able to attend, then some person on his or her behalf, and declare the day of the child's birth, the name of the father and mother, (but if a bastard the name of the mother only,) the name it has received, whether it has been baptised or not, and when and where so baptised; all which particulars the said minister shall enter or cause to be entered in the said register, sign the same with his name, and cause the same to be witnessed by the person making the declaration. And if any doubts shall arise whether the said declaration be in all respects true and just, it shall be lawful for the said minister to examine into the circumstances upon the oath of the party making the said declaration, or the oath or oaths of such other person or persons as the said minister shall think fit to examine, which oath or oaths the said minister is hereby authorised to administer. And if no such declaration shall be made within' thirty days next after such bith as aforesaid, then the goods and chattels of the father or mother, or person in whose house the said birth shall have taken place shall be liable to the forfeiture of five pounds, to be levied by distress by warrant of one justice of the peace, one half to be paid to the informer, and the other half to the minister of the parish; but if the minister be the informer, then he shall be entitled to the whole penalty.

IX. And be it further enacted, that whenever any person shall die or be buried in any parish, and not be interred in the churchyard thereof, some person present at the said burial, or when the body was put into the coffin, shall within thirty days next after such burial make declaration of the same to the minister of the parish where the interment took place; and the said minister shall enter or cause the said sepulture to be immediately entered in the régister of burials, sign it with his name, and see the same witnessed by the person making the declaration. And if no such declaration shall be made as aforesaid within thirty days next after such demise, the same penalty shall be levied and applied in the same manner as is herein before directed for not making the declaration of birth. And the minister shall be in all cases a competent witness notwithstanding his being the informer or entitled to the penalty. And the conviction for either of the offences in this act mentioned shall be in the following form, or in any other form of words to the same effect, mutatis mutandis:

of

was convicted before me, J. P. one of his Majesty's

justices of the peace for the said county of

for that the

said A. O. (here state the offence against the act,) whereby he has forfeited the sum of five pounds, to be distributed as the act directs.

And no proceedings had in pursuance of this act shall be quashed for want of form or removed by certiorari.

X. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that the minister shall be entitled to receive for each and every declaration of marriage, birth, or burial, the same fee as is usually paid for marriages, baptisms, and burials, within his parish, to be recovered before one justice by distress of the goods and chattels of the party refusing to pay the same.

XI. And be it further enacted, that in all cases where an oath is required by or in respect of any thing mentioned or referred to by this act, the solemn affirmation of Quakers shall be allowed, as likewise the oaths of Jews, or any other religious persuasion, according to the custom of their faith, any thing herein, or in any other act of parliament to the contrary notwithstanding.

Edict of Louis XVI. king of France, concerning those within his dominions who do not profess the Roman Catholic faith dated at Versailles in the month of Nov. 1787; and registered in the parliament of Paris, the 29th day of January, 1788.

Louis, by the grace of God, king of France and Navarre, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. When Louis XIV. solemnly forbade throughout his dominions the public exercise of any other religion than the Roman Catholic, the wish, so much to be desired, of bringing his people to observe one general form of worship, flattered by pretended conversions, prevented that great king from putting in execution the plan which he had formed in his council for legally verifying the civil state of such of his subjects as could not be admitted to the sacraments of the Church. After the example of our great predecessors, we shall continue to favor, as much as possible, the means of instruction and persuasion, most likely to unite our subjects in the general profession of the ancient faith of our kingdom; and we proscribe, with the most scrupulous regard, all those violent methods of proceeding, which are as contrary to the principles of reason and humanity, as to the true spirit of the Gospel. But, till it shall please Divine Providence to bless our endeavors, and work this happy revolution, our equity and the interest of our kingdom demand that we should exclude from the right of civil government such as do not profess the Catholic religion, whether subjects, or strangers residing among us. Since experience has long shown that these rigorous measures avail nothing, we ought no longer to permit the law thus needlessly to punish people for the misfortune of their birth, by stripping them of those rights which nature seems to demand in their favor. It appears to us that the Protestants; thus deprived of a legal existence, are placed in the unavoidable alternatives of, either profaning the ceremonies of the church by feigned conver

sions, or exposing their children to contract marriages which the legislature had already pronounced to be null and void from the beginning. Indeed the law supposed that there were none but Roman Catholics within our dominions; and this fiction, now no longer admissible, has been made use of as a reason for the silence of the law, which could not be supposed to know, that there were proselytes to another belief in France, without banishing them from the kingdom, or immediately providing for their civil government. Principles so contrary to the prosperity and happiness of our dominions would have encouraged emigration and excited continual disturbances in private families, had we not provisionally taken advantage of the jurisprudence of our tribunals, to prevent greedy, collateral relations from disputing with children, born under these disadvantages, the right of succeeding to their parents' possessions. Things being in this situation, it is high time that we should by our authority put a period to these dangerous differences between the laws of nature and those of the land. We have entered on this examination with all the deliberation which the importance of the case demands. It was laid before our council some time ago, and we intended to take time to consider of the legal form we should give it; but the advantages to be reaped therefrom appeared to us so great, that we determined to publish it immediately. Though it be out of our power to hinder different sects from being in our dominions, yet we will never suffer them to be a source of discord between our subjects. We have taken the most efficacious measures to prevent improper assemblies: the Catholic religion, which we have the happiness to profess, shall alone enjoy, in our kingdom, the liberties and honors attached to public worship; while our other subjects of a different faith, deprived of all influence or power in the state, and for ever declared incapable of holding any place of trust or profit, civil or military, yet nevertheless subject to the general police for the observance of Sundays and Holydays, shall have no more than what the law of nature does not permit us to refuse them: viz. permission to have their births, marriages, and deaths, legally verified, so that they may reap the same civil advantages therefrom as our other subjects. We, therefore, by these considerations moved, by and with the advice of our council and our own knowledge, full power, and royal authority, do declare and ordain, by this our perpetual and irrevocable edict, as follows:

