History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 7 of 8

DR. MERLE D’AUBIGNÉ’S HISTORY.

1.—The History of the Reformation in the SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 5 Vols. $6.00

2.—The History of the Reformation in the TIME OF CALVIN. 7 Vols. $14.00

[From a Review by Prof. F. Godet of Neuchâtel.]

What a difference there is between the perusal of a work of this kind and that of one of the religious novels with which our public is now satiated. In these latter, notwithstanding all the good-will of the authors, there is always, or nearly always, something unwholesome. Imagination, that admirable gift of God, is employed to transport us into the chiaro-oscuro of fictitious scenes, which communicate a kind of fascination from which it is difficult to emerge, to return to the humdrum of every-day life, and to confine ourselves to the narrow limits of our every-day duties. Here on the contrary we find the full light of historic truth, imagination restored to its true object—that of giving life to real facts. The faith of this martyr, it really struggled, really triumphed—this blood, it really flowed—this pile, its flames lighted up the surrounding country, but in doing so they really consumed their victim. When we read these true histories our hearts do not swell with vain ambition or aspire to an inaccessible ideal. We do not say: “If I were this one, or that one.” We are obliged to commune with ourselves, to examine our consciences, to humble ourselves with the question: What would become of me if I were called to profess my faith through similar sufferings? Each one of us is thus called to less self-complacency, to greater humility, but at the same time to greater contentment with his lot, to greater anxiety to serve his God with greater faithfulness and greater activity.

We warmly recommend this work to those who are glad to find wholesome nutriment for the strengthening of their faith, to those who by contact with a vivifying stream wish to give renewed vigor to their spiritual life. They will find in its narrations all the energy and brightness which a living faith communicated to the author, whose mind retained all its youthful freshness, and at the same time that wisdom which Christian experience had brought to full maturity.

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS.

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

BY THE

REV. J. H. MERLE D’AUBIGNÉ, D.D.,

TRANSLATED BY

WILLIAM L. R. CATES,

‘Les choses de petite durée ont coutume de devenir fanées, quand elles ont 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. VII.

ENGLAND, GENEVA, FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY.

NEW YORK:

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,

No. 530 BROADWAY.

1877

EDITOR’S PREFACE.

A whole year has elapsed since the publication of the sixth volume of the History of the Reformation. But this delay is owing to the fact that the editor has been unable to devote to this undertaking more than the scanty leisure hours of an active ministry; and not, as some have supposed, to the necessity of compiling the History from notes more or less imperfect left by the author. The following narrative, like that which has preceded it, is wholly written by M. Merle d’Aubigné himself.

The editor repeats the statement made on the publication of the last volume—that his task has consisted solely in verifying the numerous quotations occurring in the text or as foot-notes, and in curtailing, in two or three places, some general reflections which interfered with the rapid flow of the narrative, and which the author would certainly have either suppressed or condensed if it had been permitted him to put the finishing touches to his work.

We can only express our gratitude to the public for the reception given to the posthumous volume which we have already presented to them. Criticism, of course, has everywhere accompanied praise. The estimates formed by the author of this or that character have not been accepted by all readers; and the journals have been the organs of the public sentiment.

One important English review[^[1]] has censured the author for placing himself too much at the evangelical point of view. It is unquestionable that this is indeed the point of view at which M. Merle d’Aubigné stood. This was not optional with him; he could not do otherwise. By conviction, by feeling, by nature, by his whole being, he was evangelical. But was this the point of view best adapted to afford him a real comprehension of the epoch, the history of which he intended to relate? This is the true question, and the answer seems obvious. If we consider the fact that the theologians of the revival at Geneva have been especially accused of having been too much in bondage to the theology of the sixteenth century, we shall acknowledge that this evangelical point of view was the most favorable to an accurate understanding of the movement of the Reformation, and to a just expression of its ideas and tendencies. No one could better render to us the aspect of the sixteenth century than one of those men who, if we may so speak, have restored it in the nineteenth.

The criticism most commonly applied to M. Merle d’Aubigné is that he has displayed a bias in favor of the men of the Reformation, and especially in favor of Calvin. That the author of the History of the Reformation feels for Calvin a certain tenderness, and that he is inclined to excuse, to a certain extent, his errors and even his faults, may be admitted. But it is no less indisputable that this tendency has never led him to palliate or to conceal those errors or faults. He pronounces a judgment: and this is sometimes a justification or an excuse. But he has in the first place narrated; and this narration has been perfectly accurate. The kindly feeling, or, as some say, the partiality of the writer, may have deprived his estimate of the severity which others would have thought needful; but it has not falsified his view. His glance has remained keen and clear, and historical truth comes forth from the author’s narratives with complete impartiality. These narratives themselves furnish the reader with the means of arriving at a different conclusion from that which the author has himself drawn.

May we not add that M. Merle d’Aubigné’s love for his hero, admitting the indisputable sincerity of the historian, far from being a ground of suspicion, imparts a special value to his judgments? For nearly sixty years M. Merle lived in close intimacy with Calvin. He carefully investigated his least writings, seized upon and assimilated all his thoughts, and entered, as it were, into personal intercourse with the great reformer. Calvin committed some faults. Who disputes this? But he did not commit these faults with deliberate intention. He must have yielded to motives which he thought good, and, were it only in the blindness of passion, must have justified his actions to his own conscience. In the main, it is this self-justification on Calvin’s part which M. Merle d’Aubigné has succeeded better than any one else in making known to us. He has depicted for us a living Calvin; he has revealed to us his inmost thought; and when, in the work which I am editing, I meet with an approving judgment in which I can not join without some reservation, I imagine nevertheless that if Calvin, rising from the tomb, could himself give me his reasons, he would give me no others than those which I find set forth in these pages. If this view is correct, and it seems to me difficult to doubt it, has not the author solved one of the hardest problems of history—to present the true physiognomy of characters, and to show them as they were; under the outward aspect of facts to discover and depict the minds of men?

Moreover, the greater number of these general criticisms are matters of taste, of tendency, of views and of temperament. There are others which would be important if they were well-founded. Such are those which bear upon the accuracy of the work, almost upon the veracity of the author. Fortunately it is easy to overthrow them by a rapid examination.

‘M. Merle,’ it has been said,[^[2]] ‘makes use of his vast knowledge of the works of the reformers to borrow from them passages which he arbitrarily introduces out of their place and apart from the circumstances to which they relate. Thus sentences taken from works of Calvin written during the last periods of his life are transformed into sentences pronounced by him twenty or twenty-five years earlier. That which on one occasion was written with his pen is, in regard to another occasion, put into his lips. We may, without pedantry, refuse to consider this process in strict conformity with that branch of truth which is called accuracy.’

It is true that, in Vol. VI., M. Merle d’Aubigné applies to the year 1538 words uttered by Calvin about twenty-five years later, at the time of his death in 1564:—‘I have lived here engaged in strange contests. I have been saluted in mockery of an evening before my own door with fifty or sixty shots of arquebuses. You may imagine how that must astound a poor scholar, timid as I am, and as I confess I always was.’ But these words, spoken by Calvin many years after the event, referred precisely to that year, 1538. The historian has quoted them at the very date to which they belong; nor could he have omitted them without a failure in accuracy.

The following is, however, the only proof given of this alleged want of accuracy:—

‘At the time when Calvin had just succeeded in establishing in Geneva what he considered to be the essential conditions of a Christian church, he had published, in the name of his colleagues, some statement of the success which they had just achieved, and had given expression to the sentiments of satisfaction and hope which they felt. Of this statement, to which events almost immediately gave a cruel contradiction, M. Merle has made use to depict the personal feelings and disposition of Calvin after the check which his work had sustained. The conditions are altogether changed. Instead of triumphing, the reformer is banished; and, nevertheless, the language which he used in the days of triumph is employed to characterize his steadfastness and constancy in the days of exile.’

The document here spoken of is a preface by Calvin to the Latin edition of his Catechism. In the original edition it bears date March, 1538. It is now before us; we have read and re-read it, and we can not imagine by what strange illusion there could be seen in it a statement of the success which Calvin and his colleagues had just achieved. It does not contain one vestige of satisfaction or of hope, not a trace of triumph. It is an unaccountable mistake to suppose that it was written in days of triumph. It was written in March 1538, in the very stress of the storm which, a few days later, April 23, was to result in the banishment of the reformer and the momentary destruction of his work at Geneva. This storm had begun to take shape on November 25, 1537, at a general council (assembly of the people), in which the most violent attacks had been directed against Calvin and against the government of the republic. From this time, says M. Merle, ‘the days of the party in power were numbered.’[^[3]] In fact, the government favorable to Calvin was overthrown February 3, 1538. On that day the most implacable enemies of the reformer came into power. Thus, in March, Calvin, far from thinking of a triumph, was thinking of defending himself. The preface which stands at the head of his catechism is not the statement of success already seriously impaired, but an apologia for his proceedings and his faith, a reply to ‘the calumnies aimed against his innocence and his integrity,’[^[4]] to ‘the false accusations of which he is a victim.’[^[5]] The following is the analysis of the preface, given by Professor Reuss, of Strasburg, in the Prolegomena to Vol. V. of the Opera Calvini, p. 43:—

‘The occasion for publishing, in Latin, this book was furnished by Peter Caroli, doctor and prior of the Sorbonne. This doctor, after having spread abroad iniquitous rumors against Farel, Viret, and Calvin, broke out passionately in open accusations against these men, his colleagues, who were equally distinguished by their faith and their moral character, imputing to them the Arian and Sabellian heresies and other similar corruptions. At this time there existed no other public monument of the faith of the Genevese church but the Confession of Farel and the Catechism of Calvin; and these, as they were written in French, were almost unknown to the rest of the Swiss churches. For this reason Calvin translated into Latin his own Catechism and the Confession of Farel, in order to make known through this version to all his brethren in Switzerland the doctrine which he had hitherto professed at Geneva, and to show that the charge of heresy brought against it was without foundation.’[^[6]]

It must be added that Calvin, in this preface, does not confine himself to the refutation of the charges of heresy drawn up against him by Caroli; but he vindicates his own course at Geneva, particularly in that vexatious affair of the oath which gave rise to the debate of November 25, 1537, the overthrow of the government on February 3, 1538, and the expulsion of Calvin and his friends on April 23 following. This document is, with the letters written by Calvin at this period, the most precious source of information as to the reformer’s feelings during this cruel struggle; and in quoting it at this place the author has made a judicious use of it.

Let us quote further some words from an article in the Athenæum, of which we have already spoken. In the course of criticisms, sometimes severe, the writer acknowledges that ‘there are to be found in this volume, in unimpaired vigor, the qualities we admired in its predecessors. Few narratives are more moving than the simple tale of the death of Hamilton, the first of the Scotch martyrs; and the same may be said of the chapter devoted to Wishart.’ In regard to Calvin the same writer tells us—‘M. Merle possessed, as we have already remarked, a knowledge truly marvellous of the writings of Calvin; and there are few books which enable us to understand so well as M. Merle’s the mind of the reformer—not perhaps as he was on every occasion, but such as he would have wished to be.’

Professor F. Godet, of Neuchâtel, expresses the same opinions and insists on them.[^[7]] After having spoken of ‘that stroke of a masterly pencil which was one of the most remarkable gifts of M. Merle d’Aubigné,’ he adds—‘It is always that simple and dignified style, calm and yet full of earnestness, majestic as the course of a great river, we might say—like the whole aspect of the author himself. But what appears to us above all to distinguish the manner of M. Merle is his tender and reverential love for his subject. The work which he describes possesses his full sympathy. He loves it as the work of his Saviour and his God. Jesus would no longer be what he is for the faith of the writer if he had not delivered, aided, corrected, chastened, governed and conquered as he does in this history. St. John, in the Apocalypse, shows us the Lamb opening the seals of the book containing the designs of God with respect to his church. M. Merle, in writing history, appears to see in the events which he relates so many seals which are broken under the hand of the King of Kings. In each fact he discerns one of the steps of his coming as spouse of the church or as judge of the world. And just as the leaves of the divine roll were written not only without but within, M. Merle is not satisfied with portraying the outside of events, but endeavors to penetrate to the divine idea which constitutes their essence, and to unveil it before the eyes of his reader. Do not therefore require him to be what is called an objective historian, and to hold himself coldly aloof from the facts which he recalls to mind. Is not this faith of the sixteenth century, of which he traces the awakening, the struggles, defeats and victories, his own faith and the life of his own soul? Are not these men whom he describes, Calvin, Farel, Viret, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh? Are not these churches, whose birth and first steps in life he relates, his own spiritual family? The reader himself, to whom his narrative is addressed, is for him an immortal soul, which he would fain make captive to the faith of the Reformation. He does not for an instant lay aside, as narrator, his dignity as a minister of Christ. The office of historian is in his case a priesthood. Not that he falls into the error of determining at all cost to glorify his heroes, to palliate their weaknesses, to excuse their errors, or to present facts in a light different from that objective truth to which he has been led by the conscientious study of the documents. The welfare of the church of to-day for which he desires to labor, may as surely result from the frank avowal and the severe judgment of faults committed, as from admiration of every thing which has been done according to the will of God.’

