V. I COMMENTARIES THE BOOK OF GENESIS VOL. I ^^ "*() ^ APR 25 1955 COMMENTARIES THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES CALLED GENESIS BY JOHN CALVIN TKANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COMPARED WITH THE FRENCH EDITION, BY THE RP:V. JOHN KIN(i, M.A., OF queen's COLLKGK, CAMBlJIlHiK, INCUMBKNT OK CIIRIST's CHUUCU, HULL. VOLUME FIRST WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY GRAND KXPIDS 1948 MICHIGAN PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INTRODliCTIOX /A' Robert K. Rudolph, Th.M., D.D. i\o book of the Bible is more important to the Reformed faith as the basis of its formulation than the Book of Genesis. No writer in the whole field of theological literature is more basic in his perception of the Reformed faith as the teaching of the Holy Word revealed by God's Spirit through Prophets and Apostles, than John Calvin. Perhaps the most striking feature of Calvin as thinker and commentator is the way in which he allows his mind to be controlled by the specific meaning of the God-revealed truth, rather than foisting upon that truth some concepts of his own. While one can never escape this sense of the complete enthrallment of his mind by the Bible, even in the Institutes, it is nowhere more apparent than in his commenting upon this book of origins. Since it is in the very creation of the world that the relation between God and the creation was forever estab- lished and since it is that very relationship the expression of which constitutes the Reformed faith, it is natural that what John Calvin has to say about God's sustaining and con- trolling power over His creation, is basic to an understanding of God's Word and of the Reformed faith. It is all too often remarked in these days that we are not interested in theological niceties; that what is needed is more of Christian life and less of Christian doctrine. It is even observed that the ancient battle between Arminian and Calvinistic points of view must not be taken too seriously and that in a dynamic age we must meet its challenge with less doctrine and more action. Such careless observations, however, fail to analyze the problems. They do not truly reflect an understanding of the meaning of theology or properly evaluate the relation between thought and action. INTRODUCTION Theology is nothing more than the statement of what are the facts which have taken place in the past. Doctrine is nothing but the teaching of what has happened and what will happen so far as it is known by man. Naturally it makes a very great difference to our practical life whether God is Sovereign or not, and if Sovereign, whether He will punish the disobedient in Hell. Even the editor of a popular maga- zine took time, recently, to bewail the fact that modern preaching had deprived man of the fear of punishment and by this had made men unrestrained in their mutual rela- tionships. Of course there is a theology which grows out of "science." There is a theology and doctrine which grows out of heathen myth. There is also a sense in which every life is bound by its own ultimate considerations. The Bible, however, brings us its substantiated claim to be the theology of God. It allows no place for other ultimates. It will brook no ideas other than those revealed within its own compass. To accept it is to forsake all other notions, to bury one by one all other ideas and to make its statement of reality final for one's life. But if what the Bible reveals about our existence is to be final, it must at least be known. We cannot blindly touch it at only one point and expQCt to apprehend its entirety any more than an unenlightened blind man can touch a furry animal at one point and tell whether he be in the presence of a house cat or a lion ! If the omniscient Lord took the trouble to reveal to us His truth, what He has revealed must be all- important and to perceive it in our minds as closely as pos- sible to the way in which He has caused it to be stated by His agents is all-important to our possession of truth. Two extremes are, equally, to be avoided in the under- standing of the relation which God bears to His creation. The one is the extreme of pantheism in which the world and its creatures possess no real existence outside of God; that is to say, objective to Him. To guide our lives by such a false understanding is to render all our work meaningless, the will a non-existent vanity, and all evil a myth. The other false extreme to which the mind may leap in its understanding of God's relationship with His world is the extreme of asserting that the world's reality consists in its independence of Him. This extreme must inevitably lead to the conclusion that God is not sovereign over the world, that He cannot punish wickedness, that prayer is vanity. INTRODICTION No one who is thoughtful even for a moment should, therefore, say that a consideration of the true relationship between God and the world is of no practical significance but rather he should come to understand that the mind's con- clusion at this point will motivate entirely the personality and his action; that it is the fundamental basis upon which every ethical consideration must be built, and that it will finally dominate the eternity of every soul and body, the destiny of every people. Only the Christian, by God's grace in giving us the Bible which is God's Word, has the key to avoid the pitfall of pantheism and the precipice of humanistic independence. Only the believer who reads with understanding what God has told us of the reality of our existence under the absolute sovereignty of His creation and providence, will find in him- self the motivation of God's truth operating through the power of God's Spirit through the gift of God's Son. The Christian will want to be helped to discover the truth which God has declared by one who believes it, appropriates it, and expresses it with clarity and simplicity. Such an expositor is John Calvin and such can be the effect of the appreciation of the truth of this great book of the Bible. In making this great work available once more to the American public, its publishers are not only contributing to American scholarship, but to American and English speaking life as well, that germ of truth which through its humbling fear of God can render the triumphs of science less fearsome since these triumphs will be possessed by men who are more under divine restraint. Robert K. Rudolph, Professor of Systematic and Biblical Theology and Ethics, Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Dorset, Vermont, June 23, 1948. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE Several of the Commentaries of Calvin on different portions of the Holy Scripture having been for some time before the public, through the labours of toe Calvin Society ; it is not Improbable that the readers of the follow- ing pages will have already become in a great degree familiar with the writings of this celebrated Reformer. It may, perhaps, therefore be thought an unnecessary, if not a presumptuous undertaking, to preface the present work with any general observations on the character of Calvin's EXPOSITORY writings. But though the Commentary on Genesis was neither the first which Calvin wrote, nor the first which the Calvin Society has republished ; yet since, in the ultimate arrangement of the Commentaries it must take the foremost place, the Editor has determined to offer such preliminary remarks as may seem desirable for a reader who begins to read the Commentaries of Calvin, as he begins to read the Bible itself, at the Book of Genesis. If, in taking such a course, he is charged with repeating some things which have been said by others before him, he will not be extremely anxious either to defend himself from the charge or to meet it with a denial. It seems to be now generally admitted that though, in the VI TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. bnlliant constellation formed by the master-spirits of the Reformation, there were those who, in some respects, shone with brighter kistre than Calvin, yet, as a Commentator on Holy Scripture, he far outshines them all. There is scarcely anything in which the wisdom of God has been more conspicuous, than in his choice of instruments for carrying into execution the different parts of that mighty revolution of sentiment, which affected, more or less, every portion of Europe during the sixteenth century. Long before the issue of the movement was seen or appre- hended, we behold Erasmus, the most accomplished scholar of the age, acting unconsciously as the pioneer of a Reforma- tion, which at length he not only opposed, but apparently hated. He had been raised up by God to lash the vices of the Clergy, to expose the ignorance, venality, and sloth of the Mendicant Orders, and to exhibit the follies of Romanism in sarcastic invectives rendered imperishable by the elegant La- tinity in which they were clothed. But he did still more. The world is indebted to him for the first edition of the entire New Testament in the Original Greek.' He had also the honour of being the first modern translator of the New Tes- tament into Latin.- He published a valuable critical Com- mentary on the New Testament, which was early translated into English, and ordered to be placed in the Churches.^ Yet, great as the service undoubtedly was which he rendered to the cause of truth, he never dared to cast the yoke of ^ Home's Introduction, vol. v. Part I. chap. i. sect. iv. Londou, 1846. 2 llnd. \(A. V. Part 1. cliap. i. sect. vii. 3 Tlie Editor has now before him " The first tome or volume of the paraphrase of Erasmus u])on the Ncwe Testamentc," printed in 1548, with a dedication to King Edward VI., and another to Queen Catherine Parr, by Nicolas Udal. It appears tliat Udal translated the Gospels of St Matthew, St Luke, and St John ; and Thomas Key, that of St Mark. TKANSLATOllS PliEFACE. VII Rome from liis own neck, never stooped to identify himself with the Protestant Kefonners; but lived and died, as there is reason to fear, a mean, truckling, time-serving Romani.st, pantingfor preferment in a Churcl;, the unsoundness of which lie had so fearfully exposed. It is not, however, to be de- nied that God employed him as a most important instrument in shaking the foundations of the Papacy, and in preparing the way for the more successful efforts of more sincere and devoted servants of God. Among these Luther and Melancthon in one field, Calvin and Zuinglius in another, occupy posts of the greatest responsibility and usefulness; but Luther and Calvin are manifestly the great leaders in this cause. In qualifications necessary for the commencing of this great struggle, we readily yield the palm to Luther. His indomi- table energy, his noble bearing, his contempt for danger, his transparent honesty of purpose, his fiery zeal, his generous frankness — though too often degenerating into peremptory vehemence of spirit and rudeness of manner — eminently fitted him to take the lead in a warfare where so much was to be braved, to be endured, and to be accomplished. There was still another qualification, which perhaps no man ever possessed in so high a degree as the Saxon Reformer, and that consisted in the prodigious mastery he had over his own mother-tongue, lie seized on the rude, yet nervous and copious German of his ancestors, and taught it to speak with a combination of melody and force, which it had never known l>efore. And his vernacular translation of the Holy Scrip- tures, in opening to the millions of the German empire the Fount of eternal life, also revealed to them the hitherto hidden beauties and poweis of their own masculine tongue. via TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. Calvin, like Luther, was a man of courage ; but he wanted Luther's fire, he wanted Luther's ardent frankness of disposi- tion ; he wanted, in short, the faculty which Luther possessed in a pre-eminent degree, of laying hold on the affections, and 'of kindling the enthusiasm of a mighty nation. Calvin, like Luther too, was a Translator of the Scriptures, and it is worthy of remark, that he also wrote in a far purer and better style than any of his contemporaries, or than any writers of an age near his own. But he had not the honour, which God conferred on Luther, of sending forth the sacred volume as a whole, through that great nation in which his lan- guage was spoken, and of thus pouring, by one single act, a flood of light upon millions of his countrymen. But whatever advantage may lie on the side of Luther In the comparison, so far as it has yet been carried, we shall find it on the side of Calvin in grasp of intellect, in dis- criminating power, in calmness, clearness and force of argu- ment, in patience of research, in solid learning, in every quality, in short, which is essential to an Expositor of Holy Writ. We are the better able to Institute this comparison, because Luther himself wrote a Commentary on the Scrip- tures ; but the slightest inspection of the two Commentaries will convince the Reader of Calvin's intellectual superiority ; and will show, that as a faithful, penetrating, and judicious Expounder of the Holy Spirit's meaning In the Scriptures, he left the great Leader of the Reformation at an immeasurable distance behind. ' • Nothing is farther from the Editor's intention than to speak slight- ingly of Luther's Commentaries. That on the Galatians alone has laid the Clmrch of Christ under lasting obligation to its Author. But its excellencies arc not of the same order with those which mark the exposi- tory writings of Calvin. As a defence of the Gospel of Christ against the prevailing errors of the day — and, alas! of our own day too — it TRANSLATOU S PREFACE. The doctrinal system of Calvin is too well known to require explanation in this place. It is however a mistake to suppose that, on those points in which Calvinism is deemed peculiarly to consist, he Avent a single step farther than Luther himself, and the sjreat majority of the Iveformcrs. He states his views with calmness, clearness, and pi'ccision ; he reasons on them dispassionately, and never shrinks from any consequences to which he perceives them to lead. But it would be the height of