Article I. The Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion shall continue to enjoy alone, in our kingdom, the liberty of public worship; and the births, marriages, and deaths, of those of our subjects who profess the same, shall in no case be verified but

according to the rites and usages of the said religion as declared by our laws.

Such of our subjects, however, as profess any other religion than the Roman Catholic, whether they now reside in our dominions or shall come thither hereafter, shall be permitted to enjoy every advantage and right which can or may belong to them, whether with respect to property or inheritance; and they may carry on trade, or follow any profession to which they may have been bred, without molestation or trouble on account of their religion with this exception nevertheless, that they shall not be able to hold any place of judicature, whether under us or any of our lords; nor be members of corporations having judicial powers; nor be eligible to situations which confer the right of giving instruction in public.

II. Those who are not Roman Catholics, whether subjects, of foreigners residing in our kingdom, shall in consequence be able to contract matrimony according to the form hereinafter mentioned; and our will and pleasure is, that the said marriages shall have the same effect in law, with regard to those who contract them agreeably to the said form, and their children, as those which are celebrated in the usual manner by our Catholic subjects.

III. Nevertheless, our meaning is, and be it understood, that those, who profess a religion different from the Roman Catholic, shall on no account look upon themselves as forming, within our dominions, a particular body, community, or society; or, under this pretence, fancy that they are able, collectively, to bring actions, give letters of attorney, enter into agreements, make purchases, or do any other act whatsoever. And we expressly forbid all our judges, registrars, notaries, attorneys, and other public officers, to proceed with, receive, or sign, the said actions, letters, agreements, or other matters, under pain of being displaced; nor shall any of our subjects presume to say, that they have received powers of the kind from any of the said pretended communities or societies, upon pain of being regarded as favorers and encouragers of unlawful clubs and assemblies, and, as such, punished according to the rigor of the law.

IV. Neither shall any person, pretending to be a minister or pastor of another religion than the Roman Catholic, style himself such in any written instrument; wear a different dress in publié than others of the same belief; or assume any privilege or distinc tion whatsoever. And we do also expressly forbid their taking upon them to give certificates of marriages, births, or deaths, which we declare from henceforward to be null and void, and that, in no case, any attention shall be paid thereto, either by our judges or others.

V. We do also hereby expressly order and command all persons whatsoever, whether natives, or foreigners travelling in our dominions, of what religion soever they be, to pay proper respect to the Catholic faith and its holy ceremonies; and if any one shall presume to do or say any thing in public contrary thereto, he shall be proceeded against with all the rigor of the law, the same as any other of our subjects would or ought to be, who professes the said religion.

VI. And we do further command, that Sundays and holydays be observed by the said persons according to the regulations by law established, and that no shop be opened, nor other public sale be had, on the said days.

VII. It is likewise our will and pleasure, that all persons, of whatever rank, who reside in our kingdom, and do not profess the Roman Catholic religion, shall pay, like our other subjects, according to their property and ability, towards the maintenance, repairs, and rebuilding, of parish churches, chapels, parsonages, houses for the clergy (whether secular or monastic), employed in celebrating divine service, and, in general, all expences of a like kind to which our Catholic subjects are liable.

VIII. Those, who have resided a sufficient time in our dominions, whether subjects or foreigners, not being Roman Catholics, and who may be desirous of intermarrying with each other, shall be obliged to have their banns published in the place where each of the contracting parties lives; likewise in the place which the said parties, or one of them, may have quitted within six months, if within the same diocese, or one year if they have come from another diocese; and, in case they should be under age, then also in the parish where their fathers, mothers, guardians, or trustees live.

IX. The contracting parties shall be at liberty to have the said publications made, either by the ministers of the several parishes where required, or the officers of justice of the places, which they like, in the form hereafter mentioned.

X. The said ministers, or those chosen in their room, in case the parties address themselves to the latter, shall publish the said banns at the church door, without saying any thing of what religion the contracting parties are; and if a license has been obtained to dispense with one or both publications, it shall be a sufficient indemnification for the clergyman, who shall make mention thereof. The banns, being published in this manner, shall afterwards be affixed to the church door.

XI. In case of any opposition to the marriage, the minsiter shall mention it in his certificate of publication, which he shall deliver to the parties in the usual form, and for which, as well as for the said publication, he shall be paid the fee hereinafter fixed by us.