The French King's declaration, enjoining the execution of his edict in Octob. 1685. for the revocation of the Edict of Nants, &c.: Given at Versailles the 13th of Dec. 1698. and registred in Parliament. Faithfully translated from the original printed at Paris, 1698.

THE French King's DECLARATION FOR Putting in Execution his Edict in October 1685, for the Revocation of the Edict of Nants, &c.

I.

LEWIS by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre: To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting. Our Desire of an Union of all Our Subjects in the Ca∣tholick, Apostolick, and Roman Religion, Established and so Religiously observed in our Kingdom during so many Ages, having obliged Us to repeal by Our Edict in the Month of October 1685, those by which the Kings Our Predecessors, and particularly King Henry the Fourth of glorious Memory, (being obliged

thereto by the Disorders which happened during their Reigns) have Tolerated the pretended Reformed Re∣ligion; We have with great Satisfaction seen the greatest part of Our Subjects that were engaged in it, return into the Communion of the Church from which their Fathers had separated themselves during the last Age; But notwithstanding that the addition of Care and Labour which has lain upon Us during the late War, has not diminish'd in Us a continual Application for the perfecting of so great a Work; Yet the Persons who are entrusted with the Execution of Our Com∣mands throughout the several Provinces of Our King∣dom, being hindred by the many different Affairs that We have been obliged to employ them in for some years past, from performing their Parts with the same vi∣gilancy, We have to Our great Dissatisfaction under∣stood, that some of the pretended Reformed Mini∣sters, who have formerly resided in the Kingdom, and even some of Our said Subjects hardened in their Er∣rors, taking advantage in this Juncture of the Weak∣ness and Levity of others, have flattered them with vain Hopes, whereby some have been enticed to fall back from their former good Dispositions; And as We desire nothing more earnestly than to see a Design brought to its full Perfection, which We have under∣taken for the Glory of God, and the Salvation of so great a number of Our Subjects, We thought Our selves obliged to renew Our Care herein, at this time that it has pleased God to grant Peace to Europe; thereby to undeceive Our said Subjects from the false Reports which some have endeavoured to delude them with; and to use the most Effectual Means to bring

them back sincerely and truely into the Bosom of the Catholick Church, out of which they cannot expect to be saved. Therefore We have Said and Declared, and by these Presents, Signed with Our Hand, do Say and Declare, We Will, and it is Our Pleasure, That Our Edict in the Month of October 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes, and others made in pursuance thereof, be Executed. We do again forbid all Our Sub∣jects to Exercise the pretended Reformed Religion within the whole extent of Our Kingdom, to meet together in any Place on this account, in any Number, or under any Pretence whatsoever; To Harbour any Ministers, and Directly or Indirectly to hold any Cor∣respondence with them; Which We again in most ex∣press manner forbid them to do upon the Penalties ex∣pressed in the Edicts and Declarations we have already made on this Account, it being Our Will, that they be Executed according to their Form and Te∣nour. We Require all Our Attorneys General and their Substitutes, and all other Our Officers, to be Aiding and Assisting, and to inform us carefully of all Proceedings herein, as Occasion shall occur.

II.

We Admonish, and also Enjoin all Archbishops and Bishops of our Kingdom, that they continue re∣siding within their Bishopricks according to the Con∣stitutions of the Holy Canons and Our Ordinances, to employ their utmost Zeal and Application in the Instruction and Salvation of Our Subjects, whom it has pleased God to entrust to their Spiritual Autho∣rity; and to provide with a more particular Care

for the Instruction of such of Our Subjects who are re-united to the Catholick, Apostolick and Ro∣man Religion, as shall happen to be within their Diocese.

III.

We likewise Admonish, and Enjoin all Arch∣bishops and Bishops, to employ all that Authority which it has pleased God to add to their Character, in infusing the like Sentiments into the Clergy, and particularly the Curates who under their Authority have the chief Care of the Souls of our Subjects in their several Parishes; that they may with a particular Application instruct them in the Mysteries of Our Holy Religion, and the Rules of Christian Morality; that to this Effect they may at least on Sundays and Holidays read Instructions and Catechisms at certain Hours, in such manner as shall be prescribed them by the said Archbishops and Bishops, and may take Care that the Preachers Teach these Truths to Our said Subjects in their Sermons.

IV.