The same judgment was lately pronounced by the author of a great work on French literature, recently published,[^[8]] Lieutenant-Colonel Staaf. It is in the following terms that the author introduces M. Merle d’Aubigné to the French public:—‘M. de Remusat has said of this work—“It may have had a success among Protestants (un succès de secte), but it deserves a much wider one, for it is one of the most remarkable books in our language.” We might add one of the most austere, for it is at once the work of a historian and of a minister of the Gospel. It would be a mistake to suppose that the author has sacrificed the narrative portion of his history to the exposition and defence of the doctrines of the Reformation. Without seeking after effects of coloring, without concerning himself with form apart from thought, he has succeeded in reproducing the true physiognomy of the age whose great and fruitful movements he has narrated. All the Christian communities over which the resistless breath of the Reformation passed live again in spirit and in act in this grand drama, the principal episodes of which are furnished by Germany, France, Switzerland, and England. In order to penetrate so deeply as he has done into the moral life of the reformers, M. Merle was not satisfied with merely searching the histories of the sixteenth century; he has drawn from sources the existence of which was scarcely suspected before they had been opened to him.’... ‘Now, at whatever point of view we may take our stand, it is no subject for regret that for writing the story of the conflicts and too often of the execution of so many men actuated by the most generous and unalterable convictions, the pen has been held by a believer rather than by a sceptic. It was only a descendant and a spiritual heir of the apostles of the Reformation who could catch and communicate the fire of their pure enthusiasm, in a book in which their passions have left no echoes. M. Merle d’Aubigné—and this is one of the peculiar characteristics of his work—has satisfied with an antique simplicity the requirements of his twofold mission. It is only when the conscience of the historian has given all the guarantees of fairness and impartiality that one had a right to expect from it that the pastor has indulged in the outpourings of his faith.’

We close with the words of Professor F. Bonifas, of Montauban:[^[9]] ‘In this volume are to be found the eminent qualities which have earned for M. Merle d’Aubigné the first place among the French historians of the Reformation: wealth and authenticity of information, a picturesque vivacity of narration, breadth and loftiness of view, a judicious estimate of men and things, and in addition to all these a deeply religious and Christian inspiration animating every page of the book. The writer’s faculties remained young in spite of years; and this fruit of his ripe old age recalls the finest productions of his youth and manhood.’

A last volume will appear (D.V.) before the end of the present year.

Ad. Duchemin.

Lyons, May, 1876.

CONTENTS OF THE SEVENTH VOLUME.

BOOK XI.—(continuation.)

CALVIN AND THE PRINCIPLES OF HIS REFORM.

CHAPTER XIX.

CALVIN’S RECALL TO GENEVA.

(August 1540 to March 1541.)

The Ministers of Geneva—Departure of Morand and Marcourt from the Town—Great Famine—Advice of Calvin—His Recall determined on—The Message taken by Louis Dufour—Calvin’s First Answer—Journey to Worms—Letter from the Syndics and Council of Geneva—Calvin’s Anxieties—Consultation of his Friends—His Answer—Its Conditions—Viret called to Geneva—Viret at Geneva—The Minister Bernard—His Letter to Calvin—Calvin at Worms—Calvin and Melanchthon—Their Intimacy—Their Reciprocal Confidence—Colloquy of Worms—Song of Victory—Triumph of Christ—Calvin’s Confidence in Viret—Calvin’s Letter to Bernard—Calvin restored to Geneva by Farel—Trials—Humility and Faith [1]

CHAPTER XX.

CALVIN AT RATISBON.

(1541.)

Calvin’s Uneasiness—Concessions of the Lutherans—Calvin’s Steadfastness—Discourse of Cardinal Farnese—Calvin’s Answer—Papal Tyranny—The True Concord—Unity and Diversity—The Roman See not the Apostolic See—Incontinence—Profanation of Religion—A great Monster—True Ministers—Church Property—The Pope’s Crosier—Protestants and Turks—Calvin’s part at Ratisbon—Theology of Rome—Evils to be remedied—Calvin’s Moderation—Reference to the General Council—Calvin’s Departure from Ratisbon [24]

CHAPTER XXI.

CALVIN’S RETURN TO GENEVA.

(July to September, 1541.)

Repeal of the Sentence of Banishment by the General Council—Letter from the Syndics and Council of Geneva to the Pastors and Councils of Zurich and Basel—Severity of their Language—Its Expression of the common Feeling—All Difficulties removed by Letters from Geneva—Calvin’s Motto—His departure from Strasburg—His Stay at Neuchâtel—At Berne—Arrival at Geneva—Ostentation avoided—Calvin’s House—What he had acquired at Strasburg—His Appearance before the Council—Going forward—Commission of the Ordinances—Beginning of Calvin’s work—Assistance of Farel and Viret requested—The Grace of God and the Work of Man—A Day of Humiliation—The Truth with Charity [42]

CHAPTER XXII.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL ORDINANCES.

(September, 1541.)

Project of the Ordinances—Its Presentation to the Councils—Passed in the General Council—Spirit and Purpose of the Ordinances—Calvin’s Model the Primitive Church—Geneva an Evangelical Stronghold—The Christian Life—Remonstrances—The Ministry—Instruction of the Young—The Poor and the Sick—Prisoners—Election of Pastors—The Ministers’ Oath—The Doctors—The Elders—The Consistory—Worship—Common Prayer—Discipline—Manner of judging of this Discipline—Government of the Church of Geneva—Theocracy and Democracy—State Omnipotence—Government of the Church assumed by the State—Calvin not responsible—The Danger unseen by him [60]

CHAPTER XXIII.

CALVIN’S PREACHING.

Preaching Calvin’s Principal Office—Two to Three Thousand Sermons—His Exposition of Holy Scripture—Quotations—How a young Man shall cleanse his Way—The Love of Money—A Stranger on the Earth—Transitory Devotion—Self-love—The lost Lamb—God’s Will that all should be Saved—His Grace unbounded—How to come to God—The Blood of Christ—Predestination—Ignorance of it is Learning—No political Part played by Calvin—His clear Conception of the Evangelical Ministry [81]

CHAPTER XXIV.

CALVIN’S ACTIVITY.

(February, 1542.)

State of Feeling at Geneva—Calvin the Soul of the Consistory—His Attention to small Matters—Catholicism at Geneva—Believing what the Church believes—The Virgin and the Church—Politics no Concern of the Consistory—The Regulation of Morals its Business—Impartiality—Moderation—Calvin a Peacemaker—Meekness and Strength—Latent Hostility of the former Ministers—New Ministers—Ami Porral—His Triumphant Faith—His Christian Death—Living Christianity—The Work prospering—Development of Religious Life—Disciplinary Action—Reconciliation—Accomplishment of the Reformation—Luther’s Part—Calvin’s Part—Luther the Founder of the Reformation—Calvin its Lawgiver—Calvin a Mediator—Epochs of Light—Means of National Elevation [96]

BOOK XII.

THE REFORMATION AMONG THE SCANDINAVIAN NATIONS—DENMARK, SWEDEN, NORWAY.

CHAPTER I.

AWAKENING OF DENMARK.

(1515 to 1525.)

John Tausen—His Youth—His Entrance into the Monastery—His Departure for Germany—His Studies at Louvain and Cologne—At Wittenberg—Christian II.—His Marriage—Indulgences—Revolt of Sweden—Royal Vengeance—Martin Reinhard—His foreign Tongue—Encountered by Ridicule—His Departure from Denmark—Liberal Laws Promulgated by Christian—Religious Reforms—Carlstadt in Denmark—His Dismissal—Fresh revolt in Sweden—Flight of the King—Assistance of his Allies asked for in vain—The Sister of Charles the Fifth—Her Death in Heresy [120]

CHAPTER II.

A REFORMATION ESTABLISHED UNDER THE REIGN OF LIBERTY.

(1524 to 1527.)

Frederick, Duke of Holstein—His Call to the Throne—His Leaning to Evangelical doctrine—His Impartiality towards Rome and the Reformation—Promulgation of religious Liberty—The New Testament in Danish—The Translator’s Preface—Uneasiness of the Clergy—The King’s Son in Germany—His Adhesion to the Reformation—Growing Decision of the King—A Sermon of Tausen—Tausen at Viborg—Continuance in his Work—The Reformation at Copenhagen—Determination of the Bishops to Persecute—Imprisonment of Tausen—His preaching through the Air Hole—His Liberation by the King—Reformation at Malmoe—The Eloquent Tondebinder—The Gospel embraced by the whole Town of Malmoe—Translation of Luther’s Hymns into Danish—Increasing Progress in all Parts of the Country—The Bishops’ Invitation to Eck and Cochlæus—Their Refusal to go to Denmark—The King’s Discourse to the Bishops—Complete religious Liberty—Vain Efforts of the Bishops—Royal Ordinance—Apparent Submission of the Clergy [140]

CHAPTER III.

TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION UNDER THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I. THE PEACEFUL.

(1527 to 1533.)

Struggles and Controversies—Tausen’s Writings—A New Bishop—Various Reforms—Tausen’s Zeal—Diet of Copenhagen—The Bishops and the Ministers—Increased Number of Sermons by the Ministers—Silence of the Bishops—Tausen and his Colleagues—Their Confession of Faith—The Articles—Surprise of the Prelates—Accusations of the Bishops—Reply of the Evangelicals—Their Demand of a public Discussion—Refusal of the Bishops—Presentation of a Memorial to the King by the Ministers—No Answer to it—Triumph of the Evangelical Cause—Disorders—Frederick’s political Position strengthened—Intrigues of the ex-King—Invasion of Norway by Christian II.—A short Struggle—Christian taken Prisoner—His Demand for a Safe-conduct—His Letter to Frederick—Treated as a Prisoner of State—Sentenced to Imprisonment for Life—Confined in a walled-up Keep—Forsaken—Luther’s Intercession for him—Death of Frederick—His Four Sons [166]

CHAPTER IV.

INTERREGNUM. CIVIL AND FOREIGN WAR.

(1533.)

Reviving Hope of the Bishops—Their Efforts—Their Intrigues—Restriction of religious Freedom—Their Purpose to elect the King’s fourth Son—Adjournment of the Election—Tausen sentenced to Death—Rising of the Townsmen—Rescue of Tausen—The Bishops threatened—Banishment of Tausen—Brigitta Gjoë—Persecution of Evangelicals—Polemics—Popular Writings—Attack of Lübeck on Denmark—Rapid Progress of the Invaders—A Diet in Jutland—Long Debates—Election of Christian III. in spite of the Bishops [194]

CHAPTER V.

CHRISTIAN III. PROCLAIMED KING—TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION IN DENMARK, NORWAY, AND ICELAND.

(1533 to 1550.)

Vigorous Prosecution of the War by the new King—The Enemy driven from the Provinces—Siege of Copenhagen—Extreme Sufferings of the besieged Town—Entry of Christian into his Capital—His Determination to crush the temporal Power of the Bishops—Arrest of the Bishops—General Council of the Nation—Bill of Indictment against the Bishops—Their Deprivation—Their Liberation—The King’s Invitation to Pomeranus—Reorganization of the Church by Pomeranus—New Constitution of the Church—The Reformation in Norway—In the main a Work of the Government—The Reformation in Iceland—The two Bishops of Iceland—Oddur’s Translation of the New Testament—An Evangelical Bishop—His Death—Popish Reaction—Triumph of the Gospel [211]

CHAPTER VI.

THE EARLIEST REFORMERS OF SWEDEN.

(1516 to 1523.)

Various Influences—The Brothers Olaf and Lawrence—Their early Studies—Their Application to Theology—Olaf at Wittenberg—His Intimacy with Luther—His Return to Sweden—The two Brothers and Bishop Mathias—Present at the Massacre of Stockholm—Mathias one of the Victims—Lawrence Anderson Successor of Mathias—He is favorable to the Reformation—Olaf and Lawrence at their Father’s Funeral—Their Refusal of the Services of the Monks—Violent Opposition—Their Death demanded by Bishop Brask [231]

CHAPTER VII.

THE REFORMERS SUPPORTED BY THE LIBERATOR OF SWEDEN.

(1519 to 1524.)

Gustavus Vasa Prisoner in Denmark—His Escape from Confinement—His Struggle for the Independence of Sweden—His Flight from Place to Place—News of the Massacre of Stockholm—Concealment in the Mountains—Farm Labor—Recognition of Him—Betrayal—Pursued like a wild Beast—His Attempt to rouse the People—Unsuccessful Efforts—A Rising at last—Speedy Triumph—Gustavus nominated King—His Leaning to Reform—His Welcome to the Reformers—Anderson Chancellor of the Kingdom—Olaf Preacher at Stockholm—Partisans and Adversaries—Conspiracies of the Bishops—Bishop Brask—Citation of Olaf and Lawrence before the Chapter—Their Attitude—Anathema [244]

CHAPTER VIII.

STRUGGLES.

(1524 to 1527.)

The ‘Illuminated’ at Stockholm—Their Expulsion—Olaf’s Marriage—His Excommunication by Bishop Brask—His Defence undertaken by the King—Revenues of the Clergy diminished by the King—Ostentation of Archbishop Magnus—Feast of St. Erick—The Clergy humbled by the King—Fears of the Bishops—Public Disputation proposed by Magnus—Accepted by the King—Olaf and Galle—Regrets of the Catholics—Tempers heated on both sides—A Pretender—The Bishops’ Support of Him—Declaration of the King—His Resolution to complete his Task—Convocation of the States of the Kingdom—A royal Banquet—Humiliation of the Bishops [265]

CHAPTER IX.

VICTORY.

(1527.)

An Episcopal Conspiracy—The Diet of 1527—Complaints of the King—Exactions of the Clergy—Audacity of Bishop Brask—The King’s Abdication—Triumph of the Bishops—Excitement of the People—A Disputation before the Diet ordered—The King entreated to resume the Sceptre—His long Resistance—His final Consent—Political Reforms—Religious Reforms—Compact of Westeraas—Disarming of the Romish Hierarchy—Suppression of the armed Revolt—Coronation of Gustavus I. [283]

CHAPTER X.

‘CESAROPAPIE.’

(1528 to 1546.)

Assembly of Orebro—Authority of the Scriptures—Education of Pastors—Ecclesiastical Rites—Concessions—Obstacles—Discontent—Progress—Lawrence Petersen—His Nomination as Archbishop of Upsala—Marriage of the King—Marriage of the Archbishop—Hostility of the Monks—Olaf’s Desire for a complete Reformation—The King’s Desire to put it off—Coolness between the King and the Reformer—Complaints of Olaf—Irritation of the King—The Mock Suns of 1539—A Storm raging against Olaf—Brought to Trial with Anderson—Both condemned to Death—A Ransom accepted by the King—Resignation and Reinstatement of Olaf—The King Head of the Church—Luther’s Counsels—Church Order half Episcopalian and half Presbyterian—Severity of Gustavus—Excuses—Refusal of Gustavus to join the League of Smalcalde [298]

CHAPTER XI.

