The Acts of Famous National Councils of the Reformed Churches in France, 28 (3rd Charenton) · Chapter 3
CHAP. III. The Moderators Anſwer.
6. THE Lord Commiſſioner having finiſh'd his Speech, the Deputies return'd their Anſwer by the Mouth of the Moderator, Monſieur Garriſſoles; who thankfully acknowledged the grew Goodneſs and Mercy of Almighty God, in anſwering the Prayers of his poor Churches with his Heavenly Bleſſing: So that the General Loſs which the whole Nation ſuſtained in the Death of the Late King of moſt Glorious and Immortal Memory, is now moſt abundantly made up and recompenſed in the Succeſſion of his preſent Majeſty. For though the Sun of this Kingdom did ſet under a moſt ſad and black Eclipſe, and was likely to have been Buried in the everlaſting Darkneſſes of an Unconſolable grief of an irremediable Confuſion; yet we have all ſeen to our Incredible Joy and Admiration, the Peace and Happineſs France to ſhine out again in a New Bright Star from the Eaſt, who hath revived the Hopes of all his Faithful Subjects, and filled Chriſtendom with Wonder and Aſtoniſhment, when they conſider that the good Hand of God hath not only exalted his Majeſty from the Cradle, to his Father's Throne, (whoſe Birth was ſo long Deſired,They need not be Proud of it. and at laſt obtained by the Joynt Prayers of his People, and moſt eſpecially of the Churches,) but alſo hath put the Reins of the French Empire into the Hands of the Queen Regent, a Princeſs whoſe Glorious Birth and Extraction ſeems to ſerve for no other end, than to place her Vertues on the higheſt Theater of Glory.
Secondly, the beginnings of his Majeſties Reign, are under moſt auſpicious Stars; for Succeſs, Victory, and an uninterrupted Series of Proſperities upon his People, have mutually contended how they might moſt advance the Reputation of his Crown; and have combined together in Strengthning thoſe rightful Arms employed by his Majeſty for Defence of the State, and Protection of his Allies. The Deſigns of his Royal Highneſs, and of other Chieftains have every where ſucceeded with Happineſs and Glory.
His Majeſty was no ſooner Seated on the Throne, but he gave out Marks of his Royal Authority; his firſt Declarations were to ratify and Confirm the Edicts of Pacification, and to aſſure all the Churches in his Kingdom of their being Protected by their Sacred Majeſties; and that as thoſe Edicts had been made in favour to us, ſo alſo ſhould they be conſerved for us.
That glorious approvement of the Services of*Mareſchal Turenne, and Mareſchal Gaſſion. Two Great Men, bred up in our Boſom and Communion, and raiſed ſo far above the reach of Envy, that the Staff of Mareſchal of France, together with the Conduct of Royal Armies, were put into their Hands, without the leaſt diſcontentment of any Perſon in the State. And their Majeſties Condeſcention in accepting kindly of our moſt Humble Petitions, preſented them by the Hands of our General Deputy, and granting us the Priviledge of holding this Synod, and committing the Inſpection of it unto a Perſon moſt Illuſtrious for his Vertues, and well deſerving that high Place of Dignity and Honour he enjoyeth in the Firſt and Chiefeſt Parliament of the Kingdom. All theſe, and many other Conſiderations more, do inforce our Souls with a Sweet and Pleaſing Violence to break forth into inlarged Praiſes and Enflamed Thankfulneſs unto their Majeſties (for ſuch ſignal Favours and Benefits vouchſafed to us, which we account the Firſt-Fruits and Pledges of a greater Harveſt;) yea, and in moſt ardent Supplications unto our God for the Preſervation of their Sacred Perſons, his Benediction upon their Government, the Glory of their Crowns, under whoſe Comfortable Shadow the Churches enjoying a Sweet Peace, will never have any other Deſire nor Thought, than to practiſe Faithfully and Conſcientiouſly that moſt expreſs