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THE EARLY YEARS 
 
 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
Edinburgh : Printed by Thomas and Archibald Constable 
 
 FOR 
 
 DAVID DOUGLAS. 
 
 LONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE. 
 
THE EARLY YEARS 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN CALVIN 
 
 A FRAGMENT 
 1509-1536 
 
 BY THE 
 
 y 
 
 REV. THOMAS *M'CRIE, D.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE " LIVES OF KNOX AND MELVILLE ;" " HISTORY OF THE 
 REFORMATION IN SPAIN AND ITALY," ETC . 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 WILLIAM FERGUSON 
 
 OF KINMUNDT 
 
 EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS 
 
 1880. 
 
^opTrtT^ 
 
 PR! 
 
 ;. AUG 1880 
 THEGLQGI- 
 
 If 
 
 No apology is necessary for offering the public 
 this fragment. So far as it goes, it is complete ; 
 and with its three hundred notes and references 
 to more than sixty authors, it is a valuable 
 literary treasure. The editing of it, greatly 
 aided by the kind assistance of Professor W. 
 Robertson Smith, Professor James Candlish, D.D., 
 John Taylor Brown, Esq., and others, if a 
 somewhat laborious and anxious undertaking, 
 has been a labour of love and of reverent affec- 
 tion. The universal regret will be that the 
 author did not live to complete it. It is pub- 
 lished as a tribute of respect, and will be a 
 lasting monument of the painstaking, laborious 
 care, as well as of the clear and incisive style, 
 of the writer. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/earlyyearsofjohnOOmcri 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 BIRTH TO CLOSE OF SECULAR STUDIES : 1509-1532, . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 TILL DRIVEN FROM FRANCE : 1533-1536, .... 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF GENEVA : 500-1536, . .106 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GENEVA: 1536, 187 
 

 Ml 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH TO CLOSE OF SECULAR STUDIES, 1509-1532. 
 
 John Calvin was born at Noyon, a city of Picardy chap. 
 in France, on the 10th of July 1509, and was v___ 
 baptized in the Church of St. Godaberte in the 1509. 
 course of that month. He was the second son of 
 Gerard Chauvin or Cauvin and of Joanna Franc. 
 His father was a native of Pont l'Eveque, a village 
 situated within a quarter of a league of Noyon, 
 to which place he removed at an early period of his 
 life. 1 
 
 At that period there was no middle class in \ 
 France ; all who could not trace their descent from : 
 an ancient family, or who had not been ennobled 
 in consequence of some rare feat in arms, were 
 classed promiscuously among the people. If we 
 may believe the enemies of the Reformer, he 
 sought afterwards to conceal the meanness of his 
 birth by changing his paternal name. But not to 
 mention that the change was merely from French 
 into Latin, in which language he composed the 
 greater part of his works, and that he used much less 
 liberty in this respect than was common to learned 
 
 A 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 men in that age, he effectually cut off this cavil 
 and showed himself superior to the alleged weak- 
 1509. ness by repeated and spontaneous allusions to the 
 obscurity of his parentage. In the first work which 
 he gave to the public he speaks of himself as "a 
 plebeian" who had as little claim to notice from his 
 birth as from his proficiency in literature. And he 
 adverts to this circumstance in almost the same 
 terms long after he had raised himself to distinction 
 and his name was known over all Europe. Not that 
 1 he needed to be ashamed of either of his parents. 
 His father possessed great natural sagacity and 
 aptitude for business, and had raised himself above 
 the humble occupations of his forefathers ; he was an 
 apostolical notary, procurator-fiscal of the county, 
 registrar in the ecclesiastical court, secretary to the 
 bishop, and proctor in the Chapter of his native 
 diocese. These employments, though they did not 
 lead to affluence, introduced him to the acquaintance 
 of the first families of the place, whose respect he 
 secured by his intelligence and industry. Gerard 
 Cauvin was one of those fathers who do not err 
 by over-indulgence ; he kept his children in great 
 awe, and testified his love for them by restraining 
 their vices and providing for their future welfare, 
 rather than by caresses and the gratification of 
 their youthful propensities. Such treatment could 
 not fail to exert an influence on the mind of the 
 future Reformer ; whether it contributed in any 
 degree to produce that tincture of severity which 
 has been so often blamed in his character, we have 
 no means of determining. It is certain that he 
 looked back on it himself with unmingled gratitude. 
 " I had," says he, "a somewhat severe father, and 
 
BIRTH AND INFANCY. 
 
 I rejoice at it, as the source of any virtues which I 
 may possess." His mother, who is said to have been 
 a native of Cambray and possessed of great personal iso9 
 beauty, 2 was noted for her piety, which showed 
 itself according to the custom of that age in a 
 scrupulous and devout attention to the forms of 
 worship prescribed by the Church. Under the 
 training of such parents Calvin gave early symptoms 
 of religious feeling, and while his own manners were 
 of the most correct kind, he was accustomed sharply 
 to reprove everything that approached to vice in 
 his youthful companions, as his first biographer 
 had heard from the mouth of unexceptionable wit- 
 nesses who had known him from his infancy. 
 
 If any anecdotes of the early life of the Reformer 
 are to be found, they must have been preserved in 
 the traditions of his townsmen. But Noyon be- 
 came distinguished for its attachment to the 
 ancient faith ; by its ghostly annalists its old name 
 of Vermand was interpreted as a proof that it had 
 been always occupied by true Romans, while its 
 orthodoxy was traced through its modern designa- 
 tion to the patriarch Noah, and its inhabitants 
 carefully initiated into the belief that the only 
 stigma which it had ever incurred was its having 
 given birth to an heresiarch in the person of John 
 Calvin. The stories circulated concerning him were 
 accordingly the offspring of prejudice, and bear 
 marks of the most superstitious and childish 
 credulity. The exact minute at which he came 
 into the world was ascertained ; the conjunction of 
 the planets at the time of his nativity was calcu- 
 lated ; and his horoscope was drawn so as to 
 prognosticate all the evils which he afterwards 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 brought on the Church. His deceitful star flattered 
 him with the honours of the sovereign pontificate. 
 1509. But again, as if the earth had opened her mouth 
 to convict the heavens of falsehood, the poet's fable 
 of the mountain in labour was literally and super- 
 abundantly verified at his birth, so as to give clear 
 warning of his future infamy. This is gravely 
 related on the testimony of the wife of the mayor 
 of the city and other honourable matrons whose 
 mothers were present at the second accouchement 
 of Joanna Franc ; for the authors or retailers of 
 these old wives' fables, in their zeal to asperse the 
 Reformer, had forgotten what they had elsewhere 
 written of the mean condition of his parents. Nor 
 did this child of the devil fail, as he grew up, to 
 give proof of the hellish plans which he was born 
 to execute; so that if the citizens of Noyon had 
 not been bound by some secret spell, they could 
 not have failed to crush the viper in its egg. For 
 when yet a child, he was observed in the public 
 religious processions to appear with a sword in his 
 hand, instead of a cross ; "a presage," says the 
 writer who gravely records this as a fact, "that 
 he would one day prove a great persecutor of the 
 holy cross, as he has been, and that he would plant 
 his false religion with the sword." These tales are 
 so ridiculous that they would stagger our faith in 
 the facts concerning the early life of Calvin, which 
 are related by the same authors, were they not 
 confirmed by collateral authority, and the most 
 authentic documents. 
 
 Calvin derived great advantages in his youth 
 from the respectable connections which his father 
 had formed. He has himself told us that, when a 
 
EARLY EDUCATION. 
 
 boy, he was received into the house of a branch of chap. 
 the illustrious family of Genlis de Hangest, which v_"__ 
 held for two generations the episcopal see of 1516. 
 Noyon, accompanied with the rank of Earl and 
 Peer of France, and that he was educated along 
 with Claude de Hangest, who afterwards became 
 Abbot of St. filoy. This fact must be held as 
 incontrovertible, whether it contradicts or is re- 
 concilable with the statement of the annalists of ; 
 Noyon, who say that he received the rudiments of 
 his education in the College des Capeltes, or that 
 of Beza, who says that he studied along with the 
 Mommorii, 3 the sons of one of the first noblemen 
 of his native city, but at his father's expense. By 
 this means, in addition to a liberal education, a 
 higher tone was imparted to his youthful mind, 
 and he acquired, by intercourse with the great, 
 those manners and that knowledge of the world 
 which fitted him for conducting himself with pro- 
 priety in the public station, and the honourable 
 employments to which he was called in the course \ 
 of his future life : while the graveness of his char- 
 acter, together with the vigilant eye of a parent, 
 preserved him from those vices and extravagant 
 ideas which are often contracted by young men 
 admitted to the society of those above them in 
 rank. 
 
 Calvin was destined for the Church by his [ 
 father, who concluded, from the early indications of 
 piety which his son had given, that this profession 
 would be the object of his own choice when he reached 
 the years of maturity. It is not unreasonable how- 
 ever to suppose, that in coming to this determination, 
 Gerard Cauvin was also influenced by the prospect 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 of his son's advancement through his own connection 
 with the Church, and the patronage of the bishop of 
 1521. the diocese. This supposition is strengthened by 
 the fact of his having trained Charles and Anthony, 
 his eldest and his third son, to the same profession. 
 Accordingly, in the year 1521, he procured for his 
 son John, then only twelve years of age, the 
 chaplainship of La Gesine of the Holy Virgin in 
 the Cathedral of Noyon; 4 and in the year 1527, 
 when he was only eighteen years of age, he obtained 
 for him also a presentation to be cure or parish- 
 priest of St. Martin de Marteville in the same diocese. 
 The practice of conferring ecclesiastical benefices, 
 including those which had the care of souls annexed 
 to them, was so common in that age that it would 
 be idle to make any reply to the invidious strictures 
 of the popish writers on this part of Gerard Cauvin s 
 conduct. The devout annalist of Noyon, who was 
 so much scandalised at the " spiritual polygamy " of 
 young Calvin, was forced to record examples of a 
 still grosser kind, and has informed us that Charles 
 de Hangest, Bishop of Noyon, obtained from his 
 holiness the Pope a dispensation at fifteen years of 
 age " to hold all kinds of offices, compatible and in- 
 compatible, secular and regular, etiam tria curata" 
 and that his nephew and successor, Jean de Han- 
 gest, was elected bishop at nineteen years of age. 
 
 It seems to have been in the fourteenth year 
 of his age that Calvin went first to the University 
 of Paris. " In the year 1523," says a doctor of the 
 Sorbonne to whom we are indebted for several 
 interesting extracts from the registers of Noyon 
 relating to Calvin, " a destructive pestilence raged 
 in Noyon, which led many of the canons to leave 
 
PARIS, STATE OF LETTERS. 
 
 the city. Gerard Cauvin, who loved his son John 
 Calvin on account of the proofs which he gave of 
 ^genius, natural quickness of perception, and progress 1523 
 in the study of JJumanity, procured for him that 
 ..leave of absence, and of quitting the city, which 
 the Chapter had granted to the canons. Accord- 
 ingly we find that in a Chapter held on the 5th of 
 August 1523, a request was presented by Gerard 
 for liberty to his son John to go where he chose 
 during the plague, without losing his distributions ; 
 which was granted till the feast of St. Remigius 
 ensuing. It was then that he went to Paris to 
 study at the University, being only fourteen years 
 old." Beza says he went to the University along 
 with his school-fellows the Mommorii. According 
 to another authority, he was intrusted to the care 
 of a brother of his father, who was an artisan in 
 Paris. 
 
 At the commencement of the sixteenth century 
 the schools of France still retained all the rude- 
 ness of the dark ages, and the University of Paris, 
 so rich in its endowments and crowded with stu- 
 dents, was equally estranged from true philosophy 
 and polite letters. Nothing was to be heard within 
 its walls but scholastic jargon, frivolous questions, 
 unmeaning distinctions, noisy and captious disputa- 
 tion. The writings of the classics and Christian 
 fathers were unknown, or known only through the 
 obscure and distorting medium of the summaries of 
 the schoolmen. The professors were as ignorant of 
 the language of ancient Greece as of the hierogly- 
 phics of Egypt, and the Latin spoken in the schools 
 was of the most barbarous kind. To the expedi- 
 tions which Charles viii. led across the Alps, and 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 in which so much of the best blood of France was 
 spilt, we may trace the first favourable change on 
 1523. its education. Some of those natives of Greece 
 who had settled in Italy were induced to visit 
 Paris, and though they did not remain so long as 
 to form scholars, they excited a strong desire to 
 know their native tongue in the breasts of a few 
 individuals who were not altogether strangers to 
 the light which had arisen upon other countries. 5 
 One of these was James le Fevre of Estaples, 
 better known by the name of Faber Stapulensis, 
 who, after travelling through different parts of 
 Europe, commenced teaching philosophy in the 
 College of Le Moine at Paris about the close of 
 the fifteenth century. 6 Faber merits the appella- 
 tion of Father of French literature, not so much for 
 the books which he published as the impulse he 
 gave to the minds of his scholars. The greater part 
 of those who distinguished themselves during the 
 first half of the sixteenth century were trained under 
 him, or indebted to his instructions. 7 Among these 
 was William Budseus, if indeed that great man 
 can be said to have had any teacher. s By the 
 strength of his genius and the ardour of his appli- 
 cation, at a period of life when enthusiasm for 
 study has usually abated, he in a short time raised 
 his country to a high rank in the republic of letters, 
 outstripped the Italians in Grecian literature, and 
 contested the palm for varied knowledge and 
 elegance of style with Erasmus himself. He was 
 not, like many of his contemporaries, a mere lin- 
 guist, and had the honour of being the first who 
 applied his knowledge of languages to the elucida- 
 tion of civil law, as well as the arts and customs 
 
FABER, BUBvEUS, BARF, STEPHENS. 
 
 of the ancients. In this last branch he was 
 followed by his countryman and friend, Lazarus 
 Barf. Their labours, together with the circulation 1523 
 of the writings of Erasmus, produced a new taste 
 in France, which was gratified by the correct and 
 elegant editions of the classics which came from 
 the press of Robert Stephens. The opposition 
 made to these improvements by the supporters of 
 the old school was neutralised by the increasing 
 illumination of the age, and the patronage of the 
 great. Francis 1. far surpassed his predecessor 
 Louis xii. as a patron of letters. Amidst the con- 
 tinual wars in which he was engaged, and the 
 ambitious projects which occupied his mind, that 
 magnanimous and active prince found leisure for 
 encouraging the arts and sciences in his kingdom. 
 Though so illiterate himself as to be acquainted 
 only with his mother tongue, he took delight in 
 the company of learned men, whom he employed 
 during his hours of relaxation from business, in 
 translating and reading to him the historians and 
 poets of Greece and Rome. The example of the 
 monarch was followed by his courtiers, 10 and the 
 nobility of France began to unite the study of 
 letters, which they had hitherto despised, to the 
 practice of arms. By the advice of Budseus, 
 Francis planned the erection of a new college on 
 a magnificent scale, in which the three learned 
 languages should be taught, after the pattern of 
 the Buslidean College of Louvain, with additional 
 provision for instruction in the arts and sciences ; 
 and Erasmus was invited to preside over the institu- 
 tion. The building was not erected, but professors, 
 partly chosen from natives of France, and partly 
 
10 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 invited from foreign countries, were appointed, and 
 commenced their instructions at Paris, in Greek 
 1523. and Hebrew, in mathematics, medicine, and philo- 
 sophy, under the auspices and at the expense of 
 the Sovereign. 11 Besides their direct influence in 
 promoting liberal education, the royal professors 
 contributed indirectly but powerfully to the im- 
 provement of the old literary institutions in the 
 capital and through the kingdom. 
 