THE SONS OF GUSTAVUS VASA.

(1560 to 1593.)

The King’s Farewell to the People—His Illness—His Death—Erick the new King of Sweden—Debates on the Lord’s Supper—Controversies—Madness of King Erick—Massacres—Death of Burrey—Deposition of Erick—His harsh Captivity—Catholicism favored by King John—Catholicism in the ascendent—Arrival of Jesuits—Their Profession of Evangelical Doctrines—Their Attempt to convert the King—Fratricide—Death of the ex-King Erick—Conversion of John III. to Popery—Sudden Change of the King—His Death—The Assembly of Upsala in 1593—Adoption of the Confession of Augsburg [322]

BOOK XIII.

HUNGARY, POLAND, BOHEMIA, THE NETHERLANDS.

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST REFORMERS AND THE FIRST PERSECUTORS IN HUNGARY.

(1518 to 1526.)

First Gleams—Louis II.—Mary of Hungary—Beginning of the Reformation—The first Preachers—Their Wish to see Luther—Threatenings of Persecution—Intolerance of the Catholic Clergy—Louis II. and Frederick the Wise—The Gospel at Hermannstadt—Noteworthy Progress—Severe Ordinance against the Reform—First Act the burning of the Books—Flight of Grynæus—New Efforts—An Execution at Buda—Another Storm [342]

CHAPTER II.

SOLYMAN’S GREAT VICTORY.

(1526.)

Solyman’s Army—Hungary entirely unprepared—Vain Attempts to raise an Army—The small Troop of King Louis—Battle of Mohacz—Death of Louis II.—Sorrow of the Queen—Consolation offered by Luther—A Hymn of Resignation—Two Kings of Hungary—Martyrs at Liebethen—Edict of Persecution [356]

CHAPTER III.

DEVAY AND HIS FELLOW-WORKERS.

(1527 to 1538.)

Mathias Biro Devay—Student at Wittenberg—Various Lords Protectors of Reform—Slackening of Persecution—Reform at Hermannstadt—Solyman’s Refusal to oppress the Protestants—Confession of Augsburg welcomed by Hungarians—Devay’s Return to Hungary—His Pastorate at Buda—His Fellow-workers—Devay cast into Prison—His Appearance before the Bishop of Vienna—His Defence and Acquittal—Imprisoned again—Asylum offered Him by Count Nadasdy—Controversies with Szegedy—Devay at Wittenberg—Melanchthon’s Letter to Nadasdy—Devay at Basel—The Printing-press and Schools—Stephen Szantai—His Enemies the Bishops—Conference appointed by Ferdinand—Embarrassment of the Arbitrators—Embarrassment of Ferdinand—Efforts of the Bishops—Banishment of Szantai [366]

CHAPTER IV.

PROGRESS OF EVANGELIZATION AND OF THE SWISS REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.

(1538 to 1545.)

The Doctrines of Zwinglius in Hungary—Occasion of Trouble to some Minds—Political Divisions—Fresh Invasion of the Turks—Dispersion of Evangelical Divines—Abatement of Moslem Violence—Renewed Courage of the Christians—Progress of the Reformation—Devay in Switzerland—His Adoption of Calvin’s Doctrines—Luther’s Grief—Martin de Kalmance—Hostility excited against him—Persecution instigated by the Priests—Ordinances of Ferdinand—Courage of the Christians of Leutschau—Stephen Szegedin—His Knowledge and Eloquence—His Writings—His Acceptance of Calvin’s Doctrines—Hated by the Papists—His Banishment [388]

CHAPTER V.

THE GOSPEL IN HUNGARY UNDER TURKISH RULE.

(1545 to 1548.)

Rome the Persecutor—Islamism tolerant—Council of Trent—The Union of Christians in Hungary—Confessions of Faith—Szegedin in the South of Hungary—His second Banishment—Emeric Eszeky—The Gospel at Tolna—Refusal of the Turks to persecute—Spread of the Gospel—Rule of the Turks favorable to the Gospel—The Faith embraced in the whole of Transylvania [406]

CHAPTER VI.

BOHEMIA, MORAVIA, AND POLAND.

(1518 to 1521.)

The United Brethren—Relations with Luther—Luther’s Goodwill—Discussions on the Lord’s Supper—The Calixtines—Poland evangelized by the Bohemians—First Successes—Luther’s Reformation in Poland—Jacob Knade at Dantzic—The Gospel well received—Religious Liberty—A Revolution at Dantzic—Reorganization of the Church—Appeal of the Catholics to the King—Harshness of Sigismund—Final Triumph of the Gospel—The Gospel at Cracow—Embraced by many eminent Persons—Words of Luther—Attempted Reformation in Russia [417]

CHAPTER VII.

THE POLISH REFORMER.

(1524 to 1527.)

John Alasco—At Zurich—His Intercourse with Zwinglius—His Stay at Basel—His Intimacy with Erasmus—Study of Holy Scripture—His Diligence and Progress—Spiritual Enjoyments of his Life at Basel—Praised by Erasmus—Alasco compelled to leave Basel—His Travels—Return to Poland—His Life at Court—His Weakness—Suspected of Heresy—An Investigation—Alasco’s Renunciation of Reform—His Fall—Honors—Awakening of Conscience—His better Knowledge of the Truth—Liberty—New Honors—Alasco’s Refusal of Them—His Departure from Poland—On his Way to the Netherlands [433]

CHAPTER VIII.

THE POLISH REFORMER IN THE NETHERLANDS AND IN FRIESLAND.

(1537 to 1546.)

Alasco’s Marriage—Trials and Consolations—Religious Condition of Friesland—Alasco in Poland—His Return to Friesland—His Relations with Hardenberg—Seeking after Separation from Rome—Alasco Superintendent of Friesland—Prudence and Zeal—Accusations—Threats—Hatred of the Monks—A Letter of Alasco—God or the World—The Reformer’s Victory—Patience and Success—Various Sects—A false Christ Unmasked—Government of the Church—Doctrine—Oppositions—New Strength—Tribulations—A hidden Protector—Viglius of Zuychem—His elevated Position—Secret Report on his Tendencies—His real Sentiments—Contrast [455]

CHAPTER IX.

BEGINNING OF REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

(1518 to 1524.)

Freedom and Wealth—Ambition of Charles V.—Precursors of the Reformation—The Reformation at Antwerp—At Louvain—Erasmus attacked—Violent Proceedings of the Monks—Persecuting Edict—Arrest of Jacob Spreng—His Recantation—His Grief and Repentance—The Inquisition—Cornelius Grapheus, an Erasmian—His Imprisonment—Useless Abjuration—Henry of Zutphen, Evangelist—His Stay at Wittenberg—His Preaching at Antwerp—-His Arrest—His Rescue by the People—His Fate in Holstein—Demolition of the Convent of the Augustines—Numerous Adhesions to Reform—The Heavenly Spouse—Faith and Courage—Conventicles—A Martyr—Tolerance of some of the Bishops—One of the ‘Illuminated’—Luther’s Counsels [480]

CHAPTER X.

OUTWORKS.

(1525 to 1528.)

Charles V.—His Policy in the Netherlands—Charles of Egmont’s Letter to the Pope—The Pope’s Answer—Jan van Bakker—His Faith—His Breach with Rome—His Imprisonment—His Trial—Refusal to recant—Condemnation—Martyrdom—A Legend—Fruitless Attempt at Outward Reformation—New Edict of Persecution—The Humanist Gnapheus—The Widow Wendelmutha—Attempt to make her give Way—Her Condemnation—Execution—The Renewed Gospel [506]

CHAPTER XI.

THE VICTIMS OF CHARLES V.

(1529 to 1535.)

Compassion of Charles V.—Rage of Charles of Egmont—Executions Multiplied—Martyrdom of William of Zwoll—Victims of Charles V.—Death of Margaret of Austria—Mary of Hungary, Governess of the Netherlands—Her false Position—Cornelius Crocus—John Sartorius—Controversies—Some Books of Sartorius—New Edict of Persecution—A courageous Town—A Family of Martyrs—Crimes and Horrors—Sorrow and Distress—The Enthusiasts—Cruel Fanaticism—Unhealthy Fermentation—‘Illuminated’ Prophets—The Tailor Bockhold—Excesses and Follies—Illuminism the Offspring of Persecution—The Netherlands breaking off from Lutheranism to embrace Calvinism [524]

CHAPTER XII.

LOUVAIN.

(1537 to 1544.)

Peter Bruly at Ghent—The Evangelists—Antoinette and Gudule—Pastor Jan van Ousberghen—The Faithful—An innocent Walk—Conventicles—Boldness of the Sculptor Beyaerts—Epidemic at Louvain—Arrests—Arrests by Night—Twenty-three Prisoners—The Examinations—The Wise confounded by simple Women—Paul de Roovere—Insulted—Terrified—His Recantation—New Victims—Great Display of Force—Executions—Antoinette van Roesmals—Buried alive—Giles Tielmans—His simple Faith—His unbounded Charity—His evangelical Zeal—Trouble and Terror among the Faithful—Imprisonment of Giles Tielmans—The Evangelist Ousberghen—His Arrest—Trial—Fears—Condemnation—A great Light—Execution of Ousberghen—Execution of Giles Tielmans [546]

BOOK XI.—(continuation.)
CALVIN AND THE PRINCIPLES OF HIS REFORM.

CHAPTER XIX.
RECALL OF CALVIN TO GENEVA.
(August 1540 to March 1541.)

The friends of the Reformers were once more in the majority at Geneva. The very mistakes of their enemies had restored their moral authority and enlarged their influence. It would have been difficult in so short a time to have committed a greater number of mistakes, or mistakes of a graver character. Beza undoubtedly gives utterance to the general feeling when he declares that ‘the city began to claim again its Calvin and its Farel.’

The ministers who were filling their places were not men likely to make their predecessors forgotten. They were not up to their task. In their preaching there was little unity, little understanding of the Scriptures; and people were not wanting at Geneva to make them sensible of their inferiority. It was for them a period of trouble, humiliation, strife, and unhappiness. The wind was changed. These poor pastors in their turn were objects of ill-will; and they complained bitterly of the censures and the insults which they had to undergo. The council did nothing more than send out of the town a poor blind man who had given offence to them, and ordered them to go on peaceably with the duties of their ministry. But the ministers were by this time aware of the mistake which they had made when they consented to take the place of such men as Farel and Calvin. Morand, who was of a susceptible nature, was shocked to find himself exposed to what he called ‘intolerable calumnies and execrable blasphemies.’ He was at the same time indignant that justice was not done on the ‘lies.’ He gave in his resignation to the council, expressing his desire ‘that his good brethren might have better reason to stay with them; otherwise,’ said he, ‘look for nothing but ruin and famine.’ He then went away without further leave. This was on the 10th of August.[^[10]]

When Marcourt heard of the departure of his colleague he was upset and indignant. What! leave him alone on the field of battle! and that without giving any warning (the other two pastors went for nothing)! He relieved himself by giving vent to his feeling. ‘Bad man!’ he exclaimed, ‘traitor!’ And he loudly condemned before all the people the pastor who had deserted. They were going on together tolerably well, and they could at least complain to one another. Before the council Marcourt took a high tone. ‘Put a stop to these insults,’ said he, ‘or I too will go away.’ The council merely charged him to invite Viret to come and take the Place of Morand. To have such a colleague would have been an honor to Marcourt; but Viret had no mind to go to Geneva while Calvin was in exile. Marcourt took his resolution and, like Morand, departed abruptly, without leave. It was the 20th of September.

Flight Of Morand And Marcourt.

After the departure of these two ministers, the only ones who had any talent, the council, in their turn, had to say, What is to become of us? Their best pastors having abandoned them, there remained only two incapable men, De la Mare and Bernard. The gentlemen of the council felt themselves greatly straitened. The destitution was extreme, the danger pressing, and the distress great. Then a cry was uttered: a cry not of anguish but of hope. Calvin! they said, Calvin! Calvin alone could now save Geneva. The day after the departure of Marcourt, the friends of the Reformer in the council made bold to name him; and it was decreed ‘that Master A. Marcourt having gone away, commission was given to Seigneur A. Perrin to find means of getting Master Calvin, and to spare no pains for that purpose.’ The Reformer was therefore apprised of the desire which had arisen for his return. When a people have banished their most powerful protector, the most pressing duty is to get him back again. The Genevese had their mournful but profitable reflections.

By the departure of Morand and Marcourt Geneva was left in a state of great dearth, and the friends of Calvin did not shrink from saying so. Porral reproached De la Mare with overthrowing Holy Scripture. The preacher hastened to complain to the council. ‘Gentlemen,’ said he (September 29), ‘Porral alleges that what I preach is poison; but I am ready to maintain on my life that my doctrine is of God.’ Porral, over-zealous, then began to open the catalogue of what he called the heresies of the preacher. ‘He has said that the magistrate ought not always to punish the wicked. He has said that Jesus Christ went to his death more joyfully than ever a man to his nuptials,’ &c. &c. ‘I maintain that these assertions are false,’ added Porral. De la Mare was angry and demanded justice. ‘But other business was pressing and nothing was done in this matter.’[^[11]]

Calvin disapproved of these attacks directed against the pastors in office.