injustice to charge him with obtruding them at every turn upon his reader, or with attempting to force the language of Scripture to bear testi- mony to his own views. No writer ever dealt more fairly and honestly by the Word of God. He is scrupulously careful to let it speak for itself, and to guard against every tendency of his own mind to put upon it a questionable meaning for the sake of estab- lishing some doctrine which he feels to be important, or some theory which he is anxious to uphold. This is one of his prime excellencies. He will not maintain any doctrine, however orthodox and essential, by a text of Scripture which to him appears of doubtful application, or of inadequate force. For instance, firmly as he believed the doctrine of the Trinity, he refuses to derive an argument in its favour, from the plural form of the name of God in the first chapter of Genesis. It were easy to multiply examples of this kind, which, whether we agree in his conclusions or not, cannot fail to produce the conviction, that he is, at least, an honest Commentator, and will not make any passage of Scripture speak more or less than, according to his view, its Divine Author intended it to speak. Calvin has been charged with stands forth a masterpiece of sound arfnmient and energetic declamation ; and as a balm to wounded consciences, it remains to the present hour without a rival. X TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. ignorance of the language In which the Old Testament was written. Father Simon says that he scarcely knew more of Hebrew than the letters ! The charge is malicious and ill- founded. It may, however, be allowed that a critical exa- mination of the text of Holy Scripture was not the end which Calvin proposed to himself; nor had he perhaps the mate- rials or the time necessary for that accurate investigation of words and syllables to which the Scriptures have more recently been subjected. Still his verbal criticisms are neither few nor unimportant, though he lays comparatively little stress upon them himself. ^ His great strength, however, is seen in the clear, compre- hensive view he takes of the subject before him, in the facility with which he penetrates the meaning of his Author, in the lucid expression he gives to that meaning, in the variety of new yet solid and profitable thoughts which he frequently elicits from what are api)arently the least promising portions of the sacred text, in the admirable precision with which he unfolds every doctrine of Holy Scripture, whether veiled under figures and types, or implied in prophetical allusions, or asserted in the records of the Gospel. As his own mind was completely imbued with the whole system t)f divine truth, and as his capacious memory never seemed to lose any- thing which it had once apprehended, he was always able to present a harmonised and consistent view of truth to hi readers, and to show the relative position in which any given portion of it stood to ftU the rest. This has given a complete- ness and symmetry to his Commentaries which could scarcely • The reader is referred, for full information on this subject, to a small volume entitled, " The Merits of Calvin as an Interpreter of the Holy Scriptures." By Professor Tholuck of Halle. To whicli are added, " Ol)inions and Testimonies of Foreij^u and Jiritish Divines and Scholars as to the lmj)ortauce of the Writinj^s of Juhn Calvin." With a Preface by the Rev. William Pringle. Ix)ndon, 1846. TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. XI have been looked for; as they were not composed in the order in which the Sacred Books stand in the Vohime of Inspiration, nor perha{)S in any order of which a clear account can now be given. He probably did not, at first, design to expound more than a single Rook ; and was led onward by the course Avhich his Expository Lectures in public took, to write first on one and then on another, till at length he tra- versed nearly the whole field of re\ ealed truth. That, in procceiling with such want of method, his work, instead of degenerating into a congeries of lax and uncon- nected observations constantly reiterated, should have main- tained, to a great degree, the consistency of a regular and consecutive Commentary, is mainly to be imputed to the gigantic intellectual power by which he was distinguished. Through the whole of his writings, this power is everywhere visible, always in action, ingrafting upon every })assing inci- dent some forcible rcmaik, which the reader no sooner sees than he wonders that it had not occurred to his own mind. A work so rich in thought is calculated to call into vigorous exercise the intellect of the reader ; and, what is the best and highest use of reading, to compel him to think for himself. It is like seed-corn, the parent of the harvest. It has been objected against Calvin by Bishop IIohsley, —no mean authority in Biblical criticism, — that " by his want of taste, and by the poverty of his imagination, he was a most wretched Expositor of the Prophecies, — just as he would have been a wretched expositor of any secular poet." ^ ^ See Ilorslcy's Sermons, vol. i. p. 72. In opposition to tliis testimony, it may be well to refer to that of Fa- ther Simon, a Komaa Catholic, who says, '■' ('(ilrinus suhlhni iugetiiu jiolU'bat" Calvin possessed a stil)lime jreiiius; ami of Seali^^er, who ex- claims, ''"<)(/wim i'lt/ri/itts hrni' riss(t/iiiliir uuitli m pn>j)li\ith the marginal inscription ; PROMrTE ET SINCERE IN OPEKE Domini : IVilUnf/ and upriylU in the tcor/i of the Lord. n. Obverse. — Ilis likeness set in ornamented borders ; on the margin are these words : Ioannes Calvinus PiCARD[us] : N0V10DUN[eNSIS] . ECCLES[lJi] . Genev[ensis] . Pastor . That is, John Calvin of Nojjon in Fieardy^ Pastor of the Church of Geneva. Reverse. — Winged Fame blowing a trumpet. In the left hand she holds a roll, the title of which is DOC- TRIXA. With the right foot she rests on a s (uarc inscribed virtus. The marginal inscription is : DOCTRINA ET VIRTUS HOMINES POST FUNERA CLARAT : Learning and virtue render men illus- trious after death. III. Obverse. — A similar likeness to No. I. but on a smaller scale, with the date IGUG, and the letters C. W., which ^ More i)robably Minister. XXIV DESCRIPTION OF MEDALS. represent the Initials of the medailleur at Gotha, M. Christian Wermuth. The inscription Johan- nes Calvinus, M. Reverse. — This inscription, in which Calvin is briefly tie- scribed: Natvs . NoviODVNi . A[nno] . M.D.IX. . VI . ID[iBUS] . IVLII . IN . PaRIS[iNa] . AvREL[iANENSI] . ET . BlTVRl[CENSl] . ACA- DEMIIS . IvRISPRVD[eNTI^] . AC . TIIEOLOGI.E . StUDIIS . EXCVLTVS . PATRIAM . OB . PERSECVV- TIONES . DESERENS . IN . HeLVETIAM . ABUT . Geneva . professor . et . pastor . anno . M.D.XXVI. . DELECTVS . ECCLESI^ . REFOR- MATIONE . VARIISQVE . SCRIPTIS . ET . CER- TAMINIBVS . CELEBRIS . Ob[ht] . A[NNo] . M.D.LXIIIL VI . k[a]l[eNDARIUM] Ivn[iI.] Born at Noyon in the year 1509, on the 10th of July ; he pursued the studies of Law and of Theology in the Universities of Paris, Orleans, and Bourges. Having left his own country on account of persecutions, he went into Switzerland. He was chosen Professor and Pastor of Geneva in the year 1526, and having become celebrated by the Reformation of the Church, and also by his various writings and controversies ; He died in the year 1564, on the 27th May.