Command of our Lord and Saviour, by his Apoſtle St. Peter, to Fear God, and Honour the King, and that with a moſt intire and ſincere Obedience. And as we have no deſign to do it, ſo neither ſhall we ever admit any Perſon to ſit as a Member of our National Synods, (it being contrary to our Ancient Cuſtom,) who hath not a Deputation from the Provinces; nor ſhall we hold any Foreign Correſpondencies; nor ſhall we Receive or Read any Letters coming from Foreigners, nor return any anſwer to them, unleſs that my Lord Commiſſioner, who Repreſents his Majeſties Perſon, ſhall have firſt Peruſed them, and approved of our ſo doing. Nor will we debate about State Matters, nor make any Orders in relation to them. Nor ſhall we preſent unto the Paſtoral Office in our Churches, any Foreign Miniſters, who be not Natives of this Kingdom, nor ſet up Provincial Councils in Oppoſition to his Majeſties Will; nor as his Majeſty hath demanded to us, will we ſuffer thoſe Canons of our National Synods concerning the Approbation of Books that ſhall be Printed on Matters of Religion to be Violated. Nor ſhall we Excommunicate any of thoſe Perſons who quit the Communion of our Churches, for we do not arrogate unto our Selves any Juriſdiction over them from that Moment in which they left us: Nor ſhall we tollerate any Sermons fraught with Injuries and Reproaches, againſt the Members of the Church of Rome, whether in general or particular; or that may Excite the People to Inſurrections, Tumults, or Rebellions; or taking up of Arms againſt the Sovereign Authority of their Majeſties. Nor ſhall any ſingle Province have an Abſolute Power of indicting General and Publick Faſts; nor ſuffer that Monies be Collected from Door to Door; nor that the Poor's Monies be diverted from their proper uſe; nor that the Forty Fourth Article of particular Matters in the Edict of Nantes be broken: It being our Sincere and moſt Fixed Reſolution, to obſerve in the preciſeſt and ſtricteſt manner their Majeſties Edicts, and under the benefit of them to lead a Quiet and a Peaceable Life in all Godlineſs and Honeſty.
But my Lord, we do moſt humbly beſeech their Majeſties in the Firſt Place, that by the Interpoſal of their Sovereign Authority, they would ſtop the violent Attempts and Practices of ſuch Perſons, who being inſtigated by a falſe Zeal, or by reaſon of their Imployments, do trouble the Publick Peace and Tranquillity, by an infraction of the Edicts, and by actual Enterpriſes againſt the Profeſſors of our Religion both in general and particular; that ſo none of them contrary to the principal end, the formal and expreſs intention of the ſaid Edicts, may be expos'd to Sufferings, upon the Account of their Religion, or be inforced by reaſon of them, to draw up a Bill of Complaints and Grievances ſuſtained by them for a good Conſcience towards God, the very title of which is ſo diſpleaſing unto their Majeſties.
Secondly, We moſt humbly beſeech their Majeſties, to take it into their Royal Conſideration, that our Confeſſion of Faith was framed about an Hundred Years agoe, before any Edict was granted in favour of our Religion, and was preſented by them unto Francis the Second, who then Reigned, to give his Majeſty a reaſon of their Hope, and account of thoſe Corruptions, which they firmly believed to be in that Faith profeſſed and Retained by the Church of Rome, and that therefore it needed Reformation: Inſomuch as none of out French Proteſtants did at firſt, nor can they now, without being guilty of groſs Prevarication, change that form of Expreſſion, which hath from its very beginning been inſerted into our Confeſſion, whereby to declare ſincerely and in truth their common Belief authoriſed in the Year 1561, by the Edict of January; and ſince by that of Nantes, granted us by Henry the Great, and Confirmed by the Late King, and his Majeſty now reigning.