‘Beloved brethren,’ he wrote to his friends at Geneva, ‘nothing has grieved me more, next to the troubles which have well-nigh overthrown your church, than to hear of your strifes and debates with the ministers who succeeded us. Not only is your church torn by these dissensions, but more—and this is a matter of the gravest importance—the ministry is exposed to disgrace. Where strife and discord exist, there can hardly be the faintest hope of progress in the best things. Not that I desire to deprive you of the right, which God has given to you as to all his people, of subjecting all pastors to examination for the purpose of distinguishing between the good and the bad,[^[12]] and of putting down those who under the mask of pastors display the rapacity of wolves. My wish is only that, when there are men who in a fair degree discharge the duties of the pastor, you should think rather of what you owe to others than of what others owe to you. Do not forget that the call of your ministers was not given without the will of God; for although our banishment must be attributed to the craft of the devil, still it was not the will of God that you should be altogether destitute of a ministry, or that you should fall again under the yoke of Antichrist. Moreover, do not forget another matter, namely your own sins, which assuredly deserve no light punishment.

‘This subject calls for a great deal of discrimination. Assuredly I would not be the man to introduce tyranny into the church.[^[13]] I would not consent that good men should be obliged to submit to pastors who do not fulfil their calling. If the respect and deference which the Lord awards to the ministers of his word and to them alone be paid to certain persons who do not deserve them, it is an intolerable indignity. Whosoever does not teach the word of our Lord Jesus Christ, whatever titles and prerogatives he may boast, is unworthy to be regarded as a pastor. But our brethren, your present ministers, do teach you the Gospel; and I do not see why you should be allowed to slight them or to reject them. If you say that there are features in their teaching and their character which do not please you, remember that it is not possible to find a man in whom there is not much room for improvement. If you are incessantly disputing with your ministers, you are trampling underfoot their ministry, in which the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ought to shine forth.’

Embassy Of Dufour.

If the council did not come to a decision on the question which Calvin had decided, it was because, as it declared, it had other business in hand; and the most important of all was the recall of that great teacher who had displayed so much fairness and moderation. The council felt more and more that the powerful mind and the high authority of Calvin were indispensable in Geneva; and therefore again and again they pressed for his return. On September 20 the Little Council gave Perrin the commission of which we have spoken. On October 13 the Two Hundred decreed that a letter should be written to the Reformer, ‘begging him to consent to assist us.’ Michel Dubois was to be the bearer of the letter, and ‘was to make earnest appeals to the friends of the Reformer to persuade him to come.’ On the 19th the same council decided ‘that, for the promotion of the honor and glory of God, every thing possible must be done to get Master Calvin back.’ The next day the people assembled in General Council decreed that, ‘for the advancement and extension of the word of God, a deputation should be sent to Strasburg to fetch Master Calvin, who is very learned, to be evangelical minister in this town.’ On October 22 Louis Dufour, a member of the Two Hundred, was instructed to take the message of the councils to Strasburg; and on the 27th, twenty golden écus au soleil were voted to him for the purpose of fetching Master Calvin. They insisted upon it; they reiterated their determination; they decided the matter, and then decided it over again; they did not hesitate to repeat it again and again. The matter was of such importance that entreaties must be urgent. Dufour set out. Would he succeed? That was the question, and it was very doubtful.[^[14]] When Calvin received the first message, previous to that of Dufour, he was so much excited and thrown into so great a perplexity that for two days he was hardly master of himself.[^[15]] Remembering the distress of mind which he had suffered at Geneva, his whole soul shrank with horror from the thought of returning thither. Had not his conscience been put to the torture? Had not anxieties consumed him? ‘I dread that town,’ he exclaimed, ‘as a place fatal to me.[^[16]] Who will blame me if I am unwilling to plunge again into that deadly gulf? Besides, can I believe that my ministry will be profitable there? The spirit which actuates most of the inhabitants is such as will be intolerable to me, and I shall be equally so to them.’ Then turning his thoughts in another direction he exclaimed—‘Nevertheless I desire so earnestly the good of the church of Geneva, that I would sooner risk my life a hundred times than betray it by desertion.[^[17]] I am ready therefore to follow the advice of those whom I regard as sure and faithful guides.’ It was to Farel that Calvin thus poured out his heart. It was his advice that he sought, and there was no doubt what this advice would be.

Calvin At Worms.

The Reformer also consulted his Strasburg friends, and agreed with them that he could not abruptly quit the church of which he was then pastor; and, above all, that he must be present at the assembly of Worms, as he had already been present in the spring at that of Hagenau. He therefore wrote to the lords of Geneva: ‘It has been arranged by the gentlemen of the council of this town that I should go with some of my brethren to the assembly of Worms, in order to serve not one church alone, but all churches, among which yours is included. I do not, indeed, think myself so wise, so great, or so experienced that I can be of any great use there; but, since a matter of such high concern is at stake, and as it has been arranged not only by the council of this town, but also by others, that I should go there, I am obliged to obey. But I can call God to witness that I hold your church in such esteem that I would never be wanting to it in the time of its need in any thing which I could possibly undertake.’[^[18]]

Calvin’s letter was written on the 23d of October; and Dufour brought him a letter from the council dated the day before. When the delegate reached Strasburg Calvin was already at Worms, where an important conference was about to be held between the Protestant and the Catholic theologians, for the purpose of endeavoring to come to an understanding with each other, in pursuance of the plan agreed upon at Hagenau. The Genevese messenger appeared before the senate of Strasburg, and made known to them the purpose of his journey. The senate replied that Calvin was absent, and that without his consent they could make no promise. Dufour then determined to follow the Reformer to the town which Luther, by his Christian heroism, had made illustrious. ‘I will ascertain exactly,’ he said, ‘what he thinks of our call.’ A courier carried to Worms the news of the arrival of the Genevese deputation, and the Strasburg magistrate entrusted him with a letter for his deputies, Jacob Sturm and Mathias Pfarrer, in which he enjoined them to do all they could to prevent Calvin making any engagement with the Genevese. The high estimate formed of Calvin in Germany, the fact that an imperial city sent this Frenchman as a deputy to assemblies convoked by the Emperor to take into consideration the deepest interests of the Empire, might well contribute to work a change in the opinion of some of the citizens of the little republic with respect to Calvin, of whom it had hitherto been possible to say: ‘A prophet is not without honor save in his own country.’ The Genevese deputy arrived two days after the courier, and delivered to Calvin the letter of the Council of Geneva. He read it, and it is easy to imagine the impression which it must make on him. It ran as follows:

‘To the Doctor Calvin, Evangelical Minister.

‘Our excellent brother and special friend, we commend ourselves to you very affectionately, because we are fully assured that you have no other desire but for the increase and advancement of the glory and honor of God, and of his holy Word. On behalf of our Little, Great, and General Councils (all of which have strongly urged us to take this step), we pray you very affectionately that you will be pleased to come over to us, and to return to your former post and ministry; and we hope that by God’s help this course will be a great advantage for the furtherance of the holy Gospel, seeing that our people very much desire you, and we will so deal with you that you shall have reason to be satisfied.

‘This 22d October, 1540.

‘Your good friends,

‘The Syndics and Council of Geneva.’[^[19]]

This letter was fastened with a seal bearing the motto—Post tenebras spero lucem.

Calvin’s Perplexity.

The invitation to Geneva was clear, affectionate, and pressing. But the courier, who had reached Worms two days before, had brought to the Strasburg deputies a letter from their senate the purport of which was entirely the reverse. All those who had heard the letter read, and Calvin most of all, had been astonished at the eagerness to keep the Reformer which the magistrates of this free city expressed. ‘I had never imagined,’ he said, ‘that they set such value upon me.’[^[20]] He thus found himself pressed on two sides, Geneva and Strasburg: and if the fancy were not too high-flown, we might say that the Latin and the German races were at this moment contending for the man who but a little while before was driven away from the town in which he lived. The decision which Calvin had to form was a solemn and difficult one. His whole career in this world was at stake. He called together such of his friends as were then at Worms for the purpose of consulting with them. To return to Geneva was, in his view, to sacrifice his life, but he was resolved to take this course if his friends counselled it. ‘The faithful,’ thought he, ‘must heartily abandon their life when it is a hindrance to their drawing nigh to Christ. They must in such case act like one who throws off his shoulders a heavy and tiresome burden when he wants to go quickly elsewhere. Let us take our life in our hands, and offer it to God as a sacrifice.’[^[21]]

Calvin’s counsellors not being of one mind, it was agreed to wait until the deputation from Geneva should arrive.[^[22]] But having received letters from Farel and from Viret, Calvin called his friends together again, and laying before them all the reasons which he could find, said, ‘I conjure you, in giving your advice, to leave my person altogether out of the question.’[^[23]] In this very town of Worms, where Luther, in the presence of Charles V., had not shrunk from offering the sacrifice of his life, Calvin declared himself ready to do the same. His language was deeply pathetic. ‘Tears flowed from his eyes more abundantly than words from his lips.’[^[24]] His friends were moved at the sight of the sincerity and depth of his feelings. His discourse was more than once interrupted by emotion. His soul was deeply stirred. He perceived that upon this moment hung a decision which must affect his whole life. They were no terrors of imagination which disturbed him. The struggles and the distress which he passed through at Geneva probably exceeded his anticipations. He was quite overpowered and wishing to conceal from his friends the passion of his grief, and to pour out his heart freely before God alone, he twice left the room and sought retirement.[^[25]] The opinion of his friends was that for the time he should not make an engagement, but that he might hold out a hope to the Genevese. Calvin, however, went further. In the midst of the conflict through which his soul had just passed he had resolved on the course which terrified him. He would go to Geneva, and he said to the friends of the Reformation, ‘I beg of you to promise that when this diet is over, you will not throw any obstacle in the way of my going to Geneva.’ The thought that it was God’s will that he should be there was constantly presenting itself to his conscience afresh, and this even in spite of himself. The Strasburg deputies reluctantly assented. Capito wished to keep him. Bucer desired that he should be free to accept the call, ‘unless, indeed,’ he added, ‘any contrary wind should blow from your own side.’[^[26]]

His Reply To Geneva.

Calvin wrote to Geneva on November 12, 1540, as follows:—‘Magnificent, mighty, and honorable Lords, were it only for the courtesy with which you treat me, it would be my duty to endeavor to meet your wishes. But there is, besides, the singular love which I bear to your church, which God once committed to my care, so that I am forever bound to promote its good and its salvation. Nevertheless, be so good as to remember that I am here at Worms for the purpose of serving, with what small ability God has given me, all Christian churches. For this reason I am, for the present, unable to come and serve you.’[^[27]] There was one point which Calvin put forward in all his letters to the council. He would not go to Geneva merely as a teacher and preacher, but also as a guide (conducteur), and with power to act in such a way that the members of the church might conform to the commandments of God. On October 23, 1540, he wrote: ‘I doubt not that your church is in great distress and in danger of being still further wasted unless help comes. For this reason I will strive, with all the grace which God has given me, to bring it back into a better state.’ On November 12, in the letter which we quote, he wrote, ‘The anxiety I feel that your church should be well governed, will lead me to try every means of succoring its need.’ On February 19, 1541, he says to them, ‘I beg you to bethink yourselves of all the means of wisely constituting your church, that it may be ruled according to the command of our Lord.’[^[28]] Calvin was therefore anxious to make the rulers at Geneva understand that one condition of his return was that the church should be well governed and morals well regulated. He did not wish to take any one by surprise. If he is to be pastor at Geneva, he will reprove the disobedient, as the word of God commands.

He foresaw, nevertheless, that this would be difficult, and his distress was not relieved. The reasons for and against contended with each other in his mind. He was wrapt in confusion and darkness. He was weighed down with a burden. His agitation made it impossible for him to judge calmly, according to right and reason. ‘With respect to this call from Geneva,’ he wrote to his friend Nicolas Parent, ‘my soul is so full of perplexity and darkness, that I dare not even think of what I am to do. When I do enter upon the subject I see no way of escape. Plunged in this distress, I distrust myself and give myself up to others to guide me.’ He was in the condition depicted by a poet, in which

Erreurs et vérités, ténèbres et lumière

Flottent confusément devant notre paupière,

Où l’on dit: C’est le jour! et bientôt: C’est la nuit!

He added, ‘Let us pray God to show us the right path.’[^[29]] We are reminded that Luther had likewise had a similar period of distress in this very town of Worms in 1521.[^[30]]

Viret At Geneva.

While these things were passing at Strasburg and at Worms, the revival of the Gospel at Geneva was becoming more and more manifest. In December, 1540, the council, anxious to provide for the good of the church, had besought the lords of Berne with earnest entreaties to send them Viret, then pastor at Lausanne. A letter had also been written to Viret himself. Calvin having expressed a desire to see this friend at work in Geneva, the Vaudois evangelist had replied that he was ready to do all that he could; even adding that ‘he would willingly shed his blood for Geneva:’ and he had arrived there at the beginning of 1541. He had immediately applied himself to preaching the word of God, a task for which he was very well fitted, say the registers, and his preaching bore much fruit. Viret was certainly the man that was wanted in this town, the scene of so many conflicts and storms. ‘He handled Scripture well,’ says Roset, who had doubtless heard him, ‘and he was gifted with eloquence which charmed the people.’[^[31]] He taught with meekness those who were of the contrary opinion, and thought, as Calvin says, that kindliness ought to be shown even to those who are not worthy of it. His gentle accents penetrated men’s hearts, and his actions added force to his words. For the children of Jean Philippe, who perished on the scaffold, he obtained permission to return. These children, by the unrighteous laws of the time, had been the victims of the offences of their father. He set himself to the re-establishing of order in the church, and to restoring the Gospel to honor in Geneva. The civil magistrate was among the first to profit by his exhortations; and in the middle of January it was decreed that ‘since the Lord God had done so much good to Geneva, his holy name should be called upon at the opening of the sittings of the council, and wise ordinances should be passed, that every one might know how he ought to act.’ The people in general desired the return of Calvin, and were more and more friendly to the new order of things.