 These improvements had commenced before 
 Calvin went to the University, and were completed 
 before he left it. Having entered the college of 
 La Marche, Calvin had for his teacher in humanity 
 Mathurin Cordery, who was famed during his life 
 as a teacher in France, and whose familiar Collo- 
 quies have since that time been the means of 
 initiating so many thousands of young men into 
 Roman letters, and at the same time imbuing their 
 minds with the principles of virtue and piety. 12 As 
 Calvin was principally indebted to this excellent 
 person for the classical taste and command over 
 the Latin tongue which he attained, it is gratify- 
 ing to read what he afterwards said of his revered 
 teacher in dedicating one of his works to him : — 
 "It is but just," says he, "that a portion of my 
 labours should be inscribed to you, under whose 
 direction, at my first entrance on the course of 
 study, I made such proficiency as to be at least of 
 some benefit to the Church of God. Having been 
 sent by my father to Paris when a boy, after I 
 had obtained a slight acquaintance with the rudi- 
 ments of the Latin tongue, I providentially obtained 
 you for a short time as my preceptor, and by means 
 of your natural mode of teaching, learned to pro- 
 
LA MARCHE, CORDERY, MONTAIGU. H 
 
 secute the study in a better way than that to chap. 
 which I had been accustomed. You had formerly w-^-_ ; 
 presided with honour over the highest class ; but 1525 - 
 findinof that the scholars who came from the other 
 masters, trained for show, were not grounded in 
 the principles of the language, so that you needed 
 to form them anew, and wearied with this 
 drudgery, you, in the year that I entered the 
 University, chose to undertake the charge of the 
 fourth class. This was your own pleasure ; but I 
 perceive the singular goodness of God in ordering 
 it so that I should have the advantage of such 
 tuition. For though I did not enjoy it long, in 
 consequence of being removed to a higher branch 
 of education by the authority, or rather humour, 
 of a foolish person who had the direction of our 
 studies, yet your instructions were of such benefit 
 to me that I willingly ascribe to them any skill 
 which I may have attained in this department, and 
 wish this to be transmitted to posterity, that, if 
 any shall reap profit from my writings, they may 
 know that they are indebted for it in part to 
 you." 13 Cordery was richly rewarded for his ser- 
 vices, if it be true, which has been asserted by some, 
 that his pupil was the means of converting him to 
 the Protestant faith. 14 We know that he continued 
 regularly to correspond with him, and procured 
 his appointment to be rector of the Grammar School 
 of Geneva, where he survived his pupil a few 
 months, and died at the advanced age of eighty- 
 eight. 
 
 From the college of La Marche Calvin was 
 removed, reluctantly as we have seen, to that of 
 Montaigu, where he studied logic and philosophy 
 
12 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 under a Spaniard of reputation and considerable 
 talents. 15 Nothing could be more uncongenial to 
 1525. bis mind, which had an innate aversion to laborious 
 trifling and artificial subtleties, than the scholastic 
 philosophy, in the study of which young men then 
 consumed the greater part of their time at uni- 
 versities ; but he submitted to the irksome task 
 of acquiring that disputatious art, and it was not 
 altogether useless to him at a future period of his 
 life, when, called into the field of controversy by the 
 theological sophists of the age, he proved himself 
 more than a match for them in the use of their own 
 favourite weapons. 16 But he had obtained from 
 his first preceptor a key which gave him admittance 
 into a garden, where he found enjoyments and 
 society more suited to his taste. When his fellow- 
 disciples were endeavouring to "gather grapes of 
 thorns and figs of thistles," and to compensate 
 their unprofitable toils by spending their leisure 
 hours in frivolous or dissolute amusements, he was 
 employed in storing his mind with the treasures of 
 ancient knowledge. By the time he finished the 
 ordinary course of study at the University he had 
 read the best Roman authors, both in prose and 
 verse, was critically acquainted with their several 
 styles, and master of the information which they 
 conveyed. 
 
 In the meantime the destination of his studies 
 was altered. His fa/ther perceiving that the bar 
 opened a surer path to wealth and honour than the 
 altar, and probably thinking that he was training 
 too many of his sons for the Church, sent him 
 orders to commence the study of law. Though 
 quite unprepared for this sudden change of plans, 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ORLEANS STELLA. 13 
 
 the respect which he cherished for parental autho- chap. 
 rity induced him to comply without hesitation, not v ' , 
 doubting that his mind would become reconciled to 1527. 
 the new profession, and that he would find no 
 difficulty in acquiring the knowledge requisite for 
 succeeding in it, by that persevering exertion of 
 which he knew himself to be capable. Accordingly 
 he went to the University of Orleans, which had 
 long been the chief seminary of jurisprudence in 
 France. This appears to have been in the year 
 1527. 17 Under the celebrated lawyer Peter Stella, 
 or Etoile, he soon distinguished himself so much 
 that he was employed to superintend the classes 
 during the absence or illness of the professors, 
 and when he left the University, the highest 
 honours of the faculty were unanimously conferred 
 on him, without any fee, as a reward for uncommon 
 merit. 18 
 
 When at Orleans Calvin lived in the house of 
 Nicolas Chemin, with whom he had been acquainted 
 at Paris, and whose parents boarded young men 
 attending the University. 19 With him and Francis 
 Daniel, an advocate in the same city, he maintained 
 for some years an epistolary correspondence, part of 
 which at least has been preserved, and furnishes us 
 with the earliest information concerning his pursuits 
 and feelings, from his own pen. These letters 
 serve to show that he had a mind formed for the 
 enjoyment of friendship, that he was warm and 
 steady in his attachments, ready to grant as well 
 as to receive a favour, that while exempt from 
 the vices and frivolities, he could indulge in the 
 gay humour and pleasantries of youth, and that 
 his good qualities secured him the respect of his 
 
14 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 fellow-students, and the confidence and esteem of 
 such, of them as he selected for friends. 
 1528. In spring 1528 Calvin left Orleans on a visit 
 
 to his native city. The reason which prevented 
 him returning so soon as he intended, is stated in 
 the following letter to an intimate acquaintance in 
 Orleans, which is the earliest production of his pen 
 that I have met with. " As I presume you have 
 not yet been made acquainted with my present 
 circumstances, you may be ready to suspect me of 
 breach of promise, if it were for no other reason than 
 this, that you have hitherto found me a punctual, 
 not to say troublesome, correspondent. My silence 
 has not proceeded from the thought that you would 
 not suffer a short interval to weaken the good 
 opinion which you had formed of me from long 
 intimacy and daily intercourse. And yet such is 
 your natural disposition, that you are not wont 
 to prejudge anything rashly, which makes me con- 
 fident that I shall recover your favour, if so be I 
 have lost it in any degree. Take then my excuse 
 in few words. Having said at parting that I would 
 return within a short time, the hope of accomplish- 
 ing this kept me long in a state of suspense. For 
 when I was preparing to return to you, my father's 
 illness rendered a delay necessary; but as the physi- 
 cian gave hopes of a speedy recovery, I thought I 
 had only for a few days longer to bear that absence 
 from you which I had already found so painful. 
 Thus day after day passed until at last the disease 
 assumed an alarming appearance, no hope of life 
 left. Whatever the event may be, I mean to see 
 you again. Remember me to Francis Daniel, Philip, 
 and all the company in your house. As your name 
 
FIRST LETTER, FRANCIS DANIEL. 15 
 
 is now enrolled among the professors of literature, chap. 
 let not your modesty retard your diligence. Adieu, v ' _, 
 my friend Chemin, dearer to me than life. Noyon, 1528. 
 14th May 1528." 
 
 In a letter to Francis Daniel he says :— " Your 
 great attention to my affairs demands my grateful 
 acknowledgements, and I shall not lose the oppor- 
 tunity of requiting you if any shall offer ; for I 
 natter myself it may be in my power to do you at 
 least a similar favour. Nor will that expunge my 
 name from your day-book, in every page of which I 
 appear as your debtor. But if you think me worth 
 while, I give you myself in payment upon this con- 
 dition that if I have any property, it shall follow its 
 possessor. Moreover, you know that your prompt 
 and ready service has obtained a door to my im- 
 pudences, so that henceforth I will not be a bashful 
 beggar, nor trouble myself with thinking whether I 
 shall pay or not ; for you do not lend but bestow 
 favours. Perhaps you think I am indirectly craving 
 money, but be not you indirectly censorious or an 
 uncharitable interpreter, unless you wish, as usual, 
 to have your joke. Remember me to Melchior, if 
 he has not yet left the place, to Surguet, Pigmseus, 
 and our friend Canter. Get from Surguet the copy 
 of Homer's Odyssey as if I wanted it, and keep it 
 beside you, unless Poussart, who usually delivers 
 my letters to you, and to whom I spoke on the 
 subject, has anticipated you. Adieu, my incom- 
 parable friend." 20 
 
 If he returned to Orleans he must have remained 
 there but a short time, as he reached Paris in the 
 end of July, and seems to have remained chiefly 
 in the capital during the remainder of that year and 
 
16 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 the whole of the following-. From a letter to his 
 friend Daniel it appears that he was again engaged 
 1528. in studying at Paris : — " As for my own affairs, they 
 are as follows : I have not as yet got fixed lodgings, 
 though there are plenty to be had if I wished to 
 hire, and offered by my friends if I chose to avail 
 myself of their kindness. The father of our friend 
 Coiffart offered me his house with a countenance 
 which indicated that he was most anxious to have 
 me with his son. The latter is extremely urgent that 
 I should become his chamber-companion. Nothing 
 would give me more pleasure than to gratify the 
 wish of a friend whose company, as you well know, 
 is both pleasant and instructive, and I would yield 
 at once were it not that I purpose this year to 
 attend Danes, whose school is situated at a great 
 distance from Coiffart's house. All friends here 
 salute you, especially Coiffart and Viermer, with 
 whom I am about to take an airing on horseback. 
 Remember me to your mother, wife, and sister 
 Frances. Adieu ! I have begun a letter to the 
 canon, which I shall finish at my return, and if 
 there is time attach it/' 21 Danes, referred to in this 
 letter, was at that time professor of Greek at Paris 
 along with Tussan. 22 We shall afterwards see reason 
 to conclude that Calvin did not find it practicable 
 to attend this professor's class, or that, in his own 
 opinion, he derived little benefit from it. Several 
 letters were written by Calvin in 1530 to his friends 
 at Orleans. In one of them he states his abortive 
 attempt to prevent a brother of his friend Daniel 
 from setting off for Italy in consequence of a quarrel 
 with his relations. 23 
 
 It was in the year 1531 that he went to the 
 
BOURGES, ALCIAT, WOLMAR. 17 
 
 University of Bourges, attracted by the fame of chap. 
 Andrew Alciat, who had been called from Italy to ^ ' , 
 teach jurisprudence in that city. While attending i53i. 
 the lectures of Alciat he acquired the knowledge of 
 Greek from Melchior Wolmar, a native of Bothweil 
 in Switzerland, and a person of great integrity as 
 well as learning, whom Margaret, queen of Navarre, 
 who was also duchess of Berry, had lately brought 
 to that place for the sake of raising the character of 
 her University. A mutual friendship was formed 
 between the master and scholar, which continued 
 till the death of the former. In a dedication of one 
 of his works to Wolmar, Calvin says : — " I cannot 
 forget the fidelity with which you have cultivated 
 and increased the friendship which was long ago 
 formed between us, the liberality with which you 
 were prepared to exert yourself on my behalf when 
 you thought an opportunity for testifying your 
 regard for me presented itself, and the zeal which 
 you showed to raise me to an honourable situation, 
 which the calling to which I was then bound 
 prevented me from accepting. But I am chiefly 
 delighted with the recollection of that early 
 period when being sent by my father to acquire 
 the knowledge of civil law, I, under your direction, 
 added to the study of jurisprudence that of the 
 Greek language, which you taught with great 
 applause. It was not your fault that I did not 
 make greater progress in it, for you kindly under- 
 took to conduct me through the whole course, when 
 the death of my father called me away soon after 
 I had started. For this, however, I owe you no 
 small thanks that you imbued my mind with the 
 first principles which were afterwards of great 
 