Thirdly, The whole Roman Catholick Creed was never, nor can ever be truly qualified an Abuſe and Deceit of Satan, ſeeing that both the Church of Rome and the Proteſtants have no difference about the Doctrin of the Trinity, and of the Incarnation of our Lord Jeſus, which are the principal points of Chriſtianity; yet together with theſe Fundamental Verities, and own'd by all Chriſtians in France, Germany, and elſewhere, there have been divers other Articles of Faith brought into the Romiſh Creed, to which we cannot yield any Aſſent or Conſent; ſuch are thoſe of the Interceſſion of Saints, of Purgatory, of the Pope, and ſundry others, which though they have been in Vogue in that Church for many Ages, have notwithſtanding been conſtantly oppoſed and contradicted by all Proteſtants, both in France and other Countries. So that ſhould we abandon the Profeſſion of our Faith, permitted us by the Edict, and that Confeſſion we have made and declared of it with all Imaginable Sincerity and Truth in the Preſence of God, who ſearcheth our Hearts, and cannot endure Hypocriſie nor an Evil Conſcience, we ſhould render our Selves Guilty of a moſt inexcuſable Impoſture; we ſhould diſſemble and Counterfeit in Religion, and utterly ruin all our Hopes of Heaven and Everlaſting Life, by means of a Sacrilegious Profeſſion not in the leaſt believed by us. Wherefore it is the hope of our pour Churches, that his Majeſty imitating the Examples of his Predeceſſors, who granted to their Faithful Subjects the Liberty of their Conſciences, will the rather favour us with his Royal Support and Protection for that open Profeſſion we do make of our Faith, than if we had diſſembled it, or kept it ſecretly and cloſe in our own Boſoms, or uttered it in Ambiguous and Equivocating Expreſſions, which would have turn'd our Religion into a Cheat, and through a Fallacious Compliance, full of Fraud and Impoſture, would have perfidiouſly Betray'd the Holy Faith of our Fellow proteſtants, and be the Bane of our own Conſciences.
Fourthly, As to the Printer of Geneva, he does not depend on the National Synods of this Kingdom, nor hath he any Orders from us, nor received any Command from his Superiors, to uſe thoſe Terms which he did, and we wiſh he had forborn them; though yet he Speaks and Prints nothing but what is the common Senſe and Opinion of all Proteſtants in Europe, who have all unanimouſly from the very firſt, with One Conſent, impugned that Council of Trent, as to the form of its Convocation, the Proceedings, Decrees, and Anathema's thereof; which alſo ſundry Roman Catholick Princes have done, who by their Ambaſſadors made and entred their Solemn Proteſts againſt it, and its Decrees. So did the Emperor Charles the Fifth, from whom our King is Deſcended by his Mother's Side, by the Lord of Mendoza: So did Henry the Second, by the then Lord Abbot of Bellozonne, who was afterward Biſhop of Auxerre: And ſo did Charles the Ninth, by Monſieur Ferrier, who deſcribing this Famous Aſſembly, reſembled it to a Scorpion, pricking the French Church; and uſed an Expreſſion every way at Emphatical, as that of the Geneva Printer, whoſe Liberty is yet ſo diſpleaſing unto their Majeſty.
Fifthly, Nor have our Churches been ever ſo unmindful of their Duty and Subjection, as audaciouſly to aſſume unto themſelves a power of being Judges in their own Cauſe, and doing themſelves right. But the naked truth of the matter is this, that being favoured with his Majeſties Declaration, which ratified the Edict of Nantes, and thoſe ſecret Articles and Conceſſions included in it, which had been granted by our former Kings, ſeveral particular Churches being reſtored unto their Ancient Right, fully and compleatly, they believed, that it was no Crime on their part to make uſe of them according to the Intention of his Majeſty.
Sixthly, And it was upon this Innocent Suppoſition, and which had not in it any the leaſt tendency unto Diſobedience againſt the Publick Government, that the Exerciſe of our Religion, accuſtomarily performed at Ribaute for Seventy Years together, without any Interruption, being violently hindred by the Lady of that Place, and Monſieur Arnaud, Paſtor of Anduze, who was invited by the People, offering himſelf to Miniſter to them for their Edification, according to the ancient Practice, was driven away by meer Force by a Company of Soldiers, commanded thither by the ſaid Lady; and he thereupon was impriſoned by Order from the Lord Lieutenant of Languedoc; and notwithſtanding his Appeal unto the Court of the Edict, yet he was actually Condemned; for which Grievance, he is now proſtrate at his Majeſties Feet, humbly imploring his Majeſties Clemency and Juſtice, according to the Edict.
Seventhly, The Provincial Deputies of Lower Languedoc, for the acquitting and diſcharge of their Churches, which hath ſent them, do maintain, that thoſe Three Cities of Niſmes, Ʋſez, and Montpellier, having deputed the Sieurs Peyrol, Veſtrie, and Fournier, to tender in their Names with all poſſible ſpeed, their Firſt and Bounden Duties unto his Majeſty, and their moſt Humble and Unfeigned Thanks for the grant of his Declaration. They did alſo Petition for his Majeſties Protection and Juſtice, and with the lowlieſt Submiſſion and Reſpect they demanded alſo a Reparation of the Infractions of the Edict, according to the conſtant practice of our Churches; ſo that they cannot be perſwaded that thoſe ſaid Cities are fallen from the Duty which becomes good Subjects, and whereunto they are obliged by their Conſciences: Nor are they at all to be blamed for Addreſſing themſelves unto his Majeſty againſt the Prohibition of the Lord Intendant, though he uſed his Majeſties Name directly contrary to his Majeſties Intention, notified to us, and to the World by his publick Declaration.
