Transcriber's Note:

Obvious printer errors have been corrected silently.

Hyphenation has been rationalised. Inconsistent spelling (including accents) has been retained.

Running headers, at the top of each right-hand page, have been moved in front of the paragraphs to which they refer and surrounded by =equal signs=.

LONDON
PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.
NEW-STREET SQUARE

HISTORY
OF
THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE
IN THE TIME OF CALVIN.

BY J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNÉ, D.D.

AUTHOR OF THE
'HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY' ETC.

'Les choses de petite durée ont coutume de devenir fanées, quand elles out passé leur temps.

'Au règne de Christ, il n'y a que le nouvel homme qui soit florissant, qui ait de la vigueur, et dont il faille faire cas.'

Calvin.

VOL. II.

GENEVA and FRANCE.

LONDON:
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, & GREEN.
1863.

CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.

BOOK II.
FRANCE. FAVOURABLE TIMES.

CHAPTER XIII.
JOHN CALVIN, A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ORLEANS.
(1527-1528.)

Calvin's Friend—The Students at Orleans—Pierre de l'Etoile—Opinions concerning Heretics—Calvin received in the Picard Nation—Calvin nominated Proctor—Procession for the Maille de Florence—Distinguished by the Professors—His Friends at Orleans—Daniel and his Family—Melchior Wolmar—Calvin studies Greek with him—Benefit to the Church of God

Page [1]

CHAPTER XIV.
CALVIN, TAUGHT AT ORLEANS OF GOD AND MAN, BEGINS TO DEFEND AND PROPAGATE THE FAITH.
(1528.)

Wolmar teaches him about Germany—Orleans in 1022 and 1528—Calvin's Anguish and Humility—What made the Reformers triumph—Phases of Calvin's Conversion—He does not invent a new Doctrine—I sacrifice my Heart to Thee—His Zeal in Study—He supplies Pierre de l'Etoile's place—Calvin sought as a Teacher—He seeks a Hiding-place for Study—Explains the Gospel in Private Families—His first Ministry.

Page [14]

CHAPTER XV.
CALVIN CALLED AT BOURGES TO THE EVANGELICAL WORK.
(1528-1529.)

Calvin at his Father's Bed-side—His first Letter—Beza arrives at Orleans—Calvin goes to Bourges—Brilliant Lessons of Alciati—Wolmar and Calvin at Bourges—Wolmar calls him to the Evangelical Ministry—The Priest and the Minister—Calvin's Hesitation—He evangelises—Preaches at Lignières—Recalled by his Father's Death—Preachings at Bourges—Tumult

Page [27]

CHAPTER XVI.
BERQUIN, THE MOST LEARNED OF THE NOBILITY, A MARTYR FOR THE GOSPEL.
(1529.)

Margaret's Regret—Complaints of Erasmus—Plot of the Sorbonne against Berquin—His Indictment prepared—The Queen intercedes for him—Berquin at the Conciergerie—Discovery of the Letter—He is imprisoned in a strong Tower—Sentence—Recourse to God—Efforts of Budæus to save him—His Earnest Appeals to Berquin—Fall and Uprising of Berquin—Margaret writes to the King—Haste of the Judges—Procession to the Stake—Berquin joyous in the presence of Death—His Last Moments—Effect on the Spectators—Murmurs, Tricks, and Indignation—Effect of his Death in France—The Martyrs' Hymn—The Reformer rises again from his Ashes

Page [41]

CHAPTER XVII.
FIRST LABOURS OF CALVIN AT PARIS.
(1529.)

Calvin turns towards a Christian Career—His old Patrons—Calvin's Sermon and Hearers—Determines to go to Paris—Focus of Light—Coiffart's Invitation—Professor Cop goes to see him—Visit to a Nunnery—An Excursion on horseback—Devotes himself to Theology—Speaks in the Secret Assemblies—Movement in the Quartier Latin—Writings put into circulation—Calvin endeavours to bring back Briçonnet—Fills the Vessels with costly Wine—Efforts to convert a young Rake—Beda attacks the King's Professors—Calvin's Scriptural Principles—Small Beginnings of a great Work

Page [63]

CHAPTER XVIII.
MARGARET'S SORROWS AND THE FESTIVITIES OF THE COURT.
(1530-1531.)

Margaret promotes Unity—Progress of the Reformation—Death of the Queen's Child—Orders a Te Deum to be sung—Marriage of Francis I. and Eleanor—Crowd of learned Men—Margaret in the Desert—The Fountain Pure and Free—Fatal Illness of Louisa of Savoy—Margaret's Care and Zeal—Magnificent but chimerical Project

Page [82]

CHAPTER XIX.
DIPLOMATISTS, BACKSLIDERS, MARTYRS.
(1531.)

Charles V. accuses the Protestants—The German Protestants to Francis I.—The King sends an Envoy to them—The Envoy's Imprudence and Diplomacy—Queen Margaret's Prayer-book—Lecoq's Sermon before the King—Sursum Corda—Lecoq's Interview with the King—Lecoq's Fall—Fanaticism at Toulouse—Jean de Caturce finds Christ—Twelfth-night Supper—Caturce arrested—His Degradation—He disputes with a Monk—Two Modes of Reformation

Page [93]

CHAPTER XX.
CALVIN'S SEPARATION FROM THE HIERARCHY: HIS FIRST WORK, HIS FRIENDS.
(1532.)

Daniel tries to bind Calvin to the Church—Calvin resists the Temptation—His Commentary on Seneca's Clemency—His Motives—His Difficulties and Troubles—Zeal in making his Book known—Calvin's Search for Bibles in Paris—An unfortunate Frondeur—Calvin receives him kindly—Various Attacks-The Shop of La Forge—Du Tillet and his Uncertainty—Testimony rendered to Calvin—Relations between Queen Margaret and Calvin—He refuses to enter the Queen's Service—The Arms of the Lord

Page [110]

CHAPTER XXI.
SMALKALDE AND CALAIS.
(March to October 1532.)

William du Bellay and his Projects—Luther opposed to War—Alliance of Smalkalde-Assemblies at Frankfort and Schweinfurt—Luther's Opposition to Diplomacy—No Shedding of Blood—Du Bellay's Speech—Du Bellay and the Landgrave—The Wurtemberg Question—Peace of Nuremberg—Great Epochs of Revival—Francis I. unites with Henry VIII.—Confidential Intercourse at Bologna—Plan to emancipate his Kingdom from the Pope—Message sent by Francis to the Pope—Christendom will separate from Rome

Page [126]

CHAPTER XXII.
A CAPTIVE PRINCE ESCAPES FROM THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR.
(Autumn 1532.)

Alarm occasioned by this Conference—Christopher of Wurtemberg—His Adversity—The Emperor and his Court cross the Alps—Christopher's Flight—He is sought for in vain—Claims the Restoration of Wurtemberg

Page [142]

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE GOSPEL PREACHED AT THE LOUVRE AND IN THE METROPOLITAN CHURCHES.
(Lent 1533.)

Roussel invited to preach in the Churches—His Fears—Refusal of the Sorbonne—Preachings at the Louvre—Crowded Congregations—Effects of these Preachings—Margaret again desires to open the Churches—Courault and Berthaud preach in them—Essence of Evangelical Preaching—Its Effects—Agitation of the Sorbonne—They will not listen—Picard, the Firebrand—Sedition of Beda and the Monks—The People agitated—God holds the Tempests in his Hand

Page [150]

CHAPTER XXIV.
DEFEAT OF THE ROMISH PARTY IN PARIS, AND MOMENTARY TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL.
(1533.)

The Chiefs of the two Parties imprisoned—Beda traverses Paris on his Mule—Indignation of the King—He insults the Deputies of the Sorbonne—Duprat imprisons Picard—Priests and Doctors summoned—Francis resolves to prosecute the Papists—Condemnation of the three Chiefs—Is the Cause of Rome lost?—Grief and Joy—Illusions of the Friends of the Reform—A Student from Strasburg—The four Doctors taken away by the Police—Belief that the Reform has come—The Students' Satire—Their Jokes upon Cornu—Appeal of the Sorbonne—Fresh Placards—Progress of the Reform—If God be for us, who can be against us?—Agitation—Siderander at the Gate of the Sorbonne—Desires to speak to Budæus—Fresh Attacks prepared

Page [165]

CHAPTER XXV.
CONFERENCE OF BOLOGNA. THE COUNCIL AND CATHERINE DE MEDICI.
(Winter 1532-1533.)

The Parties face to face—The Emperor demands a Council—Reasons of the Pope against it—Moral Inertia of the Papacy—The Pope's Stratagems—Italian League—Tournon and Gramont arrive—They try to win over the Pope—A great but sad Affair—Catherine de Medici—Offer and Demand of Francis I.—The Pope's Joy—Thoughts of Henry VIII. on the proposed Marriage—Advantages to be derived from it

Page [188]

CHAPTER XXVI.
INTRIGUES OF CHARLES V., FRANCIS I., AND CLEMENT VII. AROUND CATHERINE.
(Winter 1532-1533.)

Doubts insinuated by Charles V.—Let the Full Powers be demanded—The King's Hesitation—The Full Powers arrive—The Emperor's new Manœuvres—His Vexation—Charles V. demands a General Council—Francis I. proposes a Lay Council—Importance of that Document—True Evangelical Councils—Charles condemns and Francis justifies—Secularisation of the Popedom—The Pope signs the Italian League—Cardinals' Hats demanded—Vexation of Charles V.— Projected Interview between the King and the Pope—The Marriage will take place

Page [202]

CHAPTER XXVII.
STORM AGAINST THE QUEEN OF NAVARRE AND HER MIRROR OF THE SOUL.
(Summer 1533.)

