The Acts of Famous National Councils of the Reformed Churches in France, 28 (3rd Charenton) · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. As ſoon as theſe Officers, of the Synod were choſen, the Lord of Cumont, Councellor for the King in His Council of State, and Parliament of Paris, Deputed by His Majeſty, preſented Letters Patents, which did Commiſſionate him to Repreſent His Majeſty in this Synod. Theſe being read, were inſerted into the Regiſter of the Acts of this Synod; The Tenor and Form of which, is as followeth.
4. A Copy of the King's Letters Patents, containing His Majeſty's Commiſſion to Monſieur de Cúmont, Lord of Boiſgrollier.
LOUIS, BY the Grace of God, King of France and Navarré, To Our Beloved and Truſty Councellor in Our Councel of State and Court of Parliament at Paris, the Lord of Cúmont Greeting.
We having Granted our Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion, to hold a National Synod in the Town of Charenton near Paris, on the Six and Twentieth day of December next coming, Compoſed of all the Deputies of the Provinces of Our Kingdom, to Treat of Affairs concerning their Religion; and being to make choice of a meet Perſon, and of approved Fidelity to Ʋs, who may preſide in the ſaid Aſſembly as Our Commiſſioner, and Repreſent Ʋs in it, We knowing the Services you have rendered Ʋs in ſundry Honourable Imployments, with which We had intrusted you, which you have moſt Worthily and Faithfully diſcharged, We thought We could not chooſe a fitter Perſon than your ſelf, being well aſſured, that you will continue the Teſtimonies of your Affection unto Ʋs and Our Service as aforeſaid. Wherefore by Advice of the Queen-Regent, Our moſt Honoured Lady and Mother, We have Commiſſionated and Deputed you, and We do Commiſſionate and Depute you by theſe Preſents Signed with Our Hand, to go unto the Town of Charenton, and to ſit in the ſaid Synod there Aſſembled, and to Repreſent Our Royal Perſon in it, and to Propoſe and Determine whatever matters We ſhall give you in Command, according to thoſe Memoirs and Instructions We have now delivered unto you; and you are to take heed that none other Affairs be there debated, but ſuch as ought to be in thoſe Aſſemblies, and which are permitted by Our Edicts. And in caſe the Members of the ſaid Synod ſhould attempt to do any thing contrary thereunto, you ſhall hinder them, and interpoſe therein with Our Authority, and give Ʋs ſpeedy and timely notice of it, that ſuch courſe may be taken to prevent thoſe inconveniencies which would ariſe, as We ſhall Judge to be moſt convenient. For the doing whereof We give you Power, Commiſſion, and ſpecial Commandment by theſe preſents.
Given at Paris the 28th of November, in the year of Grace, One Thouſand Six Hundred and Forty Four, and of Our Reign the Second. Signed in the Original, LOUIS: And a little lower, Phelippeaux.
The Speech of the Lord Commiſſioner unto the Synod, together with his Propoſitions and Complaints made in Their Majeſties Name, againſt divers Churches.
Meſſieurs,
AS it is a very great Honour to me to be Commiſſionated by His Majeſty to aſſiſt in your Synod, and to acquaint you with His Will and Pleaſure; ſo alſo have I a great deal of Joy and Satisfaction to behold this Illuſtrious Aſſembly choſen out of all the Provinces of this Kingdom, and that I can tell you by word of Mouth, what was expreſly Charged and Commanded me by the King, and the Queen His Mother, which is to aſſure you of Their Good Will unto you, and Protection of you, and of all your Churches, and of the intire Execution of the Edicts of Pacification, ſo long as you continue your ſelves within thoſe bounds of Duty, Subjection, and Fidelity which you owe unto Their Majeſties, they being the Higher Powers ſet over you by God, intruſted with the Supream Authority; and your Lot and Portion being the Honour of Obedience to Them, whereunto you ſtand Obliged by your Birth, the Dictates of your own Conſcience, and the Favours you continually receive from Their Majeſties, and by all kinds of Conſiderations both General and Particular.