* IV. A medal with a milled edging or border, struck on one side only, with this inscription : Ioannes . Calvinus . ^[tatis] . sv^ . XLViii . qvovsq[ve] . DoMiNE . A[nno] . 1552.2 1 A slight mistake on the part of the Engi-aver in a letter or two on the reverses of No. I. and II. Avill be detected by a connoisseur. 2 This medal, struck between eleven and twelve years before Calvin's death, presents fewer marks of age and of premature debility than any of the others. COMMENTAIRES DE M. lEAN CALUIN, SUR LES CINQ LIURES DE MOYSE. GENESE EST MIS A PART, LES AUTllES QUATRE LIUKES SONT DISPOSEZ EN FORME D'lIARMONIE: AVEC CINQ INDICES, DONT LES DEVX CONTEN.VNS LES PAS SAGES ALLEGUEZ ET EXPOSEZ TAR L'AUTnEUR SONT ADIOUSTEZ DE NOUUEAU EN CESTE TRADUCTION. A GENEVE. Imprimc par Francois Efliene M. D. LXIIIL A TRKSILLVSTUE PRINCE IIENKI DUG 1)E VENDOSME ROY IIERITIER DE NAUARRE, lEAN CALUIN MoNSEiGXEVR, si plusieui's reprenent mon entreprise, en ce que i'a}: este si hardi de vous dedicr ce mien labeur, afin qu'il fust public sous vostre nora, il ne m'aduiendra rien de nouueau et que ie naye preueu. Ila allegueront que ceci sera cause d'enflammer de plus en plus la haine que les iniques ont desia conceue cotre vous. Mais puis que Dieu vous a doue et muni d'vne telle magnanimite, voire en cest aage si tendre, et au milieu de beaucoup de frayeurs et menaces, et iamais vous n'auez este destourne de faire pure protestation et franclic de vostre foy : ie ne voy point en quoy ie vous puisse nuire ou porter dommage, en confermant par mon tesmoignage ce que vous entendez et voulez estre iiotoire a tout Ie monde. Puis done que vous n'auez point lionte de I'Euagile do lesus Christ, il m'a semble que ceste liberie que vous monstrcz, me donnoit iustc matiere de m'enliardir a vous congratuler de ces comencemens tant heureux, et vous exhorter en vne Constance inuincible pour Ie temps a venir. Car ce qui aduiet aux meilleurcs natures, assauoir d'estrc ployablcs et facilcs, est comun aux ieunes gens, iusques a ce que I'aage les ait bien du tout meuris. Toutesfbis si mon affection desplaist a quelquea vns, moyenant qu'elle soit ap- proiuice de la Koine vostre mere, il me sera loisible de raes- priser tant leur iugement peruers que leurs detractics : pour le moins ie ne m'en soucieray gueres. Possible que ie n'ay -point este assez bien auise, en ce que ie ne me suis point enquis auparauant quelle seroit sa bonne volonte, afin de ne rien attenter sans son conge. Mais s'il y a faute en cest en- droit, I'excuse en est bien facile. Si i'eusse omis de m'ad- resser a sa maieste par nonchalance, ie me condamneroye moy-mesme, non seulement d'inconsideration, mais aussi de temerite et arrogance. Au reste, pource que ie n'esperois pas que le liure deust estre si tost public : d'autant que I'im- primeur me remettoit iusques au prin- temps : ie ne pensoye pas pour certaines raisons qu'il fust expedient de me hasten Cependant pource qu'il y auoit d'autres soliciteurs que moy, qui pressoyent plus instamment, on m'a signifie tout soudain que louurage seroit mis a fin quinze iours apres. Ce que iamais ie n'eusse pense, pource qu'on m'en auoit tant souuent fait refus. Or combien que ie n'aye pas este marri d'auoir este trompe en cest endroit, si est-ce que le moyen m'a este oste, d'en demander permission a la Roine vostre mere. Combien qu'en cognoissant le zele et desir feruent qu'elle a d'auancer la doctrine de lesus Christ, et la vraye et pure re- ligion de sa volonte, ie ne suis pas en grade peine ne souci qu'elle n'approuue volontiers mon faict, et qu'elle ne le de- fende et maintiene par son authoritc. Et de faict, elle ne dissimule pas combien elle est eslongnee de toutes supersti- tions et abus, dont la Chrestiente a este desfiguree et souillee. Et cntre les horribles tempestes dont le royaume de France a este agite, on a cognu a bon escient, et par certaines espreuues, qu'il habitoit en vne femme vn courage plus que viril. Parquoy il est bien a desirer qu'en la fin elle face honte aux hommcs, afin qu'ils soyent picquez d'vne bonne enuie, de se confermer a son exemple. Car selon qu'elle se moderoit d'vne modestie incroyable, a grand' peine on eust pense qu'elle sousteint si doucement, et paisiblement des violences plus qu'impetueuscs, et cependant qu'elle les repoussast si cour- ageusement. II y a bien peu de tesmoina qui sachent com- bien Dieu I'a viuement exercce en des combats interieurs, et EPISTKE. XXIX i'en suis vn. Quand a vous, Monseigiieur, vous n'aucz point a cercher vn patron meilleur ne plus propre pour vous regler a vne vraye image et entierc dc toutes vcrtus. Et ie vous prie de penser que Dieu vous a oblige singulierement d'aspirer a ce but, et vous esuertuer d'y paruenir. Car la nature ex- cellente laquelle reluist en vous, seroit pour vous oster toute excuse, s'il vous aduenoit de vous fouruoyer : et la nourriture et instruction laquelle n'est pas vne petite aide pour auancer les bons esprits, est comme vn second Hen, pour vous retenir en vostre deuoir. Car outre ce que vous auez este enseigne en la crainte de Dieu et honnestete de mceurs, il y a eu la doctrine liberale des letres. D'auantage ayant gouste les rudi- mens, vous n'auez pas este ennuye ni fasche des letres pour en quitter I'estude : coiume quasi tout plain s'y sont accoustu- mez. Mais vous poursuyuez tousiours alaigrement a polir encore mieux vostre esprit. Or jSIon seigneur, ce que i'ay mis ce liure en auant sous vostre nora, mon desir a este que se fust vn moyen par lequel Dieu vous tendist la main pour vous vendicquer a soy derechef, a ce que vous faciez tant plus libre profession d'estre disci()le de lesus Christ. Et de faict, la Koine vostre mere laquelle ne pent estre assez louee pour sez vertus, ne prendra plaisir en rien que vous puissiez faire pour luy complaire, qu'en oyant que vous profitez de plus en plus en la crainte de Dieu. Or combien qu'il y ait plusieurs choses contenues en ce liure, lesquelles surmontent la capacite de vostre aage : toutesfois ie ne vous en ofFre point la lecture h I'estourdie, en vous priant de vous y exercer songneusement. Car comme ainsi soit que les ieunes gens se delectent h cognoistre les choses anciennes, vous approcherez tantost du temps, Mon seigneur, auquel I'histolre tant de la creation du mode, que de I'Eglise primitiue pourra occuper vostre esprit, auec vn fruict aussi grand que Ie plaisir. Et de faict, si sainct Paul condamne a bon droict la stu- pidite peruerse des hommes, en ce qu'ils passent comme a yeux clos ce miroir tant clair et notable de la gloire de Dieu, qui se presente assiduelicment a eux au bastiment du monde,et les argue d'enseuelir iniquementla lumiere de verite: I'ignorance de I'origine et de la creation du genre huraain, la(|uellc a regno quasi de tout tcnq)s, n'a pas este nioins vilcne et detestable. 