It was thus with Jacques Bernard, the most influential of the two ministers still remaining at Geneva. Observing the change which was taking place in public opinion, he too faced about. We can even imagine that he was moved to do so by grave reasons. On the first Sunday in February he set out with a heavy heart to the Auditoire at Rive, where he was going to preach. The distress of the church, the departure of Morand and Marcourt, the reduction of the ministry to two pastors, De la Mare and himself, the sense of their inadequacy to a task so large and for a people so numerous, weighed upon his heart.[^[32]] He appeared in the pulpit before an audience sad and dispirited, who, overpowered by grief on account of their terrible forlornness, burst into tears.[^[33]] The poor old Genevese and ex-Cordelier, a lover of his native place, was greatly affected. He felt impelled to urge upon his hearers that they should turn to the Lord their God; and he began to utter a humble and earnest prayer, supplicating Christ, the sovereign bishop of souls, to take pity on Geneva, and to send to the city such a pastor as the church stood in need of. The people followed his prayer very devoutly.

On February 6 Bernard wrote to Calvin, and after relating to him the above circumstances, he added: ‘To speak the truth, I was not thinking of you, I had no expectation that you would be the man that we were asking of God. But the next day, when the Council of the Two Hundred had assembled every one wished for Calvin. On the following day, the General Council met, and all cried out: We want Calvin, who is an honest man and a learned minister of Christ.[^[34]] When I heard this, I praised God and understood that this was the Lord’s doing and was marvellous in our eyes, that the stone which the builders refused had become the head-stone of the corner. Come then, my revered father in Jesus Christ; it is to us that you belong; the Lord God has given you to us. All are longing for you; and you will see how welcome your arrival will be to all. You will discover that I am not such a man as the reports of some may have led you to suppose, but that I am a sincere friend to you and a faithful brother. What do I say? You will find that I am entirely devoted to you and full of deference to your wishes. Delay not to come. You will see Geneva a nation renewed, assuredly by the work of God, but also by the ministrations of Viret. The Lord Jesus grant that your return may be speedy! Consent to come to the help of our church. If you do not come, the Lord God will require our blood at your hands, for he has set you for a watchman over the house of Israel within our walls.’ Marcourt had written to Calvin a similar letter.[^[35]]

Calvin And Melanchthon.

Calvin had been named deputy to Worms by the council of Strasburg, on account of the abilities which he had displayed at Frankfort and at Hagenau. These two conferences he had attended merely in his private capacity. But the council perceived, says Sturm, ‘that his presence might do much honor to Strasburg in that assembly of distinguished men.’ The Dukes of Luneburg, important members of the empire, had likewise elected him their representative, so that he was invested with a twofold office.[^[36]] Calvin, notwithstanding his youth and his timidity, his foreign nationality and language, felt that he could not resist the importunities, one might almost say the violence, which were employed to get him to accept this important calling. ‘However much,’ said he afterwards, ‘I continued to be myself, in reluctance to attend great assemblies, I was nevertheless taken as if by force to the imperial diets, at which, whether I liked it or not, I could not avoid being thrown into the company of many men.’[^[37]] He had, moreover, the happiness of meeting there two men in whose society he took much delight, two colleagues and friends of Luther whom he had previously seen, one of them at Frankfort, the other at Hagenau, but with whom he now associated more intimately. They were Melanchthon and Cruciger. The former had acknowledged his agreement with him on the doctrine of the Lord’s supper. Cruciger requested of him a private conversation on the same subject; and, after Calvin had explained his view, he stated that he approved it as Melanchthon had done. Thus two Wittenberg theologians and one of Geneva easily came to an agreement. Sincere and prudent men therefore do not find concord so difficult a thing as is supposed.

At Worms was formed that intimate friendship between Melanchthon and Calvin which might be so serviceable to each of them as well as to the Church. But troublesome spirits were not wanting in this town. Among others there was the dean of Passau, Robert of Mosham, who at Strasburg had already had a discussion with Calvin, in which the advantage did not remain with the Roman Catholic champion. He considered it a point of honor to seek his revenge, and he was once more thoroughly beaten by the learned and powerful doctor. The superiority of Calvin, and the remembrance of his former defeat, inspired terror in the heart of the dean, and he got out of his depth.[^[38]] Melanchthon, who was present at their conference, followed Calvin with as warm an interest as he had manifested twenty-one years before at the disputation of Luther with Dr. Eck at Leipsic. He admired the clearness, the accuracy, the depth and force of the theological propositions and proofs of the young French doctor; and charmed at once by an intellect so clear and a knowledge so profound, he proclaimed him THE THEOLOGIAN par excellence. This designation was worth all the more as originating with Melanchthon; but all the evangelical doctors who heard him were struck not only with his language, but with the wealth and weight of his thoughts and his arguments.

Their Mutual Confidence.

From the time of this intercourse at Worms, there always existed between Melanchthon and Calvin that warm affection and that peculiar esteem which are felt by the dearest friends. Esteem was perhaps uppermost in Melanchthon, and affection in Calvin. On the one side the friendship was founded more on reflection (réfléchi), on the other it was more spontaneous. But on both sides it was the product of their noble and beautiful qualities. They esteemed each other and loved each other because they both had the same zeal for all that is true, good, and lovely, and because, with a noble emulation, they were striving to attain these blessings and to diffuse them in the world. When the best among men draw together, and especially when Christianity purifies and consecrates their union, then their characters and their hearts are exalted, and their mutual love cannot fail to exert a beneficial influence. This friendship between two such men at first surprises us. They are usually set in contrast with one another; the Frenchman being looked upon as an example of extreme severity, and the German of extreme gentleness. How then, it may be said, could the soft, sweet tones of the soul of Melanchthon set in vibration the iron soul of Calvin? The reason is that his was not an iron soul. So far, indeed, as the great truths of salvation were concerned, Calvin was no more to be bent than an iron bar; for these he was ready to die. But in his relations as a husband, a father, and a friend, he had a most tender heart. Even if, in the controversies of the age, the discussion turned on matters of doctrine not affecting salvation, he could bear with and even love his opponents as few Christians have done.

The friendship of Melanchthon and Calvin was not one of those earthly ties which pass away with the years; this affection was deep-seated and its bonds were firm. The two friends had long interviews with each other at Worms. Melanchthon never forgot them. ‘Would that I could talk fully and freely with thee,’ he wrote to Calvin at a later period, ‘as we used to do when we were together!‘[^[39]] Having received a work of Calvin’s in which he was mentioned, Melanchthon said to him—‘I am delighted with thy love for me; and I thank thee for thinking of inscribing a memorial of it in so famous a book, as in a place of honor.’ ‘Yes, dear brother,’ wrote he on another occasion, ‘I long to speak with thee of the weightiest matters, because I have a high opinion of thy judgment, and because I know the uprightness of thy soul, thy perfect candor. I am now living here like an ass in a wasp’s nest.’[^[40]]

Calvin, although he loved Melanchthon, did not fail at the same time to tell him freely his opinion whenever he appeared too yielding. He had been told that, on one occasion of this kind, Melanchthon tore his letter to pieces; but he found that this was a mistake. ‘Our union,’ he said to him, ‘must remain holy and inviolable; and since God has consecrated it we must keep it faithfully to the end, for the prosperity or the ruin of the Church is in this case at stake. Oh! that I could talk with thee! I know thy candor, the elevation of thy sentiments, thy modesty and thy piety, manifest to angels and to men.’[^[41]] Oftentimes Melanchthon, when worn out with the toil imposed on him by his attendance at the assemblies in company with Calvin, worried by the Catholic theologians, and not always agreeing with the Lutherans, overwhelmed with weariness, would betake himself to his friend, throw himself into his arms and exclaim, ‘Oh, would God, would God, I might die on thy bosom!‘[^[42]] Calvin wished a thousand times that Melanchthon and he might have the happiness of living together. He did not hesitate to say to Melanchthon, ‘that he felt himself to be far inferior to him:’ and nevertheless he believed that, if they had been oftener together, his friend would have been more courageous in the conflict.

The friendship which united Melanchthon and Calvin at Worms, and afterwards at Ratisbon, did not remain without fruit. If Melanchthon, who was head of the Protestant deputation, displayed on that occasion more energy than usual, if the Romish theologians were almost brought over to the Evangelical doctrines, it must be attributed to the influence of Calvin. The metal, till then too malleable, acquired by tempering a greater degree of firmness.

Calvin, however, was saddened by what he saw. It might be possible to come to some arrangement with the papacy, which would in appearance make some concessions; but he had no doubt that if Protestantism were once caught in Rome’s net, it was lost. It was this which appears to have taken up his attention in the last days of the year, when mournful thoughts are wont to cast a gloom over the mind. But he did not stop there. He knew that Christ did conquer and will conquer the world. ‘When we are well-nigh overwhelmed in ourselves,’ he said, ‘if we but look at that glory to which Christ our head has been raised, we shall be bold to look with contempt on all the evils which impend over us.’[^[43]] One circumstance might contribute also to remind him of the victories which Christ gives. On the first day of the year 1541 he was at Worms. Here it was that, twenty years before, Luther had appeared before the emperor and the diet, and by his faith had won a glorious victory. Calvin doubtless remembered this. ‘Moreover,’ says Conrad Badius, an eye-witness, who was admitted to the lodgings of the Protestant doctors, ‘the pope’s adherents were so astounded and distracted by the mere presence of the servants of Jesus Christ, that they did not dare to lift up their heads to utter a word.’[^[44]]

Calvin’s ‘Song Of Victory.’

Deeply affected by the formidable struggle which had been going on for nearly a quarter of a century, and persuaded that Christ would put all his enemies under his feet, Calvin gave utterance to this thought in a Song of Victory (Epinicion). It is the only poem of his that we possess, and it contains some fine lines. ‘Yes,’ sang Calvin, ‘the victory will be Christ’s, and the year which announces to us the day of triumph is now beginning. Let pious tongues break the thankless silence and cause their joy to burst forth. His enemies will say, What madness is this? Are they triumphing over a nation which is not yet subdued, are they seizing the crown before they have routed the army? True, impiety sits haughtily on a lofty throne. There still exists one who by a nod bends to his will the most powerful monarchs, his mouth vomiting deadly poison and his hands stained with innocent blood. But for Christ death is life and the cross a victory. The breath of his mouth is the weapon with which he fights, and already for five lustra he has brandished his sword with a vigorous hand, not without smiting. The pope, leader of the sacrilegious army, wounded at last, groans under the unlooked-for plagues which have just fallen upon him, and the profane multitude is trembling for terror. If it be a great thing to conquer one’s enemies by force, what must it be to overthrow them by a mere sign? Christ casts them down without breaking his own repose: he scatters them while he keeps silence. We are a pitiful band, few in number, without apparel, without arms, sheep in the presence of ravening wolves. But the victory of Christ our king is for that very reason all the more marvellous. Let his head then be crowned with the laurel of victory, let him be seated on the chariot drawn by four coursers abreast, that his glory may shine forth before all.

Que tous ses ennemis qui lui ont fait la guerre

Aillent après, captifs, baissant le front en terre:

Eck still flushed with his Bacchic orgies, the incompetent Cochlæus, Nausea with his wordy productions, Pelargus with his mouth teeming with insolence—these are not chief men, but the shameless multitude have set them for standard-bearers in the fight. Let them learn then to bow their necks under an unaccustomed yoke. And you, O sacred poets, celebrate in magnificent song the glorious victory of Jesus Christ, and let all the multitude around him shout Io Pæan!‘[^[45]]

Calvin And Viret.

At the end of February Calvin set out for Ratisbon, to which place the conference of Worms had been transferred by the emperor. He had informed the council of Geneva of this absence on February 1, 1541. ‘I am appointed deputy,’ he said, ‘to the diet of Ratisbon, and since I am God’s servant and not my own, I am ready to serve wheresoever it may seem good to him to call me.’ Touching the arrival of Viret at Geneva he added, ‘He is a man of such faithfulness and discretion, that having him you are not destitute.’[^[46]] This sojourn of Viret at Geneva was in Calvin’s eyes a matter of great moment. He had grave fears for the city. ‘I greatly fear,’ said he, ‘that if this church had remained much longer in its state of destitution, every thing would have turned out contrary to our wishes; but now I hope; the danger is past.’[^[47]]

The preparations for his journey had not allowed Calvin to reply immediately to Bernard. The letter of this Genevese pastor was not altogether agreeable to him. Bernard’s application to him of a prophecy referring to Jesus Christ (the head-stone of the corner), was in his eyes a piece of flattery which could only disgust him (usque ad nauseam, he wrote to Farel). However, he knew his man, and so the more willingly took his letter in good part. He wrote to Bernard from Ulm, March 1, that the arguments which he advanced for his return had always had great weight with him; that he was most of all terrified at the thought of fighting against God, and that it was this feeling which never allowed him entirely to reject the call; that he thanked him for his entreaties, and that, seeing his kind intentions, he hoped that the feeling of his heart corresponded to his words, and he promised on his own part all that could be expected of a friend of peace, oppose to all strife. ‘But, at the same time,’ he added, ‘I beseech you, in God’s name, and by his awful judgment, to remember what he is with whom you have to do, the Lord, who will call you to give to him an exact account at the judgment day, who will submit you to a most rigorous trial, and who cannot be satisfied with mere words and empty excuses. I ask of you only one thing—that you consecrate yourself sincerely and faithfully to the Lord.’[^[48]] Thus is it always; his own great motive the will of God; and as to Bernard, he must be a true servant of God. The truth before every thing.

Calvin, meanwhile, was gradually becoming familiar with the thought of returning to Geneva. The same day (March 1) he wrote, it is true, from Ulm to Viret, and said to him, ‘There is no place under heaven that I more dread;‘[^[49]] but he added, ‘The care required by this church affects me deeply; and I do not know how it happens that my mind begins to lean more to the thought of taking the helm.’ The decisive blow had been struck by Farel. It was he who, in 1541, restored to Geneva this Calvin whom he had first given to the city in 1536.