 B 
 
18 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 advantage to me." 24 About this time he also 
 
 o 
 
 commenced the study of Hebrew. 25 
 1531. We learn from the last quoted letter the exact 
 
 time of his leaving the University of Bourges, for j 
 his father died on the 26th of May 1531. 26 Though; 
 Gerard Cauvin died a good Catholic, the popish 
 writers, from antipathy to the son, have endea- 
 voured to fasten a stigma on the memory of the 
 father. He incurred, they tell us, several censures 
 during his life, and died excommunicated for debt. 
 The simple facts of the case, however, are these, as 
 appears from the documents on which they rest the 
 charge : — Being much employed in business, he was 
 appointed executor of the will of two chaplains 
 belonging to the Cathedral. In the management 
 of this cause he was involved in a prosecution, and 
 a decision was given against him from which he 
 appealed. At a Chapter held in November 1528, 
 the prosecution was suspended on account of the 
 state of his health. It is probable that he never 
 completely recovered from the disease under which 
 we have seen he laboured during that year, and the 
 plea was not settled at the time of his death. Testa- 
 mentary causes in the Popish Church are decided 
 in the Ecclesiastical Court, in which a sentence of 
 excommunication has the same force as letters of 
 caption have with us. On the death of Gerard 
 Cauvin the opposite party procured this sentence 
 against him, in consequence of which his body could 
 not be interred ; but Charles, his eldest son, instantly 
 came forward and gave security for the discharge 
 of the debt, upon which the excommunication was 
 taken off. 27 There was nothing extraordinary in 
 this ; instances of the same kind must occur in the 
 
DE CLEMENTIA. 19 
 
 records from which it was drawn, and it would 
 never have been heard of had not the son of the 
 deceased proved a noted heretic. 1532 
 
 After his father's funeral Calvin removed to 
 Paris, whither it is possible he went, rather than to 
 Bourges, for the sake of superintending the studies 
 of his younger brother Anthony. 2S In the course of 
 the following year he was in the capital, where he 
 published a commentary on Seneca's treatise, Be 
 dementia. 29 It has been supposed that his object 
 in this work was to appease the mind of Francis I. 
 and extinguish the fires which had been kindled in 
 the kingdom against the Lutherans. He certainly 
 had little encouragement to anticipate such an 
 issue, from the success of the original work which 
 was addressed to Nero before he had discovered his 
 cruelty. But there is no proof of such a design on 
 the part of the commentator ; there is not an ex- 
 pression in the notes from which the reader could 
 infer what his religious sentiments were. 30 The 
 truth is, the work is entirely literary and philoso- 
 phical ; and it was the fruit of his classical studies. 
 In the dedication to his school-fellow Claude de 
 Hangest, Abbot of St. filoy, he apologises for his 
 apparent presumption in meeting the public eye, 
 and assigns the reason which induced him to take 
 the step: — "I did not," says he, "compose these 
 scholia, such as they are, with the intention of 
 making them public, and yet I allowed my mind to 
 indulge the idea of publication, to stimulate it to 
 greater exertion, that so I might not lose my labour 
 through idleness and negligence, as often happens 
 to persons who write for mere pleasure." On show- 
 ing his manuscript to his friends, and particularly 
 
20 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 to Connon, in whose judgment he placed great con- 
 fidence, they urged him to put it to press. He 
 1532. lamented that the writings of Seneca had fallen 
 into neglect among the learned, in consequence of 
 the severe but not altogether impartial and candid 
 criticisms of Quintilian and Gellius. He could not 
 help thinking, with submission to better judges, 
 that they abounded with proofs of erudition and 
 traits of eloquence, so that it was impossible to rise 
 from the perusal of them without feeling both in- 
 structed and pleased. The style indeed wanted the 
 purity of the Augustan age, and was florid and 
 diffuse rather than correct ; but it was not destitute 
 of elegance. The chief defect of the author was the 
 want of lucid order. 
 
 The first work of a celebrated author is, not 
 unreasonably, an object of curiosity. We discover 
 in it the early bent of his mind, and the germ of 
 those talents which were developed in his sub- 
 sequent writings. It is worthy of remark that 
 Calvin's earliest production was a Commentary, and 
 Consequently of the same general character with 
 the greater part of the works which afterwards pro- 
 ceeded from his pen. There are in the notes some 
 minute illustrations which, at a more advanced 
 age, he would have excluded as trivial, but, with 
 the exception of these and the numerous quota- 
 tions of parallel passages from ancient authors, 
 which custom had rendered almost indispensable in 
 such compositions, they show the same sagacity in 
 discovering the meaning of his author, the same 
 perspicuity in stating it, and the same freedom 
 from prolixity and unnecessary amplification which 
 appear in all his commentaries on sacred Scripture. 
 
DE CLEMENTIA. 21 
 
 I have not observed that any of his opponents has chap. 
 
 imputed his predestinarian opinions to his early N J , 
 
 predilection for the orator of the Portico, nor do I 1532. 
 think that there is the least ground for tracing 
 them to this source : for Calvin in his notes speaks 
 very unfavourably, though not without discrimina- 
 tion, of the peculiarities of the Stoic philosophy. 31 
 The work contains specimens of good criticism ; it 
 shows that, notwithstanding the modesty with 
 which he was accustomed to speak of his attain- 
 ments in Greek, his reading in that language was 
 even then far from being slender, and it bears 
 witness to his extensive acquaintance with ancient 
 history, chronology, philosophy, and law. In read- 
 ing it one is struck with the numerous references to 
 the writings of Cicero, which is the more remark- 
 able as his own style differed so widely from that of 
 the prince of Roman orators and philosophers, and 
 approached in point of succinctness more nearly to 
 the style of Sallust. Notwithstanding this, Cicero 
 was a favourite author with him, and it was his 
 practice, till a late period of his life, to read re- 
 gularly the whole of his works every year. 
 
 It is natural to suppose that Calvin felt anxious 
 about the reception of his first work, especially as 
 it was printed at his own expense and risk. " The 
 die is at length thrown," he writes to his friend 
 Daniel ; " my Commentaries on the books of Seneca, 
 Be dementia, have been published at my own 
 expense, and have cost more money than you could 
 believe. I must now exert myself to get something 
 collected. I have excited some professors in this 
 city to read the work ; and have moved a friend 
 to use it publicly in the class at the University of 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap. Bourges. You can also be of some use to me. If 
 
 ' ..- it is not too great trouble to you, do grant me this 
 1532. favour for the sake of our old friendship, especially 
 as without any injury to your reputation, you may, 
 in obliging me," do what will be perhaps for the 
 public good. Provided you agree to do me this 
 kindness, I shall send you a hundred copies, or 
 what number you please. In the meantime, I beg 
 you to accept of this copy for yourself, without 
 thinking that it lays you under the least obliga- 
 tion ; for I wish to leave you at perfect liberty. 
 Farewell ! and write me back soon. I wrote lately 
 to Piginseus, but he has not answered me. To Du 
 Brosse I wrote long ago, and from that time have 
 received no return. The bearer of the copy for Le 
 Koye (Regius) will pay his respects to you." 32 It 
 appears that Calvin intended a visit at this time to 
 his friends at Orleans, of which he speaks in the 
 following jocular strain in a letter to the same 
 correspondent: — "I know not well what to say to 
 Chemin, seeing that, though often written to, he has 
 never replied, but I am determined not to budge 
 until he first write me ; for how know I but I 
 may be obliged to freeze for some days in the 
 open ah", while I seek a lodging for this carcase ?" 33 
 In closing this account of the secular studies 
 of Calvin, I cannot help noticing their tendency 
 to fit him for future usefulness in the important 
 sphere in which he was destined by Providence 
 to move. The course of civil law through which 
 he passed to gratify the ambitious views of his 
 father, contributed to enlarge his mind, qualified 
 him for giving sound counsel on the most critical 
 conjunctures, to that interesting Republic of which 
 
PREPARATION FOR FUTURE WORK. 23 
 
 he became a citizen, and secured him the respect 
 of a people who repeatedly testified their reluctance 
 to submit to the religious reforms and strict dis- 1532 
 cipline which he introduced among them. Nor 
 was his proficiency in classical learning of less 
 benefit to him as a writer. I do not refer so much 
 here to the purity of his style, which has attracted 
 many readers to his works, or to his classical quota- 
 tions and allusions, of which he was more sparing 
 than Melanchthon and some others of his contem- 
 poraries ; but to the complete command which he 
 had of whatever was excellent in the writings of 
 the heathen sages, and the superior refinement in 
 point of thought and expression which it imparted 
 to his illustrations and defences of Divine truth. 
 As a confirmation of this remark, it may be proper 
 to introduce here the following just and beautiful 
 description of the comparative excellence of philo- 
 sophy and Christian theology contained in a letter 
 written by him to a friend some years after the 
 period of which we have been speaking, but which 
 will, at the same time, serve as an appropriate 
 transition to the account of those sacred studies 
 to which he devoted himself during the whole of 
 the remaining part of his life : "It is granted by 
 all that truth, of what kind soever it be, is precious. 
 But as the Deity is the fountain of all that is good, 
 you should think with yourself that you incur the 
 charge of deep ingratitude, if you do not welcome 
 every portion of truth, in whatever channel it may 
 come to you, as proceeding from God, and receive 
 it as if it were spoken to you by a voice from heaven. 
 For if it is criminal to despise the gifts of God, to 
 ascribe to men what properly belongs to God is 
 
24 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 flagrant impiety. Wherefore philosophy is to be 
 viewed as a rare gift of heaven, and those wise men 
 1532. who have appeared in every age were raised up by 
 God to point the world to the knowledge of truth. 
 But how great the difference between their writings 
 and that doctrine which God has consecrated to 
 himself that it be held sacred and inviolable by 
 men ! In them you find a small portion of truth, 
 given forth as for a trial, that by tasting it you 
 may learn how delicious and grateful the knowledge 
 of it must be ; in this it is poured out to you in such 
 abundance as to refresh and recreate the soul ; the 
 former presents you with the shadow and image of 
 truth, so as to excite your desires after it, but 
 without introducing you to its acquaintance ; the 
 latter places before you the body and substance of 
 truth, so that you become familiarly acquainted 
 with it, and are permitted, as it were, to touch 
 and handle it ; there you have the seed, but 
 obstructed and choked in the germ ; here you have 
 the fruit, and that in its full maturity ; in fine, 
 there you have certain coruscations, which, after 
 throwing a partial light over your path, fail you in 
 the middle of the course, or rather, which instead 
 of pointing out to you the road, serve only to keep 
 you from wandering further from it; but here the 
 Spirit of God, like a bright lamp, or rather like the 
 sun itself, shines with full-orbed splendour, irradiat- 
 ing the whole path of life from its commencement 
 to its termination, and ushering the traveller into 
 a blessed immortality. From this you can learn 
 where you may sojourn for a little, and where you 
 ought to take up your rest as in a fixed abode." 34 
 
NOTES. 25 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTEE I. 
 
 1 Jaques le Vasseur, Annates de VEglise Cathedral c de Noyon, pp. 
 1151-1157. Paris, 1633. 
 
 2 " On m'a dit qu'elle estoit des plus belles femines de son temps," 
 says Desmay. (Vie de Jean Calvin, p. 2.) To this Le Vasseur adds 
 without any authority, " mais d'assez mauvais bruit." (Annales de 
 Noyon, p. 1152.) 
 
 3 Calvin. Hangest, Seign. de Montmer. " Louis de Hangest, Seigneur 
 de Montmer and de Chaleranges, dernier fils de Jean de Hangest, 
 Seigneur de Genlis et de Marie DAmboise fut conseiller et chambellan 
 du roi, gouverneur de Monson, et grand eccuyer de la Reine Anne de 
 Bretagne." By his wife, Marie de Fay D'Atthies, dame de Moyencourt, 
 he had three sons, Joachim de Hangest, Seigneur de Moyencourt, who 
 was killed at the taking of St. Pol by the Imperialists in 1537 ; Yves de 
 Hangest, Seigneur d'lvoy, killed along with his brother ; and Philippe 
 de Hangest, espoused by contract in 1521 to Jean DAspremont, Seigneur 
 de Busaney and D'Amblise. (Anselm, Hist. Geneal. et Chronol. de 
 France, torn. vi. p. 748 ; Paris, 1730.) 
 
 The above Louis of Montmer was brother to Charles de Hangest, 
 abbot of St. Eloy, Bishop and Count of Noyon, who died 19th June 
 1528, and cousin to Jean de Hangest* (born 1506) who was elected 
 Bishop of Noyon in 1525 in consequence of the resignation of his uncle. 
 (Ibid. pp. 746-7, comp. torn. ii. pp. 419, 420.) 
 
 Of Jean the bishop it is said, " Tons les historiens lui donnent le titre 
 de scavan, et ajoutent qu'il aimoit les belles lettres et ceux qui y ex- 
 celloient." (lb. torn. ii. p. 420.) 
 
 N.B. — The above reconciles the apparent contradiction alluded to in 
 the text between Calvin's own statement as to his education and that of 
 Beza. 
 
 4 Desmay says that he also obtained a chapel at St. Quintin a l'Eau, 
 on the Faubourg of Perouse, called the Chapel of St. Jean de Baien- 
 court. (Remarq. sur la Vie de Jean Calvin, p. 31.) 
 
