goods for those of our said Subjects, who shall so exercise their said Reli∣gion.

IV. We command all Ministers of the Pretended Reformed, who will not turn from it and embrace the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Religion, to depart our Kingdom and the Lands of our Dominion, within a Fort∣night after the publication of this our present Edict, and not to tarry be∣yond that time, or during that said Fortnight to Preach, Exhort, or perform any Function of their Ministry, upon pain of being sent to the Gallies.

V. Our will is, that such of the said Ministers, who shall change their Re∣ligion, shall, during their whole life, continually injoy, and their Widows also after them, as long as they remain unmarried, the same Exemption from Taxes and Lodging of Souldiers, which they injoyed during the time of their Ministry; and farther, we will pay also unto the said Ministers, as long as they live, a Stipend, which shall exceed by one third the Wages they received for their Ministry, and their Wives also, as long as they abide Widows, shall injoy the one half of their said Stipend.

VI. If any of the said Ministers desire to become Advocates, or would pro∣ceed Doctors of the Laws, 'tis our will, and we declare it, That they shall be dispensed as to three Years studying, prescribed by our Declarations, and having undergone the usual Examination, and thereby judged capable, that they be promoted Doctors, paying one half only of those Fees, custo∣marily paid to this purpose in every University.

VII. We forbid all Private Schools for the Instruction of the Children of those of the said Pretended Reformed Religion, and generally all other things whatsoever, that may bear the sign of Priviledge or Favour to that said Religion.

VIII. And touching the Children that shall be born of those of the said Preten∣ded Reformed Religion. Our Will is, that for time to come they be bapti∣zed by the Curates of their Parishes. Commanding their Fathers and Mo∣thers for that purpose to send them to their Churches, on penalty of being fined five hundred Livers, or a greater summ; and those Children shall henceforth be brought up in the Catholick, Apostolick, and Roman Reli∣gion: And we most strictly Command all the Judges of those respective places to see that this be Executed.

IX. And that we may express our Clemency towards those our Subjects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion, who are withdrawn from out of our Kingdom, Countries, and Lands of our Dominion before Publication of this our present Edict, we will and give them to understand, that in case they return within the space of four Months, from the day of its Pub∣lication, they may, and it shall be lawful for them to enter into the pos∣session of their Estates, and to injoy them even as they might have done, if they had been always at home; whereas contrarily, such as within that time of four Months shall not return into our Kingdom, or Countries, or Lands of our Dominion, their Estates abandon'd by them shall be and re∣main Confiscated, according to our Declarations of the twentieth day of August last past.

X. And we do most straitly again repeat our Prohibitions unto all our Sub∣jects of the said Pretended Reformed Religion, that neither they, nor their Wives nor Children do depart our said Kingdom, Countries, or Lands of our Dominion, nor transport their Goods and Effects, on pain, for Men so offending, of their being sent to the Gallies, and of Confiscation of Bodies and Goods for the Women.

XI. We will and give them to know, that all Declarations published against the Relapst, shall be Executed according to their form and tenour.

XII. And furthermore, Those of the said Pretended Reformed Religion, till such time as it shall please God to illuminate them as others have been, may abide in the Towns and Places of our Kingdom, Countries, and Lands of our Dominion, and continue their Traffick, and injoy their Goods, without being troubled or hindred, because of the said Pretended Reformed Religion, Provided as before, That they do not exercise it, nor assemble themselves on pretence of Prayers, or of any manner of worship, according to that said Religion, on the Penalties beforementioned, of Con∣fiscation of Bodies and Goods. We Command all our Trusty and Well-be∣loved Counsellors in our Court of Parliament, of Accounts, and Court of Aids at Paris, Bayliffs, Seneschalls, Provosts, and other our Justices and Officers to whom it shall belong, and to their Deputies, that they cause this present Edict to be read, published, and registred in their Courts, and Jurisdictions, yea, and in Vacations, and to entertain it, and cause it to be entertained, kept and observed in every particular, without swerving,

and that in no manner of wise they permit the least swerving from it. For such is our Will and Pleasure. And that this may be for ever firm and sta∣ble, we have caused these Presents to be Sealed with our Seal.

Given at Fountainbleau in the Month of October, in the Year of Grace one thousand six hundred eighty and five, and in our Reign the Forty Third.

Signed, LOƲIS.

Visa, Le Tellier.

And a little lower, By the KING, Colbert.

And Sealed with the Great Seal of Green Wax, upon threads of red and green silk. Registred, heard, and at the Request of the Kings Attorney General, that they might be Executed according to their form and tenor, and Copies col∣lationed, sent unto the Courts, Bailiwicks, and respective Jurisdictions, that they might be in like manner Registred. And the Deputies of the King's said Attorney-General are Commanded to see its Execution, and to Certifie the Court thereof. At Paris in the Chamber of Vacations the two and twen∣tieth day of October, in the Year one thousand six hundred fourscore and five. Signed, De la Baune.