11 est blen vray-semblable que tantost apres que Babylone fut edifiee, la memoire de.s clioses qui deuoyent estre incessamment celebrees et ramentues, s'est comme es- , uanouye. Car d'autant que la dispersion laquelle adueint alors fut comme vn moyen d'emanciper les gens profanes du pur seruicc de Dieu : il ne leur a point clialu de porter auecques eux en quelques regions qu'ils arriuassent, ce qu'ils auoyent entendu de leurs peres, tant de la creation du monde, que de la restauratlon apres le deluge. Voyla dont il s'est fait, que nul peuple excepte le lignage d' Abraham, n a cognu par I'espace de deux mille ans, de quelle source il estoit decedu, ou quad le gere humain auoit commece d'estre. Car ce que le Hoy Ptolomee a eu le soin de faire translater en Grec les liures de Moyse, 9'a este vn zele plus louable que profitable (au moins pour ce temps-la) veu que la clarte laquelle il s'es- toit efforce de tirer hors des tenebres, n'a pas laisse d'estre tenue cachee, estant estouffee par la paresse des hommes. Dont il est aise a recueillir, que ceux qui deuoyent appliqucr tousleurs seus,et s'esforcer a cognoistre le Createur du monde, ont plustost cerche de malice et impietc deliberee, d'estre aueugles a leur escient. Cependant les sciences liberales ont fleuri, plusieurs nobles esprits ont este renommez, on a com- pose des liures de toutes sortes : mais de la creation du monde, pas vn seul mot. Mesme Aristote le principal Philosoplie, et lequel a surmonte tous les autres, tant en subtilite qu'en sauoir, en disputant que le monde est eternel, a fait seruir tout ce qu'il auoit de viuacitc, a frauder Dieu de sa gloire. Combicn que Platon son maistre ait eu quelque pen plus de religion en soy, et qu'il donne quelque signe d'auoir este embu de quelque goust de meilleure cognoissance : toutesfois les principes de verltc qu'il touche sont si maigres, et il les mesle et corrompt de tant de fictions et resueries, que ceste fa9on contrefiiite d'enseigner nuist plus qu'elle ne profite. Au reste, ceux qui se sont adonnez a escrire des histoires : comblen qu'ils fus- sent gens aigus et bien letrez, toutesfois en se vantant a plene bouclie d'estre bons tesmoins et asseurez de la plus haute ancicnete, iusques a ce qu'ils soyent venus au siecle de Dauid, brouillent leui-s escrits de tant de meslinges confus, EPISTRE. XXXI que ccste lie en ostc toute clartc : quand ils veulcnt monter plus haut, ils ainassent vn bourbier infiui de mensongcs : tant s'en faut qu'ils faccnt vne deduction pure et liquide pour mener les lecteurs a la premiere creation du monde. Or qu'ils ayent ignore a leur escient ce qui n'estoit pas besoin de cercher loin, s'ils se fussent estudiez a apprendre, Ics Egyp- tiens, en donncnt assez claire approbation : lesqucls ayans la lampe de la parole de Dieu allumee et luisante a leurs portes, ont forge sans nulle honte des chroniques de leurs actes, les- qucls ils ont fait accroire estre aduenus quinze mille ans deuant que le monde fust crec. La fiction des Atheniens n'a pas este moins puerile et sotte, lesquels en se glorifiant estre nez de leurs terres, d'autant qu'ils appetoyent de s'atribuer vne origine separee d'auec le genre humain, se sont faits ridicules mesmes aux plus barbares. Or combien que toutes nations ayent este enueloppees au crime d'ingratitude, les vnes plus les autres moins, toutesfois il m'a semble expediet de choislr ces deux esquelles I'en'cur est moins excusable, en cc qu'elles ont cuide outrepasser les autres en sagesse. Au reste, soit que tons peuples lesquels ont este iadis, se soyent mis vn voile de leur bon gre pour ne voir goutte, ou que seulement leur paresse les ait empescliez : le premier liure de Moyse merlte bien d'estre tenu pour vn thresor inestimable, lequel pour le moins nous donne certitude infallible de la creation du monde : sans laquelle, nous ne somraes pas dignes que la terre nous soustiene. le laisseray pour ccste heure I'histoire du deluge, laquelle contient vn rairoirautant cspou- an table de la vengence de Dieii, en ce que le monde a este desfait et ruine, comme admirable de sa bonte et grace, au renouuellement du genre humain. Ccste seule vtilite doit faire priser le liure plus qu'on ne sauroit dire, c'est qu'en iceluy et non ailleurs nous voyons ce qui est tant et plus ne- cessaire a cognoistre : assauoir comment Dieu apres lacheute mortelle de I'homme a neantmoins adopte son Eglise. Nous apprenons quel a este son vray seruice, et comment les saincts Peres se sont exercez en pictc : comment la religion pure, estant decheue pour vn temps par la paresse des liommes, a este remise en son cnticr, ct reduite en son droit estat : XXXll EriSTRE. assauoir quand DIeii a eleu vn certain peuple pour luy com- mettre comme en depost 1' alliance gratuite de salut. Nous entendons comment vne petite pongnee de gens estant pro- ,uenue d'vn homme sterile et caduque, et quasi demi mort, et (comme Isaie le nomme) solitaire, a este soudain augmentee en vne multitude admirable : comment Dieu a esleue et maintenu par fa^ons incroyables ceste maison d' Abraham qu'il auoit choisie, combien qu'elle fust poure et desnuee de toute protection, exposee a toutes tempestes, et cependant assiegee de tous costez de tant de bandes d'ennemis. Que chacun iuge par son experience propre, combien il est neces- saire de bien cognoistre ccs choses. Nous voyos aussi d'autre part auec quelle fierete et tonnerres les Papistes estonnent les simples sous vn titrc cotreftiit de I'Eglise. Or Moyse nous depeint vne forme nayue d'Eglise, laquelle en abatant telles illusions, nous deliure de telles vaines frayeurs : d'auantage ils rauissent en admiration beaucoup de gens mal auisez par leurs masques et pompes, mesme qui plus est, ils les rendent hebetez et les enforcellent. Mais si nous iettons les yeux aux marques par lesquelles Moyse nous monstre quelle est I'Eglise, toutes ces belles monstres de masquerie ne vaudront pas vn festu pour tromper. Souuent nous sommes esbranlez et quasi defaillons, voyant le petit nombre de ceux qui suy- uent la pure doctrine de Dieu : sur tout quand nous contem- plons quelle vogue et estendue ont les superstitions au long et au large. Mais comme Dieu commandoit iadis aux luifs par son Pi'ophete Isaie, de regarder au rocher dont ils auoy- ent este taillez, c'est a dire a leur pere Abraham, qui n'estoit qu'vn homme seal : aussi auiourd'huy nous rap- pelant par son seruiteur Moyse a vne mesme consideration, il nous aduertit combien c'est vn iugement peruers de raesurer I'Eglise par la multitude des hommes, comme si la dignite d'icelle consistoit en grand troupe. Si quelque- fois la religion ne fleurit pas si bien par tout comme il seroit a souhaitter, si le corps des fideles se dissipo, et que I'estat de I'Eglise qui estoit bien regie s'en aille en decadence, non seulement les coeurs sont estonnez, mais aussi s'escoulent du tout. Au contraire, quand ccste histoire de Moyse nous remonstre vn bastiraent fait de mines, vn recueil et vnion dc pieces rompues escartees qa et la, vne telle monstre dc la grace de Dieii nous doit bien esleuer en meilleur espoir que nostre sens ne coniprend. Outre plus, veu que Ics csprits des hommes sont si enclins h, controuuer