 5 Gregorius Tifernas, Hermonymus Spartiata, and Janus Lascaris, 
 were the Greeks who visited France. (Lud. Begius, Vita Gulielmi 
 Budaei, in Batcsii Collect., p. 220. Melch. Adami Vitai German. Philos., 
 p. 134.) 
 
 G Henry Stephens the elder had Greek types, though I have not seen 
 any notice of a work printed by him in that language. In the Psalterium 
 Quintwplex, by Faber, which proceeded from the office of Henry Stephens 
 
 * A In-other of Jean de Hangest distinguished himself during the civil wars, 
 and was in the army of the Prince of Conde. (lb. ii. 747.) 
 
26 
 
 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 in 1509, are many quotations in Greek, chiefly from the Septuagint ; but 
 the rudeness of the character forms a singular contrast to the beauty of 
 the Roman type, and capital letters often occur in the middle of a word. 
 It appears from this work that the study of the Hebrew language had 
 already been introduced into France. (See afterwards in account of the 
 introduction of Reformed doctrine.) 
 
 7 Maittaire, Vit^ Stephanorum, p. 8. Biographie Universelle, Art. 
 Febre (Jaques d'Etaples). Among other foreigners he had Beatus 
 Rhenanus and Ammerbachius for scholars. (Melch. Adami Vita? Ger- 
 man. Philos., pp. 134, 208. Vita. Germ. Theol, p. 280). Buchanan says 
 of him : — 
 
 Qui studiis primus lucem intulit omnibus, artes 
 Edoctum cunctas heec tegit urna Fabrum. 
 
 8 L. Regii Vit. Budaei, tit supra, p. 220. Budaeus had gone through 
 the ordinary course of study before he attended the lectures of Faber. 
 He entered the College of Navarre as a student of divinity in 1484. 
 (Launoi, Acadcmia Paris, illustrata, pp. 217, 878.) 
 
 9 Maittaire, Vit. Steph., pp. 147, 155. Beza, Hist. Eccles., torn. i. p. 3. 
 
 10 Beza specifies Poncher, Bishop of Paris, Louis Ruze, civil lieutenant, 
 and Francis de Luines. 
 
 11 Vita Budaei, p. 236. Beza, Hist. Peeks., torn. i. p. 4. Lambini, 
 Epist. Dedic. in Horatium, Venet. 1566. Launoi, Acad. Paris, illustr., 
 pp. 679-681. Aug. Justinian seems to have first taught Hebrew at Paris 
 (Hist, of Ref. in Italy, p. 65, 2d edit.), and to him succeeded Chera- 
 damus (Beze, Hist. Bed., torn. i. p. 3). The celebrated Francis Vatable 
 was the first royal Professor of Hebrew, James Tussan and Peter Danes 
 were joint Professors of Greek, and Orantius Finseus Professor of Mathe- 
 matics. Our countryman, Henry Scrimger, was at one time colleague to 
 Tussan in the Greek chair. (Maittaire, Hist. Stephanorum, p. 251.) 
 
 12 Cordery's first work was a treatise, De Corrupti Sermonis Emenda- 
 tione, printed at Paris in 1531. The epistle prefixed to it has been much 
 praised. (Maittaire, Hist. Stephanorum, p. 24.) 
 
 13 "Eximiae pietatis et dectrinae viro Maturino Corderio Lausanensis 
 scholae moderatori." Genevoe, 13 Kal. Mart. 1550. (Dedic. Comment, 
 in Epist. ad Thessal. i., Opera, torn, vii.) 
 
 14 " Joanni Calvino, quern ad humaniores informarat in collegio Mareti- 
 sano nimium credulus. A discipulo magister recti specie deceptus," says 
 Launoi in his account of the College of La Marche and Navarre. 
 (Launoi, Acad. Paris, illustr., pp. 699, 700.) 
 
 15 " Jo. Poblatius Hispanus " is named by Lambinus as one of the 
 learned foreigners whom Francis i. invited to his kingdom to promote 
 the interests of literature and science. (Epist. Dedic. in Horat., Venet. 
 1566.) 
 
 16 " Efficacissime refellit, quisquis errorem optime novit," says Eras- 
 mus, when speaking on this subject. (Epist., torn. i. num. 207.) 
 
NOTES. 
 
 17 Beza speaks of Calvin's coming to Orleans under the year 1529. 
 (Hist. Ecchs. des Egl. Bef. de France, torn. i. p. 9.) But there is extant 
 a letter from Calvin to Nicolas Chemin, dated " Prid. Idus Maias 
 1528," from which it appears that he had been in Orleans before it was 
 written. 
 
 18 Beza, Vit. Calv. In a notarial instrument executed at Noyon in 
 1531, he is designed, "Venerable personne, Maitre Jean Cauvin, cure de 
 Pont l'Eveque," and in letters of procuration, granted on the 14th 
 February 1531 at Paris, he is designed, "Maitre Jean Cauvin, Licensie 
 es Loix." (Le Vasseur, p. 1169.) This removes the difficulty of Sene- 
 bier, who was at a loss to know why the title Maitre was placed before 
 Calvin's name, and not of the other pastors in the records of Geneva. 
 
 19 Hist. Ecchs. des Egl. Bef., torn. i. p. 9. Desmay says that " in the 
 University of Orleans Calvin was procurator for the nation of Picardy, 
 and projecting a long journey, he, in order to bear his charges, carried 
 off the silver cup of his nation, which was in his keeping." (Vie de 
 Jean Calvin, p. 43.) " If he would tell a lie," says Drelincourt, " he 
 should have given it some colour of truth. Calvin was then in great 
 esteem and honour among men of letters ; and will any person believe 
 that he could have stolen a cup intrusted to his care ? But from 
 Orleans he went to study at Bourges. Would they not have pursued 
 him thither to recover this cup?" (Defense de Calvin, p. 174.) 
 
 20 This letter is dated " Melliani, Idus Septembris 1529." 
 
 21 "Parisiis, 5 Calend. Jul. 1529." 
 
 22 John Sturm, who attended the University of Paris about this time, 
 gives an account of the different modes of teaching followed by these 
 professors. (Sturmii Institut. Literal., p. 311.) Conf. Maittaire, 
 Btephanorum Hist., pp. 200-202. 
 
 23 "Fr. Danieli, Ex. Acropoli, 15 Cal. Feb. 1530." In a postscript 
 to this letter he says: "Be so good as deliver my letter to my sister 
 Mary Pallid ana." 
 
 24 " Ornatissimo viro Melchiori Volmario Eufo J. C. Joannes Calvinus 
 S. Genevae, Calendis Augusti 1546." (Dedic. Corn, in Epist. ad Corinth. 
 ii., Opera, torn, vii.) 
 
 25 Papyrius Masson, Elog. de Calvin. 
 
 26 Le Vasseur, p. 1145. Beza must therefore have been mistaken in 
 supposing that he went directly from Orleans to Bourges. 
 
 27 The documents are inserted along with an invidious comment in 
 Vasseur ; Annates, pp. 1153-1155. 
 
 28 A deed is subscribed by both of them at Paris on the 14th February 
 1531," i.e. 1532, according to modern reckoning. (Vasseur, p. 1169.) 
 
 29 It was printed " Apud Ludovicum Cyaneum sub duobus gallis, 
 Via Jacobsea." (Vasseur, p. 1533.) The dedication is dated " Parisiis, 
 pridie Nonas Aprilis Anno Salutis nostrae 1532." 
 
 30 Those who wish to see an exposure of the impudent blunders of 
 Varillas, who, criticising this work without having seen it, speaks of 
 
28 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 its praises of the Sacramentarians and invectives against the martyrs 
 of the ancient Church, may consult Bayle, Did. Art. Calvin, note B. 
 
 31 See particularly the Notes on the second book of the De dementia. 
 
 32 " Parisiis, 10th Cal. Maias." There is another letter on the same 
 subject, also addressed to Francis Daniel. In the copy preserved at 
 Geneva it is dated " 1530," but from internal marks this is evidently 
 a mistake of the transcriber for 1532. [Calvin seems to have felt the 
 delicacy of the application, and, dissatisfied with his first draught, to 
 have written another in a form somewhat different.] In this letter, 
 after stating the substance of what is given in the text, he adds : " That 
 my reputation may be safe, be so good, in the first place, as write me 
 with what degree of favour or coldness the work is received. That you 
 may have an early opportunity of judging by a perusal, I sent you one 
 copy for yourself; see to get the other five conveyed to Bourges for 
 Regius (le Roi,) Pignueus, Surguet, Brosse, and Barrhatz. If Surguet 
 undertakes to prelect on it, he will do me no small favour." 
 
 33 Letter dated by mistake, 1530. 
 
 34 Epistol(e, p. 50, Opera, torn. ix. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 TILL DRIVEN FROM FRANCE, 1533-1536. 
 
 In the account which has been given of Calvin's chap. 
 education, I have avoided saying anything of his v __ ' 
 religious views ; and in now tracing the important 1533. 
 change which these had already undergone, it will 
 be necessary to go back a few years. But before 
 proceeding to this it will be proper to give a short 
 account of the state of religion in France, and of the 
 progress which the doctrine of the Reformation had 
 made in that kingdom. This is necessary for other 
 reasons besides its throwing light upon the revolu- 
 tion in Calvin's mind ; the history of his life is 
 intimately connected with that of the Reformation 
 in France ; for though he spent the greater part of 
 his time out of his native country, the rapid 
 progress which the Protestant opinions made in it, 
 after he embraced them, was owing to his writings, 
 public and private, more than to any other cause 
 whatever. 
 
 France had never yielded the same implicit 
 subjection to the Bishop of Rome as the other 
 nations of the west. She had avowed her ad- 
 herence to the Councils of Constance and Basle, 
 
30 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, and resisted the encroachments of the Papal Court 
 w."^ on what were dignified with the name of the liber- 
 1510. ties of the Gallican Church. The most important 
 of these liberties were embodied in the Pragmatical 
 Sanction, consisting of certain articles chiefly taken 
 from the decrees of the Council of Basle, and 
 ratified by an assembly of French clergy held at 
 Bourges in 1438, with the royal concurrence. 
 Besides the assertion of the necessity of General 
 Councils and their superiority to the Pope, they 
 declared the right of Chapters and Monasteries to 
 elect their bishops and abbots, condemned with 
 certain modifications the Pontifical claims to a 
 tribute for the confirmation of elections, to the 
 reservation of benefices, and to grants of them in 
 expectation, and laid restrictions on appeals to 
 Pome. The Popes exerted all their influence to 
 obtain the revocation of this obnoxious deed, and 
 found various pretexts for invalidating its provi- 
 sions. Irritated by the opposition which he met 
 with from the warlike pontiff Julius ii., Louis xii. 
 summoned, in 1510, a Provincial Council at Tours, 
 in which the lawfulness of making war on the Pope 
 in certain circumstances was pronounced, and loud 
 complaints were made against the exactions of the 
 Poman See ; and in the following year that monarch 
 concurred with the Emperor Maximilian in calling 
 a General Council at Pisa, which renewed the 
 declaration that the Church needed reformation 
 both in its head and members, enacted canons for 
 regulating the manners of the clergy, and after sum- 
 moning the Supreme Pontiff three times, proceeded 
 to suspend him from all exercise, spiritual and 
 temporal, of the Popedom, as a scandalous person, 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 31 
 
 contumacious, a fomenter of schism, and enemy to chap. 
 the peace of Christendom. These proceedings ex- v _^ ' , 
 cited in the breasts of a few enlightened persons, 1512. 
 who were convinced of the inveterate corruption of 
 the Court of Home, the hope that France would be 
 emancipated from its degrading and intolerable yoke. 
 But Julius dying and being succeeded by Leo x., 
 Louis entered into a secret treaty with the new 
 Pope, renounced the Council of Pisa, and acknow- 
 ledged that which had been assembled by pontifical 
 authority in the Lateran. Upon this the French 
 bishops at Pisa hastened to make their submis- 
 sion, and were formally absolved by his Holiness. 
 Francis 1. followed the example of his predecessor, 
 and, to secure the favour of the Pope, consented to 
 the revocation of the Pragmatical Sanction and the 
 substitution of the Concordat, by which the rights 
 taken from the clergy of France were divided 
 between the king and the Pope. The Parliament 
 of Paris, after a considerable show of reluctance, 
 agreed to the registration of the new agreement, 
 but the University, in spite of all the influence of 
 the Crown, entered a solemn protest against it, and 
 appealed from the Pope, ill advised, to a General 
 Council convened lawfully and in a place to which 
 they might have safe access. 
 
 The appeal of the University acknowledged the 
 general corruption of the Church, and was very 
 explicit and full in stating the injurious effects 
 which the revocation of the Pragmatical Sanction 
 would produce on the interests of religion in France ; 
 but it offered no evidence that its compilers were 
 sensible of the proper cause of the evils which they 
 deplored, or disposed to seek a reformation of them 
 
32 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 according to the Word of God, of which they make 
 no mention, or agreeably to the genuine principles 
 1512. of Christianity, with which they discover little 
 sympathy. They begin by professing their faith in 
 " the holy Catholic Apostolic Church, the mistress 
 of the whole world," and by protesting that they 
 mean " not to oppose the authority of the holy 
 See, or the power of their most sacred lord the 
 Pope, when well-advised, whom they acknowledge 
 as God's vicegerent on earth ; " and among their 
 reasons for revering the Sacred Council of Basle, 
 they specify its judgment " that the glorious Virgin 
 Mary was conceived without original sin." 
 