SECT. LII.

The same day that this Edict was Registred, which was the 23d of Oc∣tober, they began to throw down the Temple of Charenton, and at the same time little notes were disperst abroad to the heads of Families, for their Ap∣pearance before Mr. Attorney-General, to give in their Answer, whe∣ther in three days they would embrace the Roman Catholick Religion or not.

The Eldest Minister of this Church was Commanded to leave Paris in four and twenty hours, and immediately to depart the Kingdom, (this was that excellent Man of God, Monsieur Claude, who afterward died at the Hague. Of whom I shall say more in my Icones.) One of the Kings Foot∣men was ordered to see him safe out of the Kings Dominions. His Col∣legues met with a little better treatment, for they had forty eight hours given them to quit Paris, and upon their parole for so doing, they were left to shift for themselves. Accordingly Monsieur Maynard, Allix, and Bertau, come for England, and are here exercising their Ministry.

The rest of the Ministers were allowed fifteen days for their departure: but it can hardly be believed to what Cruelties and Vexations they were ex∣posed. They were not permitted to dispose of their Estates, nor to carry away any of their moveables, or effects; yea, they disputed them their very Books, and private Papers, upon this pretence, that they must prove and justify their Books and Papers did not belong to their Consistories. A task impossible, for there were no Consistories then in being. Moreover they would not give them leave to take along with them, either Father or Mother, Brother or Sister, or any of their Relations or Kindred, though they were many of them infirm, diseased, and impoverished, and could not in any wise subsist without their help. Yea, and they went so far as to deny them their own Children, if they were above seven years old, yea, and some that were under that age, and were as yet hanging upon their Mothers Breasts. They refused them Nurses for their new-born Infants,

although their own Mothers could not suckle them. In some Frontier pla∣ces they stopped and imprisoned them upon trifling and ridiculous preten∣ces. They must immediately prove, that they were really the same Persons which their Certificates mentioned. And they would know, whether there were no Criminal Process or Informations out against them. They must presently justify, that they carried away nothing with them that be∣longed unto any one of their respective Churches. Sometimes having thus amused and detained them, they would tell them, the space of fifteen days, allotted them by the Edict for their Departure, was now expired, and that therefore they should have no liberty to leave the Kingdom, but must be sent unto the Gallies. There was hardly any kind of deceit, and injustice and troubles, in which these worthy Ministers of Christ were not invol∣ved. And yet through rich mercy, very few revolted, the far greatest num∣ber of them escaped, either into England, Holland, Germany, or Switzer∣land; yea, and some are now setled in New-England.

SECT. LIII.

As for the residue of the Protestants, whom the Violence of Persecution, and the Cruel Usages they endured, had necessitated to abandon their E∣states, Families, Relations, and native Country, it is hardly to be imagi∣ned to what dangers they were exposed. Never were Orders more rigorous and severe, nor more strictly Executed than those which were given out against them. They doubled the Guards at every Post, in all Cities, Towns, High-ways, Fords and Ferries. They covered the Country with Souldi∣ers, they armed the very Peasants, that they might stop the Reformed in their Travel, or kill them upon the spot. They forbad all Officers of the Customs to suffer any Goods, Moveables, Merchandises, or other Effects of theirs to pass out of the Kingdom. They forgot nothing that might hinder the flight of these poor Persecuted Creatures; insomuch, that they interrupted all Commerce with the Neighbouring Nations. By this means they quickly filled all the Prisons in the Kingdom. For the terrour of the Dragoons, the horrour of seeing their Consciences forced, and their Chil∣dren to be taken away from them, and to be Educated in Anti-Christian Superstition, and damnable Idolatry, and of living for the future in a Land where there was neither Justice nor Humanity for them, obliged every one to think with himself, and consult with others in whom they could confide, how to get out of France, and so they could but escape without polluting their Consciences, many thousands of them were ready to, and did actually leave their Worldly All behind them. As for the poor Pri∣soners, they have been since treated with unheard of Barbarities, shut up in Dungeons, loaden with Iron Chains, almost starved with Hunger, and deprived of all Converse, but that of their inhumane Persecutors. Many were thrust into their Monasteries, where they were most cruelly disci∣plin'd. A Lady of eminent Quality gave this Relator this Account, That when they had seized all her Estate, clapt her up in Prison, Arraign'd and Condemn'd her to Death for Murdering five of her Children (because she had conveyed them away that they might not be trained up in Popery) they took her two youngest, one of five, and the other of two years, and put them into Nunneries. They could never get that of five to kiss a Crucifix, or bow to their breaden God, though they kept her from meat and drink eight and forty hours, and having scourged the poor young He∣retick unmercifully, they returned her, with her young Sister, whom they had also tormented with Famine and Whipping, to the poor Mother, in whose Arms one of these Innocent Lambs died a few hours after.