We Admonish and Enjoin the said Archbishops and Bishops, that they appoint such Clergy men as they shall think fit to give the said Instructions, during the time they shall judge proper, when they shall not find the Curates of some certain Places where there are many Persons who have lately reunited themselves to the Catholick Religion, able to do it with success; and we are willing to provide out of our own Trea∣sure, for the subsistence of the said Clergy-men, ac∣cording to the Accounts we shall receive from the said Prelates, of the Necessity of doing it.

V.

We recommend it to all Our Subjects, and especi∣ally to those who are Lords of Mannors, and other the most Considerable Persons, together with such as have lately reunited themselves to the Church; to assist with all possible Exactness at Divine Service, that they may bring down those Blessings which God grants to such as join their private Prayers to those of his Church; We command them that they always behave them∣selves therein with Reverence, especially during, the time of the Celebrating the Holy Mass, and a∣dore on their Knees the most Holy Sacrament on the Altar: As likewise, that they observe the Commands of the Church as to Fasts, Abstinency from Flesh, and Rest from all manner of Work, and take Care that their Children and Servants do exactly perform the same.

VI.

We likewise Command all Our said Subjects that they pay all due Honour and Respect to all that re∣lates to the Religion within and without the Churches, by their Actions and by their Words, that they Ho∣nour the Persons of the Clergy, and particularly the Arch-Bishops and Bishops, and the Curates of their Parishes, and that they receive with deference the Ad∣vice they shall give them in Matters of Religion, and concerning their Spiritual Conduct: The whole on Pain of Exemplary Punishment to such as shall fail therein.

VII.

We Command all Our said Subjects reunited to the Church, That they observe in the Marriages they shall

be willing to Contract, the Solemnities prescribed by the Holy Canons, and especially those made by the last Council, and Confirm'd by our Our Ordinan∣ces, reserving to Our Selves the Power to Determine all Civil Disputes that might arise concerning those Marriages, that may have been Contracted by them since the First Day of November, in the Year 1685. when We shall have been more particularly inform'd of the Nature and Circumstances of each particular Case.

VIII.

We Command all Our Subjects, and particularly those who have lately reunited themselves to the Church, That they cause their Children to be Bap∣tiz'd in the Churches belonging to the Parishes in which they live, within Twenty four Hours after their Birth; unless it shall be that upon some weighty Considerati∣ons, they may have obtained leave of the Arch-Bi∣shop or Bishop in whose Bishopricks they shall reside, to put off for some time the Ceremony of their Bap∣tism. We Command the Midwives and other Persons who assist Women in Labour, that they give Notice to the Curate of the Place, of the Birth of such Chil∣dren, and to Our Officers and the Lords of Mannors that have High Jurisdiction, to be aiding and assisting herein, and to punish the Offenders by Fine, or even by greater Penalties, as the Nature of the Case shall require.

IX.

Our Will is, that, inasmuch as is possible, there be Established in all Parishes, where the same is nor al∣ready done, Masters, and Mistresses that shall In∣struct Children, and particularly those whose Fathers and Mothers have professed the Pretended Reformed

Religion, in the Catechism, and such Prayers as are necessary for their direction at Mass on Week-Days; and to give them the Instruction they shall need on this account, and to take care, during the time they shall go to the said School, that they assist at all Divine Services on Sundays and Holy-Days; as also to Learn those to Read and even to Write, who shall have oc∣casion for it: The whole in the Manner prescrib'd by the 25th Article of Our Edict, in the Month of April 1695. concerning Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, and as shall be ordered by the Arch-Bishops and Bishops; and that in Places where no other Provision shall have been made, the necessary Sums for their Subsistence be Le∣vied on the Inhabitants, not exceeding 150 Livres a Year for the Masters, and 100 Livres for the Mi∣stresses; and that the necessary Letters to Authorize them herein be dispatched without any Charge to them, according to the Informations which the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of the respective Dioceses, and the Commissioners established in Our Provinces for Exe∣cuting Our Orders, shall give us.

X.