 The divines of Paris, who were the oracles of 
 France, had all along distinguished themselves by 
 their zeal for the Immaculate Conception of the 
 Virgin ; and forced a great many persons to recant 
 the opposite tenet. Indeed no opinion contrary to 
 the doctrine of the Church of Home, in whatever 
 country it was vented, escaped the censure of these 
 orthodox professors, who looked upon themselves 
 as the conservators of the Catholic faith. Their 
 records contain decrees formally condemning the 
 tenets of the Waldenses, Wickliffe, Huss, and 
 Jerome of Prague, pronouncing them execrable, and 
 deserving of the highest punishment. In 1484 John 
 Laillier was prosecuted for having preached in Paris 
 against the commandments of the Church, the 
 canonisation of saints, the celibacy of the clergy, 
 the observance of Lent, and other established 
 opinions and practices. His ordinary, the Bishop of 
 Paris, absolved him upon his making a public re- 
 tractation ; but the faculty, displeased with the 
 indulgence shown him, appealed from the sentence, 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 33 
 
 and obtained from Innocent vm. a bull setting char 
 aside the episcopal absolution, and ordering Laillier v ^ 1 " 
 to be thrown into prison and tried anew by the 1514. 
 inquisitor of the bounds. 1 When Reuchlin, one of 
 the restorers of letters in Germany, was involved in 
 a contest with the monks for the advancement of 
 Hebrew learning, the divines of Paris in 1514 
 joined with those of Cologne in pronouncing his 
 opinions false, rash, erroneous, and blasphemous, 
 and ordering the book which contained them to be 
 committed to the flames. 2 
 
 We need not, therefore, wonder at the course 
 which the Theological Faculty of Paris pursued 
 when the German Reformer attacked the corruptions 
 of the Church of Rome. Encouraged by the opinion 
 which they held concerning the superiority of 
 Councils to the Pope, by the sentence they had pro- 
 nounced on certain propositions concerning indul- 
 gences, 3 and trusting to a report that some of them 
 had expressed themselves favourably to his cause, 4 
 Luther, during his dispute with Eckius at Leipsic, 
 appealed to the judgment of the divines at Paris, 
 whose example he had already followed by appealing 
 from the Pope to a General Council. The decision 
 to which they came would have daunted a person of 
 less intrepidity than Luther, and would even have 
 staggered his resolution, had he not by that time 
 acquired additional courage from experience and 
 success. Having met in the Sorbonne, and examined 
 his writings, they, on the 15 th April 1521, launched 
 against him a furious sentence, finding him guilty 
 of an impious and unblushing arrogance, which de- 
 served to be checked by chains and fire, rather 
 than argument, compared his book against the 
 
 c 
 
34 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 Babylonian captivity to the Koran ; charged him 
 with reviving the errors of the Montanists, Mani- 
 1521. chaeans, Arians, Catharists, Bohemians, Albigenses, 
 Waldenses, Pipusians, Lambereans, Jovianists, and 
 other monsters of insanity ; pronounced his whole 
 doctrine to be destructive to the souls of the simple, 
 injurious to all the doctors, derogatory to ecclesi- 
 astical authority and the hierarchy, schismatical, 
 antiscriptural, and blasphemous to the Holy Spirit, 
 and declared that the writings which contained it 
 should be delivered to the flames, and their author 
 compelled to abjure them in the most public and 
 ample manner. 5 To this summary sentence of con- 
 demnation the Faculty added a particular censure 
 of the works which Luther had published under a 
 great variety of heads. 
 
 Melanchthon appeared in defence of his friend in 
 opposition to the sentence of the Faculty, which he 
 characterised as "filled with womanish fury and 
 monkish impotence." The Faculty retaliated by 
 issuing a condemnatory sentence against the works 
 of the apologist, which they pronounced more per- 
 nicious and dangerous than those of Luther, " on 
 account of the art and blandishments of the style." 
 The violence of the Sorbonne defeated their object. 
 The writings of the Reformers were sought for, 
 and within a short time there sprang up in Paris 
 favourers of Luther, including persons distinguished 
 for their rank and talents. The chief of these 
 was Louis Berquin, a young man of noble birth 
 and one of the King's Council, who, besides transla- 
 tions of the works of Luther, Melanchthon, and 
 Carolstadt, published treatises of his own for the 
 instruction of his countrymen, which were circu- 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 35 
 
 lated and eagerly read in the capital and throughout chap. 
 the kingdom. The opposition was not confined to , '_ , 
 Berquin. A search being ordered, a great number 1521. 
 of works of the same kind were discovered ; and 
 everywhere the disputes concerning religion engaged 
 the minds of men. 6 Nor were the converts to the 
 new opinions confined to the laity ; and it is worthy 
 of remark that those among the regular clergy 
 who first taught them were chiefly monks of St. 
 Augustine, the order to which Luther belonged. 7 
 
 Among the causes which contributed to the 
 spread of the new opinions in France, the first place 
 ia due to the taste which had been created for. 
 polite letters, and the lately-invented art of grati- 
 fying that taste. The sacred Scriptures were 
 zealously recovered from the rubbish of ages, along 
 with the classics of Greece and Rome, and the same 
 criticism which was employed in furnishing correct 
 editions of the latter, elucidating them by notes 
 and presenting them in translations, was extended 
 to the former. No person distinguished himself 
 more in these labours than the learned printer 
 Henry Stephens the elder, on whom the enlightened 
 and impartial De Thou has pronounced the splendid 
 panegyric : — " That not only France, but the whole 
 Christian world was more indebted to him than 
 any country ever was to the greatest warrior who 
 enlarged its boundaries ; and that by his industry 
 he reflected more real and imperishable glory on 
 the reign of Francis 1. than that monarch gained 
 by all his achievements in peace and in war." 8 By 
 his editions of the Hebrew Bible and Greek New 
 Testament, and of the Latin version, he incurred 
 the deadly hate of the clergy, who extracted no 
 
36 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 fewer than one hundred and sixty-seven heretical 
 propositions from the short notes which he appended 
 1523. to the latter. 9 Others had successfully laboured 
 before him in the same field, though with inferior 
 advantages. As early as 1509, Faber Stapulensis 
 published a Psalter in four different Latin versions, 
 accompanied with annotations. 10 The preface to 
 this work contains sentiments which afterwards 
 secured it the honour of a place in the Index 
 Expurgatorius of Trent and of Madrid. In the 
 course of a few years the same author sent forth 
 commentaries on the Epistles of Paul and the 
 Gospels, in which he suggested improvements on 
 the authorised Latin version, and explained various 
 passages in a different way from that in which 
 they were commonly understood in his time. 
 This excited against him the hostility of the 
 divines of the Sorbonne, with Natalis Beda, the 
 Syndic of the University, at their head, who re- 
 garded the least deviation from the Vulgate as a 
 species of sacrilege, and an appeal to the Hebrew 
 and Greek originals of the Bible as an almost 
 undoubted mark of heresy. In 1523 the Sorbonne 
 condemned Faber's Exposition of the Gospels, and 
 ordered him to recant a number of propositions 
 which they had extracted from it ; but the king 
 checked their proceedings by a letter, in which he 
 extolled Faber as the light of France, and forbade 
 them to suppress his work. 11 The contests which 
 Faber had to maintain about the three Magdalenes, 
 as they were called, and the three husbands of St. 
 Anne, the mother of the Virgin, which we look 
 upon as so trivial, were in fact the battles which 
 it behoved Truth to fight against blind submission 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 37 
 
 to human authority, before she could be permitted chap. 
 to contend on a larger field and for interests of ^J*_, 
 greater magnitude. In the notes to his Exposition 1523. 
 are to be found sentiments akin to those afterwards 
 called Lutheran and Calvinistic, on predestination 
 and grace, the eucharist, penance, and some other 
 points, and which the Parisian divines censured as 
 heretical, though later writers of the Romish com- 
 munion have attempted to reconcile them with the 
 Catholic faith. 12 But Faber gave still more deadly 
 offence when he proceeded to lay open the fountain 
 of truth to the people at large. A translation of the 
 Bible into the French language had been printed 
 soon after the invention of that wonderful art, 
 which by the novelty of its charms attracted the 
 patronage of rude princes and imposed upon the 
 sagacity of a vigilant and interested priesthood. 
 But the size of that version, with the rudeness of 
 the language, prevented it at once from being danger- 
 ous to the clergy and profitable to the people. It 
 was in the year 1523 that the French translation 
 of the New Testament by Faber first made its 
 appearance. The work was embodied in a French 
 version of the whole Scriptures, of which several 
 editions were printed at Antwerp. In an exhorta- 
 tory epistle, prefixed to the second volume of the 
 first edition, the translator says : — " It pleased the 
 Divine goodness to inspire the noble hearts of 
 certain illustrious ladies and princesses of the 
 kingdom, with the Christian desire of having the 
 New Testament printed for their edification, that 
 the kingdom might become very Christian in fact 
 as well as in name ; and it pleased them also that 
 it should be revised and compared with the Latin 
 
38 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 on account of the faults, additions, and retrench- 
 ments to be found in former editions, which by 
 1523. the grace of God has been faithfully done." The 
 translator goes on to say : — " Who will not esteem 
 it becoming and proper for a saint to have the New 
 Testament in his native tongue ? What can be 
 more necessary to life, not that of this world, but 
 spiritual life ? If in every religious order it is 
 ordained that such as are ignorant of Latin should 
 have their rule in the vulgar tongue, carry it about 
 with them, commit it to memory, and explain it 
 often in their chapters, much more reason is there 
 that unlearned persons belonging to the Christian 
 religion, which alone is necessary (for there can 
 be only one thing necessary), should have their rule, 
 which is the word of God, the Scripture full of 
 grace and mercy. This Holy Scripture is the 
 testament of Jesus Christ, the testament of our 
 Father confirmed by His death, and by the blood 
 of our redemption ; and who will forbid the children 
 to possess, look upon, and read the testament of 
 their father % It is very expedient therefore that 
 they should have it, should read and hear it, not 
 once only, but ordinarily in the chapters of Jesus 
 Christ — that is, the Churches, in which both 
 unlearned and learned should assemble to hear and 
 honour the sacred word of God. And such is the 
 intention of our good king, in heart as well as in 
 name very Christian, into whose hand God has 
 put the government of so noble and excellent a 
 kingdom, to the glory of the Father of mercy 
 and of Jesus Christ his Son. This ought to give 
 courage to all in this kingdom to profit in true 
 Christianity, following, understanding, and believing 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 39 
 
 the life-giving word of God. And blessed be that chap. 
 hour when it shall come ; and blessed be all those v__l, 
 who contribute to hasten it, not only in this realm, 1523. 
 but through all the world." 
 
 Language like this could not fail to be offensive 
 and alarming to the clergy of that time. It sounded 
 in their ears as a call to the Christian people to throw 
 oif that implicit subjection which they had hitherto 
 yielded to their ghostly superiors, and to read and 
 think for themselves in matters of faith and worship. 
 They knew that it was impossible to defend many 
 of the tenets and practices of their Church by an 
 appeal to the Scriptures, and that the fallacy of 
 those arguments by which they usually supported 
 them would be detected by the perusal of a faithful 
 version of the inspired oracles. The high patronage 
 under which the new translation appeared, and the 
 aj^robation given it by the learned, deterred them 
 from instantly laying it under an interdict; but they 
 raised an outcry of the danger of heresy ; and in the 
 same year in which Faber's version of the New 
 Testament was published, the Sorbonne denounced 
 as one of the errors of the Poor men of Lyons the 
 proposition that laics as well as clergymen should 
 be encouraged to study the sacred Scriptures. 13 
 
 From the time that the new opinions began to 
 spread the clergy turned an evil eye on literature, 
 and sought to check it in every way within their 
 power. 14 Their jealousy was peculiarly excited by 
 the study of the original languages of the Bible. 
 The Divines of the Sorbonne entered a complaint 
 before the Parliament against Danes, Vatable, Para- 
 disi, and Guidacier, the professors of Greek and 
 Hebrew in the Royal College, for explaining the 
 
40 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 Scriptures from the original, and prohibited them 
 from deviating in the slightest degree from the 
 1523. Vulgate translation. 15 Checked in the due use of 
 their liberty the professors had recourse to the plan 
 of circulating their criticisms on passages of Scrip- 
 ture in private among their students, who, on that 
 account, received them with the greater avidity. 
 The notes of Vatable, which Bobert Stephen affixed 
 to his Latin Bible of 1545, were most probably 
 procured in this way. Men of letters, who saw 
 the necessity of making common interest, revenged 
 themselves on the clergy, by exposing their ignor- 
 ance, avarice, and luxury. 16 In particular, the 
 poets and wits of the age, availing themselves of 
 their prescriptive privileges, held up the hypocrisy 
 and superstition of the priests, particularly the 
 monks, to ridicule, and spoke favourably of the 
 Reformers in their light but popular satires. Of 
 the extent to which this practice was carried we 
 have an example in a mock tragedy acted with 
 applause at Paris in the year 1524, within the 
 palace and in the presence of Francis I., in which 
 the Pope and cardinals were represented as seated 
 romid what had been a large fire, but was buried 
 in ashes ; and Reuchlin, Erasmus, Hutten, and 
 Luther were successively introduced, who, after 
 appropriate speeches, stirred the fire until it kindled 
 into a blaze, which his Holiness could not extinguish 
 either by the help of the inquisitors of heretical 
 pravity, or by his own curses and excommuni- 
 cations. 17 The divines of Paris met in grave con- 
 gregation to detect the heresies of Wickliffe and 
 Luther in songs, ballads, and rondeaux. 18 
 
 These lighter sallies were followed by serious 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 41 
 
 attacks on the doctrine and authority of the Church, 
 made from the press and sometimes from the pulpit. 
 