That very day the Edict was published, the Attorney-General and some other Magistrates send for the Protestant Heads of Families (who lived in Paris) to appear before them: and when they came, they declared to them, That it was the King's absolute Will and Pleasure, that they should change their Religion; that they were no better than the rest of his Sub∣jects; and that if they would not do it willingly, his Majesty was resolv'd to compel them to it.

At the same time, by Letters under the Privy-Seal, they banished all the Elders of that Consistory, together with some others, in whom they found more constancy and resolution; and they dispersed them into those places which were remotest from all Commerce and Business, and have since used them with unparallel'd Cruelties.

When as the diligence of Mr. Attorney-General, and the City Magi∣strates succeeded not answerably to their desires and expectations, Mon∣sieur Seignelay, Secretary of State, would try what influence he had in his division at Paris. Wherefore he gets together about an hundred or sixscore Merchants with some others, unto his House, and having shut the doors, he forthwith presents them a Form of Abjuration, commanding them in the King's Name to sign it; declaring, that they should not stir out of the doors till they had yielded a full obedience. The Contents of this Form were, That they did not only renounce the Heresie of Calvin, and enter into the Catholick Church, but also, that they did it voluntarily, without any force or compulsion. This was done after a most imperious manner, and with the tone of authority: Yet notwithstanding some had the courage to speak, tho' they were soon cut short with this reply, They were not called to dispute, but to obey. So that they all signed before they went out.

SECT. LIV.

With some of the Ministers they dealt very treacherously, fawning upon them with kind words and counterfeit civilities, wheedling them into a good opinion of those respects and loves they never had nor intended for them. This proved a great and dangerous Snare to two worthy Ministers, among others, as will appear from this following Letter, written to an eminent French Minister in London, from Paris, October 19. 1685.

From Paris, Octob. 19. 1685.

Monsieur, my most honoured Brother,

SInce you are owner of so much goodness as to interest your self like a kind Brother in those Affairs which particularly concern us, and for∣asmuch as we can avow our Affections for you, to be great and sincere, and our fellow-feeling of all your Sufferings to be real and very sensible, it is but just, that when our Brother Du — gives you an Account of the state of our Family, we should also at the same time acquaint you with that of our Consciences.

You may then understand, my most dear Brother, that no sooner was the King's Declaration published, which abolishing the Edict of Nants, ob∣liged all the Ministers within a Fortnight's time to depart the Kingdom, but Monsieur — and my self went immediately to seek and take pla∣ces for our selves and Families in the Brussel's Coach, as my Brother — went to that of Calais. But two or three days after, being informed, that neither our Wives nor Children should have the liberty of leaving the King∣dom with us, and that we should meet with an hundred difficulties in our

departure, and that we must needs have Certificates from our Intendants, which was utterly impossible for us to procure in that short time was now left us, we, together with divers others, went and waited upon Monsieur de la Renie, who is the Judge and Civil Magistrate of this City, who gave us a Certificate according to the King's Edict, which yet in the issue was useless and unprofitable.

Monsieur de la Renie, being particularly acquainted with Monsieur — treated us with a great deal of civility, and desired us seriously to reflect upon that perplexed condition into which we and our Families were plun∣ged, and that we would examine our selves whether with a good Con∣science we might not tarry in the Kingdom, and whether our presence would not also contribute to the consolation of a multitude of gracious Souls groaning under the pressures of their Afflictions, who had been abandon'd by their fugitive Pastours, according to the general Complaints brought in against them from all quarters.

Hereupon we drew up several Projects. I formed mine, Monsieur — framed his, and they were both so contrived, that any one might easily judge we should never be suffer'd on those terms to live in the Kingdom. And, to speak the truth, they were not approved by my Brother Du — who drew up another, the Copy whereof we now send you; but we must confess, most dear Brother, that we have found it to be of dread∣ful consequence, and most dangerously insnaring to us. But Du — ha∣ving resolutely maintained, that we had no other way left us of abiding in the Kingdom than by signing this Writing, and if we would not, yet he himself would alone in his own person present it to my Lord Bishop of Meaux, we did at length sign it, Monsieur — and my self, tho' with extreme repugnancy, and with this very restriction, that Du — should retrieve it out of the hands of the Bishop of Meaux, as soon as he had read it, which Du — solemnly promised us he would do.