About the end of February the Reformer received from his friend a letter so pressing and so forcible, ‘that the thunders of Pericles seemed to be heard in it,’ according to the expression of Calvin’s friend, the refugee Claude Feray, who at the Reformer’s request wrote to Farel and thanked him ‘for this vehemence so useful to the whole Christian republic.’[^[50]] No one knew better than Farel that Calvin alone could save Geneva. The Reformer now, therefore, began to change his attitude. Hitherto he had turned his back on the town that called him; from this time he set his face towards the city of the Leman. Almost at the same time Bullinger and other servants of God from Berne, from Basel, and from Zurich, prayed the council and the pastors of Strasburg not to oppose the return of the Reformer.

Victims Of The Plague.

Meanwhile, however powerful the thunder-peals of Farel might be, there were other circumstances which undoubtedly had an influence on Calvin’s decision. Other thunders were heard, besides those of which Claude Feray speaks, which deeply affected the Reformer, and which must have made it easier to exchange Strasburg for Geneva. The plague was raging in the former town, and was causing great mortality. Claude Feray was one of its first victims. Another friend of the Reformer, M. de Richebourg, had two sons at Strasburg, Charles and Louis; Louis was carried off by the epidemic three days after Feray. Antoine, Calvin’s brother, immediately took the other son, Charles, to a neighboring village. Desolation was in the house of the Reformer. His wife and his sister Maria quitted it likewise and went to join their brother Antoine. Calvin was in consternation as he received at Ratisbon, in rapid succession, these mournful tidings. ‘Day and night,’ said he, ‘my wife is incessantly in my thoughts; she is without counsel, for she is without her husband.’ The death of Louis, the sorrow of Charles, thus deprived within three days of his brother, and of his tutor Feray, whom he respected as a father, powerfully affected Calvin. But it was the sudden death of the latter, who had been his most trustworthy and most faithful friend at Strasburg, which above all filled him with grief. He thought sorrowfully of himself. ‘The more I feel the need,’ said he, ‘of such an adviser, the more I am persuaded that the Lord is chastising me for my offences.’ Prayer, however, and the Word of God refreshed his soul. He wrote to M. de Richebourg a touching letter, which he closed by entreating the Lord to keep him until he should arrive at that place to which Louis and Feray had gone before.[^[51]]

CHAPTER XX.
CALVIN AT RATISBON.
(1541.)

Calvin had at this time anxieties of another kind, which may well have contributed to make the republic of Geneva preferable to the Germanic empire as a residence. When the conference was broken off at Worms in 1541, he had been elected deputy to the assembly of Ratisbon. It was with reluctance that he went there, either because he felt that he was no diplomatist, and did not consider himself at all fit for business of that kind,[^[52]] or because he anticipated that his stay at Ratisbon would occasion him much annoyance. He was doubtless hoping always for the final victory of Jesus Christ, the theme of his song of triumph; but the conferences which he had already attended, the prolixities, the questions of mere form which arose, the direction which the Reformation seemed to be taking, all this disquieted and offended him. He had not gone to these Germanic assemblies with any large expectations or ready-made plans. He had no doubt that the Protestant divines would seek to extend the kingdom of Christ, but he saw more clearly than they did the obstacles which they would encounter. Many things afflicted and irritated him; and, perhaps, he could not at all times control his temper. The Catholics, it is true, made some |Concessions of the Lutherans.| concessions on important points; but even this failed to tranquillize Calvin, nay, it excited his suspicions, as it did those of Luther and the Elector of Saxony. Dr. Eck, who was one of the commissioners, was not a man to inspire much confidence in Calvin. The latter would sometimes speak rather hard words about him. This theologian had had an apoplectic fit, the consequence, it was rumored, of his intemperance, but he was gradually recovering. ‘The world,’ wrote Calvin to Farel, ‘does not yet deserve to be delivered from this brute.’[^[53]] He acknowledged the pacific sentiments of Cardinal Contarini, the papal legate, who at the same time that he was a thorough-going Catholic so far as the Church was concerned, leaned towards reconciliation with the Protestants with respect to matters of faith. But Calvin, who assuredly saw more clearly than others, did not doubt that the Roman dignitary really wished to bring back Protestants into the pale of the Church. The only difference which he perceived between him and the nuncio Morone was this—Contarini wishes to subdue us, but without shedding our blood; he tries to gain his end by all means except by fighting, while Morone is altogether sanguinary, and has always war on his lips.[^[54]] Calvin instituted a contrast between Morone and Contarini. The former is a man of blood, the latter a man of peace. Is it just to say that he hated Contarini?[^[55]] We think not.

He was much displeased with most of the princes. If any occasion of pleasure presented itself, they would always say, ‘Business to-morrow.’ If Calvin anywhere went into the Lutheran churches, he was saddened by the sight of images and crosses, and by certain parts of the service. The relations of the theologians with princes and with courts appeared to him to be bonds of servility and worldliness.

He could not approve even the methods of procedure adopted by his best friends, Melanchthon and Bucer. To Farel he wrote thus: ‘They have drawn up ambiguous and colored formulæ on transubstantiation,[^[56]] to see if they could not satisfy their opponents without making any real concession to them. I do not like this. I can, nevertheless, assure you and all good men, that they are acting with the best intentions, and are aiming only at the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. They fancy that our antagonists will presently have their eyes opened on the subject of doctrine, and that it is therefore best to leave this point undecided. But they are too accommodating to the temper of the times.’

On February 23 the emperor had arrived at Ratisbon. Electors, princes, archbishops, bishops, and lords of all degrees had gathered around the chief of the empire, and all contributed by their presence to give special importance to the assembly. They wished by subtle negotiations to make an end of the Reformation. Never had there been so great danger for the Protestant opposition of being weakened and dissolved into the Romish hierarchical system. The pope had sent to Germany the amiable and pious Contarini as a capital bait for the Protestants; and these, when once caught, he would have thrown into his own fish-pond, and carefully secured them there. Melanchthon himself had desired that Calvin should attend the assembly, because he felt sure that the young doctor would do there what he himself would not have resolution enough to do. Calvin’s part at Ratisbon was not only to see what others did not see, but also to cry out to his too confiding friends—Beware! The time which he spent at this Germanic diet forms one of the most important epochs of his life; one in which he was called to act on the loftiest stage. The firmness with which he unveiled the designs of the papacy and strengthened the feeble Protestants had much to do with the breaking off of the insidious negotiations which Contarini himself at last felt bound to abandon. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was at this time menaced in Germany. It was necessary to save it. The sayings of Calvin hit hard. Some have said they were exaggerated; and yet ecclesiastical occurrences of succeeding years justified them. Learned and pious Catholics have uttered against Rome many of the same reproaches as the Reformer did. If Calvin did not recognize in the Roman Catholic Church some worthy and truly pious men, he was mistaken. But there is no evidence of such a mistake on his part. When he replies to a discourse of a nephew and legate of the pope—of the pope himself—it is only the Romish hierarchy that he attacks; and the more he finds the Germans disposed to give way, the more he feels it to be his duty to speak clearly, decisively, and courageously. ‘If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself to the battle?’

Speech Of Cardinal Farnese.

Pope Paul III. had sent to the emperor his nephew, Cardinal Farnese, ‘who was only just past boyhood.’ This young prelate had faithfully addressed to Charles V. the discourse which he had received from his uncle; and this was a bill of indictment against the Protestants. To this manifesto of the papacy Calvin felt it to be his duty to reply,[^[57]] and thus to re-establish the truth which was trampled under foot. Never, perhaps, had the Reformation and the Papacy come into more direct collision, and this in the persons of their most considerable combatants, and, as it were, in the presence of the emperor and the diet. The epoch at which this dialogue appeared, the distinguished character of the interlocutors, the importance of the subjects discussed, the necessity that a history of the Reformation should not be limited to external movements but should penetrate to principles, and the circumstance that this work of Calvin’s has remained so long unknown—all these considerations compel us to fix our attention upon it. We cannot forget what Luther called ‘the kernel of the nut, the flour of the wheat, and the marrow of the bones.’ The Reformation is above all an idea: it has a soul, a life. It is the depth of this soul that Calvin here lays open. Let the pope and the reformer speak. The latter speaks with all the energy imparted to him by his character, his youth, and his indignation. Pope Paul III. addresses the mighty Emperor of Germany, and we may properly say that Calvin, although indirectly, does the same. This strange colloquy is well worth the trouble of listening to it.

The Pope. ‘We are desirous of the peace and the unity of Germany; but of a peace and a unity which do not constitute a perpetual war against God.’

Calvin. ‘That is to say, against the earthly god, the Roman god. For if he (the pope) wished for peace with the true God, he would live in a different manner; he would teach otherwise and reign otherwise than he does. For his whole existence, his institutions, and his decrees make war on God.’

The Pope. ‘The Protestants are like slippery snakes; they aim at no certain object, and thus show plainly enough that they are altogether enemies of concord, and want, not the suppression of vice, but the overthrow of the apostolic see! We ought not to have any further negotiations with them.’

Calvin. ‘Certainly, there is a snake in the grass here. The pope, who holds in abomination all discussion, cannot hear it spoken of without immediately crying “Fire!” in order to prevent it. Only let any one call to mind all the little assemblies held by the pontiffs these twenty years and more, for the purpose of smothering the Gospel, and then he will see clearly what kind of a reformation they would be willing to accept.[^[58]] All men of sound mind see clearly that the question is not only of maintaining the status of the pope as a sovereign and limited episcopacy, but rather of completely setting aside the episcopal office and of establishing in its stead and under its name an antichristian tyranny.[^[59]] And not only so, but the adherents of the papacy put men out of their minds by wicked and impious lies, and corrupt the world by numberless examples of debauchery. Not contented with these misdeeds, they exterminate those who strive to restore to the Church a purer doctrine and a more lawful order, or who merely venture to ask for these things.’

The Pope. ‘It is impossible to tell in what way to proceed in order to come to any agreement with such people as these, for they are not in agreement even with one another. The Lutherans want one thing, the Zwinglians want another, to say nothing of other sects.’

Calvin. ‘This is a malicious fiction. Let the institutions of Jesus Christ and the worship of the early church be re-established; let every thing be cast away that is opposed to these, and which can proceed only from Antichrists, and concord will thus be immediately restored among all who are of Christ, whether they be called by their enemies Lutherans or Zwinglians. If there be any who demand other things than those which I have just spoken of, the Protestants do not count them of their number.’[^[60]]

The Pope. ‘Even if it were possible to bring about a union, if the Protestants could be brought to obey the holy see, this could not be effected without making many concessions to them.’

Calvin. ‘It is needful only to concede what the Lord concedes and commands. Why does man refuse this?’

The Pope. ‘If these things were allowed, the consequence would be a breach in the unity of the Church; for such changes would never be accepted in France, nor in Spain, nor in Italy, nor in the other provinces of Christendom.’

Unity And Diversity.

Calvin. ‘Let the free and sincere preaching of the Gospel be everywhere restored, and there will be no more diversity among the faithful in Christ Jesus; for we ask only for the truth which the Lord has proclaimed for the salvation of his people. With respect to diversities of practice the churches must be left at liberty.[^[61]] The unity of the Church does not consist in sameness of rites but in sameness of faith. In the ages of the apostles and of the martyrs a sincere unity was maintained among the Christians, notwithstanding differences of ritual observances. But since the several churches of different countries received under the Roman pontiff the same rites, the sole foundations of salvation have been miserably shifted. The just lives by faith, not by ceremonies. No church may insist on any thing which is not of faith as indispensable to Christian communion. There is therefore nothing on the part of the Protestants which makes it difficult, much less impossible, to establish a pious and solid agreement amongst all the churches.’[^[62]]

The Pope. ‘And if the general council should not approve these changes, and should possibly establish the contrary, what hope would there be of then bringing back unity to Germany, which would have had time to grow strong in its new opinions?’

Calvin. ‘What! a council would not only not approve what has been established by the word of Christ himself, but would publicly abrogate it! Good God! what a monster of a council! Such are the fine hopes held out to us by the Roman see. Why should we still wait for this assembly, since if it were held, we should have to repudiate it?’

The Pope. ‘There would be danger, moreover, lest the Protestants, while making some concessions, should attain in return their chief desire, the separation of Catholics from the apostolic see!’

Calvin. ‘From the Roman see, if you please, but not from the apostolic see. The Catholic Protestants[^[63]] have no other wish but to get the see of Satan overthrown, and the true see of Christ set up in its place—that see on which rest the apostles and not the Antichrists. Now the point supremely insisted on by the papists is their will to reign in the Church, to be masters of every thing in it, and to leave nothing to Jesus Christ.’

The Pope. ‘We can easily conceive what sort of peace we may have with those Protestants who, sometimes by letters, sometimes by threatening speeches, and sometimes by artful practices, daily lead astray men of all ranks.’

Calvin. ‘These illicit methods are as unusual among us as they are familiar to the Roman bishops. It is not merely a few individuals in Germany that the Protestants wish to enlighten, but the whole world, if the Lord permit, in order that all may enjoy together the true and sole religion of Jesus Christ.[^[64]]

The Pope. ‘Since piety, alas, has grown cold, men are naturally prompted to pass over from a faith too severe to one more lax, from a more continent religion to one more voluptuous, and from submission to independence.’

Calvin. ‘Who could endure such a piece of impudence? Whence, then, has come the ruin of religion which all pious men mourn? Whence comes the contempt of God and of sacred things? Whence, but from the apathy, the ignorance, and the malice with which Rome has buried Christ’s truth, or rather has banished it from the world! Every one knows what these pontiffs have been for four or five hundred years past. It is easy, says the pope, to get men to pass from a continent life to a voluptuous one. Who can hear such things without laughing? Every one knows in what sort of continence and austerity the Roman court lives, and all who are trained in it. Men who have corrupted the whole world by their waywardness, and defiled the earth with every kind of debauchery, have the impudence to reproach others with effeminacy and self-indulgence. Is it not known that the dissoluteness of Rome has been shameless, that luxury, incontinence, and a fabulous licentiousness which has burst all bonds, prevail in the midst of its creatures? And such men dare to exhibit themselves as guardians of obedience, of continence, and of severity!‘[^[65]]

Who Profanes Religion?