 In enumerating the causes which contributed to 1523 
 the spread of the Reformed opinions in France, it 
 would be improper to overlook the remains of the 
 Waldenses, who still subsisted in great numbers 
 in Languedoc and Provence, and in those parts of 
 Savoy which were subject to the French monarchy. 
 The clergy had endeavoured to incite Louis xn. 
 to exterminate this peaceful race by representing 
 them as sorcerers, incestuous persons, and heretics ; 
 but on their demanding an investigation of their 
 conduct, the Master of Requests and the King's 
 Confessor were sent to inquire into the truth of the 
 charges laid against them. They reported that the 
 Waldenses baptized their infants, were taught the 
 Creed and the Decalogue, kept the Lord's day reli- 
 giously, and were free from all sorcery and whore- 
 dom ; but that no images or ornaments of the Mass 
 were to be found in their churches. " And are these 
 the people against whom you would have had a hasty 
 judgment pronounced?" exclaimed his Majesty on 
 hearing this report. " Nay ! by God, these men 
 are better than I and the rest of my people." 19 
 The Waldenses had been taught by dear-bought 
 experience to keep themselves as retired as possible ; 
 but they had disciples scattered through almost 
 every part of Frauce who were prepared to listen 
 to the Reformed doctrine ; and accordingly those 
 of Provence, having sent deputies to converse with 
 the divines of Basle, Berne, Neuchatel, and Stras- 
 burg, candidly corrected certain abuses which had 
 crept in among them, particularly their frequenting 
 of Mass, — a piece of conformity to the popish wor- 
 
42 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 strip which they had been induced to yield with the 
 view of allaying the suspicions of their superstitious 
 1523. neighbours, and procuring the connivance of the 
 priests at their separate assemblies. 20 In conse- 
 quence of this they coalesced with the Reformed 
 body, and it was at their expense that the version 
 "< of the Bible, afterwards used by all the French 
 Protestants and those of the same tongue in 
 Switzerland, was first printed. 21 
 
 Another circumstance which had great influence 
 on the spread of the Reformed doctrine in France 
 is to be found in the favourable dispositions of 
 certain persons belonging to the Court. Due 
 weight is given to this fact by the Sorbonne in 
 an answer to the queen-mother, who, as regent of 
 the kingdom during the absence of Francis I., had 
 consulted it as to the best means of rooting out the 
 Lutheran heresy. It occupies a prominent place in 
 that document in which the divines complain that 
 their censures of erroneous books, including, besides 
 Luther's, those of Faber and Berquin, had not been 
 supported and carried into execution by the civil 
 authorities. " It seems to the said faculty that 
 the chief cause of the propagation of this heresy, 
 not only throughout this kingdom, but, as is said, 
 in other countries, is, that many great persons, 
 before they sufficiently understood the matter, 
 praised the doctrine, if the common report be true, 
 at Court, and found fault with those who censured 
 and condemned it." 22 Among the persons here 
 accused were, as we have seen, ladies ; and at their 
 head was no less a person than Margaret of Valois, 
 only sister to the reigning monarch. 23 This 
 princess, who, after the death of her first husband, 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 43 
 
 the Duke of Alencon, had married Henry d'Albret, chap. 
 king of Navarre, and who, on account of her dis- v* 1 ^ 
 tinguished talents, obtained from her contemporaries 1523. 
 the name of the Tenth Muse, exerted an influence 
 over the mind of her brother, which counteracted 
 greatly the power of the clergy, and of that de- 
 termined enemy of the Reformers, the Chancellor 
 Du Prat, " a man who, by a base prostitution of 
 great talents and of superior skill in his profession, 
 had risen to that high office." 24 
 
 In the year 1523 the divines of Paris complain 
 loudly of the liberties taken in questioning the sacred 
 doctrines and approved practices of the Church. 
 " Some at this time are not afraid," say they, " to 
 vent the poison of their impiety by means of 
 pestilent books and dangerous preaching. They 
 impiously assert that we ought not to pray to the 
 saints, nor do them any honour, except perhaps by 
 loving and imitating them. The relics of the saints, 
 their miracles, images, and deeds they mock, deride, 
 and despise ; and not content with refusing the 
 honour due to them, they hinder others from paying 
 it. They depreciate the sacred canon of the Mass 
 as an old garment patched up with various shreds, 
 because it was composed and enlarged by different 
 authors, not considering that this objection applies 
 equally to the divine Scriptures. These insane men 
 speak unworthily of the temporalities assigned to 
 those who celebrate the divine mysteries, though 
 Christ has told us that the labourer is worthy of his 
 hire, and they that serve at the altar should live by 
 the altar. Regardless of apostolical tradition, they 
 condemn the pious offerings made for the relief of 
 the living and the dead, as well as the Office of the 
 
44 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 dead. They grant liberty to unlearned persons to 
 explain the Scriptures according to their pleasure, 
 1523. to dispute about matters of faith, to call assemblies 
 and hold conventicles. How much soever these 
 pestiferous dogmas differ from one another, yet 
 they all proceed from the same source, and are a 
 revival of the execrable and condemned errors of the 
 Bohemians, Turlepins, Waldenses, and ancient here- 
 tics." 25 The doctors of the Sorbonne were fur- 
 nished with daily employment in the way of 
 examining and censuring the new opinions. " The 
 Virgin ought not to be addressed as the mother of 
 mercy, the queen of heaven, our life and hope ; nor 
 did she merit bearing the Son of God." "This 
 proposition is erroneous and scandalous, and comes 
 from the Waldenses, Cathari, and Bohemians," said 
 the divines of the Sorbonne. " The bones of the 
 saints, instead of being exhibited in churches, should 
 be buried in the hope of the resurrection. " ' ' Another 
 blasphemy of the same heretics," replied the divines. 
 "It is superstitious to think that one saint heals 
 one disease more than another, and the opinion arose 
 at first from the resemblance which their names bore 
 to certain cures or disorders, as St. Ficarius to a fig, 
 and St. Eutropius to the dropsy." " An impious 
 tenet derived from Porphyry and Eunomius," re- 
 joined the zealous doctors. " A certain pontiff who 
 laboured under the stone and gravel added Cosmas 
 and Damian to the canon of the Mass." " A pro- 
 position beyond measure impious, irreverent, and 
 foolish, — contumelious not only to the holy fathers 
 who composed the canon, but to the universal 
 Church which has approved it, the spawn of the 
 foresaid heretics," replied the divines, choked with 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 45 
 
 anger at the indecent insinuation. " When Luther chap. 
 writes well," said some, " nobody hath written II _ / 
 better." "This," replied the Sorbonne, "is false, 1523. 
 impious to the holy doctors, and an impudent and 
 lying testimony in favour of the execrable doctrine 
 of Luther." " The office for the dead is suspicious, 
 and cannot be easily defended by Scripture." " This 
 doubt," said the Sorbonnists, " is impious, schisma- 
 tical, and borrowed from the heresy of the Arians, 
 and Albigenses." " The books of the Maccabees do 
 not belong to the canon, and were not approved by 
 the Church." " A rash and false assertion," replied 
 the Parisian doctors, " for the Church does hold 
 these books for canonical." 26 
 
 The first open attempt to introduce a real reform 
 into the Church of France was made at Meaux, and 
 in this instance, at least, there was no room for the 
 charge of irregularity, on which the supporters of 
 existing abuses are so fond of dwelling. It was 
 made under the immediate direction of the ordinary 
 of the diocese ; but it did not on that account prove 
 the less offensive, as is always the case when opposi- 
 tion, though professedly directed against the mea- 
 sures employed, takes its rise from hatred or 
 antipathy to the object which they are used to 
 accomplish. William Briconnet, a prelate, equally 
 eminent for his rank and character, had, during his 
 studies at Paris, imbibed a portion of the Reformed 
 doctrine, along with the love of polite letters ; and ' 
 in 1521, soon after his translation from the see of 
 Loudun to that of Meaux, felt a strong desire to 
 promote evangelical knowledge among the people of 
 his charge. Finding the monks, the only preachers 
 of that time, glaringly unfit for the task which they 
 
46 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 had undertaken, he intimated to them that he 
 would dispense with their services, and mounted 
 1523. the pulpit himself. The novelty of this spectacle 
 attracted attention, and drew multitudes to hear 
 him. Though he had been better qualified for the 
 task than could be expected from a nobleman who 
 had spent a great part of his time at the Court, and 
 in the palaces of churchmen who lived like princes, 27 
 the labours of any individual could be but of small 
 benefit to a large population ignorant of the very 
 first principles of Christianity. To supply this 
 defect he called to his aid certain Parisian divines 
 of good principles, amongst whom were his aged 
 preceptor Faber, William Farel, a regent in the 
 College of Lemoine, and Martial Mesurier and 
 Gerard Puffi, two doctors of theology. The success 
 of these missionaries answered to their zeal and 
 assiduity. While some of them taught in public, 
 others provided the means of private instruction. 
 The bishop printed and circulated at his own ex- 
 pense portions of Scripture translated into French 
 by Faber, particularly the Psalter, and a book called 
 the Epistles and Gospels, according to the usage of 
 Meaux, consisting of those passages of the New 
 Testament which were read in Latin in the service 
 of the Church, accompanied with short exhorta- 
 tions. 28 These proceedings gave great alarm to the 
 members of the Sorbonne, who instigated the 
 offended monks of Meaux to complain to the 
 court, and the bishop, being summoned into the 
 presence of the monarch and sharply reprimanded, 
 lost courage, desisted from his measures of improve- 
 ment, and dismissed his reforming coadjutors. 
 Mesurier, who had had no small share in shaking 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 47 
 
 the resolution of the bishop, made his peace with chap. 
 the Sorbonne, and died a canon and penitentiary of w^^ 
 Paris. 29 Farel, after endeavouring for some time to 1523. 
 disseminate the truth secretly in France, 30 was 
 forced to retire into Switzerland, where we shall 
 find him labouring with distinguished success ; 
 Faber, along with some others, 31 took refuge in 
 Beam ; and Ruffi obtained, under the patronage of 
 the Queen of Navarre, a bishopric, and continued to 
 promote the Reformed doctrine without formally 
 quitting the communion of the Church of Home. 32 
 Notwithstanding the dispersion of the labourers, 
 the seed sown at Meaux sprang up at a subsequent 
 period, and was plentifully watered by the blood of 
 martyrs, while in the meantime it was scattered by 
 the fugitives over France, and introduced into 
 Senlis, Aubigne, Orleans, Metz, and many other 
 places. 33 
 
 The unsuccessful exertions of Briconnet remind 
 us, by way of contrast, of the conduct of one of his 
 successors in the see of Meaux, who, at a later 
 period, employed his great talents and lavished his 
 splendid eloquence on the task of artfully shading 
 the deformities of the Church of Borne, and drawing 
 a distorted portrait of the Reformed Church, at a 
 time when the latter was exposed to a persecution 
 the more galling that it was carried on under the 
 hypocritical pretext of converting the Protestants 
 by argument, and with the view of paving the way 
 for one of the foulest acts of perfidy ever perpetrated 
 by civil or ecclesiastical tyranny, in the revocation 
 of an edict which had been solemnly and repeatedly 
 ratified — a deed which was followed by a long 
 course of national degradation, and which, by the 
 
48 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 righteous retribution of heaven, has been signally 
 and awfully avenged within our own memory. 
 1523. When suppressed at Meaux, the light of evan- 
 gelical truth burst forth in other parts of the king- 
 dom. At Lyons, and at Grenoble, Maigret, a 
 Dominican friar, and doctor of theology, boldly 
 attacked the leading errors of Popery, and it was 
 not until his opinions had taken root in both these 
 cities, that he consulted his safety by flying into 
 Germany. 34 One of the charges against Maigret 
 was that he had said, " He is a slanderer who says 
 that Luther is a bad man." Similar freedoms were 
 taken by a German preacher at Alencon and 
 Bourges. 35 
 
 The Sorbonnists found themselves braved under 
 the very walls of their stronghold by Peter Caroli. 
 This monk was accused by them of introducing " a 
 new mode of preaching, by reading from the pulpit 
 the epistle to the Romans, instead of a sermon, 
 while by his direction both men and women brought 
 to church the epistles of Paul, newly translated, as 
 they call it, into the vulgar tongue, and others 
 brought the Latin Bible and the Angelical Saluta- 
 tion constructed after a new form." Caroli de- 
 fended himself with great spirit and address. The 
 Faculty prohibited him from preaching in the 
 diocese of Paris, " where he had no charge of souls, 
 but had intruded himself, being, it is said, hired by 
 the Lutheran faction." By challenging some of his 
 judges, including the Syndic Beda, and by appeal- 
 ing first to the parliament and afterwards to the 
 episcopal court, he contrived to protract his trial 
 several months, during which he preached to large 
 audiences in different churches. Having exhausted 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 49 
 
 the arts of delay, he offered to desist from preaching, chap. 
 provided the Faculty would allow him to finish the V _ Q- 
 exposition of the twenty-second Psalm. This they 1525. 
 refused, but consented that he should deliver a 
 valedictory lecture to his audience ; instead of 
 which he caused the following placard to be posted 
 up : " Peter Caroli, wishing to yield to the ad- 
 monitions of the Sacred Faculty, intermits his 
 lectures, to be resumed when God shall please, and 
 to begin at the words where he left off — They 
 pierced my hands and my feet." On hearing of this, 
 the divines, who had hitherto been restrained by 
 their knowledge that he was favoured by certain 
 persons of rank, proceeded to a formal condemna- 
 tion of his doctrine. 36 
 
 Irritated by the open avowal and rapid spread 
 of the new opinions, the clergy determined to sup- 
 press them by violent measures. The divines of 
 Paris reiterated their fulminations, and moved 
 heaven and earth against those who polluted the 
 soil of France with their execrable heresies. They 
 pronounced a formal censure on the books published 
 at Meaux, which they extended to all vernacular 
 translations of the Bible, " as inexpedient and 
 useless, and in the circumstances of the. time per- 
 nicious ;" they called in the aid of inquisitors of 
 the faith, and procured the ratification of their pro- 
 hibitory censures by the Parliament of Paris. 37 To 
 give greater weight to these proceedings, and to 
 prepare for open persecution, the new opinions were 
 condemned by two provincial Councils, held by the 
 Archbishops of Sens and Bourges. 38 
 