My Lord Bishop perus'd our Writing, and having told Du — that he conceiv'd the King would never grant us what we desired in it, we be∣liev'd our selves oblig'd all three jointly to take our leaves of the Bishop, and of Monsieur de la Renie, because we were two days after to avoid the Kingdom. My Lord Bishop of Meaux dismist us very civilly. But Mon∣sieur de la Renie made us a long discourse about our Writing given in to the Bishop of Meaux, and that Conference which our Brother had with him, telling us, among other passages, that the King took notice of our Mea∣sures; that he had approved and praised them; that he had a better opi∣nion of us by far, than of a great many others who had yet gone beyond us; but that the King desired us to continue our Conferences with the Bishop of Meaux, and that the King having learnt our intention of going to Foun∣tainbleau, that we might wait upon the Bishop of Meaux, (which was a truth) had the kindness for us as to order him to come to Paris; and if after our Conferences ended with my Lord Bishop of Meaux, we could not with a good Conscience hold Communion with the Church of Rome, he would then give us, when ever we should desire it, a Licence for our selves and Families to depart the Kingdom, and that finally my Lord of Meaux would charily preserve our Writing, which had been presented unto his Ma∣jesty.

We all three accepted the Proposals. And had several Conferences with the Bishop of Meaux. But this very day we are urged to come to a Reso∣lution, and upon our refusal of signing the new Formulary, we are plainly told, That it is ill done of us to recoil after that of our own accord we had advanced so far; and they farther tell us, That our own Writing obligeth us to far greater matters than the new Formulary; and that we declare in the very beginning of it, That, of all Evils, Disunion is the greatest, and

that by this our Confession, neither Transubstantiation, nor any of those other Points debated by us, could be a bar to our Re-union, and that in ef∣fect we do formally re-unite ourselves by our very Writing, and that by sub∣mitting our selves to the Conduct of Bishops, and of their pitiful Curates, we do subject our selves to the whole Ecclesiastical Discipline; and that we intreating the Higher Powers, who went unto Mass, to believe our Senti∣ments to be the same with theirs, who desired the Cup, we were engaged at the same time to do as they did, even to wait for that Reformation which was universally desired, and which the King incessantly pursued, as having resolv'd, that the Cup should be delivered unto the People in the Sacrament. And thus they boast we are caught by our own Writing, which was left imprudently enough in the hands of my Lord Bishop of Meaux, and which they say also at the same time is in the King's. This is the truth of our present Estate, and for which, we conjure you, most dear Brother, to send us as soon as possible your advice, lest, &c.

WE, whose Names are here-under written, being fully perswaded, that among Christians there cannot be a greater mischief than to be divided one from another, especially when as the providence of God has made us all Subjects to our King, who is the most glorious Monarch in the whole World, and being unmeasurably grieved, that we are bound to depart his Kingdom, and to subject our selves unto the authority of strangers, whom we can never own for our Soveraign Lawful Princes, Do declare, That from this very day we can promise my Lord, the Bishop of Meaux, that we will subject our selves to the Sermons and Even-Songs used in the Catholick Church, thereby giving a sensible demonstration of our Union with the Archbishops, Bishops and Curates of France; We also intreat, That we may be absolutely believed to be in the same Sentiments with the Higher Powers, who, in conformity to the Liberties of the Galli∣can Church, gave in divers Articles (as our Historians relate) to my Lord Cardinal de Joyeuse, concerning the Council of Trent; and until such time as they may be established by the King's Authority, and signed by the most Reverend Clergy of France, in the sence of the second Article of the last Edict, verified in Parliament the 22d of this instant October, we most humbly beseech his Majesty to grant us the liberty of abiding within his Kingdom, in quality of poor private persons, we calling God to witness, by our Oaths, That we will do nothing against his Majesty's Declarations, but contrariwise, we shall endeavour by our example to keep the People within those bounds of Fidelity and Obedience, which we all owe unto the King and our Superiours.

I suppose those Articles were the same, which had been demanded by the Cardinal of Lorrain, and the other French Ambassadours in the Coun∣cil of Trent, as they be mentioned by De Mezeray, in his 3d Tome, p. 1470. viz.

That an Ecclesiastick Person should hold but one Benefice; That the Mass being finished, Prayers might be celebrated in the Vulgar Tongue; That the People might Communicate in both kinds; That all Pastors should be capable; and obliged to Preach and Catechise; That the abuse crept in among the Common People in the Worshipping of Images might be removed.

SECT. LV.

Now the Ministers have left the Kingdom, and vast multitudes of their People steal away after them as well as they can. But the King and Ha∣man, the French King and his Cabal sit down and drink, whil'st that Paris,

as Shushan of old, and all other places, in which the Reformed remain, are in great perplexities. In every Province, whithersoever the King's Com∣mandment and his Decree came, there was great Mourning among the Protestants, Fasting, Weeping, and Wailing, and many lay in Sackcloth and Ashes.