We Enjoyn all Parents, Guardians, and others, who are Entrusted with the Education of Children, and par∣ticularly of such whose Fathers and Mothers have pro∣fessed the Pretended Reformed Religion, that they send them to the Schools and Catechisings aforesaid, till they are Fourteen years Old, unless their Condition be such as that they may and ought to have them Instructed at home by Tutors well Learned in Religion, and of Good Manners, or to send them to Colleges; We En∣joyn all Curates to attend with particular Care the In∣struction

of the said Children in their Parishes, even of those who shall not go to the above-said Schools: We Admonish and also Enjoyn all Arch-Bishops and Bi∣shops, that they make it the Object of their Care and En∣quiry. We command all Fathers and Mothers who are charged with their Education, and especially all Persons more considerable by their Birth and Employments, that they produce to them, the said Arch-Bishop and Bishop, the Children they shall have at Home, when they shall require it in the Course of their Visitations, that they may give them an account of the Instruction they shall have receiv'd concerning Religion; And also to our Judges, Attorneys, and to such Gentlemen as are Lords of Mannors, aforesaid, to use all Diligence, Requisitions and Ordinances, as shall be necessary for the Execution of this Our Will and Pleasure, and to Punish all those who shall neglect it, or who shall presume to act any ways contrary thereto, by inflict∣ing on them such Fines or greater Penalties, as the Nature of the Case shall require.

XI.

We Enjoyn all Relations, when they appoint Guar∣dians or Persons to take care of the Education of Mi∣nor Children, to chuse such as are of a good Life and Conversation, and who exactly discharge all the Du∣ties of the Catholick Religion.

XII.

We Enjoyn all Physicians, and in their absence all Apothecaries and Chirurgeons, who shall be called to Visit Sick Persons, that they give Notice there∣of to the Curates of the Parishes in which they shall dwell, so soon as they shall judge that their Patient is

in danger, unless they see they have been otherwise sent for, that the Sick Person, and particularly Our said Subjects newly Reunited to the Church, may from them receive the Spiritual Advice and Consolation they shall stand in need of, as also the Benefit of the Sacra∣ments when they shall find them in a Condition to re∣ceive them: We Command the Relations, Servants, and other Persons who are near the said Sick Persons, to in∣troduce them, the said Curates, and to receive them with the Respect suitable to their Character. And it is Our Will, That such Physicians, Apothecaries and Chi∣rurgeons as shall neglect to Execute Our Orders to them in this behalf, shall be punished by Fines; and in case of a second Default, by suspending them from their Practice, as the Nature of the Case shall require.

XIII.

Our Pleasure is, That according to the Ancient Or∣dinances of the Kings, Our Predecessors, and the Cu∣stom observed, no Person shall be admitted into any Office of Judicature in any of our Courts of Justice, in the Courts of the Lords of the Mannors, or in Places belonging to our Cities held by Our Authority, or into the Employments of Town Clerks, Attorneys, Notaries, and Bailiffs, unless they have an Attestation from the Curate of the Parish in which they dwell, or their Vi∣cars, certifying their good Life and Manners, and also their exercising the Catholick, Apostolick and Roman Religion.

XIV.

Our Pleasure is, That no Licences or Degrees be for the future granted in the Universities of Our Kingdom, to such as have studied Law or Physick, unless they have the like Attestation from their Curates, which

shall be exhited to such as have Power to grant the said Degrees.

XV.

Our Will moreover is, That Our said Subjects do peaceably Enjoy their Estates and Exercise their Com∣merce as others do, on condition that they cause them∣selves to be Instructed and Confirmed in the Catholick, Apostolick and Roman Religion; That they suffer and even cause their Children to be Instructed there∣in; That they exactly observe all our Edicts and Declarations; and that they behave themselves on all occasions as Our Good and Faithful Subjects ought to do. And We Command all Our Beloved and Trusty Councellors holding our Court of Parliament at Paris, That they cause these Presents to be Read, Published, Registred, and the Contents of them to be kept and ob∣served according to their Form and Tenor; For such is Our Pleasure. In Witness whereof We have affixed Our Seal to these Presents; Given at Versailles the 13th Day of December, 1698, and of Our Reign the 50th. Signed Louis; and underneath, By the King Phelypeaux: and Sealed with the Broad Seal in Yellow Wax.

Registred and Heard at the Request of the King's Attorney General, to be executed according to their Form and Tenor, and true Copies thereof sent to the Baylywicks and Seneschalsies of the District, to be there Read, Published, and Registred. Injuncti∣ons giv••n to the Substitutes of the King's Attor∣ney General to be Aiding and Assisting therein, and to C••rtifie the Court thereof within a Month, according to the Order of this Day.

At Paris in Parliament the 20th of December, 1698.

Signed, Du Jardin.

FINIS.