The Pope. ‘Not only do they lead men astray, but they pillage the churches, drive away the bishops, profane religion, and all this with impunity.’

Calvin. ‘Those do not lead men astray who bring them back from deadly errors to Jesus Christ. Those do not pillage churches who snatch them from the hands of plunderers in order to put true pastors in them. Those do not drive away bishops who establish the religion of the Gospel. Those are not guilty of profanation whose work is to restore. What is the doctrine of these men, but that we should trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and live for him; while those of the pope’s party would have us trust in the saints, their bones and their images, in ceremonies and in human works? Where is the parish, where is the abbey, the bishopric, or the rich benefice, which is not held by men whose only accomplishments are hunting, seduction, and other follies and iniquities? Men who, when they become bishops, to be consistent with their profession as now understood, show themselves to be hunters, epicures, haunters of wine-shops, libertines, soldiers, and gladiators? This, verily, is sacrilege and pillage of churches! Has it been possible for Protestants to drive away a bishop, seeing it is so rare a thing to find a man that can fairly pass for one?’

The Pope. ‘It is not the business of particular assemblies but of a general council to deal with religion; and if, without consulting France, Spain, Italy, and the other nations, any new doctrines should be established in Germany, unity no longer existing, we should have in the body of Christ a great monster.’[^[66]]

Calvin. ‘What! if doctrine and preaching be regulated according to the apostolic institution so that the people may be edified, it is a monster! But if in the whole of Christendom there be nothing but ceremonies without intelligence, prostituted to purposes of impious gain; if there be no reading of Scripture, no exhortations from which the people can gather any fruit; if foolish monks or extravagant theological quibblers (théologastres) do nothing but plunge men in darkness—this is no monster!

‘If Christians are taught to offer to God legitimate worship, to cast off all confidence in their own virtues, and to seek in Christ alone full salvation and all hope of blessings to come, this is a monster! But if the worship of God be turned upside down by innumerable superstitions; if men be taught to place their confidence in the vainest of all vanities, to call upon dead men instead of upon God; if new sacrifices without end are invented, new expiations and new mediators; if Jesus Christ be hidden and almost buried under a mass of impious imaginations; this is no monster, and we may walk in this way without fear!

‘If the sacraments are brought back to their primitive purpose, which is that faithful souls may enter more completely into communion with Jesus Christ and devote themselves to a holy life, this is a monster! But if petty priests abuse these mysteries; if they substitute for the holy supper a profane ceremony, which annuls the benefit of Christ’s death, and buries the sacred feast under a confused medley of rites, some of them without meaning, others puerile and ridiculous, there is nothing monstrous in all this!

True Ministers.

‘If ministers are given to the churches who nourish the people with sound doctrine, who walk before them as examples, who watch diligently over the safety of the church, remembering that they are fathers and shepherds and must not cherish any other ambition than that of bringing the people into obedience to one master alone, that is Christ; if they govern their families with prudence, bring up their children in the fear of God, and honor the married state by virtuous and chaste living—then this is not only a monster, it is more monstrous than a monster! But if the pope, that Romish idol, as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God; if he claim to hold the whole world in the most miserable bondage; if his satellites have no care to publish the Word of God, but persecute it as much as they can with fire and sword; if, while they pour contempt on marriage, they not only seek to invade the nuptial bed, but also defile the land with their obscenities; this is perfectly endurable and has nothing monstrous in it!

‘If one venture to open one’s mouth in favor of a proper application of the wealth of the church; if one attempt to repress the pillage of these thieves, and to get that property expended for the uses to which it was destined; this is a frightful monster. But of these vast resources of the church let there be no portion for the maintenance of faithful ministers, nothing for the schools, nothing for the poor, to whom they ought to belong; let insatiable gulfs absorb and waste them in luxury, licentiousness, play, poisonings and murders; all this is very far from being a monster! What shall I say? At this day there is nothing monstrous in a world in which every thing is notoriously out of order, crazy, profligate, perverted, deformed, twisted, confused, in ruins, dissipated and mutilated. Nothing monstrous, except the moving of a little finger to apply a remedy to such vast evils. Monsters! That must be transported to the end of the earth!‘

The Pope. ‘It is necessary to oppose all these particular assemblies in which matters in controversy are discussed, and to convoke a council. Then the Protestants will either submit to its decrees or will persist in their own views. In the latter case, the Emperor and the King of France, between whom negotiations are now going on, will take advantage of their alliance to correct and to recall them to better thoughts.’

Calvin. ‘So then, in case the Protestants are not willing to place themselves and every thing belonging to them in the hands of the Roman pontiff, they are to be subdued by arms; so long as a single man remains who shall dare to open his lips against the abominable supremacy of the Roman see, there shall be no end and no limit to the shedding of blood. Such is the shepherd’s crook of which he will make use to drive the sheep into the fold. But the prophet says, Take counsel together and it shall come to nought; associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces.[^[67]] There are men, grievous to tell! traitors, enemies of their country, who are everywhere scattering the seeds of intestine war; who, as soon as they think that men’s minds are quite prepared, brandish their torches and kindle a fire; who, the moment they see a spark, make haste to throw dry wood on it and raise a flame with their poisonous breath, until at last the whole of Germany shall be nothing but one vast conflagration.’[^[68]]

If Calvin is rather sharp in his reply, the pope, it must be owned, had not infused into his attack much mildness or fairness. ‘It is not easy to decide, to speak in a Christian manner,’ he had said, ‘which are the worst enemies of Jesus Christ, the Protestants or the Turks. For the latter kill only the body, but the former destroy the soul.’ This saying shocked even the judicious and impartial Sleidan. ‘Have not the Turks,’ said he, ‘spread their religion everywhere by arms? And who among us have shown more zeal to exalt the grace and the virtue of Jesus Christ than the Protestants, who have in this respect surpassed the Catholics themselves?’ The pope even did not shrink from having recourse to the same methods as the Turks. He had sent to the emperor his own nephew to scheme the destruction of the Reformation and to extinguish it, if need be, in the blood of the Evangelicals; while no one more earnestly than Calvin stigmatized beforehand that fratricidal war, to which the desire to crush the Reformation afterwards gave rise. The blow having been violent, the return blow was energetic. Calvin was wrong, however, in one respect—in that he did not fully and publicly acknowledge that there were honorable exceptions to the licentiousness of priests and to the other evils of the papacy. But he has elsewhere exhibited this fairness; for he distinguishes among the Catholics two classes—those in whom malice predominates, and those who are deluded by a false appearance of truth.[^[69]]

Calvin At Ratisbon.

This work bears the date of March, 1541. Calvin arrived at Ratisbon at the beginning of March, and remained there about four months. The emperor was there longer still. It may be supposed that a work so remarkable, written as a reply to the discourse addressed by the pope to Charles V., was read at the time by the emperor’s ministers, perhaps even by the emperor himself. Calvin did not put his name to it, probably in order that attention might be paid to the considerations which are put forward in it, without regard to their authorship; perhaps also in order not to implicate the town of Strasburg which showed him such noble hospitality and of which he was the deputy. But his name is read, so to speak, in every line of this eloquent memoir. Sleidan positively names Calvin as its author.[^[70]]

Calvin’s part at Ratisbon it is not difficult to recognize. It was such as Luther’s would have been, had he been present. He firmly believed that the Protestants, and even his dear Melanchthon, under the influence of their desire to reconcile the two parties, were inclined to make too many concessions. This tendency must be resisted. Seeing how the waters were rushing along and threatening to carry every thing before them, he felt it his duty to stand in their way like a rock to arrest the disaster. ‘Believe me,’ he wrote from Ratisbon to Farel, May 11, ‘in actions of this kind brave souls are wanted who may strengthen others.[^[71]] Pray then all of you with earnestness to the Lord that he may fortify us with his spirit of boldness.’ The next day he wrote to him, ‘So far as I can understand, if we are willing to be satisfied with a half-Christ, we shall easily be able to come to an agreement.’[^[72]] Did Calvin, allured by the position which he felt bound to take, go too far? The footing was slippery. He did perhaps go too far in words, but not in deeds.

The legate Contarini had declared to the emperor that, as the Protestants deviate in various articles from the common consent of the Catholic Church, it would be better, all things considered, to refer the whole matter to the pope and to the next council. ‘What can be hoped for from such a gathering?’ said Calvin. ‘There will not be one in a hundred willing and able to understand what is for the glory of God and for the good of the Church. It is notorious what sort of theology is held at Rome, principally in the consistory. Its first principle is that there is no God; its second, that Christianity is nothing but foolishness.’[^[73]] Calvin does not mean that this is the doctrine which Rome professes, but only that the papacy behaves as if it were so. Having neither the true God nor true Christianity, it is in the Reformer’s sight without God and without faith. He continues—‘Suppose, then, that we have a council, the pope will be its president, the bishops and prelates will be judges in it.... They will come to it in the most deliberate manner to gainsay and to resist every thing which would infringe on their avarice and ambition, and on that tyrannical supremacy in the exercise of which they have no greater enemy than Jesus Christ. When the council is held, it will contribute rather to destroy than to put things again into a right state.’

Contarini had recommended to the bishops various reforms; such as to be watchful over their dioceses lest the religion of the Protestants should propagate itself in them; and to establish schools in order that people might not send their children to those of the Evangelicals. ‘He had indeed many other evils to deal with,’ said Calvin, ‘if he had a wish to give good medicine. The world is full of the worship of idols, in the shape of relics and images, to such an extent that there could hardly be more of it among the pagans. Every one makes gods for himself after his fancy (à sa poste), out of saints, male and female. The virtue of Christ is as good as buried, and his honor virtually annihilated. The light of truth is almost extinct; hardly any sparks of it remain.’[^[74]]

Calvin’s Moderation.

However decided Calvin was with respect to the errors of Rome, he was, nevertheless, far from being a narrow-minded and passionate man; and he did not hesitate to acknowledge whatever good there was in his opponents. We have already seen that he looked upon the archbishops of Cologne, of Mentz, and of Treves as friends of liberty, of peace, and even of a reform. At Ratisbon he also bore favorable testimony to Charles V. ‘It is no fault of the emperor,’ said he, ‘that some good beginning of agreement was not arrived at, without waiting for the pope, or the cardinals, or any of their following.’[^[75]] His estimate of the electors was still more favorable. ‘The electors,’ says he, ‘at least most of them, were of opinion that in order to bring about a union of the churches, the articles which had been passed should be received; and this would have been a very good beginning of provision for the Church. The world would have learnt that it ought not to trust in its strength and its free-will; and that it is through the free grace of our Lord that we are enabled to act well. The righteousness which we receive as a free gift from Christ would have been set forth, in order to overthrow our pernicious confidence in our own works. It would have been better known that the Church cannot be separated from the word of God. The shameful and dishonest traffic in masses would have been suppressed; the tyranny of the ministers of the Church would have been restrained, and superstitions would have been corrected.’[^[76]] These were, in fact, the great points conceded by the legate of Rome, Contarini; and Calvin, undoubtedly, was no stranger to that conquest.

He complained most of all of the princes of the second order, ‘who had for their captains,’ he adds, ‘two dukes of Bavaria, who were reported to be pensioners of the pope to maintain the relics of holy Mother Church in Germany, and thus to bring about the ruin of the country. For to leave things as they are, what is it but to abandon Germany as in desperate case? They want the pope to be the physician, to put things in order; and thus they thrust the lamb into the wolf’s jaws that he may take care of it.’ Every thing was, in fact, referred to a general council. ‘It seems like a dream,’ says Calvin, ‘that the emperor and so many princes, ambassadors, and counsellors should have spent five whole months in consulting, considering, parleying, giving opinions, debating and resolving to do at last just nothing at all.’

Calvin, however, did not lose courage. ‘At present,’ he adds, ‘seeing that this diet of Ratisbon has all ended in smoke, many persons are disconcerted, fret themselves and despair of the Gospel ever being received by public authority. But more good has resulted from this assembly than appears. The servants of God have borne faithful testimony to the truth, and there are always a few who are open to conviction. It is no slight matter that all the princes, nay, even some of the bishops, are convinced in their hearts that the doctrine preached under the Pope must be amended.

‘But our chief consolation is that this is the cause of God and that he will take it in hand to bring it to a happy issue. Even though all the princes of the earth were to unite for the maintenance of our Gospel, still we must not make that the foundation of our hope. So, likewise, whatever resistance we see to-day offered by almost all the world to the progress of the truth, we must not doubt that our Lord will come at last to break through all the undertakings of men and make a passage for his word. Let us hope boldly, then, more than we can understand; he will still surpass our opinion and our hope.’[^[77]]

Such was the faith that animated Luther and Calvin, and this was the cause of their triumph.

Calvin’s Departure From Ratisbon.

As soon as Calvin saw that there was nothing more for him to do at Ratisbon, he ardently desired to leave the town, and with much earnestness begged permission to depart. Bucer and Melanchthon stoutly opposed it; but they yielded at last. He extorted his discharge, he says, rather than obtained it. On the arrival of deputies from Austria and Hungary, to demand aid against the Turks, the emperor commanded the adjournment of the religious debates, for the purpose of considering the means of resisting Solyman, who had already entered Hungary. ‘I would not let slip the opportunity,’ says Calvin, ‘and so I got off.’[^[78]]

CHAPTER XXI.
CALVIN’S RETURN TO GENEVA.
(July to Sept. 1541.)

Having turned his back on the diet, Calvin thought of nothing but Geneva. ‘The diet ended as I had predicted,’ he had written; ‘the whole scheme of pacification went out in smoke. As soon as Bucer returns we shall betake ourselves with all speed to Geneva, or, indeed, I shall set out alone without further delay.’ Bucer, in fact, was to accompany Calvin and to assist him with his counsel to see whether it would be right for him to remain in that town. But when he returned to Strasburg he was detained there and also detained his friend. ‘I have regretted a thousand times,’ says the latter, ‘that I did not set out for Basel immediately after my return from Ratisbon.’[^[79]] In that Swiss town he was to obtain more particular information about the state of affairs on the shores of the Leman, and especially about the suit between Berne and Geneva, concerning the ‘Articulants’; a suit in which Basel had been appointed arbitrator. At Strasburg it was thought that Calvin ought not to settle in that disturbed town so long as this cause of trouble continued to exist.