des seruices csti-angcs, voire mesme tretillcnt et s'y esgayent, il n'y a rien plus vtile pour nous, que d'apprudrc la regie dc bien et deuement scruir Dieu des saincts Patriarches, dcsquels Moyse voulant louiir la piete, insiste pi'incipalcmet en ceste marque, qu'ils ont dc- pedu de la sou le parole de Dieu. Car cobien qu'il y ait grade diuersite et longue distance entre eux et nous qufit aux ceremonies externes, toutesfois ce qui doit demcurcr im- muable est commun a tous deux, assauoir que la religion soit reglee au seul decret de Dieu, et a sa volonte. Ic n'ignore pas combien il y auroit ici plus ample matiere et riclie, et c5bien tout ce que ie puis dire est has et au dessous de la dignite des choses dont ie parle : mais d'autant qu'il y aura lieu plus opportun d'en traitter plus au long et en falre pleue deduction, combien que ce ne soit pas auec tel ornemct qu'il seroit requls : ce m'a cste assez pour ceste heure d'nducrtir brieuement Ics lecteurs, combien lis auront profite s'ils appre- nent d'approprier a leur vsage, le patron de TEgllse anclene, tel qu'il est exprime par Moyse. Et de falct, Dieu nous a accopagnez auec les saincts Peres en I'espoir d'vn mesme heri- tage, afin qu'en surmontant la longue distance des aages, la- quelle nous diuise les vns des autres, nous marchions hardi- ment d'vn accord mutuel de foy et de patience a soustenir les mesmes combats. Et d'autant plus sont a detester beau- coup de phrenetiques, lesquels estans picquez de ie ne say quel taon de zele enrage, s'efForcent incessamment de des- merabrer VEglise, laquelle n'est desla que par trop dlsslpee. Ie ne parle point des ennemls declarez, lesquels se icttent et ruent de toute leur force eta main armec, a miner et descoii- fire tant qu 11 y a de fideles au monde, et en abolir du tout la memoire : mals 11 y en a mesme de ceux qui sont scmblant de porter TEuangile, si chagrins et ombrageux, qu'ils ne ces- sent de semer touslours quelque nouuelle matiere de dluorce : et de troubler par leur inquietude la palx et concorde, que led VOL. I. c XXXIV EPISTRE. bons seruiteurs de Dieu et doctes iiourriroyent volontiers en- semble. Nous voyons comment entre les Papistes il demeure vnc obstination maudite a conspirer contre rEuangile,combien • qu'en tout le reste ils s'entrebatent corame chiens et chats. 11 n'est ia besoln de remonstrer combien le nombre de ceux qui tienet la pure doctrine de lesus Christ est petit, si on le compare auec leurs grosses bandes. Cependant il se dresse d'entre nous de petits folets et outrecuidez, lesquels non seule- mcnt obscurcissent la clarte de la saincte doctrine par leurs brouees derreui'S, ou bien enyurct les simples qui ne sont gueres bien exercez, les abbruuas de leurs resueries : mais qui pis est, sous ombre qu'ils se permettet de douter de toutes choses, ils se donent licece de renuerser toute la religion. Car come s'ils se vouloyent, tournat tout en risees et cauil- latios, approuuer estre bons disciples de Socrates, ils n'ont nulle maxime plus agreable que ceste-ci, que la foy doit estre libre, et que les esprits ne doyuent point estre tenus captifs. Et c'est afin qu il leur soit loisible, en mettat tout en doute et en question, tourner et virer TEscriture a leur poste, et en faire vn nez de cire, come on dit en commun proueibe. Or ceux qui sont afiriadez de tels allechemens de disputer le pro et le contra, come on dit, profiteront si bien en ceste escole, qu'en apprenant tousiours, iamais ne paruiendront a la science de verite. Pay traitte iusques ici selon que le lieu le portoit, touchant I'vtilite de I'histoire contenue au liure de Genese. Au reste, i'ay trauaille (si ce n'a este auec telle grace et dexterite que i'eusse voulu, pour le moins 9'a este fideleraent) a ce que la doctrine de la Loy, dont I'obscurite a estonne par ci deuant beaucoup de gens, et les a reculez d'y lire, fust familierement esclaircie. le ne doute pas, qu'il n'y en ait qui desireront vnc declaration plus ample de quelques passages : mais comme ainsi soit que desia de nature ie fuye prolixite, i'ay este plus restraint en cest ouurage pour deux raisons. Car d'autant que ces quatre liures font desia peur par leur longueur a gens delicats : i'ay craint, que si ie m'estedoye libremet a les bie deschiffrer, on ne s'ennuyast encore plus pour en estre desgouste. D'auantage pource qu'en la i.rocedurc i'ay souuent desespere de viure vn mois, i'aimois EPISTRE. XXXV mieux en auoir recueilli vne exposition sommaire, que de laisser vn labour imparfait. Toutesfols les lecteurs de sain iugemcnt etcntier, vcrront asscz (^ue ie me suls songneusemcnt doune garde de ne rien omettre, ou par astucc, ou par negligece, de ce qui pouuoit estre anibigu ou obscur, et engendrer per- plexlte. Puis doncqucs que i'ay mis peine entant qu'en moy estoit desplucher et vuider tous scrupules, le ne voy point pourquoy on se doyue plaindre de brieuete, sino qu'on vueille trouuer de mot a mot aux Comcntaires tout ce qui est a dire d'vne matiere. Or ie souffriray volontlers, que telles gens qui ne sont iamais rassasiez de langage, se cerchent vn autre maistre. Quant a vous, Mon seigneur, s'il vous plalst de I'es- prouuer, vous cognoistrez par effet, et croirez a vous-mesme, que ce que ie dl est tres vray. Vous estes enfant : mais Dleu en commandant que les llols fissent copier vn volume de la Lo}' ii leur propre vsage, n'a point exempte de ce rag le bon losias : mais plustost a voulu que I'exemple de cest enfant fust comme vn chef d'oeuure memorable, et vn miroir de saincte instruction pour redarguer la bestise des vieilles gens. Et ce qu'on volt en vous, monstre combie il est profitable que les enfaus soyet accoustumez a bien, et dults a vertu, des qu'ils vienent a quelque discretion. Car non seulemet le germe de la racine viue qu'ont pris les principes de la religion dont vous auez este imbu, iette hors sa flcur, mais sent desia quelque maturite. Parquoy, Mon seigneur, eftbrcez-vous de tendre auec vne perseuerance inuincible au but qui vous est propose : et que vous ne prestiez point I'aureille a ie ne say quels gaudisseurs qui t'ascherot h -vous desbacher, en vous faisant accroire que ce n'est pas encore le temps d'estre si sage, et qu'on ne doit point ainsi haster les enfans. Car d'autrepart vous auez a considerer qu'il n'y a rien plus cotraire a raison, ne moins a receuoir que de vous priuer et forclorre de ce remede contre toutes sortes de corruptions qui vous enuironnet. Veu que les delices de Cour gastent mesme et deprauent vos seruiteurs, combien les embuches sont-elles pus perilieuses aux grans Princes, lesquels regorgent telle- ment de toutes superfluitez et delices, que c'est merueille qu'ils ne s'escoulet du tout en dissolution ? Car de iaict XXXVl KPISTRE. c'est quasi vne chose repugnante a nature, que de iouir de tous moyes de voluptez sans volupte. Et il n'ap- pert que trop par I'vsage comun, que la chastete ne demeure gueres souuet pure entre les delices. Quant a vous, Mon seigneur, estimez que cest venin de tout ce qui est pour faire croistrc en vous les voluptez. Car si vous estes desia main- tenant chatouille, de ce qui est j^our estoufFer continence