After that doleful Providence which deprived us of our late King Louis the Juſt of moſt glorious Memory, there was no Man but did believe that the end of his Life, would have been the end of our Happineſs; but God who loveth France, and hath ſo often raiſed it from Falling, hath not permitted this Loſs to iſſue in ſuch Mournful Conſequences. The Sun never Sets but to Riſe again, and to make us ſee a Shining Day of the Kingdom of Grace; we ſaw it, as the dawning of our Happineſs; His Majeſty keeping his Court of Juſtice, attended by the Princes of his Blood, and of all the Grandees of the Realm, and the Queen declared Regent of this Kingdom by the Joint Suffrages and Solemn Decrees of Parliament. Immediately hereupon, their Majeſties open'd their Treaſures of Mercy and Clemency, and gave Satisfaction to all ſorts of Intereſts, and Reconciled a Multitude of Malecontents unto the Government: They inlarged Priſoners, they Licenſed the Abſent to return unto their Houſes, they gave leave unto the Accuſed, to endeavour their own Juſtification; they reſtored the Innocent unto their Offices, and to Places of Truſt in the State; they confirmed the Conduct and Generalſhip of the Armies unto his Royal Highneſs the Duke of Orleans, who cauſed his Orders and Commands at the Siege of Gravelin to be admired, and in ſight of the Enemy's Troops, took that moſt Important Place, which will ſerve unto Poſterity as a laſting Monument of his Valour and Generoſity. We may add unto this propitious Succeſs the Victory of Rocroy, the taking of Thionville, Spires, Wormes, Mentz, Phillipsbourg, and the Defeat of the Bavarian Army, even in their very Trenches. Theſe great and Signal Advantages, followed with ſundry others, have rendred the Name of our King Auguſt and Venerable among the Nations, and his Power Terrible unto his Enemies, who are conſtrained to confeſs it to be Unparallel'd, and that God doth from Heaven viſibly Bleſs and Favour his Armies and Undertakings. We have alſo another very Comfortable Sight, that whilſt all the Neighbour Nations round about us are in the Flames of War, France enjoyeth a profound Peace, repoſing it ſelf upon the continual Travels of the Queen Regent, (who may be moſt juſtly ſtiled the Mother of our Country, and the Mother of our Armies,) and upon the Wiſe and Prudent Counſels of his Royal Highneſs the Duke of Orleans, and of his Highneſs the Prince, and of his Eminency my Lord Cardinal Mazarin, and that perfect Union and good Underſtanding which is between them, and the Fidelity and Experience of my Lords the Miniſters of State; which raiſe our Hopes that we ſhall ſee in theſe our days a general Peace, the very Crown and Perfection of our Happineſs.
Beſides theſe Conſiderations which are common to you and to all French-men, there be ſome others which be ſpecial and peculiar to thoſe of your Profeſſion and Religion.
You may very well remember, that no ſooner did the King begin his Reign, than that their Majeſties were pleaſed to Iſſue forth a Royal Declaration, wherein they Confirm'd all former Edicts, and permitted you the Exerciſe of your Religion, the Liberty of your Conſciences, the ſafety of your Perſons, the ſecure injoyment of your Goods and Churches, which ſubſiſt moſt Happily under the Wings of their Royal Goodneſs and Authority. And obſerve it I beſeech you, as a Singular Mark of their Majeſties Favour to you, that there be of your Religion in the Kingdom, Perſons of the Higheſt Quality; there be among you moſt Noble and Illuſtrious Dukes and Peers, Mareſchals of France, Generals of Armies, Governours and Magiſtrates, Judges in Sovereign Courts, and their Majeſties now this very day out of that great Confidence they have in your Loyalty and Fidelity, have granted you this Aſſembly at the very Gates of the Metropolis of the Kingdom, in the very Face and View of all France, and of this infinite People of Paris, a People vaſtly different from you in Manners and Humours, in Inclination and Religion, who will be Severe Witneſſes and Judges of all your Actions.
For theſe Conſiderations, I cannot, Sirs, but perſwade my ſelf, that you will all Unanimouſly and with one Conſent, aim chiefly and principally at the Glory of God, the Service of the King, the Weal and Welfare of your Churches, and the Comfort of your own Conſciences; and that all your Debates and Actions ſhall be managed with that Moderation, Prudence and Humility, as becometh ſuch Faithful Subjects as you are: Which will be a moſt powerful and effectual means to derive down upon you, and the Provinces which have Deputed you, the Gracious Favours of their Majeſties, eſpecially when as the thinking World ſhall obſerve that you breathe nothing more than that profound Reſpect and Duty which you owe them.
