town authorities, be draped with cloth or otherwise decorated on any
religious Catholic festival.

In 1669 the Chambers appointed by the Edict of Nantes in the Parliaments
of Rouen and Paris were suppressed, as well as the articled clerkships
connected therewith, and the clerkships in the Record Office; and in
August of the same year, when the emigration of Protestants was just
beginning, an edict was issued, of which the following is a clause:

"Whereas many of our subjects have gone to foreign countries, where they
continue to follow their various trades and occupations, even working as
shipwrights, or taking service as sailors, till at length they feel at
home and determine never to return to France, marrying abroad and
acquiring property of every description: We hereby forbid any member of
the so-called Reformed Church to leave this kingdom without our
permission, and we command those who have already left France to return
forthwith within her boundaries."

In 1670 the king excluded physicians of the Reformed faith from the
office of dean of the college of Rouen, and allowed only two Protestant
doctors within its precincts. In 1671 a decree was published commanding
the arms of France to be removed from all the places of worship belonging
to the pretended Reformers. In 1680 a proclamation from the king closed
the profession of midwife to women of the Reformed faith. In 1681 those
who renounced the Protestant religion were exempted for two years from
all contributions towards the support of soldiers sent to their town, and
were for the same period relieved from the duty of giving them board and
lodging. In the same year the college of Sedan was closed--the only
college remaining in the entire kingdom at which Calvinist children could
receive instruction. In 1682 the king commanded Protestant notaries;