et attrempance, qu'est-ce que vous ne conuoitercz estant venu en aage d'homme ? Ceste sentence sera possible trop rude, Que tant i)lus qu'on a de soin de son corps, on est nonchalant de vertu : et toutesfois Caton a tresbicn iuge parlant ainsi. A grand' peine aussi ceste sentence sera clle receue en vne fa(}on dcviure tant desbridee qu'on la voit, le suis cree a vne fin plus noble que d'cstre esclaue de mon corps, veu que le mcrspiser est ma droite liberte. Laissons doncques la ceste rigueur excessiue, laquelle seroit pour abatre toute ioyeusete : mais il y a trop d'exemples pour monstrer combie le passage est glissant a tomber en vne licence de tout desbauchement, quand on est trop endormi, et qu'on se dispense a vanite. Au reste, vous n'aurez pas seulement a combatre contre la super- fluite et les pompes, mais aussi contre beaucoup d'autres vices. II n'y a rien })lus delectable, que vostre humanite et modestie : mais il n'y a nul esprit si benin ni debonnaire, lequel estant enyure de flatcries, ne se desbauche a vne arrogance et cru- aute sauuage. D'auantage, ]\Ion seigneur, puis qu'il y a des flateurs infinis, lesquels sei'oyent autant de soufflets pour en- flanuner vostre courage en diuerses conuoitises : combien vous conuient-il estre plus attentif a vous contregarder ? Or en vous aduertissant des blandissemens de Cour qui seroyent pour vous amadoucr, ie ne requier sinon questant arme d'attrem- pance, vous soycz inuicible pour n'cn estre point surprins. Car il a este vrayement dit par vn Payen, que la louange d'vn homme n'estoit pas de n'auoir iamais veu Asie, mais d'y auoir vescu pudiquement, et s'y estre preserue en continence. Or veu que c'est vne chose desirable sur tout, si vous y fau- droit-il trauaillerquehpie difficilite qui y fu8t,mais Dauid vous doimc vn bon abrege si vous suyucz son exenqjlc, quand il ilit que les preceptes de Dieu ont este ses conseilliers. Et de El'ISTKE. XXXVll faict, tout ce qui vous sera suggere de co^eil et d'auis d'ail- leurs, s'esuanouira si vous ne comecez par ce bout, a sauoir que cest de vraye prudence. II reste, Mon seigneur, que ce qui est escrit en Isaie du sainct Roy Ezechias vous reuiene tous- iours en memoire. Car le Prophete en racontant ses vertus notables le loue sur tout de ce titre, que la crainte de Dieu sera son thresor. Sur quoy, Mon seigneur, ie prieray Dieu vous niaintenir en sa protection f'aire reluire en vous de plus en plus ses dons spirituels, et vous enrichir de toutes sortes de benedictions. A Geneue, le dernier iour de luillet. M.D.LXIII. ^^g ;^ A Commeiitar ky^.^^ *f^o/ui Caluine , vpon _^^^ _ ^^ the firft booke of Mofcs cal- ^'^^^-Ml cTAL 'W led Getipfis : Trandatcd out — «r^^^Lf1 ^ IS ."^ <-.''^',3.*l^ of Ladne info EngH/fi,bi/ Thomas Tymme, Minijler. ^^^^ T Imp? i fired at Lon- 1>^ r-i^7 don,fov lo/mHarj/on .ukI ~ Giorge Bifliop. ■inno la78 TO THE KIGIIT IIONOllABLE, MY VERIE GOOD LORDE AMBROSE, EARLE OF WARWICKE, BARON LISLE, MAISTER OF HER MAIESTIE'S ORDINANCE, KNIGHT OF THE MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER, AND ONE OF HER HIGHNESSE PRIUIE COUNSELL, AND TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LADIE HIS WIFE, ENCREASE OF HONOUR, AND TRUE KNOWLEDGE IN CHRIST lESVS. If the Apostle Paule (right honorable) condemne the negli- gence of men, because they behold not the euident spectacle of the glorie of God which is set before their eyes in the workemanship of the worlde,by which they wickedly suppresse the light of trueth: no lesse foule and shameful was that ignor- ance of the original and creation of mankind which almost in euery ago and time so greatly preuailed. The which ignorance immediately ensued the building of Babylon by the forgetting of those things which ought to haue beene dayly and howerly spoken oif. For at what time godlesse men were banished from their natiue soile and dispersed, they therewithall aban- doned the pure worship of God : Insomuch that to what part of the earth so euer they came, they had no care to bring with them that which they had heard of their forefathers, con- cerning the creating and repairing of the worlde. And so it came to passe, that no nation, except only the posteritie of Abraham, knew by the space of two thousand yeares, either from whence or when mankind had his originall. As for the labour which Ptolome bestOAved in translating the books of Moses into the Greeke tongue, it was at that time more laud- able than fruitful : when as the light which he went about to bring out of darknes, was neuerthelesse through the careles- nesse of men extinguished. Whereby wee may perceiue, that they which ought to haue endeuored themselues, to knowe xlii THE KPISTLE. the vvorkemaister of the worlde, sought rather by then- vngod- linesse howe they might be wilfully blinde and ignorant. In the meane time the liberal Sciences florished, men's witts were sharpe and quicke, greate paines euery Avay was taken : and yet nothing was spoken of the creation of the worlde. Aris- totle, the prince of philosophers, dreamed of the eternitie of the world. Plato, his schoolmaister, shooting somewhat more neere vnto the marke, wandered notwithstanding some- what from the tructh. But whether they, and all other nations with them, were wilfully blinde, or whether they were ignorant through their owne negligence, this booke of Moses deserueth to be esteemed as a most precious iewell, which certifieth vs not only of the creation of the worlde, but also howe, after the mortall fall of man, God adopted a Church to him selfe : which was the true worship of him, and with what exercises of godlinesse the fathers occupied them selues : howe pure religion, through the Avicked negligence of men, was for a time decayed, and afterward restored to her former state : when God made a free couenant of eternall saluation with a certeine peojDle : Howe, of one man withered, and almost halfe dead, there sprang seede, which sodainly grewe into a huge people : and, finally, by what wonderfuU meanes God aduanced and defended his chosen familie, though it were poore and destitute of al helpe, and enuironed with thousands of enemies on euery side. Howe necessarie the knowledge of these thinges is, your Honours by the vse and experience thereof may deeme. Therefore, the Argument being so diuine, and accordingly handled by that notable instrument of God's Church, lohn Caluine, (whose workes proclaime his })raise,) and no commentarie vpon the same afore this time englished, I haue thought good to set forth the same in our vulgar tongue, vndcr your Honour's protection, that a more general profite being thereby reaped of my countrie men, it may bee somewhat the farther from obliuion. And because I knowe what godly delight your noble and vertuous Lady taketh in reading such bookes, I presume to ioyne her with your Honour herein, that others of her sex, hearing of her honorable name, may followc her godly steppes with like zeale in that religious exercise. For what Christian will not thinke 1 II R EPISTLE. xllii it a Bookc worthic the reading, -which he seeth warranted by your names ? Therefore partely the godly zeale found out in