And that all things may be done in that Order preſcribed me by their Majeſties, I am in their Name commanded to acquaint you, that all Miniſters, who are not their Natural Born Subjects, but Strangers, are to be excluded your Synod; and that none may aſſiſt to Vote in it, who hath not Letters of Deputation from his Provincial Synod; and that during the time it is holden, you may not have any Communication with Foreigners, or other Suſpected Perſons, but you are to abide here, intending thoſe Affairs for which you were ſent. And for as much as your Aſſemblies are not by any Legal Conſtitution a Body Politick, their Majeſties have forbidden you to intermeddle in your Synodical Seſſions with State Affairs, or Matters of Juſtice; nor to ſpeak any thing about the Reſtoration of Foreign Miniſters, who have been ejected out of their Churches by Decrees of Parliaments, or by Letters Signed by his Majeſty, in conſequence of them, nor to bring in any Complaints about pretended Infractions of the Edicts, ſeeing you have the Mixed Courts, and other Courts of Juſtice eſtabliſhed by the Edicts to do you Right and Juſtice, and to repair thoſe Violations of the Edicts, if any there be; for which you may get a Remedy by applying your ſelves unto his Majeſties Council, unto which you may preſent your Petitions in the uſual Form; becauſe your Synod hath no Power to judge of ſuch Matters, but only to treat of Points of Doctrin, and Articles of Church-Diſcipline.
You are forbidden alſo to nominate any Paſtors, or other Extraordinary Deputies, to receive Letters, or return Anſwers to thoſe, which ſhall be directed unto their Provinces, or to conſult of ſuch Affairs in the Intervals betwixt one Synod and another; becauſe ſuch Counſellors and their Conſultations are expreſly forbidden by that Edict of the Month of December, One Thouſand, Six Hundred, Twenty and Two; and by the Declarations that followed after it.
Moreover their Majeſties do forbid you to Print any Books in any Place whatſoever concerning your Religion, which are not atteſted by the Manual Certificates of Two Miniſters at leaſt, and thoſe in actual Office in ſome of the Churches of this Kingdom, under pain of Confiſcation of the whole Impreſſion. Nor may you denounce any Excommunication againſt Miniſters and others, who ſhall change their Religion for that of the Roman Catholicks, nor to treat them reproachfully either by Word of Mouth, or Writing, or any other manner of way whatſoever. Nor ſhall you admit for the future any Foreigner into the Miniſtery among you. And therefore you be commanded to inſert into the Atteſtations of Propoſans, who are to be Ordained, and of Miniſters, who are to be received into any Church, the Names of the Place of their Birth.
And farther, Provincial Synods are inhibited to Call or Proclaim any General Faſts.
And that the Publick Peace and Tranquillity may be Secured, his Majeſty injoyneth Miniſters, according to the Command of God, to Preach unto his Subjects that Obedience which they owe unto him, and that it is not lawful for them to take up Arms againſt their Sovereign upon any Cauſe or Account whatſoever. Moreover they be forbidden to make uſe of in their Sermons, or Writings the Words, Scourgings, Martyrdoms, and Perſecution of their Religion, or as if their Churches were the only True Church of God, and are thus Miſuſed. Moreover whenever they ſpeak of the Pope, they ſhall not call him Antichriſt, nor treat him diſreſpectfully; nor ſhall they Tax the Roma Catholick, Apoſtolick Church with Idolatry, nor the Sacraments and Ceremonies thereof as Human Inventions and Idolatries, upon pain of Interdiction to themſelves and others for ſo doing.
Furthermore, they be forbidden to make any Private Collections from Houſe to Houſe; nor to take a Farthing out of the Poor's Box, or from Legacies bequeathed to them, or the Fifth Peny of thoſe Moneys; nor to Cite any One before the Juſtice for Non-payment of their Sallaries and Wages, nor for their Charge in Riding unto Colloquies and Synods; nor for Repairing and upholding of their Temples. In theſe Matters, 'tis his Majeſties Will and Pleaſure, that Forty Fourth Article in the Edict of Nantes be punctually Obſerved and Performed.
And whereas their Majeſties be informed that you, ſend your Children to Study, and to be Educated in Learning at Geneva, in Switzerland, Holland and England, which are Nations and Republicks averſe to Monarchy, and who may imbue them with Corrupt Principles about Secular and Political Affairs; the Conſequence whereof is very great, and the Effects flowing from them very dangerous; That theſe may be in time prevented, their Majeſties deſire of you, that this Article may be Inſerted into your Diſcipline concerning Propoſans; and that it be moſt ſtrictly for the future obſerved in all your Provinces, That no Propoſans nor Divines ſhall be Ordained Miniſters, nor admitted Paſtors into any of the Churches, if they have Studied in any of thoſe Countries, or in any of their Univerſities. And they have commanded me to aſſure you, that your Conformity to their Intentions in ſuch an Important Affair, will be a thing moſt acceptable unto them, and very advantagious to all the Profeſſors of your Religion.