Eighthly, Nor is the City of Ʋſez guilty of violating the Edict, no not in that particular Capitulation with his Majeſty; nor doth it need a new Grant for an ancient Uſage, which was never taken from them by any Previous Inhibition. That Bell of which there is ſo much Noiſe, and ſo loud Complaints made unto his Majeſty, was ever placed in the Steeple of the Temple from its firſt Foundation, and continued there till a little before the Capitulation; when the Tower being likely to fall, it was removed to one of the Corners of the Temple; and no ſooner was the Steeple Repaired, but that the Bell was returned into its ancient Place.
And in all that Province, the Word of God is Preached in none other Places but what are allowed by the Edict, which Confirmed our Churches in their Poſſeſſions injoyed by them, for above Fourſcore Years; and it were better for them to ſuffer Death, than to looſe this their Right.
Tenthly, Nor have there been in the Churches of that Province, any Parents for ſending their Children to the Colledges of Jeſuits ſuſpended from the Sacraments, but according to the Diſcipline, which is allowed us by the Edicts. Nor may the Profeſſors of our Religion for obſerving this Canon, which contributes ſo much to the Peace of their own Conſciences, and the Morals of their Children, with any the leaſt ſhew of Reaſon, be Impeached or Condemned, becauſe they be bound to Train and Educate them by all fitting Means and Inſtructions in the Fear of God, and Obedience to the King, and an Abhorrency and deteſtation of thoſe Curſed Principles, which having been once inſtilled into the tender Minds of young Scholars, by the Regents of the Jeſuits Colledges, have plunged this Kingdom once and again into a Sea of Tears and Sorrows. Nor are we guilty of Violating the Edict as before, becauſe, not only the Sorbonne, but the whole Univerſity of Paris, which is the moſt ancient in the Kingdom, and of Europe it ſelf, hath now this very day commenced, a Suit at Law againſt the Jeſuits, for Debauching our Youth, and poyſoning them in their Morals: A thing never to be endured by Church or State, becauſe contrary both to ſound Policy, and true Theology.
And whereas we are prohibited to ſend our Scholars deſigned for the Miniſtry, to ſtudy Divinity either in Geneva, Switzerland, the Confederate Netherlands, or England, we moſt humbly beſeech his Majeſty, that our Churches may injoy their Liberty granted us by the former Kings his Royal Predeceſſors, as unto all other his Subjects, without any diſtinction of Religion: Becauſe Geneva hath been, for theſe Fifty Years and more under the immediate Protection of this Crown, and that it hath always imbraced the Intereſts of France; and all thoſe other Eſtates are allied unto this Kingdom, and conſerve themſelves much more inviolably in their Alliance with his Majeſty, than any other Princes of Chriſtendom whatſoever: Beſides, theſe very Nations from whoſe Univerſities we are debarred Studying in, do ſend their own Youth into France, to Poliſh and Refine their Manners, to be inſtructed in good Learning, and thereby do give a moſt Valid Teſtimony, that they are ſo far from being Enemies to France, that they be very much in Love with the Order and Government thereof. Beſides, many who are now Paſtors in the Reformed Churches of this Kingdom, and have ſtudied in ſome, or all of thoſe Foreign Univerſities, did never withdraw themſelves nor others from that Obedience owed by them unto his Majeſty; nor have hinted any the leaſt ſhew or diſlike, or averſion for Monarchy, under which the French Nation have ſubſiſted, and by which they have been ruled Succeſſively from Father to Son, for above 1200 Years. And foraſmuch as his Majeſty doth not think good to forbid the Youth of this Kingdom, who are Students in Philoſophy, Law or Medicine, to travel into Foreign Parts, no nor into Commonwealths, as Venice, &c. where there is, and at Padua alſo, a very great Confluence of our Nation, diligently following their Studies in all thoſe Faculties; we do once more Repeat our moſt Humble Requeſt, that our Churches may injoy their Former and Ancient Liberty in theſe Matters.