If Calvin was evidently more decided than he had hitherto been, the cause was not only what was taking place in Germany, but also what was passing at Geneva. To put the matter into legal shape, to set in broad daylight the feelings of respect for the reformer which now animated the people, and thus to deprive Calvin of every pretext for declining the call which was sent to him, the general Council had been assembled on May 1, and ‘had revoked the edict of expulsion of the ministers passed in 1538, and declared that they esteemed them servants of God, so that for the future Farel and Calvin, Saunier and the others might go in and out at Geneva at their pleasure.’[^[80]]

Calvin’s Return To Geneva.

This measure of the people of Geneva was a large one, but the Council did not stop there. Fearing, with good reason, that Strasburg would wish to keep to herself the great man whom Geneva had banished, they addressed two distinct letters to the ministers and the magistrates of Zurich and Basel, begging them to support their request at Strasburg. They wrote also to the Council and the ministers of the latter town. As these letters are important and very little known, it may be proper to give some passages from them.

‘You are not ignorant,’ said the Genevese syndics and senate in their letter to the pastors, ‘that our ministers have been unjustly driven from our town, not in the regular course of justice, but rather as the result of much injustice, tumult, and conspiracy; and you know the troubles and horrible scandals in which we have been thereby plunged.[^[81]] For an evil so dangerous there is no remedy but the presence of able, prudent, and God-fearing pastors, qualified to repair this disaster. We, therefore, have recourse to you who have given us abundant evidence of your tender solicitude for our Church, endeavoring to persuade our magistrate to reinstate in the ministry our faithful ministers Farel, Calvin, and Courault. This could not be effected at the time because of the harshness and obstinacy of the perpetrators of the disturbances; and thus a great multitude of just and pious men were plunged in distress and tears.[^[82]] But now our most merciful Father having visited us in his goodness, we beg you to use your endeavors to restore to us our faithful pastors, who were rejected by men that were seeking the gratification of their own evil desires rather than the will of God.’[^[83]] In such terms did the syndics and the Council of Geneva request the ministers of the towns to which they applied to aid them in recovering their pastors.

The letter of the syndics and the Council of Geneva to the Councils of Zurich and Basel was no less emphatic. They said to them ‘that although for twenty years their town had been kept in agitation by violent storms, it has known no tumults, no seditions, no dangers, to compare with those with which the anger of God has visited us, since by the craft and contrivances of factious and seditious men,[^[84]] the faithful pastors, by whom their church had been founded and maintained, to the great edification and consolation of all, have been unjustly driven away by the blackest ingratitude—the benefits, assuredly no ordinary ones, which the Lord had conferred by their ministry, being entirely forgotten.’ The Genevese added ‘that from the hour of that exile Geneva had known nothing but troubles, enmities, strifes, contentions, breaking up of social bonds, seditions, factions and homicides.[^[85]] The city would, consequently, have been almost wholly destroyed, if the Lord in his great compassion had not looked upon it with love and sent Viret to gather together the wretched flock, which was at that time reduced to such a pitch of confusion that it was scarcely, if at all, possible to recognize in it any of the features of a church: and that there was nothing which the Genevese desired more ardently or with more unanimity than to see their ministers restored to the former position in which God had placed them. And, therefore,’ they continued, ‘we pray you in the name of Christ, most honorable lords, to entreat the illustrious senators of Strasburg not only to give back to us our brother Calvin, of whom we have the most urgent need, and who is so eagerly looked for by our people, but further persuade him to come to Geneva as soon as possible. Learned and pious pastors, such as he is, are most necessary for us, because Geneva is, as it were, the gate of France and Italy;[^[86]] because day by day many people resort to it from these lands and from other neighboring countries; and because it will be a great consolation and edification to them to find in our town pastors competent to meet their wants.’

A letter of like character was sent to Strasburg. All the letters were subscribed, ‘The Syndics and the Senate of the city of Geneva’ (Syndici et Senatus Genevensis civitatis).

Rudeness Of Phrase.

Men’s minds were at that time in a state of great agitation. Hostile opinions were not expressed in mawkish phraseology; and the Council, as it was bent on having Calvin at any cost, conveyed its meaning unmistakably. There might be, perhaps, some rudeness of expression; the writing was forcible rather than refined; but we certainly possess in these letters the views of the Genevese magistrates and people, especially of the best among them, respecting Calvin, the authors of his banishment, and the condition of Geneva after his departure. The latitudinarian and often unbelieving spirit of our days would fain reconstruct this history after the fashion of the nineteenth century; but in these documents we have assuredly the impress of the olden time. The chief magistrates of the republic could not possibly have expressed themselves as they did if their statement of facts could have been contradicted by the people, their contemporaries, as they have been several centuries afterwards. The syndics who signed these letters were not upstarts raised to office by a party. They had long been in the Council, and all of them had previously been syndics, one in 1540, two of the others in 1537, and one of these two as early as 1534, and the fourth in 1535.[^[87]] It is not to be doubted that the view taken at this epoch by the chiefs of the Genevese nation will be likewise the view of impartial and enlightened men of every age. It has been said that the faction which expelled Calvin does not deserve the grave reproaches which have been cast upon it by modern historians. The syndics and councils of 1541 can hardly be placed in the ranks of modern historians.

These letters were everywhere well received. The pastors of Zurich wrote word to the Council of Geneva that their Council, eager to give them pleasure, had written to the Council and the ministers of Strasburg, and likewise to Calvin at Ratisbon, begging the former to press Calvin, and requesting the latter to comply with the call from Geneva.[^[88]]

This testimony, borne by the leading men in the State and in the Church at Zurich, Basel, and Strasburg, after they had received the letters of which we have just given some account, is a confirmation of their contents, and shows that the view set forth in them was the opinion of European Protestantism, ever ready to do homage to the greatest theologian, who was, at the same time, one of the greatest men and greatest writers of the age.

Calvin And Farel.

Calvin had already said more than once that he would return to Geneva, but he had not yet fulfilled his intention. Even the powerful voice of Farel had not succeeded in getting him to set out, but it had called forth a touching expression of his humility. ‘Certainly,’ said he to Farel, ‘the thunders and lightnings which thou didst hurl so wonderfully at me have disturbed and terrified me. Thou knowest that I extremely dread this call, but I do not fly from it. Why then fall upon me with so much violence as almost to abjure thy friendship? Thou tellest me that my last letter deprived thee of all hope. If it be so, forgive, I pray thee, my imprudence. My purpose was simply to apologize for not going immediately. I hope that thou wilt forgive me.’[^[89]] It is beautiful to see this great man, this strong character, humbling himself with so much simplicity before Farel, as a child would do before a father. Doubtless, like Paul on the road to Damascus, he had at first kicked against the pricks. But, ‘oxen,’ says he, ‘gain nothing by so doing, except the increase of their own suffering; and just in the same way when men fight and kick against Christ, they must—whether they will or not—submit to his commandment.’[^[90]]

When speaking to Farel of his struggles, Calvin had from the first also indicated the source of his strength and his victory. ‘I should be at no loss for pretexts,’ he said, ‘which I might adroitly put forward, and which would easily serve for excuses before men. But I know that it is God with whom I have to do, and that artifices of that sort are not right in his sight. Wouldst thou know my very thought, it is this—Were I free to choose, I would do any thing in the world rather than what thou requirest of me. But, when I remember that I am not in this matter my own master, I present my heart as a sacrifice and offer it up to the Lord.[^[91]] Having bound and chained my soul, I bring it under the obedience of God.‘[^[92]]

This is Calvin. The words which we have underlined are essential as the explanation not only of the resolution which he took at this time, but also of his whole life. They may be considered as his motto.[^[93]]

Departure From Strasburg.

Calvin set out from Strasburg at the end of August or beginning of September. He went on his way to Geneva, he says, ‘with sadness, tears, great anxiety and distress of mind. My timidity offered me many reasons to excuse me from taking upon my shoulders so heavy a burden; and many excellent persons would have been pleased to see me quit of this trouble. But the sense of duty prevailed and led me to comply and return to the flock from which I had been snatched away, but in whose salvation I felt so deep a concern that I should have had no hesitation in laying down my life for it.’[^[94]] Bucer had been unable to accompany him; but the Strasburgers understood well what they were losing. They had declared ‘that they would always consider him as one of their citizens,’ says one of his biographers. ‘They also wished him to retain the income of a prebend, which they had assigned him as the salary of his professorship of theology; but as he was a man utterly free from the greed of worldly good, he would not so much as keep the value of a denier.’ Further, the magistrates of this town gave him a letter for the Council of Geneva, in which they said that it was with regret they let him go, ‘seeing that at Strasburg he could better promote the interests of the church universal, by his writings, his counsel, and other proceedings, according to the surpassing graces with which the Lord has endowed him; and that they prayed the citizens of Geneva to be united and to give ear to him as a man earnestly devoted to the enlargement of the kingdom of Christ.’ They added that ‘if they set the general need of the churches above their own advantage and profit, they would send him back forthwith, in order that in Germany he might more effectively serve the church universal.’ The Strasburg pastors, who had previously written to the Council, speaking of Calvin, said—‘Christ himself is despised and insulted when such ministers are rejected and unworthily treated. But to this hour all is well with you, since you recognize Jesus Christ in this man, his illustrious instrument, who has never had any other thought than to devote himself to your salvation, even at the cost of his own blood.’ They added, on the present occasion—‘He is at last coming to you, this instrument of God, this incomparable man, the like of whom this age can hardly name.’[^[95]]

Calvin halted at Basel, visited his friends, and appeared before the Council, who commended him affectionately to Geneva (September 4). Thence he passed on to Soleure; and in this town he heard tidings which greatly grieved him. He was told that troubles had arisen in the church of Neuchâtel. Farel had privately remonstrated, in terms earnest but charitable, with a person of rank who was causing scandal in the church, and his remonstrance producing no effect, he censured him publicly in his sermon, in conformity with the apostolic precept, i. Tim. v. 20 (July 31). The kinsfolk of this person were much annoyed, and stirring up the townsmen against the reformer got him deprived and banished. When Calvin, who had such a warm affection for Farel, heard these things, he could not pursue his journey. Instead of going on to Berne, he hastened to Neuchâtel to his friend. He was able to console him, but he could not get his condemnation withdrawn.[^[96]] Only at a later period, Calvin, acting in concert with other pastors, wrote from Geneva a letter which was carried by Viret. The latter having represented to the seignory of Neuchâtel that when a minister is to be deposed, it is necessary to proceed by form of trial, likewise spiritual, and not by way of sedition or tumult; and his representation being supported by Zurich, Strasburg, Basel, and Berne, the Council of Neuchâtel resolved to keep its reformer. While at Neuchâtel with Farel, on the evening of September 7, Calvin wrote to the Council of Geneva stating the cause of his delay. He also reminded them in this note of the duty of governing their town well and holily. The next day he went to Berne, delivered to the Council the letters which he had brought from Strasburg and from Basel, and then set out for Geneva.

For many days past preparations had been making in the town for his reception. ‘On Monday, August 26, thirty-six écus were voted by the Council to Eustace Vincent, equestrian herald, to go for Master Calvin, the preacher, at Strasburg.’ It was announced in the Council, August 29, that Master Calvin was to arrive one of these days. They talked of the lodgings which must be assigned to him, and propositions rapidly succeeded each another. At first they thought of the house which was occupied by the pastor Bernard, whom they would remove to the house of la Chantrerie. Then, September 4, there was further discussion. ‘La Chantrerie, being opposite to St. Peter’s church, is most suitable,’ they said, ‘for the abode of Master Calvin, and some garden (curtil) will be provided for him.’ On the 9th it was announced in the Council that he was to arrive the same evening. The houses in question being, doubtless, in an unfit state, orders were given to Messieurs Jacques des Arts and Jean Chautemps to make ready for him the house of the Sieur de Fréneville, situated in the Rue des Chanoines, between the house of Bonivard, on the west, and that of the Abbé de Bonmont, on the east. But after all it was in another house, the fourth proposed, that he was to be received.[^[97]]

Arrival Of Calvin At Geneva.

It does not appear that Calvin had himself announced to the Council the day of his arrival; nor are we acquainted with any document which in a clear and positive manner indicates this date, worthy of remark though it be. All that we know is that on the 13th he was there, and appeared before the Council. Instead of the 9th he may have arrived on the 10th, the 11th, or even the 12th. We may suppose that Calvin wished the Genevese not to know the day of his arrival, fearing lest they should give him a rather noisy reception. I have no intention of showing myself and making a noise in the world, he said on another occasion.[^[98]] However this might be, if the arrival of the reformer were unostentatious like himself, it filled many hearts with great joy. This is attested by the contemporary biographies. Congratulations were uttered, and this among the whole body of the people, but above all in the Council, on this singular favor of God towards Geneva, a favor so great and so tardily acknowledged.[^[99]] ‘He was received,’ says the French biography, ‘with such singular affection, by this poor people, who acknowledged their fault, and were famishing to hear their faithful pastor, that they were not satisfied till he was settled there for good.’[^[100]] Such is the testimony of contemporaries, friends of Calvin. Will history add any thing to it? Did Calvin traverse in triumph the districts over which three years before he had wandered as a miserable fugitive? Did he make his solemn entry into Geneva, in the midst of the uproarious joy of the population? Did he address the assembled masses?[^[101]] So far as we know, there is no document that speaks of such things. Nothing would be more contrary to Calvin’s disposition. If he could have foreseen that a ceremonious reception was preparing for him, he would rather have crossed the lake, and made his entry into Geneva by way of Savoy.