 The first martyr 39 to the Reformed faith in France 
 (unless we include John Le Clerc, who suffered earlier 
 
 D 
 
50 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, at Metz) was James Pavanes, a native of Boulogne, 
 v^_^< and a young man of excellent talents and character. 
 1525. He was one of the preachers employed by Brigonnet 
 to evangelise his diocese ; and having declined or 
 neglected to secure his safety upon the change of 
 affairs at Meaux, was seized and arraigned for con- 
 tradicting the doctrine of the Church on the 
 eucharist. Swayed by the advice of his more aged 
 colleague, Martial Mesurier, who urged that the 
 matter in dispute was not of sufficient importance 
 to be put in competition with his life, Pavanes 
 was persuaded to make a public recantation ; but 
 from that moment he enjoyed no peace of mind 
 until he avowed that his sentiments remained un- 
 changed ; upon which he was sentenced to be burnt 
 alive as a relapsed heretic. This punishment he 
 bore with great fortitude, in the year 1525, at Paris, 
 in the Place de Greve. 40 His death was the signal 
 for similar executions in the capital and through- 
 out the provinces. The most distinguished of 
 the sufferers was Louis Berquin, whom we have 
 already mentioned as a translator of some of 
 the works of the German Reformers. He was a 
 young gentleman of Artois, a king's councillor, and 
 possessed of such rare talents and learning as would 
 have made him the Luther of his native country, 
 provided he had found in Francis i. a Frederick of 
 Saxony. His rank and influence rendered him a 
 formidable adversary to the clergy, whose hatred 
 he had lately provoked by his powerful defence 
 of Erasmus against the attacks of Beda and De 
 Huren. Twice they were defeated in a prosecution 
 against him for heresy, in consequence of the royal 
 authority being interposed in his favour. In 1523 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE. 51 
 
 he was thrown into the prison of the Conciergerie, chap. 
 and his writings were referred to the judgment of ^^^ 
 the theological Faculty, but though its verdict was 1525. 
 unfavourable, the Parliament, aware of his interest 
 at Court, released him. Having published a de- 
 fence of himself and of Erasmus, the process against 
 him was renewed two years after, and would have 
 been carried to extremity had not the King, on his 
 return from Spain, ordered him to be set at liberty, 
 and taken the cause under his own cognisance. 
 Erasmus advised him to rest satisfied with his 
 triumph, and to leave the kingdom until the rage 
 of the defeated theologians should subside ; but the 
 high spirit of Berquin, and perhaps his confidence 
 in the protection of the Court, led him to reject 
 this prudential advice. He attacked Beda with 
 great spirit, and exposed his blunders and blas- 
 phemies, in consequence of which the King wrote 
 to the theological Faculty to examine the writ- 
 ings of their colleague. This proved fatal to 
 Berquin. Watching their opportunity, the clergy 
 renewed the prosecution against him the third 
 time ; and by artful importunities, addressed 
 through the Queen-mother, obtained from Francis 
 (whose desire to accomplish his ambitious projects 
 often overcame his feelings of humanity and par- 
 tiality to men of letters), that the cause of Berquin 
 should be removed from the court which had for- 
 merly tried it, and be submitted to judges chosen 
 by the Pope, or, in other words, by the prosecutors 
 of the accused. The new judges decided that in 
 token of recantation he should burn his books with 
 his own hand, have his tongue perforated with a 
 hot iron, and be imprisoned for life. Declaring that 
 
52 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 he would die sooner than submit to such a sentence, 
 he appealed to the King and Pope, upon which his 
 1529. judges, meeting next day, condemned him, as con- 
 tumacious, to the flames ; and lest any application 
 should be made in his favour to his Majesty, who 
 was then at Blois, the sentence was executed 
 without delay on the — day of April 1529, in Paris, 
 at the Place de Maubert, where, after being 
 strangled, his body was consumed in the fire. If 
 Berquin had suffered himself at a former period to 
 be buoyed up with confidence in the protection of 
 the Court, he showed in the end that he was pre- 
 pared to meet his death. 41 His behaviour in the 
 last trying scene is thus described by Erasmus from 
 the information of an intelligent eye-witness : — " He 
 exhibited no symptom of fear, either in his coun- 
 tenance or by his gestures. You would have 
 thought he was studying in his closet, or meditat- 
 ing on divine things in the church. During the 
 time that the executioner was proclaiming with a 
 savage voice his crime and punishment, he remained 
 unmoved. When ordered to descend from the 
 hurdle, he came down at once with a firm step. 
 There was nothing of that audacity or fierceness 
 about him which malefactors sometimes display on 
 such occasions ; the tranquillity inspired by a good 
 conscience shone throug-h his whole conduct. Before 
 his death he addressed the spectators, but nobody 
 could hear a single word for the noise made by the 
 guards, intentionally it is supposed. When his 
 body was thrown into the fire, not one in the crowd 
 uttered the word Jesus, an invocation commonly 
 made for parricides and sacrilegious persons ; so 
 much had the minds of all been inflamed against 
 
CALVIN EMBRACES THE REFORMED CAUSE. 53 
 
 liim by those who exert an absolute authority over chap. 
 the simple and unlearned. 42 A certain Franciscan v_J^_/ 
 waited upon him, of whom Montius (Erasmus' 1533. 
 informant) inquired if Berquin at his death had 
 confessed his errors. He replied in the affirmative, 
 adding, that he entertained no doubt of his soul 
 having entered into rest. 43 But," continues Eras- 
 mus, " I put no faith in the testimony of the Fran- 
 ciscan, especially as it is a common thing among 
 these people to spread the report after the death of 
 a heretic, that he had recanted at the stake." 44 
 
 Such was the state of the Reformed cause in 
 France when it was embraced by Calvin. The 
 number of its declared adherents was small and 
 contemptible. Many were secretly favourable to it, 
 but no person of rank or consideration had appeared 
 openly on its side. Its enemies were determined to 
 crush it ; the existing laws were favourable to their 
 design • and they had succeeded in overcoming the 
 reluctance which the King had testified to abet 
 their violent measures, and in inflaming the mul- 
 titude with a fanatical zeal against all who deviated 
 in the slightest degree from the established faith, 
 whom they were pleased to stigmatise as heretics. 
 A person of respectable connections, and whose 
 prospects in life were fair, if not flattering, could 
 have no worldly temptation to leave the established, 
 or as it was then regarded, the Catholic Church ; 
 and considerations which operate the most power- 
 fully on the human mind, combined in exacting 
 from him the most serious deliberation before 
 adopting a course which to appearances was all but 
 desperate. If youthful ardour had led him at first 
 to cherish sanguine hopes of the triumph of the new 
 
51 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 opinions, the tragical scenes which had lately passed 
 before his eyes, and their effect in shaking the con- 
 1533. fidence of the most forward, were sufficient to dispel 
 the delusion ; or if he had too hastily adopted the 
 plausible doctrine of the Reformers, and imparted 
 his sentiments incautiously to his confidential 
 friends, he had still time to pause before taking 
 the decisive step, and avowedly leaving the com- 
 munion of the established, and as it was then 
 deemed, Catholic Church. 
 
 The precise time at which the religious opin- 
 ions of Calvin underwent that change which had 
 such an important influence on his future life, 
 cannot be clearly and certainly ascertained. His 
 earliest biographer evidently supposes that it was 
 prior to his commencing the study of law, as he 
 assigns it as a reason for his complying more 
 readily with his father's wishes on that point ; 
 and the authority of Beza has not unreasonably 
 been acquiesced in by subsequent writers. Ac- 
 cording to this supposition the change must have 
 taken place as early at least as the year 1528, and 
 consequently in the nineteenth year of his age. 
 But I strongly suspect that the event happened 
 some years later. These suspicions do not rest 
 merely on the fact that his first publication was 
 dedicated to a dignitary of the Roman Church, 
 and indicates a mind engrossed with classical and 
 profane studies. 45 Nine letters, written by him 
 between the years 1528 and 1532, have been pre- 
 served. They are addressed to persons who are 
 known to have adopted the Protestant sentiments 
 about the same time with himself. They are confi- 
 dential letters, and it is scarcely possible that a 
 
INFLUENCE OF OLIVET AN. 55 
 
 young man, writing to his fellow-students and 
 companions, with whom he was on a footing of the 
 most perfect intimacy, and while adverting, with 1533 
 all the ease of epistolary correspondence, to a variety 
 of topics suggested by their personal intercourse, 
 should have failed, if he had then embraced the 
 Reformed doctrines, to drop some hints relating to 
 a subject which, from its intrinsic importance, and 
 still more from the circumstances of the time, must 
 have been deep]y interesting to him, and occupied 
 his thoughts by night and by day ; yet nothing of 
 this kind is to be found in them. 
 
 But though there is no good evidence of his 
 having embraced the Reformation until 1533, we 
 have reason to think that his attention had been 
 called to the subject at a much earlier period. From 
 the noise which the new opinions made in the 
 capital, the discussions to which they led in the 
 theological Faculty, and above all from the suffer- 
 ings to which they subjected a person of such note 
 as Berquin, they must have formed the topic of 
 frequent conversation among the more advanced 
 students in the University of Paris. It is agreed 
 on all hands that his relation, Peter Robert Olivetan 
 or D' Olivet, the translator of the Bible, was a princi- 
 pal instrument in enlightening his mind, by re- 
 commending to him the serious perusal of the 
 Scriptures, 46 and it is highly probable that he had 
 received this advice before he left Paris to com- 
 mence the study of jurisprudence. At Orleans he 
 lodged in the same house with a German Pro- 
 testant, 47 and at Bourges his Greek preceptor and 
 several of his fellow-students were of the same 
 persuasion. Their conversation and the disputes 
 
56 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 which arose opened his eyes to some of the abuses 
 in the Church, but without shaking his attachment 
 1533. to the Romish creed. He has himself told us that 
 he was wedded to the prevailing religion with an 
 obstinacy beyond his years. 4S Constitutionally 
 inclined to devotion, the superstitious notions in 
 which he had been educated had taken a firm hold 
 of his mind, and resisted the utmost strength of 
 argument. At length he met with a teacher who 
 addressed himself to his conscience as well as to his 
 understanding, arraigned him at the bar of God as 
 a sinner, and convicted him of the utter worthless- 
 ness of his own righteousness, though aided by the 
 intercessions of every creature on earth or in 
 heaven. Once persuaded of the doctrine of justifi- 
 cation by faith, his prejudices gave way, his mind 
 became accessible to the force of truth, and the 
 motley system of voluntary penances, lustrations, 
 pardons, and indulgences, with the human authority 
 on which they rested, and by which he had hitherto 
 been mysteriously fettered and spell-bound, melted 
 from his view, " like the baseless fabric of a vision/' 
 leaving " not a wreck behind." His conversion to 
 God and his dereliction of the Roman Church took 
 place at the same time. 
 
 The following eloquent passage in his answer to 
 Cardinal Sadolet was intended as a general vindi- 
 cation of those who had felt themselves constrained 
 to secede from the communion of the Church of 
 Rome, but, as the principal lines in it were evi- 
 dently drawn from his own experience, it may be 
 fairly quoted as a description of what he felt at the 
 period of which we now write, and of the reasons 
 by which he was determined in making the inter- 
 
VINDICATION OF THE SECEDERS. 57 
 
 esting change. "Thou knowest, God, that I chap. 
 always professed the Christian religion, as taught v__^ 
 from my infancy, but the grounds of my faith 1533. 
 formerly were no other than those which were 
 common to all at that time. Thy word, which 
 ought to shine as a lamp before all Thy people, was 
 then either taken from us altogether or suppressed ; 
 and, to prevent any from inquiring after it, the 
 opinion was sedulously instilled into our minds that 
 the right of investigating the mysteries of heavenly 
 philosophy had been wisely intrusted to a few, 
 whom others should consult as an oracle, and that 
 the common people, instead of aspiring after know- 
 ledge, will find it safer to yield an implicit submis- 
 sion to the dictates of the Church. What I was 
 taught served neither to instruct me how to worship 
 Thee aright, nor to guide me to a stable hope of 
 salvation, nor to form me for the duties of the 
 Christian life. I was told, indeed, to acknowledge 
 Thee only as my God, but, being left in ignorance 
 of the true way of serving Thee, I stumbled at the 
 threshold. I believed, as taught, that I was re- 
 deemed by the death of Thy Son from obnoxiousness 
 to eternal death, but then the redemption which I 
 conceived was one whose virtue I could not at all 
 reach ; I looked forward to a future resurrection, 
 but the thought of it inspired me with horror. 
 This was not a bondage engendered by my own 
 private views, but the native fruit of the doctrine 
 everywhere taught by the guides of the people. 
 They preached indeed Thy mercy to men, but it 
 was to those who made themselves worthy of it, 
 not to the miserable. They placed a merit in the 
 righteousness of works, and taught that those would 
 