Uneasiness and Terror of the Ultramontanes—Plot against the Queen of Navarre—The Mirror of the Sinful Soul—Beda discovers Heresy in it—Denounces it to the Sorbonne—Assurance of Salvation—The Queen attacked from the Pulpits—Errors of Monasticism—The Tales of the Queen of Navarre—Search after and Seizure of the Mirror—Rage of the Monks against the Queen—Margaret's Gentleness—Comedy acted at the College of Navarre—The Fury Megæra—Transformation of the Queen— Montmorency tries to ruin her—Christians made a Show

Page [219]

CHAPTER XXVIII.
TRIUMPH OF THE QUEEN OF NAVARRE.
(Autumn 1533.)

Montmorency—The Prior of Issoudun—The Police at the College—Arrest of the Principal and the Actors—Judgment of the Sorbonne denounced to the Rector—Speech of Rector Cop—The Sorbonne disavows the Act—Le Clerq's Speech—The University apologises—Reform Movement in France—Men of Mark—New Attacks

Page [236]

CHAPTER XXIX.
CATHERINE DE MEDICI GIVEN TO FRANCE.
(October 1533.)

The Marriage announced to the Cardinals—Stratagems of the Imperialists to prevent it—The Swiss—The Moors—The Pope determines to go—Catherine in the Ships of France—The Pope sails for France—Various Feelings—The Pope's Arrival at Marseilles—Nocturnal Visit of the King to the Pope—Embarrassment of the First President—Conferences between the King and the Pope—The Bull against the Heretics—The Wedding—Catherine's Joy—What Catherine brings—The Pope's Health declines—The Modern Janus

Page [247]

CHAPTER XXX.
ADDRESS OF THE RECTOR TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS.
(November 1533.)

Calvin and Cop share the Work—Inaugural Sitting of the University in 1533—Calvin's Address—The Will of God is manifested—Effect of the Address—Indignation of the Sorbonne—One only Universal Church—The University divided—Interest felt by the Queen—Calvin summoned by the Queen—No one shall stop the Renewal of the Church—The Rector going in State to the Parliament—Stopped by a Messenger—Cop's Flight—Order to arrest Calvin—He is entreated to flee—Calvin's Flight—Disguise— Probability of the Story—Goes into Hiding—Many Evangelicals leave Paris—Margaret's Farewell

Page [264]

CHAPTER XXXI.
CONFERENCE AND ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCIS I. AND PHILIP OF HESSE AT BAR-LE-DUC.
(Winter 1533-1534.)

Christopher applies to Francis—Will the King unite with the Protestants?—Du Bellay urges him—Du Bellay passes through Switzerland—His Speech to Austria—Christopher's Friends—Du Bellay pleads for him—His Threats—The French Envoy triumphs—The Landgrave's Projects—Luther opposes them—Conversation between Luther and Melanchthon—Their Efforts with the Landgrave—Conference between the Landgrave and the King—Philip and Francis come to an Understanding— Francis asks for Melanchthon—The Treaty signed—Contradictions in Francis I

Page [285]

CHAPTER XXXII.
TRIUMPH AND MARTYRDOM.
(Winter 1533-1534.)

The Churches of Paris closed against the Gospel—Private Assemblies—Dispersed by Morin—New Attack against the Faculty of Letters—Lutherans threatened with the Stake—Three hundred Evangelicals sent to Prison—Disputation between Beda and Roussel—Beda's Book exasperates the King—Margaret intercedes for the Evangelicals—They are set at liberty—Alexander at Geneva and in Bresse—He preaches at Lyons—His Activity and Prudence—He is believed to possess Satanic Powers—Margaret at Paris—The Populace hinder Roussel from preaching—Alexander preaches at Lyons at Easter—Seized and condemned to Death—Journey from Lyons to Paris—Appears before the Parliament—Put to the Torture—Sacerdotal Degradation—Martyrdom—Testimony rendered to Alexander

Page [303]

CHAPTER XXXIII.
WURTEMBERG GIVEN TO PROTESTANTISM BY THE KING OF FRANCE.
(Spring 1534.)

Interview between Du Bellay and Bucer—The great Fusion is preparing—Francis I. aids it—His Hopes—Fears and Predictions in Germany—Austria invokes the Help of the Pope—Sanchez's Interview with Clement VII.—Consequences of the Temporal Power—The Landgrave advances with his Army—Melanchthon's Trouble—The Landgrave's Victory—Terror at Rome—Joy at the Louvre—Wurtemberg restored to its Princes—Religious Liberty established by the Treaty—Accessions to the Reform

Page [326]

CHAPTER XXXIV.
SITTING AT THE LOUVRE FOR THE UNION OF TRUTH AND CATHOLICISM.
(Summer 1534.)

A Student of Nismes arrives at Wittemberg—Melanchthon's Letter to Margaret—Conversation between Margaret and Baduel—Francis I. sends Chelius into Germany—Melanchthon's Anguish—Chelius received with Joy—Melanchthon's Zeal—Diverse Opinions on the Union—Bucer's Approval and Sincerity—Memoirs of the three Doctors—Sitting at the Louvre—Bucer and Melanchthon denounce the Blemishes of Popery—Moderation—The Church must have a Government—One single Pontiff—Justification and the Mass—The Sacraments—Protest against Abuses—Melanchthon's Prayer

Page [342]

CHAPTER XXXV.
THE GHOST AT ORLEANS.
(Summer 1534.)

Death of the Provostess of Orleans—The Provost and the Friars—Vengeance invented by the Cordeliers—First Appearance of the Ghost—Second Appearance—The Provostess tormented for her Lutheranism—The Official's Investigation—The Students in the Chapel—The Provost appeals to the King—Arrest of the Monks—They are taken to Paris—The Novice confesses the Trick—Condemnation—End of the Matter

Page [361]

CHAPTER XXXVI.
FRANCIS I. PROPOSES A REFORMATION TO THE SORBONNE.
(Autumn 1534.)

Francis acknowledges his Mistakes in Religion—Promises Help to the German Protestants—French Edition of the Articles communicated to Rome and the Sorbonne—Alarm of the Sorbonne—The French Spirit—Discussion between the King's Ministers and the Sorbonne—The Bishops and the Roman Pontiff—Indifferent Matters—Prayers to the Saints and Saints' Days—The Mass-mongers—Restoration of the Lord's Supper—Communion with Christ by Faith—Transubstantiation and the Monasteries—An Assembly of Laymen and Divines—Peril of Catholicism—England and France—Fresh Efforts of the Sorbonne—Is Protestantism to be feared by Kings?—Uneasiness of Calvin's Friends—Dangers of these Conciliations—An Event about to change the State of Things

Page [375]

BOOK III.
FALL OF A BISHOP-PRINCE, AND FIRST EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS IN GENEVA.

CHAPTER I.
THE RENAISSANCE, THE REFORMATION, THE MIDDLE AGES.
(1526.)

The Crisis—The Means of Salvation—The Nations behindhand—New Position of Geneva—The Castles and the neighbouring Seigneurs—Pontverre against the Swiss Alliance—The Gentlemen on the Highway—Violence and Contempt— Sarcasms and Threats—The Genevans under arms—Moderation of the Genevans towards the Disloyal—Favre's Mission to Berne—Cartelier's Condemnation—Pardoned by the Bishop—The Bishop's Hesitation and Fear

Page [397]

CHAPTER II.
THE GOSPEL AT GENEVA AND THE SACK OF ROME.
(January to June 1527.)

Laymen and Ecclesiastics—Councillor Ab Hofen, the Friend of Zwingle, at Geneva—His Christian Conversations—The Priests—The Politicians—Zwingle's Encouragement—He cheers up Ab Hofen—Opposition and Dejection—Ab Hofen's Departure, Death, and Influence—The Sack of Rome—Effects of this Catastrophe—The Genevans compare the Pope and their Bishop—Union of Faith and Morality

Page [412]

CHAPTER III.
THE BISHOP CLINGS TO GENEVA, BUT THE CANONS DEPART.
(Summer 1527.)

The Bishop desires to ally with the Swiss—The Swiss refuse—Plot of the Duke against the Bishop—The Duke's Scheme—Preparations and Warning—The Bishop escapes—Failure of the Plot—Terror of the Bishop—The Huguenots wish to get rid of the Canons—The Bishop puts the Canons in prison—The Bishop desires to become a Citizen—The Syndics call for Lay Tribunals—The Bishop grants them—Joy of the Citizens—Prerogatives of the Bishop questioned—The Duke's Irritation—A Ducal Envoy releases the Canons—They quit Geneva—Various Opinions about their Departure

Page [425]

CHAPTER IV.
THE BISHOP-PRINCE FLEES FROM GENEVA.
(July and August 1527.)

Bishopers and Commoners—Complaints against the Priests—A Young Woman kidnapped by the Bishop—The People compel him to restore her—Right of Resistance—Quarrels of the two Parties—The Duke's Threats—The Bishop's Fears—He determines to quit Geneva—His Night Escape—He arrives at St. Claude—Hugues returns in safety—The Hireling abandons his Flock

Page [443]

CHAPTER V.
EXCOMMUNICATION OF GENEVA AND FUNERAL PROCESSION OF POPERY.
(August 1527 to February 1528.)

The Duke tries to gain the Bishop—The State of Geneva constituted—The Ducal Arms fall at Geneva—Geneva excommunicated—Geneva interdicts the Papal Bulls—Funeral Procession of Popery—Complaints of the Priests—Attempt to deprive Bonivard of St. Victor's—Bonivard on Excommunication—The Duke claims Authority in Matters of Faith—Resolute Answer of the Genevans—Canons sharply reprimanded by the Duke—Intentions of Charles

Page [456]

CHAPTER VI.
THE KNIGHTS OF THE SPOON LEAGUE AGAINST GENEVA AT THE CASTLE OF BURSINEL.
(March 1528.)