Yet among the Sighs and Groans or God's poor Saints, who mourn for the Desolations of Zion, the Ruines of their Temples and Sanctuary, the loss and reproach of their Solemn Assemblies, the Prophanations of their Holy Sabbaths, their deprival of Religious Ordinances, the banishment of their Pastors, the dissipations of their Churches, and the total extirpation of the pure Evangelical Religion, and cannot be comforted; the Popish Clergy, the Monks and Jesuits have their Jubilees and Triumphs; and the Pope sends, a Letter to the King, congratulating him for his Zeal against the Hereticks in his Kingdom, and for repealing the Edict of Nantes. It spake this Language.

The Pope's Letter to the French King, congratulating him for Abolish∣ing the Edict of Nantes.

Innocent the XIth,

to our dearest Son in Christ, Lewes the XIVth, the most Christian King of France.
Our dearest Son in Christ,

SInce above all the rest of those illustrious Proofs which do abundantly declare the natural inbred Piety of your Majesty, that Noble Zeal (and worthy the most Christian King) is most conspicuous, with which, being ardently inflamed, you have wholly abrogated all those Constitutions that were favourable to the He∣reticks of your Kingdom, and by most wise Decrees set forth, have excellently provided for the Propagation of the Orthodox Belief, as our beloved Son, and your Ambassadour with us, the Noble Duke de Estrées, hath declared to us. We thought it was incumbent on us most largely to commend that excellent Piety of yours, by the remarkable and lasting Testimony of these our Letters, And to con∣gratulate your Majesty that Accession of immortal Commendation which you have added to all your other great Exploits by so illustrious an Act of this kind. The Catholick Church shall most assuredly record in her Sacred Annals a Work of such Devotion towards her, and celebrate your Name with never-dying Praises. But a∣bove all, you may most deservedly promise to your self an ample Retribution from the Divine Goodness for this most excellent Ʋndertaking, and may rest assured, that we shall never cease to pour forth our most earnest Prayers to that Divine Goodness for this intent and purpose. The rest you shall understand from our ve∣nerable Brother, Angelo, Archbishop of Genua: In the mean time we greet you most kindly with our Apostolical Benediction.

Given at Rome, the 13th of November, in the 10th 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 re∣flect 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 Savi∣our 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 Suf∣fered 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 Perse∣cution.

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 bu∣ried 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 Tor∣ments 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 tra∣vel have erected this glorious Fabrick of Reformation, and which in a mo∣ments 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 aggra∣vations, 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 ad∣vice, 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 cu∣stomary 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 Super∣stitious 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 disho∣nour 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 its 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 of tools to build his House. 'Tis the very Character of Hell to force Men to Mass, by Fire and Sword, by Dragoons, Plunder and Tortures. And none but the Devil would spirit Men unto such actions, and they who use them, are un∣doubtedly his proper Imps and Agents.

And that you may keep up your abhorrency of Popery, never forget this, Continually set before your Eyes all its Deformities, and never look on them or it through those false Glasses which the Doctors of Lies do now adays re∣present them to you. You see their Temples full of Images, before which they bow down and worship, contrary to the express Commandment of God, Thou shalt not make unto thy self any graven Image, thou shalt not bow down thy self before them. And flatter not your selves with this, that possibly you may not be obliged thereunto, for the people, with whom you are, do it, and you partake in this their Sin of Idolatry, at leastwise, if you do not abhor it both with heart and mouth.

Set before you that Idolatrous Worship performed unto Creatures, and in particular that Honour, which being due only unto God, is yet never∣theless given unto the Mother of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and unto Saints, and then remember those dreadful words, As I live, saith the Lord, I will not give my glory unto another. And remember also, that Idolaters are in the Van of those that shall never inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Consider that Sacrifice ordained by their Church, and wherein you must adore a bit of Bread. Do not think you shall escape by this foolish sugge∣stion, We only adore Jesus Christ who is in Heaven. For the Pagan Ido∣laters might have used the same plea, That when they kneeled before their Idols, they lifted up their Hearts to the true God.

Never be reconciled with them for that great wrong they do your Souls in robbing you of the Cup, which is but one half of the Sacrament, when as Jesus Christ hath given you the whole of it.

Never accustom your selves to that barbarous Language which keeps you from understanding your Religion, and leaves it only to be gazed at with your eyes. Keep up a perpetual aversion for that vain heap of Pagan and Jewish Ceremonies, which are in a direct line of opposition to the purity and simplicity of Christianity.

But know, 'tis not enough that you detest all these things with your Heart, you must also condemn them with your Mouths. Your Judgments herein must not be concealed; you must be ever and every where ready to confess the Truth.

And therefore, as often as you shall have occasion, declare openly, with∣out guile or reservation, that you abhor that Worship unto which you are compelled to be present.

Never go to Mass, unless they drag you to it by main force, and whil'st they force you to it, declare publickly, that you do not in the least with your heart consent thereunto; and if by the same violence wherewith they brought you to it they keep you at it, yet manifest by your Actions, that you have not any belief nor respect for those false Mysteries.