I am alſo charged to let you underſtand, that their Majeſties are much diſpleaſed, that contrary to that Amneſty, ſo much recommended by the Edicts, in the Calendars of Pſalms, imprinted at Geneva, 1635, theſe very Words are Inſerted, That on the Fifteenth Day of March, 1545, was Aſſembled that deteſtable Council of Trent. And there be alſo in them other ſuch like Offenſive Matters; and that in the Twenty Fourth Article of your Confeſſion of Faith, the Roman Catholick and Apoſtolick Religion, is ſtyled An Abuſe and Deceit of Satan; and that Purgatory is a meer Cheat, and the Shop out of which are ſprung Monaſtick Vows, Pilgrimages, and other ſuch Corruptions. And in the Twenty Eighth Article, you uſe theſe Words; We Condemn thoſe Aſſemblies in the Papacy, where all theſe Superſtitions and Idolatries are in Vogue. Their Majeſties cannot ſuffer that ſuch Words ſhould be Sworn in a National Synod, they accounting them ſcandalous and injurious to their Religion, and to that Church, whereof his Majeſty hath the Honour to be the Eldeſt Son; and injurious to the Pope, whom his Majeſty believeth to be the Head of the Church, calling him, Holy Father, and with whom he is in a ſtrict Alliance and Amity. Their Majeſties Deſire, that in a matter ſo near their Heart as this is, you would yield them that Reſpect and Obſervance which ſhall be Injoyned you, and is now more particularly from their Majeſties propounded to you.
Let me add One thing more which their Majeſties commanded me to acquaint you with, that they very juſt cauſe to Complain of you, that ſince his Majeſty began his Reign, thoſe of your Religion have took upon them to ſet up Preaching, and the Exerciſe of your Worſhip in Languedoc and elſewhere, in an Open, Violent Manner, contrary to the Publick Peace, and the general Laws of the Kingdom, which do equally forbid the Subjects both of the one and the other Religion, to be their own Judges, and to carve out Right unto themſelves, although they had been Wrong'd, and Juſtice was on their Side. And for that they durſt make Acts, and Paſs them Reſolutely, after they had once Debated them in their Colloquies and Provinces, and Confirmed them at a Meeting in the Conſiſtory of Anduza; and had returned Thanks to them who Executed that Riot, and began to Revolt, that ſo it might be done with more and greater Authority. And thoſe of Ʋſez alſo have placed Bells in their Temple, without any leave firſt had or Obtained, and contrary to the Articles upon which they Capitulated and Surrendred.
Their Majeſties alſo are yet farther diſpleaſed, that thoſe who Profeſs your Religion in Languedoc, have enterprized the Reviving of Deputations unto the Court of Monpellier, Niſmes, and Ʋſez, which had been Suppreſt ever ſine the Year 1622, even when the Capitulation of the City of Monpellier was made; and that the Sieur, Peyrol, Veſtrie, and Fournier did get themſelves to be Deputed, when there was no Synod, and are become Partiſans contrary to his Majeſties Prohibitions. And that Preaching, and the Exerciſes of your Religion, are ſet up in divers Parts, by a meer Private Authority, and beyond thoſe Bounds appointed by his Majeſties Commiſſioners to execute the Edict of Nantes, yea, and contrary to the Words of that ſelf ſame Edict, they continue Preaching in thoſe Places, where the Church-men are Lords of the Soil; and of this his Majeſty hath been fully informed.
And beſides all this, certain Miniſters have taken unto themſelves that Unbounded Liberty, as to vent in their Pulpits Seditious Diſcourſes; and have cut off from Communion with them, thoſe Parents who ſend their Children to the Colledges of Regents, who are of the Roman Catholick and Apoſtolick Religion. And they have given me in Charge to tell you, that theſe be Notorious Infractions of the Edicts, contrary to your Duty, to the Prejudice of the King, and of the Publick Tranquillity, the which his Majeſty hath been ſo careful to conſerve on his Part, that he neither can, nor ought, as the Common Father of his People, to ſuffer ſuch Actings, when as he can hinder them. But he hopes, that for the future, you will uſe more Circumſpection, and carry your ſelves better, and avoid all juſt occaſions of diſpleaſing his Majeſty, though they may occur unto you.