Complaints of Bonivard about Geneva—Certain Huguenots go to St. Victor's—Bonivard's Address to them—Faults to be found in it—Huguenots eat Meat in Lent—The Meeting at Bursinel—Pontverre and the Spoon—The Fraternity of the Spoon—Alarm in Geneva—Rights of Princes and Subjects—Bonivard defends Cartigny—The Savoyards take the Castle—Bonivard fails to retake it—Progress of the Gospel in Geneva—Duke and Bishop reconciled—The City looks upon the Bishop as an Enemy

Page [469]

CHAPTER VII.
INTRIGUES OF THE DUKE AND THE BISHOP.
(Spring and Summer 1528.)

The Bishop desires to withdraw the Criminal Administration from the Syndics—Noble Answer of the Genevans—The Bishop's Irritation—His furious Reception of a Genevan Envoy—Calm of the Genevans—The Duke convokes a Synod—Speech of Bishop Gazzini—Coldness of the Swiss—Ducal Intrigues in the Convents—The Order of the Keys—The Syndics at the Dominican Convent

Page [484]

CHAPTER VIII.
DEATH OF PONTVERRE.
(October 1528 to January 1529.)

Pontverre plunders Bonivard—Convokes the Fraternity at Nyon—Insolence of Pontverre when passing through Geneva—Conference at the Castle of Nyon—Resolutions adopted there—Pontverre desires to take Geneva by Treachery—Again attempts to pass through Geneva—His Insolence, Jests of the Genevans—Struggle on the Rhone Bridge—Pontverre flees—Last Struggle and Death—Act of Divine Justice—Honours paid him—Violence of the Nobles increases—Courageous Enterprise of Lullin and Vandel—A Genevan crucified—The Night of Holy Thursday—The Day of the Ladders

Page [495]

CHAPTER IX.
THE REFORMATION BEGINS TO FERMENT IN GENEVA, AND THE OPPOSITION WITHOUT.
(April 1529 to January 1530.)

Disorders and Superstitions in Geneva—Speech on the Saints' Bodies at St. Gervais—The Souls from Purgatory in the Cemetery—Protest at St. Gervais—Negative Reform—Representations of the Bishop—Genevans trust in God—The Cantons cool towards Geneva—The Swiss propose to revoke the Alliance—Energetic Refusal of the Genevans—They incline towards the Reform—Gazzini asks an Audience of the Pope—His Speech about Geneva and Savoy—The Pope's Answer—Letter of Charles V. to the Genevans—Emperor and Pope unite against Geneva

Page [513]

CHAPTER X.
VARIOUS MOVEMENTS IN GENEVA AND SECOND IMPRISONMENT OF BONIVARD.
(March to May 1530.)

The Procurator-Fiscal's Complaints to the Council—Penalty denounced against the Lutherans, and against Impure Priests—Building the Wall of St. Gervais—Discourse of the Evangelical Swiss—Vandel wishes for a Preacher at St. Victor's—Bonivard claims his Revenues—His difficult Position—The Duke covets St. Victor's—Bonivard visits his sick Mother—Bonivard's Enemies at Geneva—He goes to Friburg—Determines to give up his Priory—Bellegarde welcomes Bonivard—Bonivard and his Guide in the Jorat—He is treacherously arrested—Bonivard at Chillon—His Future

Page [529]

CHAPTER XI.
THE ATTACK OF 1530.
(August, September, October.)

Arrest of the Fiscal Mandolla—The Bishop takes his part—Hastens his Plans against Geneva—Bishop's Appeal to the Knights—He gives them their Instructions for the War—Crusade to maintain the Holy Faith—Prisoners in the Castles—Projects at Augsburg and Gex—De la Sarraz at the head of the Knights—Troops march against Geneva—Plans of the Enemy—A Friburg Herald maltreated—The Savoyard Army occupies the Suburbs—Preparations for the Assault—The Emperor receives Intelligence of the War—The Army retires—What is the Cause?—The Mercy of God—15,000 Swiss arrive—Soldierly Controversy—Burning of the Convent of Belle Rive—Good Catholics quartered at St. Claire—Mass at St. Claire; Preachings at St. Pierre—Castles taken and burnt—Devotedness of the Nuns of St. Claire—Truce of St. Julian

Page [547]

CHAPTER XII.
GENEVA RECLAIMED BY THE BISHOP, AND AWAKENED BY THE GOSPEL.
(November 1530 to October 1531.)

Emperor's Letter to the Genevans—Their Answer—Fresh Armaments of the Duke—Decision of the Diet of Payerne—Pardon and Pilgrimage to St. Claire—Pilgrims sent back—Fresh Pardon; Religious Liberty—Repasts of the Pilgrims and Sarcasms of the Genevans—Angels protect St. Claire—The Pardon followed by an Awakening—De Christo meditari—Farel watches Geneva—Comprehends its Wants—Desires to send Toussaint to Geneva—He shrinks from the Struggle—Zwingle's Prayer; Fears of the Genevans—Examination of the Suspected—Friburg and Berne—Allies of the two Parties at Cappel

Page [573]

CHAPTER XIII.
DANGERS TO WHICH THE DEFEAT AT CAPPEL EXPOSES GENEVA.
(October 1531 to January 1532.)

Geneva attacked because elected of God—Defeat of Cappel—Triumph of the Romanists—Berne turns her back on Geneva—The Duke and his Army approach—Reply of Geneva to Berne—Seven Black Knights without Heads—God prepares Geneva by Trials—Effects produced within by Evils from without—The Swiss Patricians desire to rescind the Treaty—Geneva appeals to the People of Berne—The Great Councils are for Geneva—Retirement and Death of Hugues

Page [591]

CHAPTER XIV.
AN EMPEROR AND A SCHOOLMASTER.
(Spring 1532.)

The Emperor desires to give Geneva to the Duke's Son—Zeal of the Duke, Firmness of the Genevans—The two Spheres of Christianity—Insufficiency of Negative Protestantism—Olivétan at Chautemps' House—His Piety, Zeal, and Courage—Conversations and Sermons—Olivétan's Discourse—The Judge—Carnal Men—Intellectual Men—Redemption by Blood—The Spirit of Jesus Christ—The Pioneer—Olivétan's Work

Page [603]

CHAPTER XV.
THE PARDON OF ROME AND THE PARDON OF HEAVEN.
(June and July 1532.)

Roman Jubilees—Fermentation at Geneva—A Power which devours everything that is given to it—Gospel Pardon of all Sins—Tumult around the Placards—Fight in the City—Catholic Intervention of Friburg—The Council strives to give Satisfaction—Reaction of the Evangelicals—Order to preach without Fables—The Nuncio and the Archbishop at Chambéry—Joy of the Evangelicals out of the City—The little Flock of Payerne—Letter of the Lovers of the Holy Gospel—The Standard-bearers of the Gospel of Christ—The Standard raised in Geneva—Geneva attacked by both Parties—Which will prevail?—The Struggle grows fiercer every day—The Strong Things of this World destroyed by the Weak

Page [615]

HISTORY
OF
THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE
IN THE TIME OF CALVIN.

BOOK II.
FRANCE. FAVOURABLE TIMES.

CHAPTER XIII.
JOHN CALVIN A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ORLEANS.
(1527-1528.)

CALVIN, whom his father's wishes and his own convictions urged to abandon the priestly career, for which he was preparing, had left Paris in the autumn of 1527, in order to go to Orleans and study jurisprudence under Pierre de l'Etoile, who was teaching there with great credit. 'Reuchlin, Aleander, and even Erasmus, have professed in this city,' said his pupils; 'but the Star (Etoile) eclipses all these suns.' He was regarded as the prince of French jurists.[1]

When Calvin arrived in that ancient city to which the Emperor Aurelian had given his name, he kept himself apart, being naturally timid, and repelled by the noisy vivacity of the students. Yet his loving disposition sighed after a friend; and such he found in a young scholar, Nicholas Duchemin, who was preparing himself for a professorship in the faculty of letters.[2] Calvin fixed on him an observing eye, and found him modest, temperate, not at all susceptible, adopting no opinion without examination,[3] of equitable judgment, extreme prudence, and great mildness, but also a little slow in his movements. Duchemin's character formed a striking contrast with the vivacity, ardour, severity, activity, and, we will add, the susceptibility of Calvin. Yet he felt himself attracted towards the gentle nature of the young professor, and the very difference of their temperaments shed an inexpressible charm over all their intercourse. As Duchemin had but moderate means, he received students in his house, as many of the citizens did. Calvin begged to be admitted also, and thus became one of the members of his household. He soon loved Duchemin with all the energy of a heart of twenty, and rejoiced at finding in him a Mommor, an Olivétan, and even more. He wanted to share everything with Nicholas, to converse with him perpetually; and they had hardly parted, when he began to long to be with him again. 'Dear Duchemin!' he said to him, 'my friend, you are dearer to me than life.'[4] Ardent as was this friendship, it was not blind. Calvin, true to his character, discovered the weak point of his friend, who was deficient, he thought, in energy; and he reproved him for it. 'Take care,' he said, 'lest your great modesty should degenerate into indolence.'[5]

=THE STUDENTS AT ORLEANS.=

The scholar of Noyon, consoled by this noble friendship, began to examine more closely the university population around him. He was surprised to see crowds of students filling the streets, caring nothing for learning, so far as he could tell. At one time he would meet a young lord, in tight hose, with a richly embroidered doublet, small Spanish cloak, velvet cap, and showy dagger. This young gentleman, followed by his servant, would take the wall, toss his head haughtily, cast impertinent looks on each side of him, and want every one to give way to him. Farther on came a noisy band composed of the sons of wealthy tradesmen, who appeared to have no more taste for study than the sons of the nobility, and who went singing and 'larking' to one of the numerous tennis-courts, of which there were not less than forty in the city. Ten nations, afterwards reduced to four, composed the university. The German nation combined with 'the living and charming beauty of the body' that of a mind polished by continual study. Its library was called 'the abode of the Muses.'[6]

Calvin made a singular figure in the midst of the world around him. His small person and sallow face formed a strong contrast with the ruddy features and imposing stature of Luther's fellow-countrymen. One thing, however, delighted him: 'The university,' he said, 'is quite a republican oasis in the midst of enslaved France.' The democratic spirit was felt even by the young aristocrats who were at the head of each nation, and the only undisputed authority in Orleans was that of Pierre de l'Etoile.