Keep carefully your Books of Piety, of Devotion, and of Controversie, and read them with singular diligence and attention. Preserve them by hi∣ding and conveying them from the reach and search of your Persecutors. Above all, keep as your most precious Jewels, the most Holy Bible, and suffer every thing rather than suffer your Bibles to be snatcht away from you. Read them daily and with the greatest devotion.

Concerning your poor Children: 'Tis true, they will be ravisht out of your Arms, and led to the Catechistical Exercises of the Priests, and 'tis to be seared this will be done with so great violence, that 'twill be impossible for you to hinder it; yet as soon as they shall be returned from them, never fail to destroy what those Priests have built up.

Instruct them in the Truth, and infuse into their Souls a sacred abhor∣rency of the Romish Religion: And this you may do by causing them to read carefully those places of Holy Scripture which are contrary to it.

Never forget, nor spare any pains or expence in procuring from foreign Countries, Books capable of instructing and strengthening you, and when as the Priests shall have robb'd you or your own, cause others to be brought you, whatever rates you pay for them.

The poor Country Peasants, and Mechanicks in Towns and Cities, by reason of their ignorance, are expos'd to greatest dangers. But the strong ought to support the weak, and you must earnestly endeavour each others edification: This you may do as you travel into your Country-hou∣ses, as you walk in the Streets, yea, when as you meet one another in your Shops, there being none by you of the contrary Religion. Supply these poor People with Books for their Instruction, and exhort them without ceasing to bear up against all discouragements, and never to let loose their hearts unto Idolatry, but contrariwise to detest and oppose it by their discourses.

Maintain a continual Correspodence among your selves, and perfectly know one another, principally those who love the Truth, and mutually incourage one another in your Resolutions never to forsake it. If you can

at any time meet together secretly by Night in the Retirements of your Houses, let it be for the reading of God's Word, and of good Books capable of instructing you, but above all for Prayer. Proper Prayers for your con∣dition shall be sent you from foreign Countries.

By reason of that commerce and communion you are necessitated to hold with the Papists endeavour also after their Conversion. Who knows but that God may have ordained this sore Persecution for this very end, that you should carry the light of the Gospel into the very bosom of Popery, in order to its destru∣ction? But take heed unto your selves. For should you be dumb dogs, and dissemblers, and counterfeit the Papists before the Papists, God will give you up to a reprobate sence. So then forbear not speaking unto the Papists when you meet them, but entertain them with Discourses of Religion. And speaking to them of the violence offered unto your Consciences, give them a lively pourtraict of the Deformities of their Religion, and Purity of your own; shew them the Vanities and Impurities of their Worship, of their Idolatry, and sottish Opinions. And labour powerfully by all means their conversion. And that this may be successful, order your Lives with the greatest accuracy and circumspection. 'Tis visible, that the sinful dis∣orders and miscarriages of your Conversations have brought upon you those fearful Judgments from God under which you are now groaning. There was no kind of worldliness in which you were not ingag'd, such as rich Houshold-Goods, Vessels of Silver, Tapistry, Feasts, Gluttonies, Idle Days, Plays, Pastimes, Cloth of Silk and Gold, Rings, Pearls and Jewels.

If you be wise, your first Reformation must begin here, all these must be rejected, sell your Tapistries, your Silver Vessels, wear the plainest Wool∣steds, have nothing to do with Silk or Gold at your Feasts or Repasts. Eve∣ry 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 neglect∣ed 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 to∣wards 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 them∣selves, 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 de∣parting. 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 Li∣berty. And look not back behind you to carry away what is in your Hou∣ses.

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. 'Tis 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 'tis this Pride that must be sub∣dued; 'tis this Monster that must be brained; 'tis 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 satisfa∣ction for your great crime in renouncing with your mouths the Truth of our holy Religion, than by sacrificing unto God your Estate, Ease and Com∣forts, 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 pro∣mised 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 chil∣dren; be not therefore displeased with the correction of the Lord. Remem∣ber 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 Advertise∣ment about my Manuscript Copies, out of which I have extracted and com∣piled 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 be∣longed

unto their Consistories, Colloquies, and Synods; yea, and this they did also unto particular Ministers; thus robbing them of their well-fur∣nish'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 dissa∣tisfaction. 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,* 14.1 A Minister, who was a meer stranger to me, and whom I had never seen before, being but then newly arrived, told me he could give me some intelligence of them, and demanding my Name and House, he did the next day honour me with a visit, and presented me with what I had longed for many Years so ar∣dently, and sought for far and near exceeding diligently. This Copy was very large, and contained near a Ream of Paper, tolerably well written; yet it had suffered by the wet in some places, and Letters and some Senten∣ces were defaced, so that I have been five hours together to spell out the sence of five lines; which I am confident I have hit upon at last: being ex∣ceeding careful not to corrupt or pervert the sence of these venerable Coun∣cils. The Grandfather of this worthy Minister had been deputed once and again by his Province as their Representative unto their National Sy∣nods, and his godly Father had took the care to examine and collation this Copy by and with several other Copies; and this Copy was attested by several of the Deputies unto several of these National Synods, as by Mr. Quinson, Mr. Launay, Mr. Blondell, Mr. Grauvier, Mr. Bollenat, Mr. de Bordage, Mr. de la Musse, Mr. Bernard the Bailiff of Chastillion upon the Loign, and Mr. Guillemot. So that I reckon it is as good as an Original.

