Note 125 — BOOK IV. FROM THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES UNTIL THE EDICT OF TOLERATION. (1685-1787.) (continued 2)

A word of explanation is necessary in respect of the restriction with regard to other ecclesiastics than the proper curates; there were, even then, priests, either complaisant or venal enough, to bless the marriages of the Reformed for a certain price, and without any examination. As public opinion gradually grew satisfied with the laws against the Calvinists, the number of these priests also increased to such an extent, that the bargains became an open kind of traffic, of which, however, the rich alone could avail themselves. Many of the Protestants, besides, declined, from conscientious motives, to incur even the appearance of hypocrisy by inscribing their marriages upon the registers of the priests.