=ÉTOILE ON HERETICS.=

This 'morning-star'[7] (as the registers of the Picard nation call him) had risen above the fogs and was shining like the sun in the schools. The great doctor combined an eminently judicial mind with an affectionate heart; he was inflexible as a judge, and tender as a mother. His manner of teaching possessed an inexpressible charm. As member of the council of 1528, he had advocated the repression of heresy; but he had no sooner met Calvin at Orleans than, attracted by the beauty of his genius and the charms of his character, he loved him tenderly. Although opposed to the young man's religious opinions, he was proud of having him as his pupil, and was his friend to the last: thus giving a touching example in the sixteenth century of that noble christian equity which loves men while disapproving of their opinions.[8]

Calvin, sitting on one of the benches in the school, listened attentively to the great doctor, and imbibed certain principles whose justice no one at that time in all christendom thought of disputing. 'The prosperity of nations,' said Pierre de l'Etoile, 'depends upon obedience to the laws. If they punish outrages against the rights of man, much more ought they to punish outrages against the rights of God. What! shall the law protect a man in his body and goods, and not in his soul and his most precious and eternal inheritance?... A thief shall not be able to rob us of our purses, but a heretic may deprive us of heaven!' Jurists and students, nobles and people, were all convinced that the law ought equally to guarantee temporal and spiritual goods. 'Those insensate and furious men,' said the code which Pierre de l'Etoile was expounding to his pupils, 'who proclaim heretical and infamous opinions, and reject the apostolic and evangelical doctrine of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one only Godhead and one holy Trinity, ought first to be delivered up to divine vengeance, and afterwards visited with corporal punishment.[9] Is not that a public offence?' added the code; 'and although committed against the religion of God, is it not to the prejudice of all mankind?'[10]

Pierre de l'Etoile's youthful hearers received from these words those deep impressions which, being made while the character is forming, are calculated to last through life. The mind of man required time to throw off these legal prejudices, which had been the universal law of the understanding for more than a thousand years.[11] Could it be expected that a young disciple, rising up against the most venerable teachers, should draw a distinction between the temporal and the spiritual sphere, between the old and the new economy, and insist that, inasmuch as grace had been proclaimed by virtue of the great sacrifice offered to eternal justice, it was repugnant to the Gospel of Christ for man to avenge the law of God by severe punishments? No: during the sixteenth, and even the seventeenth century, almost all enlightened minds remained, in this respect, sunk in lamentable error.

Calvin, bashful and timid at first, gradually came round; his society was courted, and he conversed readily with all. He was received into the Picard nation. 'I swear,' he said, 'to guard the honour of the university and of my nation.'[12] Yet he did not suffer himself to be bound by the university spirit: he had a larger mind than his fellow-students, and we find him in relation with men of all nations, towards whom he was drawn by a community of affection and study. Etoile gave his lessons in the monastery of Bonne Nouvelle. Calvin listened silently to the master's words, but between the lessons he talked with his companions, went in and out, or paced up and down the hall like the rest. One day, going up to one of the pillars, he took out his knife and carved a C, then an A, and at last there stood the word Calvin, as the historian of the university informs us. It was Cauvin perhaps, his father's name, or else Calvinus, for the students were fond of latinising their names. It was not until some time after, when the Latin word had been retranslated into French, that the Reformer bore the more familiar name. This Calvin long remained on the pillar where the hand of the young Picard had cut it—a name of quarrels and discussions, insulted by the devout, but respected by many. 'This precious autograph has disappeared,' says the historian, 'with the last vestiges of the building.'[13]

=CALVIN HEAD OF THE PICARD NATION.=

The Picards, proud of such a colleague, raised him to the highest post in the nation—that of proctor. Calvin was thus in the front rank in the public processions and assemblies of the university. He had to convene meetings, examine, order, decide, execute, and sign diplomas. Instead of assembling his nationals at a jovial banquet, Calvin, who had been struck by the disorders which had crept into these convivial meetings, paid over to the treasurer the sum which he would have expended, and made a present of books to the university library.[14] Erelong his office compelled him to display that firmness of character which distinguished him all his life. This hitherto unknown incident is worthy of being recorded.

Every year, on the anniversary of the Finding of the Body of St. Firmin, the inhabitants of the little town of Beaugency, near Orleans, appeared in the church of St. Pierre, and, after the epistle had been chanted, handed to the proctor of the Picard nation a piece of gold called maille de Florence, of two crowns' weight.[15] 'The origin of this ancient custom,' they told Calvin, 'was this. On the 13th of January, 687, the body of St. Firmin the martyr having been solemnly exhumed, a marvellous change took place in nature. The trees put forth fresh leaves and blossoms, and at the same time a supernatural odour filled the air. Simon, lord of Beaugency, who suffered from leprosy, having gone to the window of his castle to witness the ceremony, was restored to health by the sweet savour. In token of his gratitude he settled an annual offering of a gold maille, payable at first to the chapter of Amiens, and afterwards to the Picard students embodied in their nation at Orleans.'[16]

Calvin, who blames 'the old follies and nonsense which men substitute for the glory of Jesus Christ,' did not place great faith in this miracle. However, as the tribute was not paid in 1527, he resolved to go with his 'nation' and demand it. He assembled his fellow-students, and placing a band of music and the beadles in front, he led the procession; all his 'nationals' followed after him in a line, and in due course the joyous troop arrived at Beaugency, where the maille was placed in his hand. It bore in front an image of John the Baptist, and on the reverse a fleur-de-lys with the word Florentia. The Picard students were satisfied, and, with their illustrious chief at their head, resumed the road to Orleans, bringing back the golden maille in triumph, as Jason and the Argonauts had in days of yore returned from Colchis with the golden fleece. The procession reentered the city amid the shouts of the university. Calvin was one day to rob the dragon of a more magnificent treasure, and nations more numerous were to show their joy by louder shouts of gladness.[17]

=CALVIN'S STUDIES AND FRIENDS.=

Although Calvin would not separate from his fellow-students, he often suffered in the midst of this noisy and dissolute multitude, and turned with disgust from the duels, intrigues, and excesses which filled so large a space in the student life. He preferred study, and had applied to the law with his whole heart.[18] The vivacity of his wit, the strength of his memory, the remarkable style in which he clothed the lessons of his masters, the facility with which he caught up certain expressions, certain sentences, which fell from their lips, 'the starts and flashes of a bright mind, which he displayed at intervals,'—all this, says a Roman-catholic historian, soon made him distinguished by the professors.[19]

But he was destined to find something better on the banks of the Loire: the work begun at Paris was to be strengthened and developed at Orleans. Calvin, always beloved by those who knew him, made numerous friends, especially among certain men attacked by the priests, and whose faith was full of christian meekness. Every day he had a serious conversation with Duchemin.[20] In order to lessen his expenses, he had shared his room with a pious German, formerly a grey friar, who having learnt, as Luther said, that it is not the cowl of St. Francis which saves, but the blood of Jesus Christ, had thrown off his filthy frock[21] and come to France. The Picard student talked with him of Germany and of the Reformation; and some persons have thought that this was what first 'perverted Calvin from the true faith.'[22]

=DUCHEMIN, DANIEL, WOLMAR.=

Next to the house of Duchemin where the wind of the new doctrine was blowing; next to the library, whose curator, Philip Laurent, became his friend: Calvin loved particularly to visit the family of an advocate where three amiable, educated, and pious ladies afforded him the charms of agreeable conversation. It was that of Francis Daniel, 'a person,' says Beza, 'who, like Duchemin, had a knowledge of the truth.' He was a grave and influential man, possessing inward christianity, and (perhaps his profession of lawyer had something to do with it) of a very conservative mind, holding both to the forms and ordinances of the Church. Calvin, on leaving the schools, the library, and his study, used to seek relaxation in this house. The company of educated and pious women may have exercised a happy influence over his mind, which he would have sought in vain in the society of the learned. And accordingly, whenever he was away, he did not fail to remember his friend's mother, wife, and sister Frances.[23]

In the company of these ladies he sometimes met a young man for whom he felt but little sympathy: he was a student from Paris, Coiffard by name, lively, active, intelligent, but selfish.[24] How much he preferred Daniel, in whom he found a mind so firm, a soul so elevated, and with whom he held such profitable conversations! The two friends were agreed on one point—the necessity of a Reformation of the Church; but they soon came to another point which at a later day occasioned a wide divergence between them. 'The reformation,' said the advocate, 'must be accomplished in the Church; we must not separate from the Church.' The intercourse between Calvin and Duchemin gradually became less frequent; the latter, being naturally rather negligent, did not reply to his friend's letters.[25] But Calvin's attachment for Daniel grew stronger so long as the reformer remained in France, and to him almost all the letters are addressed which he wrote between 1529 and 1536.

But all these friendships did not satisfy Calvin; at Daniel's, at Duchemin's, at the library, and wherever he went, he heard talk of a man whom he soon burned to know, and who exercised over him more influence than all the rest. A poor young German of Rotweil, named Melchior Wolmar, had come to Paris, and, being forced to work for a living, had served for some time as corrector for the press.[26] Greedy of knowledge, the youthful reader quitted his proofs from time to time, and slipped among the students who crowded round the illustrious John Lascaris, Budæus, and Lefèvre. In the school of the latter he became a sincere christian; in the school of the former, a great hellenist. When he took his degree of M.A. along with a hundred others, he occupied the first place. Having one day (when in Germany) to make a speech in his mother-tongue, Wolmar asked permission to speak in Greek, because, he said, that language was more familiar to him. He had been invited to Orleans to teach Greek; and being poor, notwithstanding his learning, he took into his house a small number of young children of good family. 'He was my faithful instructor,' says one of them, Theodore Beza; 'with what marvellous skill he gave his lessons, not only in the liberal arts, but also in piety!'[27] His pupils did not call him Melchior, but Melior (better).