When I had proceeded in my Work as far as the Synod of Alez, I was at a great loss for one Act, which was quoted in my Copy, and must of neces∣sity be inserted to make the sence perfect, and to prevent a sad chasm; this put me upon a new Inquiry. The Book to which I was referr'd was rare, it could not be easily got in London, tho' I had consulted some scores of Booksellers, nor in the Bodleian Library. Whil'st I was again regretting my loss, one of the Ministers of the ancient French Church of London tells me they had in their Consistory a Manuscript Copy of the National Synods, and accordingly giveth me the sight of five Folios, four very fairly writ∣ten, well bound in Vellom, but wretchedly spell'd, and ill pointed; these four were a compleat Body of these Acts, and had some more Acts than my first Copy, and yet wanted a great many more which were in mine. The fifth was only an imperfect Copy of the twenty first Synods. I bor∣rowed these five Manuscripts of that Consistory, and compared them with my first, and supplied my defects out of them, tho' it put me upon a new travail. But my labour was a pleasure to me.

When I had proceeded as far as the Synod of Alanson, and so had but two more to finish, that reverend and ancient Minister of Christ, Mon∣sieur Misson, who had been Pastor of the Church of Niort, sends unto me another Manuscript in Folio fairly written, (tho' impaired much by the Rain, or Salt Water) of the Acts of these Synods. But it was imperfect, ending at the first Synod of Charenton, so that it contained only the History of the twenty four first National Synods. However, this I examined and compared with my first and best Copy, and found that in the order of the Acts it did harmoniously agree with it, tho' it fell wonderfully short in the materials, as being exceeding defective and lame in number, quantity, and quality of the Acts, and I found it exactly to agree with that fifth Volume,

which contained the twenty first Synods. So that I had no help nor assist∣ance by it, but only satisfaction to my Curiosity, and labour for my pains.

About the same time my Honoured Friend Monsieur Baignoux, Pastor of the Church of Poictiers, sends me two Originals, one of the second Na∣tional Synod of Charenton, Anno 1631. the other of the Synod of Alanson, 1637. And that ancient and learned Minister of St. Quentin, Monsieur Meslayer, I think the same Week brought me a very fair Manuscript exactly agreeing with my two best Copies of the last National Synod of Loudun. These were the principal materials out of which I have composed my Synodicon.

One thing I observed, that these Copies did differ much in the order and placing of their Acts. This hath much perplext me, especially when I re∣vised what I had done, and compared it with the other Copies. But I have lest out nothing.

I have been extreamly puzled to adjust their Accompts. It hath been the most laborious toyl to me. But I found by comparing one Copy with ano∣ther, that I was rolling Sisyphus's his Stone, for the difficulties always oc∣curred, and the differences and disagreements among my Manuscripts, through the negligence of the Transcribers, were implacable and irrecon∣cileable; whereupon I even left them as I found them, lamenting my ex∣pence of time to so little, indeed to no purpose at all. The National Synods may not be blamed for this. For nothing was more accurate and exact, no∣thing more regular and orderly than their Synodical Acts. But, as I said, the Copyists, were guilty of a most supine negligence.

I have observed a most strict and Cordial Union between the French and Dutch Churches, in Faith and Discipline: this was first signed in the first National Synod of Vitré. See Canons the 1, 2, 3, 4. And they sent their Deputies reciprocally to their National Synods for some time. And when as Monsieur Chamier, Du Moulin, Chauve, and Rivet, were on their way to the Synod of Dort, in the year 1618. they were frighted back again by a Pro∣hibition issued out against them by the King then Reigning, Louis XIII.

These National Synods paid a very great deference unto the Church, Pastors and Professors of Geneva, and embraced their Councils. See that Letter which they sent unto the National Synod of Tonneins, which was most kindly accepted, and all their advice practised.

The first Appeal that was ever brought before them was by the Prince of Condé, a Prince of the Blood, and of a very great and haughty Spirit, but not above that grave Assembly of St. Foy. See Synod of St. Foy. Appeal the first.