you by effect, and partely your Honour's courteous liking afore time of my pains this way taken, harteneth me to aduenture the offer of this poore present, as a token proceed- ing from a well-Avishing minde. Thus hauing bene too tedi- ous vnto your Honours, I most humbly take my leaue, be- seeching the Lord God to defend you both with his shield, to sustoin you with inuinciblc fortitude, to gouerne you with his spirit of prudence, and to powre vpon you all. manner of blessings. Vour Honor'' s most humble Thomas Tymme. THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE DEDICATORY JOHN CALVIN TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE, HENRY, DUKE OF VENDOME, HEIR TO THE KINGDOM OF NAVARRE.' If many censure my design, most Illustrious Prince, in pre- suming to dedicate this work to you, that it may go forth to light sanctioned by your name, nothing new or unexpected will have happened to me. For they may object that by such dedication, the hatred of the wicked, Avho are already more than sufficiently incensed against you, will be still fur- ther inflamed. But since, at your tender age, ^ amid various alarms and threatenings, God has inspired you with such magnanimity that you have never swerved from the sincere and ingenuous profession of the faith ; I do not see what injury you can sustain by having that profession, which you wish to be openly manifest to all, confirmed by my testimony. Since, therefore, you are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, ' Afterwards tlic celebrated Henry IV. of France. A brave and noble- siHiiied PriiRo, addicted, liowcver, to the frivolitie?, and enslaved by the licentiousness of the af,'e. He was induced to renounce his rrot(>laiit ju-inciples for the Crown of France ; and at length fell by the hand of an assassin, on account of liis ttilciance towards the Hupmots. - He was Ixnn in l.")".".. .tu<1 therefiire in 15G;^. the dnteof tliis dedica- tion, he Ma< ten \(:ns old. xlvi CALVIN S DEDICATION. this independence of yours has appeared to give me just ground of confidence to congratuhite you on such an auspi- cious commencement, and to exhort you to invincible con- stancy in future. For that flexibility -which belongs to superior natures is the common property of the young, until their character becomes more formed. But however dis- pleasing my labour may be to some, yet if it be approved (as I trust it will) by your most noble mother, the Queen, ^ I can afford to despise both their unjust judgments and their malicious slanders ; at least I shall not be diverted by them from my purpose. In one thing I may have acted with too little consideration, namely, in not having consulted her, in order that I might attempt nothing but in accordance with her judgment and her wish ; yet for this omission I have an excuse at hand. If, indeed, I had omitted to consult her through negligence, I should condemn myself as guilty not of imprudence only, but of rashness and arrogance. When, however, I had given up all hope of so early a publication, because the Printer Avould put me off till the next spring- fairs, I thought it unnecessary, for certain reasons, to hasten my work. In the meantime, while others were urging him more vehemently on this point than I had done, I suddenly received a message, that the work might be finished within fifteen days, a thing which had before been pertinaciously refused to myself. Thus beyond my expectation, yet not con- trary to my wish, I was deprived of the opportunity of ask- ing her permission. Nevertheless, that most excellent Queen is animated by such zeal for the propagation of the doctrine of ' Jeanne d'Albrct, Queen of Navarre, daugbter of Henry d'Albret and of Margaret of Valois, sister to Francis tlie First, King of France. Henry was her third son, but tlie two former died in infancy. Slie and Jier husband, Antony of Bourbon, Avere botli early favourers of tlie Keforma- tion ; but Antony, remarkable for his inconstancy, deserted the cause of Protestantism in the time of persecution, and at length took arms against its adherents, and perished in the contest. Jeanne remained constant to the faith she had professed, and proceeded to establish it in her domin- ions. In 1568 she left her capital Bearne, to join the French Protestants ; and presented her son Henry to the Prince of Conde at the age of fifteen, together with her jewels, for the purpose of maintaining the war against tlie persecutors of the Reformed faith. She died in 1572, suddenly, at Paris, whither she had gone to make arrangements for her son's projected marriage with the sister of Charles IX. It was suspected that she died of [loisuii, but no positive proof of tlie fact has been adduced. Calvin's dkdicatiox. xlvli Clirist and of pure faith and piety, that 1 am under no extreme anxiety respecting her -willingness to api)rovc of this service of mine, and to defend it -with her patronage. She by no means dissembles her own utter estrangement from the superstitions and corruptions -with -which Iveligion has been disfigured and polluted. And in the midst of turbulent agitations;, ^ it has been rendered evident by convincing proofs, that she carried a more than mascuHne mind in woman's breast. And I -wish that at length even men may be put to shame, and that use- ful emulation may stimulate them to imitate her exami)le. For she conducted herself with such peculiar modesty, that scarcely any one would have supposed her capable of thus en- during the most violent attacks, and, at the same time, of courageously repelling them. Besides, how keenly God exercised her with internal conflicts but few persons are wit- nesses, of whom, however, I am one. You truly, most Illustrious Prince, need not seek a better example, for the purpose of moulding your own mind to the perfect pattern of all virtues. Regard yourself as bound in an especial manner to aspire after, to contend, and to labour for the attainment of this object. For, as the heroic disposi- tion which shines forth in you, will leave you the less excus- able, if you degenerate from yourself, so education, no common help to an excellent disposition, is like another bond to retain you in your duty. For^.liberal instruction has been superadded to chaste discipline. Already imbued with the rudiments of literature, you have not cast away (as nearly all are wont to do) these studies in disgust, but still advance with alacrity in the cultivation of your genius. Now, in sending forth this book to the public under your name, my desire is, that it may effectually induce you more freely to profess yourself a dis- ciple of Christ ; just as if God, by laying his hand upon you, were claiming you anew to himself. And truly, you can yield no purer gratification to the Queen your mother, Avho cannot be too highly estimated, than by causing her to hear that you are making continual jn-ogress in piety. Although many things contained in this book are beyond ■ " Kt ontrc los liorrihlos tompostos doiit Ic pivaumo dc Fr;iiico a cstf .nrjitt'-.' — And amid tlic liun-il)li' tmiiio^ts uitli \\\\u\\ tlii' liiii/doni ni" rrjiiiif Ins hocii nj;-i(:ift