=STUDY OF GREEK.=

Calvin, whose exalted soul was attracted by all that is beautiful, became attached to this distinguished professor. His father had sent him to study civil law; but Wolmar 'solicited him to devote himself to a knowledge of the Greek classics.' At first Calvin hesitated, but yielded at last. 'I will study Greek,' he said, 'but as it is you that urge me, you also must assist me.' Melchior answered that he was ready to devote to him abundantly, not only his instruction, but his person, his life, himself.[28] From that time Calvin made the most rapid progress in Greek literature. The professor loved him above all his pupils.[29] In this way he was placed in a condition to become the most illustrious commentator of Scripture. 'His knowledge of Greek,' adds Beza, 'was of great service to all the Church of God.' What Cordier had been to him for Latin, Wolmar was for Greek.

[1] 'Jurisconsultorum Gallorum princeps.'—Bezæ Vita Calvini.

[2] 'Jam dedisti nomen inter rei litterariæ professores.'—Calvinus Chemino, Berne MSS. This letter will be found in the Letters of John Calvin, published in English at Philadelphia, by the learned Dr. Jules Bonnet, to whom I am indebted for the communication of the Latin manuscripts.

[3] 'In ea natus es dexteritate, quæ nihil imprudenter præjudicare soleat.'—Calvinus Chemino.

[4] 'Mi Chemine! amice mi! mea vita charior!'—Calvinus Chemino.

[5] 'Vide ne desidem te faciat tuus pudor!'—Ibid.

[6] Le Maire, Antiquités d'Orléans, i. p. 388.—Theod. Beza von Baum, i. p. 27.

[7] 'Ille quasi stella matutina in medio nebulæ et quasi sol refulgens emicuit.'—Bimbenet, Histoire de l'Université des Lois d'Orléans, p. 357.

[8] Ibid. pp. 354-357.

[9] 'Hæretici divina primum vindicta, post etiam ... ultione plectendi.'—Justiniani Codicis lib. i. tit. i.: De summa Trinitate, et ut nemo de ea publice contradicere audeat.

[10] 'Publicum crimen, quia quod in religionem divinam committitur in omnium fertur injuriam.'—Ibid. tit. v.: De Hæreticis.

[11] The Justinian code dates from 529 A.D., just a thousand years before the time of Calvin's studies; but the greater part of the laws contained in it were of older date.

[12] Bimbenet, Hist. de l'Univ. des Lois d'Orléans, p. 30.

[13] Bimbenet, Hist. de l'Univ. d'Orléans, p. 358. The prefecture now occupies the site of Bonne Nouvelle.

[14] Ibid. pp. 40, 41, 51, 52, 358.

[15] This maille was probably the gold florin of Florence. The giglio fiorentino is the badge of this city, and John the Baptist its patron.

'La lega suggellata del Batista,'

says Dante in the Inferno, xxx. 74.

[16] M. Bimbenet, chief greffier to the Imperial Court of Orleans, gives this tradition in his Hist. de l'Univ. d'Orléans, pp. 161, 162, 179-358.

[17] Hist. de l'Univ. d'Orléans, pp. 173, 176, 179.

[18] 'Ut patris voluntati obsequerer, fidelem operam impendere conatus sum.'—Calv. in Psalm.

[19] 'Singularem ingenii alacritatem,' &c.—Flor. Rémond, Hist. de l'Hérésie, liv. vii. ch. ix.

[20] 'Longa consuetudine diuturnoque usu.'—Bezæ Vita Calvini.

[21] 'Läusige Kappe.'

[22] Remarques sur la Vie de Calvin, Hérésiarque, by J. Desmay, vicar-general, p. 43.

[23] 'Saluta matrem, uxorem, sororem Franciscam.'—Calvinus Danieli, Berne MSS.

[24] 'De Coiffartio quid aliud dicam, nisi hominem esse sibi natum?'—Calvinus Danieli, Geneva MSS.

[25] Calvin's Letters, Philadelphia, i. p. 32.

[26] Wolmar, Commentaire sur l'Iliade.

[27] Beza, Vie de Calvin et Histoire des Eglises Réformées, i. p. 67.

[28] 'Quam liberaliter paratus fueris te mihi officiaque tua impendere.'—Calv. in 2ᵃᵐ Ep. ad Cor.

[29] 'Præ cæteris discipulis diligere ac magnifacere eum cœpit.'—Flor. Rémond, Hist. de l'Hérésie, liv. vii. ch. ix.

CHAPTER XIV.
CALVIN TAUGHT AT ORLEANS OF GOD AND MAN;
BEGINS TO DEFEND AND PROPAGATE THE FAITH.
(1528.)

CALVIN was to receive something more from Wolmar; he was about to begin, under his guidance, the work of all his life—to learn and to teach Christ. The knowledge which he acquired at the university of Orleans, philosophy, law, and even Greek, could not suffice him. The moral faculty is the first in man, and ought to be the first in the university also. The object of the Reformation was to found, not an intellectual, but a moral empire; it was to restore holiness to the Church. This empire had begun in Calvin; his conscience had been stirred; he had sought salvation and found it; but he had need of knowledge, of increase in grace, of practice in life, and these he was about to strive after.

=WOLMAR AND CALVIN STUDY THE EPISTLES.=

Melchior, like Melanchthon, had set himself to study the Holy Scriptures in the original languages, and in them had found light and peace. Calvin, on his side, 'having acquired some taste for true piety,' as he informs us, 'was burning with a great desire to advance.'[30] The most intimate confidence and the freest communication were established between the professor and the scholar. Melchior spoke to Calvin of Germany and the Reformation; he read the Greek Testament with him, set before him the riches of Christ announced therein, and, when studying the Epistles of St. Paul, explained to him the doctrine of imputed righteousness which forms the essence of their teaching. Calvin, seated in his master's study, listened in silence, and respectfully embraced that mystery so strange and yet so profoundly in harmony with the righteousness of God!... 'By faith,' said Wolmar, 'man is united to Christ and Christ to him, so that it is no longer man whom God sees in the sinner, but his dearly beloved Son himself; and the act by virtue of which God makes the sinner an inheritor of heaven, is not an arbitrary one. The doctrine of justification,' added Wolmar, 'is in Luther's opinion the capital doctrine, articulus stantis vel cadentis Ecclesiæ.'[31]

But Calvin's chief teacher was God. At Orleans he had more of those struggles, which are often prolonged in strong natures. Some take him simply for a metaphysical thinker, a learned and subtle theologian; on the contrary, no other doctor has had more experience of those tempests that stir up the heart to its lowest deeps. 'I feel myself pricked and stung to the quick by the judgment of God. I am in a continual battle; I am assaulted and shaken, as when an armed man is forced by a violent blow to stagger a few steps backwards.' The light which had rejoiced him so much when he was in college at Paris, seemed almost to have faded away. 'I am like a wretched man shut up in a deep dungeon, who receives the light of day obliquely and in part, only through a high and narrow loop-hole.' He persevered, however; he fixed his eyes on Jesus, and was soon able to say: 'If I have not the full and free sight of the sun, I distinguish however his light afar, and enjoy its brightness.'[32]

People at Orleans soon found out that there was something new and strange in this young man. It was in this city, in the year 1022, that the revival of modern times, if we may so speak, had begun among the heads of a school of theology at that time very celebrated. Priests and canons had told the people who listened to them, both in Orleans and in the neighbouring towns, 'that they ought to be filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit; that this Spirit would reveal to them all the depths and all the dignity of the Scriptures;[33] that they would be fed with heavenly food and refreshed by an inward fulness.'[34]

These heretics had been put to death at Orleans. Would they be seen rising again, after more than five centuries, in the city and even in the university? Many doctors and students opposed Calvin: 'You are a schismatic,' they said; 'you are separating from the Church!' Calvin, alarmed at these accusations, was a prey to fresh anguish.

=CALVIN'S ANGUISH AND HUMILITY.=

Then, as he informs us, he began to meditate on the Psalms, and in the struggles of David he found an image of his own: 'Ah!' he exclaimed, 'the Holy Spirit has here painted to the life all the pains, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, anxieties, perplexities, and even the confused emotions with which my mind is wont to be agitated.... This book is an anatomy of all the parts of the soul.... There is no affection in man which is not here represented as in a glass.'[35]

This man, whom the Romish and other legends describe as vain, proud, and insensible, desired to see himself as he was, without screening any of his faults. 'Of the many infirmities to which we are subject,' he said, 'and of the many vices of which we are full, not one ought to be hidden. Ah! truly it is an excellent and singular gain, when all the hiding-places are laid open, and the heart is brought into the light and thoroughly cleansed of all hypocrisy and foul infection.'[36]

Such are the principles by which the Reformation has triumphed. Its great organs desired that men's hearts should be 'cleansed of all foul infection.' It is a singular delusion of those writers who, seeing things otherwise than they are, ascribe this divine work to vile interests and base passions. According to them, its causes were jealousy of the Augustine monks, the ambition of princes, the greed of nobles, and the carnal passions of priests, which, however, as we have seen, had but too free scope during the middle ages. A searching glance into the souls of the Reformers lays bare to us the cause of the revival. If the writers of whom I have spoken were right, the Reformation ought not to have waited until Luther for its accomplishment; for there had existed for ages in christendom ambitious princes, greedy nobles, jealous monks, and impure priests. But what was really a new thing was to find men who, like the reformers, opened their hearts to the light of the Holy Spirit, believed in the Word of God, found Jesus Christ, esteemed everything in comparison with him as loss, lived the life of God, and desired that 'all hiding-places should be laid open,' and men's hearts cleansed of all hypocrisy. Such were the true sources of the Reformation.