When I had finished my Work, and delivered it into the Booksellers hands, who undertook the Printing of it, They earnestly desired me, for the ease and benefit of the Readers, to divide it into Chapters, and to pre∣fix the Contents of each Synod to it. This was a new trouble created to me by my two Friends; but to satisfy their importunity, I have divided it accordingly, and I hope it may answer, in some measure, your expecta∣tion.

The Fathers in these Councils were not willing that the body of their National Synodical Acts should be published; see the Synod of St. Maix∣ant, Particular Matters, 26. And when as Monsieur Piotet had collected them into due order, yet they cared not to have them divulged. The time was not come as then, but now it is. I have detained thee, good Reader, too long in the Porch: the Door is now open, and both Leaves are un∣folded, you may go in and read them, there is none to hinder you.

SECT. LVIII.

There were nine and twenty National Synods celebrated by these Churches within the space of one hundred Years; they met in this order, and at the times and places mentioned in this ensuing Catalogue.

• 1. At Paris, May 25. 1559.
• 2. At Poictiers, March 20. 1560.
• 3. At Orleans, April 25. 1562.
• 4. At Lyons, Aug. 10. 1563.
• 5. The 2d at Paris, Octob. 21. 1565.
• 6. At Vertuil, Septemb. 1. 1567.
• 7. At Rochel, April 2. 1571.
• 8. At Nismes, May 8. 1572.
• 9. At St. Foy, Feb. 2. 1578.
• 10. At Figeac, Aug. 2. 1579.
• 11. The 2d at Rochel, June 28. 1581.
• 12. At Vitré, May 26. 1583.
• 13. At Montauban, June 15. 1594.
• 14. At Saumur, May 13. 1596.
• 15. At Montpellier, May 26. 1598.
• 16. At Gergeau, May 9. 1601.
• 17. At Gap, May 18. 1603.
• 18. The 3d of Rochel, March 1. 1607.
• 19. At St. Maixant, May 26. 1609.
• 20. At Privas, May 23. 1612.
• 21. At Tonneins, May 2. 1614.
• 22. The 2d of Vitré, May 18. 1617.
• 23. At Alez, Octob. 1. 1620.
• 24. At Charenton, Septemb. 1. 1623.
• 25. At Castres, Septemb. 15. 1626.
• 26. The 2d of Charenton, 1631.
• 27. At Alanson, May 27. 1637.
• 28. The 3d of Charenton, 1654.
• 29. At Loudun, Novemb. 10. 1659.

The next National Synod was appointed to be held in the City of Nismes; but when that will be, Peloni Palmoni, the wonderful Numberer, can only and most certainly inform us.

Notes

• * 1.1

  See the Au∣thor of Status Reipubl. & Re∣lig. sab Henr. 2. p 10. & 11. & sub Carol•• 9. p. 94.
• * 1.2

  Chap. I. Of Ministers.
• * 1.3

  See Obs. 1. upon the Dis∣cipline in the Synod of Ton∣neins.
• * 1.4

  Chap. II. Of Schooh.
• * 1.5

  Chap III. Of Elders and Deacons.
• * 1.6

  Chap IV. Of The Office of a Deacon.
• * 1.7

  Chap V. Of Consistories.
• * 2.1

  Chap. VI. Of the Ʋnion of Churches.
• * 2.2

  Chap. VII. Of Colloquies.
• * 2.3

  Chap. VIII. Of Provin∣cial Synods.
• * 2.4

  Chap. IX. Of National Synods.
• * 2.5

  Chap. X. Of Religious Exercises.
• * 2.6

  Chap. XI. Of Baptism.
• * 2.7

  Chap. XII. Of The Lord's Supper.
• * 2.8

  Chap. XIII. Of Marriages.
• * 2.9

  Chap. XIV. Of Particular Orders.
• * 2.10

  See Monsieur Amyraut's Apo∣logie pour ceux de la Re∣ligion, p. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, which is too long to be here inserted.
• * 2.11

  See Histoire Universelle D' Aubigny, liv. 3. p. 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310.
• * 2.12

  See Syn. of Saumur, 3••. Art. of Gen. Mar. Syn. of Montauban, 23. Art. of Gen. Mar. Syn. of Montpellier 2. Art. of Gen. Matters. Sy∣nod of Privas, 1612. Act of the Oath of U∣nion. Second Synod of Cha∣renton, Art. of Gen. Matters 3.
• * 8.1

  A Sp•••••••• of Popish Cruel∣ties.
• * 8.2

  St. Ruth paid the Reckoning at last for all his Hellish Cru∣elties, at the Siege of Lime∣rick in Ireland, in the Year, 1691. where God's Sword of Justice cut him off from doing further Mischief.
• * 10.1

  There were in that Church 10000 Com∣municants.
• * 11.1

  One of the mostillustrious Noblemen of Languedoc.
• * 14.1

  Monsieur Fo∣ren, Pastor of the Church of Sion in the Pro∣vince of Brit∣tain.