The adversaries of the Gospel understood the danger incurred by the Church of Rome from the principles professed by Calvin; and hence they called him wicked and profane, and, as he says, 'heaped upon his head a world of abuse.' They said that he ought to be expelled from the Church. Then the student, 'cast down but not destroyed,' retiring to his chamber, would exclaim: 'If I am at war with such masters, I am not, however, at war with thy Church, O God! Why should I hesitate to separate from these false teachers whom the apostles call thy enemies?[37] ... When cursed by the unrighteous priests of their day, did not thy prophets remain in the true unity of thy children? Encouraged by their example, I will resist those who oppress us, and neither their threats nor their denunciations shall shake me.'[38]

=PHASES OF CALVIN'S CONVERSION.=

The conversion of Calvin, begun at Paris, was completed at Orleans. There are, as we have said, several phases in this work. The first is that of the conscience, where the soul is aroused; the second is that of the understanding, where the mind is enlightened; then comes the last, where the new man is built up, where he strikes deeper root in Christ, and bears fruit to God. At Paris, Calvin had heard in his heart the divine voice calling him to eternal life; at Orleans, he constantly studied the Holy Scriptures,[39] and became 'learned in the knowledge of salvation,' as Theodore Beza tells us. The Church herself has gone through similar phases: the first epoch of her history, that of the apostolic fathers,[40] was that of simple piety without the scientific element; the second, the age of the apologists, was that of a christian understanding seeking to justify its faith in the eyes of reason. Calvin had followed this road; but he did not give way to an intellectualism which would have brought back death into his heart. On the contrary, the third phase began immediately, and from day to day the christian life became in him more spiritual and more active.

The conversion of Calvin and of the other reformers—we must insist upon this point—was not simply a change wrought by study in their thoughts and in their system. Calvin did not set himself the task of inventing a new theology, as his adversaries have asserted. We do not find him coldly meditating on the Church, curiously examining the Scriptures, and seeking in them a means of separating a portion of christendom from Rome. The Reformation was not the fruit of abstract reasoning; it proceeded from an inward labour, a spiritual combat, a victory which the reformers won by the sweat of their brow, or rather ... of their heart. Instead of composing his doctrine chapter after chapter, Calvin, thirsting for righteousness and peace, found it in Christ. 'Placed as in the furnace of God (they are his own words), the scum and filth of his faith were thus purified.' Calvin was put into the crucible, and the new truth came forth, burning and shining like gold, from the travail of his melted soul. In order to comprehend the productions of nature or of art, we must study closely the secrets of their formation. We have on a former occasion sought to discover the generative principle of the Reformation in the heart of Luther; we are now striving to discern it in Calvin also. Convictions, affections, intelligence, activity—all these were now in process of formation in that admirable genius under the life-giving rays of truth.

='I SACRIFICE MY HEART TO THEE.'=

There came a moment when Calvin, desirous of possessing God alone, renounced the world, which, from that time, has never ceased to hate him: 'I have not sued thee by my love, O Christ,' he said; 'thou hast loved me of thy free will. Thou hast shone into my soul, and then everything that dazzled my eyes by a false splendour immediately disappeared, or at least I take no count of it. As those who travel by sea, when they find their ship in danger, throw everything overboard, in order that, having lightened the vessel, they may arrive safely in port; in like manner I prefer being stripped of all that I have, rather than be deprived of thee. I would rather live poor and miserable than be drowned with my riches. Having cast my goods into the waves, I begin to have hope of escape since the vessel is lightened.... I come to thee naked and empty.... And what I find in thee is not a trifling vulgar gain: I find everything there.'[41]

Thus lifting up his hands to God, Calvin offered the sacrifice of a heart burning with love. He made this grand thought the charter of his nobility, his blazon, and engraving this design on his seal, a hand presenting a heart in sacrifice, he wrote round it: Cor meum velut mactatum Domino in sacrificium offero—'O Lord, I offer unto thee as a sacrifice my heart immolated to thee.' Such was his device—such was his life.

The eyes of many began already to be turned upon him with admiration. The surprising clearness of his mind, the powerful convictions of his heart, the energy of his regenerated will, the strength of his reasoning, the luminous flashes of his genius, and the severe beauties of his eloquence—all betokened in him one of the great men of the age. 'A wonderful mind!' says Florimond de Rémond, one of his chief adversaries, 'a mind keen and subtle to the highest degree, prompt and sudden in its imaginations! What a praiseworthy man he would have been, if, sifting away the vices (heresy), the virtues alone could have been retained!'[42] There was doubtless something wanting in Calvin: he may not have had that smiling imagination which, at the age he had now reached, generally gilds life with the most brilliant colours; the world appeared to him one wide shipwreck. But, possessing the glance of the eagle, he discovered a deliverance in the future, and his powerful hand, strengthened by God, was about to prepare the great transformations of the Church and of the world.

He was indefatigable in labour. When the day was ended, and his companions indulged in dissipation or in sleep, Calvin, restricting himself to a slight repast for fear of oppressing his head, withdrew to his room and sat down to study the Scriptures. At midnight he extinguished his lamp,[43] and early in the morning, when he awoke and before he left his bed, he 'ruminated,' says Beza, on what he had read and learnt the night before.[44] 'We were his friends, we shared his room with him,' said Theodore Beza's informants. 'We only tell you what we have seen.'—'Alas!' adds the reformer, 'these long vigils, which so wonderfully developed his faculties and enriched his memory, weakened his health, and laid the foundation of those sufferings and frequent illnesses which shortened his days.'[45]

=CALVIN SOUGHT AS A TEACHER.=

His taste for Holy Scripture did not divert Calvin from the study of law. He was unwilling that the labours of his profession should suffer in any degree from the labours of piety. He made such remarkable progress in jurisprudence that he was soon looked upon, by both students and professors, as a master and not as a scholar.[46] One day, Pierre de l'Etoile begged him to give a lesson in his place; and the young man of nineteen or twenty discharged his duty with so much skill and clearness, that he was considered as destined to become the greatest jurist in France. The professors often employed him as their substitute.[47]

To knowledge he joined communion. While still continuing to follow the lessons of Etoile, Calvin 'sought the company of the faithful servants of God,' as he tells us. All the children of God (he thought) should be united together by a bond of brotherly union. He mixed also with everybody, even with the gainsayers, and if they attacked the great doctrines of Gospel truth, he defended them. But he did not put himself forward. He could discern when, how far, and to whom it was expedient to speak, and never exposed the doctrine of Christ to the jeers of the unbeliever by imprudence or by the fears of the flesh. When he opened his mouth, every one of his words struck home. 'Nobody can withstand him,' they said, 'when he has the Bible in his hand.'

Students who felt a difficulty in believing, townspeople who could not understand, went and begged him to teach them.[48] He was abashed. 'I am but a poor recruit,' he said, 'and you address me as if I were a general.'[49] As these requests were constantly renewed, Calvin tried to find some hiding-place where he could read, meditate, and pray, secure from interruption.[50]

At one time it was the room of a friend, a nook in the university library, or some shady retreat on the banks of the river. But he was hardly absorbed in meditation or in the study of Scripture, before he found himself surrounded by persons eager to hear him, and who refused to withdraw. 'Alas!' he exclaimed, 'all my hiding-places are turned into public schools.'[51]

Accordingly he sought still more private retreats; for he wished to understand before he taught. The French love to see clearly into things; but their defect in this respect is that they often do not go deep enough, or fail to observe that by going deep they arrive at truths in whose presence the most eminent minds ought to confess their insufficiency and believe in the revelation from God. In the middle ages there had been men who wished to bring the mysteries of the catholic faith to the test of reason;[52] Abelard was at the head of that phalanx. Calvin was not a new Abelard. He did not presume to fathom impenetrable mysteries, but sought in Scripture the light and the life of his soul.

=HE TEACHES IN PRIVATE FAMILIES.=

His admirers returned to him. Several citizens of Orleans opened their houses to him, saying: 'Come and teach openly the salvation of man.' Calvin shrank back. 'Let no one disturb my repose,' he said; 'leave me in peace.' His repose, that is to say his studies, were his only thought. But these souls, thirsting for truth, did not yield so easily. 'A repose of darkness!' replied the most ardent; 'an ignoble peace![53] Come and preach!' Calvin remembered the saying of St. Chrysostom: 'Though a thousand persons should call you, think of your own weakness, and obey only under constraint.'[54] 'Well, then, we constrain you,' answered his friends. 'O God! what desirest thou of me?' Calvin would exclaim at such moments. 'Why dost thou pursue me? Why dost thou turn and disturb me, and never leave me at rest? Why, despite my disposition, dost thou lead me to the light and bring me into play?'[55] Calvin gave way, however, and understood that it was his duty to publish the Gospel. He went to the houses of his friends. A few men, women, and young people gathered round him, and he began to explain the Scriptures. It was quite a new order of teaching: there were none of those distinctions and deductions of scholastic science, at that time so familiar to the preachers. The language of the young man possessed an admirable simplicity, a piercing vitality, and a holy majesty which captivated the heart. 'He teaches the truth,' said his hearers as they withdrew, 'not in affected language, but with such depth, solidity, and weight, that every one who hears him is struck with admiration.' These are the words of a contemporary of Calvin, who lived on the spot, and in the very circle in which the Reformer then moved. 'While at Orleans,' adds this friend, Theodore Beza, 'Calvin, chosen from that time to be an instrument of election in the Lord's work, wonderfully advanced the kingdom of God in many families.'[56]

It was at Orleans, therefore, that Calvin began his evangelist work and manifested himself to the world as a christian. Calvin's activity in this city is a proof that he was then converted to the Gospel, and that he had been so for some time; for his was not one of those expansive natures which immediately display externally what is within them. This first ministry of the reformer negatives the hypotheses which place Calvin's conversion at Orleans, or at Bourges somewhat later, or, even later still, during his second residence at Paris.

Thus the young doctor, growing in knowledge and acting in love, refuted the objections of the gainsayers, and led to Christ the humble souls who thirsted for salvation. A domestic event suddenly withdrew him from this pious activity.

[30] Calvin, Préface aux Psaumes.

[31] ('The touch-stone of a standing or of a falling Church.') 'Wolmarus lutheranum virus Calvino instillabat.'—Flor. Rémond, Hist. de l'Hérésie, liv. vii. ch. ix.

[32] Calvin, Institution, liv. iii. ch. ii. 17-19.

[33] 'Sancti Spiritus dono repleberis, qui scripturarum omnium profunditatem ac veram dignitatem te docebit.'—Mansi, Gesta Synodi Aurelianensis, xix. p. 376.

[34] 'Deinde cœlesti cibo pastus, interna satietate recreatus.'—Ibid.

[35] Calvin, Préface des Commentaires sur les Psaumes.

[36] Ibid.

[37] 'Quos pronuntiabant apostoli esse habendos pro hostibus, ab iis cur dubitassem me sejungere?'—Opusc. Lat. p. 124; Franç. p. 169.

[38] Opuscules.

[39] 'Interea tamen ille sacrarum litterarum studium simul diligenter excolere in quo tantum etiam promoverat.'—Bezæ Vita Calvini.

[40] From 70 to 130 A.D.

[41] Calvin, in Ep. Johan.; Pauli ad Philip. &c.

[42] Flor. Rémond, Hist. de l'Hérésie, liv. vii. ch. x.

[43] 'Ad mediam usque noctem lucubrare.'—Bezæ Vita Calvini.

[44] 'Mane vero, quæ legisset, in lecto veluti concoquere.'—Ibid.

[45] 'Et tandem etiam intempestivam mortem attulit.'—Ibid.

[46] 'Doctor potiusquam auditor haberetur.'—Ibid.

[47] 'Quum sæpissime obiret ipsorum doctorum vices.'—Bezæ Vita Calvini.

[48] 'Omnes purioris doctrinæ cupidi ad me, discendi causa, ventitabant.'—Præf. in Psalm.

[49] 'Novitium adhuc et tyronem.'—Ibid.

[50] 'Tunc latebras captare.'—Ibid.

[51] 'Ut mihi secessus omnes instar publicæ scholæ essent.'—Præf. in Psalm.

[52] 'Catholicæ fidei mysteria ratione investiganda.'—Abelard, Introd. ad Theol. p. 1059.

[53] 'Ignobile otium colere.'—Præf. in Psalm.

[54] Chrysostomus, De Sacerdotio, lib. iv.

[55] Calv. Præf. in Psalm. p. 3.

[56] Théod. de Bèze, Histoire des Eglises Réformées, p. 6.

CHAPTER XV.
CALVIN CALLED AT BOURGES TO THE EVANGELICAL WORK.
(1528-1529.)

=CALVIN LEAVES ORLEANS.=

ONE day, probably at the beginning of April 1528, about the Easter holidays, Calvin received a letter from Noyon. He opened it: it contained sad news! his father was seriously ill. He went at once to Duchemin in great agitation: 'I must depart,' he said. This friend, and many others, would have wished to keep him in a place where he had become so useful; but he did not hesitate. He must go to his father; he would, however, only stay as long as was necessary; as soon as the sick man was better, he would come back. 'I promise you to return shortly,' he said to Duchemin.[57] Calvin, therefore, bade farewell to his cherished studies, to his beloved friends, and those pious families in which he was advancing the kingdom of God, and returned to Picardy.

We have but few particulars of his sojourn at Noyon. Assuredly his filial piety indulged at his father's bedside in what has been termed with reason the sweetest form of gratitude. Yet the weak condition of the episcopal secretary was prolonged, without any appearance of imminent danger. A question began to rise up in the young man's heart: shall he go, or shall he stay?[58] Sometimes, when seated by the sick man's pillow during the watches of the night, his thoughts would transport him to Orleans, into the midst of his studies and the society of his friends; he felt himself impelled, as by a vigorous hand, towards the places that were so dear to him, and he made in his mind all the arrangements necessary for his return.[59] ... Suddenly his father's disease grew worse, and the son did not quit the sufferer's bedside. The old secretary, 'a man of sound understanding and good counsel,' says Beza, was much respected by those around him, and love for the author of his days was profoundly engraven in the young man's soul. 'The title of father belongs to God,' he said; 'when God gives it to a man, he communicates to him some sparks of his own brightness.'[60]

=CALVIN'S FIRST LETTER.=

Erelong a crisis appeared to take place; the doctors held out hopes: the patient might recover his health, they said.[61] Calvin's thoughts and desires were turned once more towards Orleans; he would have wished to go there instantly,[62] but duty was still the strongest, and he resolved to wait until his father's convalescence was complete. Thus one day after another glided away.[63] Alas! the doctors were deceived. 'There is no longer any hope of a cure,' they soon told him; 'your father's death cannot be far off.'[64] Calvin, therefore, determined (14th of May, 1528) to write to Duchemin, which he had not yet done since his departure. It is the first of the reformer's letters that has been handed down to us. 'You know,' he says, 'that I am very exact in my correspondence, and that I carry it even to importunity.[65] You will be astonished, perhaps, that I have been wanting in my extreme punctuality; but when you know the cause, you will restore to me your friendship, should I perchance have forfeited it.' He then tells Duchemin of his father's condition, and adds: 'Happen what may, I will see you again.'[66] What did happen is not very clear. Calvin was at Noyon, as we have seen, on the 14th of May, 1528; perhaps he remained all the summer with the sick man. It has been concluded from this letter to Duchemin that Gerard Calvin died shortly after the 14th of May; at that time the approach of death was certain, according to the doctors; but doctors may be mistaken. According to Theodore Beza, he died during his son's residence at Bourges, nine or ten months later, and a passage from Calvin, which we shall quote further on, confirms Beza's testimony, of itself so decisive.

One circumstance, which has some interest, seems to show that Calvin was not at Orleans during the latter part of this year. On the 5th of December, 1528,[67] eight months after his sudden departure, a boy eight or nine years old arrived at Melchior Wolmar's house in that city. He had a sickly look, but was a well-made child, playful and well-bred, with a keen glance and lively wit. This boy, who was one day to be Calvin's best friend, belonged to a Burgundian family. His father, Pierre de Beza, was bailli of Vezelay, a very old town, where the child was born on the 24th of June, 1519,[68] and received the name of Theodore. One of his uncles, named Nicholas, seignior of Cette and of Chalonne, and councillor of parliament, having paid the bailli a visit a few months after the child's birth, adopted him, being an unmarried man, and took him to Paris, although he had not been weaned.[69] Nine years later (1528), at the recommendation of an Orleanese, who was connected with the Bezas and a member of the royal council, the uncle sent his nephew to Wolmar, who was described to him as very learned in Greek and of great experience in education. Nothing in Calvin's biography written by Beza indicates that the latter met Calvin at that time at Orleans. When Margaret of Valois, who was Duchess of Berry, endeavoured about this time to gather together a number of pious and learned men in her university of Bourges, she invited Wolmar there;[70] and it was here that young Beza saw Calvin for the first time.

=CALVIN GOES TO BOURGES.=

The scholar, set at liberty by the apparent restoration of his father's health, had once more turned his thoughts towards his studies. He desired to take advantage of the instruction of a doctor whose reputation surpassed even that of Pierre de l'Etoile. All the learned world was at that time talking of Alciati of Milan, whom the king had invited to Bourges, and to attend whose brilliant lessons the academic youth flocked from every quarter. Calvin had other motives besides this for going to that city. Under Margaret's influence, Berry had become a centre of evangelisation. Returning, therefore, to Orleans, he made known his intention of going to Bourges, and the professors of the university where he had studied, and even taught with credit, unanimously offered him the degree of doctor. It would appear that his modesty did not permit him to accept it.[71]

There were fewer resources at Bourges than at Orleans. 'As we cannot live as we wish,' said the students, 'we live as we can.' Everything was dear: board alone cost one hundred francs a year.[72] 'France is truly a golden country,' bitterly remarked a poor scholar, 'for without gold you can get nothing.' But the Noyon student cared little for the comforts of life; intellectual and spiritual wealth satisfied him. He was anxious to hear Alciati, and was surprised to find him a tall corpulent man, with no very thoughtful look. 'He is a great eater,' said one of his neighbours, 'and very covetous.'[73] Intelligence and imagination, rather than sentiment, were his characteristics: he was a great jurist and also a great poet. Mingling literature with his explanation of the laws, and substituting an elegant style for barbarism of language, he gave quite a new éclat to the study of the law. Calvin listened with admiration. Five years later Alciati returned to Italy, allured by greater emoluments and greater honours.

Erelong Calvin gave himself up entirely to other thoughts. Bourges had become, under Margaret's government, the centre of the new doctrine in France; and he was accordingly struck by the movement of the minds around him. There was discussing, and speaking, and assembling, wherever the sound of the Gospel could be heard. On Sunday students and citizens crowded the two churches where Chaponneau and Michel preached. Calvin went with the rest, and found the christian truth pretty fairly set forth 'considering the time.'[74] During the week, evangelical truth was taught in the university by Gamaire, a learned priest, and by Bournonville, prior of St. Ambrose.

=WOLMAR'S APPEAL TO CALVIN.=

But nothing attracted Calvin like Wolmar's house. It would appear that this scholar had arrived at Bourges before him.[75] It was there that Calvin met young Beza, and then began in Theodore's heart that filial piety which continued all his life, and that admiration which he professed afterwards in one of his Latin poems, where he calls Calvin

Romæ ruentis terror ille maximus.[76]

And truly Calvin was training for this. If Wolmar at Orleans had confirmed the christian faith in him, Wolmar at Bourges was the first who invited him distinctly to enter upon the career of a reformer. The German doctor communicated to the young man the books which he received from beyond the Rhine—the writings of Luther, Melanchthon, and other evangelical men.[77] Wolmar, modest, gentle, and a foreigner, did not think himself called to do in France what these illustrious servants of God were doing in Germany: but he asked himself whether there was not some Frenchman called by God to reform France; whether Lefèvre's young fellow-countryman, who united a great understanding with a soul so full of energy, might not be the man for whom this work was reserved.

Wolmar seems to have been to Calvin what Staupitz was to Luther; both these doctors felt the need of minds of a strong temper for the great things that were about to take place in the world. One day, therefore, the professor invited the student to take a walk with him, and the two friends, leaving behind them that old city, burnt down by Cæsar and Chilperic, rebuilt by Charlemagne, and enlarged by Philip Augustus, drew near the banks of the Auron, at its confluence with the Yèvre, and strolled here and there among the fertile plains of Berry.[78] At last Wolmar said to Calvin, 'What do you propose doing, my friend? Shall the Institutes, the Novels, the Pandects absorb your life? Is not theology the queen of all sciences, and does not God call you to explain his Holy Scriptures?'[79] What new ideas then started up before Calvin! At Paris he had renounced the priesthood, and at Bourges Wolmar urged him to the ministry.... What should he do?

This was quite another calling. In the theocratic and legal Church, the priest is the means by which man is restored to communion with God. The special priesthood, with which he is invested, is the condition on which depends the virtue of the sacraments and of all the means of grace. Possessed of a magical power, he works the greatest of miracles at the altar, and whoever does not partake in the ministrations of this priesthood can have no share in redemption. The Reformation of the sixteenth century, by setting aside the formal and theocratic Church of Rome, which was shaped in the image of the Jewish theocracy, and by substituting for it the Evangelical Church, conformably to the principles of Christ and his apostles, transformed the ministry also. The service of the Word became its centre—the means by which, with the aid of the Holy Ghost, all its functions were discharged. This evangelical ministry was to work its miracles also; but whilst those of the legal ministry proceed from a mysterious virtue in the priesthood, and are accomplished upon earthly elements, those of the evangelical ministry are wrought freely by the divine Word, and by a heartfelt faith in the great love of God, which that ministry proclaims,—strange spiritual miracles, effected within the soul, transforming the man and not the bread, and making him a new creature, destined to dwell eternally with God.

=CALVIN HESITATES.=

Did Calvin at this time see clearly the difference between the Roman priesthood and the Gospel ministry? We doubt it. It was not until later that his ideas became clear upon this important point. The notion, however, of abandoning not only the priesthood, but also the study of the law for the Gospel, was not new to him. More than once in his retirement, he had already asked himself: 'Shall I not preach Christ to the world?' But he had always shrunk away humble and timid from this ministry. 'All men are not suited for it,' he said; 'a special vocation is necessary, and no one ought to take it upon himself rashly.'[80] Calvin, like St. Augustin, the ancient doctor whom he most resembled (the irregularities excepted which mark the youth of the bishop of Hippona), feared to undertake a charge beyond his strength. He thought also that his father would never consent to his abandoning the law and joining the heretics. And yet he felt himself daily more inclined to entertain the great questions of conscience and christian liberty, of divine sovereignty and self-renunciation. 'So great a desire of advancing in the knowledge of Christ consumed me at that time,' he said, 'that I pursued my other studies very coldly.'[81] A domestic event was soon to give him liberty to enter upon the new career to which God and Wolmar were calling him.[82]

Nor was this the only call he received at Bourges. Wolmar had spoken of him, and several families invited him to their houses to edify them. This took the young man by surprise, as it had done at Orleans; he remained silent, lost in the multitude of his thoughts. 'I am quite amazed,' he said, 'at seeing those who have a desire for pure doctrine gather round me to learn, although I have only just begun to learn myself!' He resolved, however, to continue at Bourges the evangelical work which he had timidly commenced on the banks of the Loire; and he brought more time and more decision to the task.

=THE PREACHERS IN BERRY.=

Calvin accordingly entered into relations with students and townspeople, nobles and lawyers, priests and professors. The family of the Colladons held at that time a considerable station in Berry. Two brothers, Leo and Germain, and two sisters, Mary and Anne, were the first to embrace the Gospel in Berry. Leo and Germain were advocates, and one of their cousins, styled Germain II. in the genealogies, now eighteen years old, afterwards became Calvin's intimate friend at Geneva. These ties of friendship had probably begun at Bourges.[83]

The evangelist soon extended his christian activity beyond the walls of the city. Many natives of Berry, who had heard him at Bourges, had been charmed with his addresses. 'Come and preach these beautiful words to us,' they said. Calvin gradually laid aside his natural timidity, and being cheerful and fond of walking, he visited the castles and villages.[84] He introduced himself affectionately into all the houses at which he stopped. 'A graceful salutation,' he said in after years, 'serves as an introduction to converse with people.'[85] He delivered several sermons in these hamlets and country-seats.

On the banks of the Arnon, ten leagues from Bourges, there stands a little town named Lignières, at that time the seat of a considerable lordship.[86] Every year certain monks came to preach in the parish church, and were bountifully received at the château, where they complained of their wretchedness in the most pitiable tone. This offended the lord of Lignières, who was not of a superstitious character. 'If I am not mistaken,' he said, 'it is with a view to their own gain that these monks pretend to be such drudges.'[87] Disgusted with their hypocrisy, M. de Lignières begged Calvin to come and preach in their stead. The law-student spoke to an immense crowd with such clearness, freedom, depth, and vitality, that every one was moved.[88] 'Upon my word,' said the lord to his wife, 'Master John Calvin seems to me to preach better than the monks, and he goes heartily to work too.'[89]

=RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT AT BOURGES.=

When the priests saw the young evangelist so well received, they cried out and intrigued against him, and did all in their power to get him put into prison.[90] It was at Bourges that Calvin began to see that 'everything among men is full of vexation.' He said: 'By the assaults made against them, Christ sounds the trumpet to his followers, in order that they may prepare themselves more cheerfully for battle.'[91]

In this way Calvin laboured in the town, in the villages, and in the châteaux, conversing tenderly with children, preaching to adults, and training heroes and martyrs. But the same circumstance which had taken him away from Orleans, suddenly occurred at Bourges. One day he received a letter from Noyon, written probably by his brother Anthony. Alas! his father was dead! and he was far from him, unable to lavish upon him the attentions of his filial piety. 'While he was at Bourges his father died,' says Theodore Beza, 'and he was obliged to return to Noyon.'[92] The death was very sudden.[93] Calvin did not hesitate; he bade farewell to Berry, to those pious families which he had edified, to his studies, and to his friends. 'You held out your hand to me,' he said to Wolmar, 'and were ready to support me from one end to the other of my course; but my father's death takes me away from our conversations and our lessons.'[94]

Bourges did not fall back into darkness after Calvin's departure. A venerable doctor, named Michel Simon, perhaps that Michel whom we have already mentioned, displayed a holy boldness notwithstanding his age. One day a Pelagian cordelier (as all the doctors of that order are) had effrontery enough to maintain that man can be saved by his natural strength alone. Simon confronted him, and succeeded in getting it laid down that in the public disputations every proposition must be established by the text of Scripture. This gave a new impulse to theological studies.

The priests came to an understanding with one another, and made their preparations without saying a word. On the following Sunday, Michel Simon, having entered the pulpit, was about to begin his sermon, when the curé, with his vicars and choristers, entered the choir, and began to chant the office for the dead. It was impossible either to preach or to hear. The exasperated students rushed into the choir, threw the books about, upset the lecterns, and drove out the priests, who ran off 'in great disorder.' Simon, who remained master of the field, delivered his sermon, and, to the surprise of his hearers, ended by repeating the Lord's prayer in French, without adding the Ave Maria! Whereupon a man, sitting in one of the upper stalls (he was the king's proctor), stood up, and with a sonorous voice began: Ave Maria, gratia.... He could not complete the sentence. A universal shout interrupted him; the women, who are easily excited, caught up their little stools, crowded round the proctor, and shook them over his head. These people were catholics, disgusted with the priests, not with the disciples of the Saviour.

While the student of Noyon was devoting himself to the preaching of the Gospel, extreme danger threatened him who had been his forerunner in this work.

[57] 'Quod tibi promiseram discedens me brevi adfuturum.'—Calvinus Chemino, May 14, 1528, Berne MS.

[58] 'Ea me expectatio diutius suspensum habuit.'—Calvinus Chemino.

[59] 'Nam dum reditum ad vos meditor.'—Ibid.

[60] Calvini Opera.

[61] 'Sed cum medici spem facerent posse redire in prosperam valetudinem.'—Calvinus Chemino.

[62] 'Nihil aliud visum est quam tui desiderium.'—Ibid.

[63] 'Interim dies de die trahitur.'—Ibid.

[64] 'Certum mortis periculum.'—Calvinus Chemino.

[65] 'In litteris missitandis plus satis officiosum, ne dicam importunum.'—Ibid.

[66] 'Utcunque res ceciderit, ad vos revisam.'—Ibid.

[67] 'Factum est ut ad te pervenirem anno Domini 1528, nonis Decembris.'—Letter of Theodore Beza to Wolmar, Preface to the Confessio Fidei Christianæ.

[68] 'Anno Domini 1519 die 24 junii, placuit Deo O. M. ut mundi lucem aspicerem.'—Letter of Theodore Beza to Wolmar, Preface to the Confessio Fidei Christianæ.

[69] 'Ut me quamvis adhuc a nutricis uberibus pendentem.'—Ibid.

[70] 'Aureliæ primum, deinde Biturigibus, quum in eam urbem regina Navarræ te evocasset.'—Ibid.

[71] 'Eique discedenti doctoratus insignia absque ullo pretio offeruntur.'—Bezæ Vita Calvini.

[72] Conrad Gessner von Hanhait, p. 22. Theodor. Beza von Baum, p. 12.

[73] 'Vir fuit corpulentus, proceræ staturæ. Auri avidus habitus est et cibi avidior.'—Panzivole, De claris Legum Interpret. lib. ii.

[74] Théod. de Bèze, Hist. des Eglises Réformées, p. 6.