58 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 at last be received into Thy favour who reconciled 
 themselves to Thee by their good deeds. In the 
 1533. meantime they did not conceal from us that we were 
 miserable sinners, who often fall through the in- 
 firmity of the flesh, and that Thy mercy was the 
 only gate of salvation for all, but then they in- 
 culcated at the same time that we could not obtain 
 this blessing without making satisfaction for our 
 sins, by confessing them without reserve to a priest, 
 and begging absolution by compensating our trans- 
 gressions by good works, by daily penances and 
 sacrifices to atone for what was defective in these 
 good works ; and in fine, as Thou art a severe judge 
 and dreadful to approach, by having recourse to the 
 saints and employing their intercession to render 
 v Thee placable and propitious. I tried all these 
 methods, but without obtaining relief or peace of 
 mind. As often as I looked into myself, or 
 attempted to lift my eyes to Thee, God, I was 
 filled with a dread which no penances or satisfac- 
 tions of mine could mitigate. The more narrowly 
 I inspected myself, the deeper did the sting enter 
 into my conscience, so that at last I could find 
 no ease but by steeping my mind in forgetfulness. 
 When I was in this state a doctrine altogether 
 different from what I had been accustomed to hear 
 began to be promulgated. It did not lead men 
 away from the principles of Christianity, but directed 
 them to the pure fountain from which they flowed. 
 Offended at its novelty, I was with great difficulty 
 prevailed on to listen to it. At first, I confess, I 
 resisted it resolutely, being unwilling to acknow- 
 ledge that I had spent my life in ignorance and 
 error. The reverence for the Church in which I 
 
VINDICATION. 59 
 
 had been trained was a chief hindrance. But when chap. 
 I opened my mind to conviction I found that' my ,_*_, 
 fears for the honour of the Church were vain, and 1533. 
 that there was a wide difference between leaving 
 the Church and endeavouring to reform her from 
 the corruptions by which she had become infected. 
 The teachers of this doctrine spoke honourably of 
 the Church, and testified great anxiety to preserve 
 her unity. And lest it should seem that they 
 used the word sophistically, they showed by numer- 
 ous examples that it was no new thing for anti- 
 christs to usurp the place of true pastors, and that 
 in seeking to promote the improvement of the 
 Church, they only trode in the footsteps of those 
 whom we acknowledged as saints. When accused 
 of inveighing against the Roman pontiff, whom we 
 revered as the vicar of Christ, the successor of Peter, 
 and the prince of the Church, they replied that 
 he attained his height of power during times of 
 ignorance, when the world was drowned in a deep 
 sleep, by usurpation, and not by any authority of 
 the Word of God, or lawful call of the Church, and 
 that his primacy was established on the ruins of 
 ecclesiastical order and discipline, Christian liberty, 
 and the best interests of the kingdom of Christ. 
 Lest I should be disposed to connive at these 
 corruptions as things not pertaining to me, they 
 put it to my conscience if the countenancing of 
 known error could be innocent, when even those 
 who were seduced through ignorance were exposed 
 to danger according to our Lord's declaration : ' If 
 the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch ! ' 
 When my awakened attention was seriously fixed 
 on these things I saw, as if by a lamp introduced 
 
60 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, into my mind, the sink of errors in which I had 
 v_l, been wallowing, and the foul stains which I had 
 1533. contracted. Acknowledging, as I justly might, the 
 misery in which I was plunged, and the infinitely 
 greater misery to which I was exposed by liability 
 to eternal death, I bewailed my former life with 
 tears and groans, and betook myself to Thy way. 
 And now, Lord, what remains for me, wretched 
 that I am, but that, laying aside all vain excuses, 
 I humbly deprecate Thy entering into judgment 
 with me for my horrible defection from Thy word, 
 from which Thou hast all at once delivered me in 
 Thy marvellous kindness." 49 
 
 A new direction was now given to his pursuits : 
 the study of law was at first prosecuted with 
 relaxed energy, and in a short time entirely laid 
 aside. 50 Calvin was no enthusiast. Deeply as he 
 was convinced of the truth of the Reformed doctrine, 
 and of its importance to the salvation of men, he 
 did not give way to the first impressions of a warm 
 proselyte by becoming a preacher of the faith which 
 he had embraced. Reflecting on his early destina- 
 tion to the Church and the place he actually held 
 in it, he could scarce fail to be impressed with the 
 idea that he lay under some kind of obligation to 
 serve God by propagating a purer and more salutary 
 doctrine than that which was everywhere taught 
 by the authorised leaders of the people. But 
 besides his natural fondness for retirement and 
 study, he had the penetration to see that the 
 circumstances of the Protestant party, both in his 
 native country and abroad, rendered it of great 
 importance that those who undertook the office of 
 public teachers in it should be thoroughly grounded 
 
ATTACKS ON TEtE REFORMED. Gl 
 
 in its doctrines, and capable of defending them. 
 The first fervour by which the Reformers were 
 animated had suffered an abatement ; the insur- 1533 
 rection of the Boors, and the extravagant tenets 
 of the Anabaptists in Germany, had raised a pre- 
 judice against their cause, which was still more 
 deeply injured by the dissension between the 
 divines of Saxony and Switzerland on the subject 
 of the eucharist ; while the Catholic princes, 
 instigated by the Court of Rome, were planning 
 simultaneous, though not combined, measures for 
 the suppression of the new opinions. Awakened 
 from their false security, and convinced that Papal 
 excommunications and theological censures no 
 longer produced the same effect as formerly, the 
 clergy had begun to employ means more suited to 
 the character of the age for reconciling the minds 
 of men to their authority, and supporting the rights 
 of their order. A stop was put to the sale of 
 indulgences, learned men were no longer branded 
 as heretics, they were allowed to purchase the 
 liberty of pursuing their favourite studies by 
 abstaining from any open attack on the doctrines 
 of the Church ; and some of them, such as Erasmus, 
 had been prevailed on to take the field against the 
 Protestants, and to signalise themselves, at least 
 on some points, as the champions of the Church. 
 The writings, expository and controversial, of Luther 
 and other early Reformers, though admirably 
 adapted to the time in which they had appeared, 
 and calculated to expose the dangerous errors which 
 had long prevailed, and to awaken indignation hi 
 Christians at the gross impositions which had been 
 practised upon them, yet laboured under evident 
 
6,2 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 defects ; something more exact, more profound, 
 more methodical and better digested, was required 
 1533. by altered circumstances, and by the illumination 
 produced in men's minds by those very means 
 which were now felt to be inadequate. 
 
 Influenced by such considerations, Calvin se- 
 cluded himself from company, and devoted his time 
 to the improvement of his mind and the acquisition 
 of knowledge by reading and meditation. The 
 sacred writings, with which for some time back he 
 had been familiar, he now examined with the most 
 critical attention, and in addition to the contro- 
 versial writings of the age, read the works of the 
 Christian fathers to ascertain their exact sentiments, 
 and gain possession of whatever was most excellent 
 in them. In this employment he was very careful 
 to prevent interruptions. With this view it was 
 his practice, after an early and light supper, to 
 continue his studies till midnight, and on awaken- 
 ing in the morning to meditate in bed on what he 
 had read the preceding evening, and digest it in 
 his mind, by which means he acquired a most 
 retentive memory, and an extensive store of solid 
 knowledge, though this unwearied application pro- 
 duced a debility in his stomach which laid the 
 foundation of those disorders which afflicted him 
 through life, and brought on a premature death. 51 
 
 The ardour with which he pursued his studies 
 did not prevent him from associating with his 
 brethren of the same faith, and attending their 
 private meetings in the places where he resided. 
 At Orleans and at Bourges there were not a few 
 converts to the Protestant faith, including several 
 of his intimate acquaintance. In the circumstances 
 
PARIS — COLLEGE OF FORTRAT. 63 
 
 in which they were placed, destitute as they often char 
 were of teachers, and burning with thirst for ^"^ 
 Scriptural knowledge, it would have been criminal 1533. 
 and even cruel in him to have " wrapped his talent 
 in a napkin," and refused to impart to them the 
 benefit of the gift which he had received. The 
 share which he took in their religious exercises soon 
 discovered his talents, and caused him to be sought 
 out in a manner which, though painful to, him, as 
 interfering with his favourite object, he found it 
 impossible altogether to resist. The extent and 
 solidity of his knowledge, joined to an unaffected 
 and manly style, so uncommon in a person of his 
 years, filled all who heard him with admiration ; and 
 his opinion was sought for from various parts of 
 France. He was even consulted along with the 
 first Reformers on the celebrated question of the 
 marriage of Henry viii. 52 During a visit to Bourges, 
 he was carried by his friends to some of the neigh- 
 bouring castles and bourgades, particularly that of 
 De Linieres, whose noble inmates listened with 
 pleasure to his instructions. "At least," said De 
 Linieres, one day after hearing him expound, " this 
 young man gives us something we have not heard 
 before." 53 
 
 In autumn 1533, Calvin returned to Paris, and 
 took up his residence in the College of Fortrat. 
 He was introduced to, and cordially welcomed by 
 the friends of the Reformed religion in the capital, 
 both foreigners 54 and natives, who had now greatly 
 increased, and were to be found in the University 
 and even in the Sorbonne, the bulwark of Catho- 
 licism. They met privately for mutual encourage- 
 ment and instruction, and their meetings were often 
 
64 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 held in the house of Etienne de la Forge, a cele- 
 brated merchant, who expended his great fortune 
 1533. in charity and in the translation of the Scriptures, 
 and to whose memory Calvin paid a public tribute 
 after his martyrdom. 55 , The Queen of Navarre had 
 incurred the resentment of the clergy by her par- 
 tiality to the Reformers, and the success with which 
 she had repeatedly interposed on then behalf with 
 her royal brother. By her persuasion Parvi, Bishop 
 of Senhs, and king's confessor, had caused the 
 Hours to be printed in French, after excluding from 
 them the most superstitious passages ; and she her- 
 self had published a poem entitled " The Mirror of 
 a Sinful Soul," in which no mention was made of 
 saints, male or female, or of merit, or of any pur- 
 gatory, but the blood of Christ ; and the prayer to 
 the Virgin was addressed to the Saviour. This 
 poem the Sorbonne included among the prohibited 
 books ; and soon after they caused a comedy to be 
 acted by the boys of the College of Navarre, in 
 which the Queen was lampooned and held up to 
 ridicule. Francis was greatly irritated by this 
 repeated indignity offered to his sister, whose heroic 
 devotion to him during his captivity in Spain had 
 increased the attachment which he always felt for 
 her ; the actors in the play, with their prompters, 
 were sought and obliged to make a humiliating 
 apology. The University being called together 
 disowned all knowledge of the censure pronounced 
 against the Queen's books, and devolved the re- 
 sponsibility upon the divines, some of whom were 
 imprisoned, and Beda, the most turbulent, banished 
 from Paris. 56 At the same time intimation was 
 made to the theological Faculty that his Majesty 
 
NICOLAS COP. 65 
 
 had granted a diploma to Bellay, Bishop of Paris, chap. 
 a prelate distinguished by his moderation and liberal v^__^ 
 views, authorising him to nominate the preachers 1533. 
 to the different parish churches, a privilege which 
 formerly belonged to the members of the Sorbonne, 
 who had chosen those who had no other recommen- 
 dation than furious zeal and empty declamation. 57 
 
 These occurrences mortified the pride of the 
 clergy, and inspired the Reformers with courage. 
 Among the friends with whom Calvin had been 
 intimate was Nicolas Cop, the son of the king's 
 physician, 58 a young man of spirit, who, in the year 
 1533, was rector of the University of Paris. It 
 was part of the duty of the person who held this 
 office to deliver an oration annually, in the presence 
 of the professors and students, at the Feast of All 
 Saints in the beginning of November. Calvin 
 assisted his friend in preparing the address on this 
 occasion, and some things were introduced into it 
 expressive of the sentiments of both as to the cor- 
 ruptions of the Church. They might have been 
 borne or overlooked at another time, but the 
 divines, sore with their late defeat, and eager to 
 revenge themselves on the rector for the part he 
 had taken against them in the late prosecution, 
 complained of the speech as defamatory and savour- 
 ing of heresy, and obtained an order from the 
 Parliament to seize the rector and his suspected 
 adviser. Cop delivered himself to the officers of 
 justice, but being admonished on the way of the 
 danger to which he was exposed, made his escape 
 and retired into Switzerland. Going straight to 
 Calvin's lodgings, the officers searched his chamber 
 in his absence, and carried off his papers, in con- 
 
66 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 sequence of which several of his friends were brought 
 into perilous circumstances. But this storm was 
 1533. allayed by the influence of the Queen of Navarre, 
 who sent for Calvin to the palace and received him 
 honourably. 59 He judged it prudent however to 
 leave the capital for a time, and retired to Saintonge, 
 where he was not idle. At the desire of a friend 
 he drew up a paper containing short Christian 
 exhortations, which was given to some parish priests 
 to be read during divine service, with the view of 
 leading the people gradually to inquire after the 
 truth. 60 During his stay in that part of the country 
 he made converts of several persons, afterwards 
 eminent in the Reformed Church, among whom was 
 Augustin Marlorat, who was executed by the orders 
 of the Duke of Guise within a year after he had 
 appeared at the Conference of Poissy. From 
 Saintonge he went to Nerac to visit the celebrated 
 Faber, who had resided at that place since his 
 dismissal from Meaux. The venerable old man 
 listened to his conversation with deep interest, and 
 after his departure said to his friends : " Calvin will 
 be a distinguished instrument in restoring the king- 
 dom of God in France." 61 Faber survived this 
 interview several years. 62 His history affords a 
 striking example of the use which Providence makes 
 of persons partially enlightened for advancing its 
 important designs, which, humanly speaking, would 
 have been marred by those of greater intelligence, 
 acting conscientiously according to their light. His 
 mind seems to have been at an early period im- 
 pressed with the apj)roachmg revolution in religion, 
 as appears from his saying to Farel, one of his pupils 
 in the year 1516 : " William, the world must undergo 
 
calvin's benefices. 67 
 
 a change, and you will live to see it;" and yet at that chap. 
 time, while suffering persecution from the Sorbonne w-yW 
 for the freedom he used in the interpretation of Scrip- 1533. 
 ture, he was employed in strewing flowers on the 
 image of the Virgin, and no man was more devout 
 in hearing mass. Even during the time that he 
 was diffusing instruction in the diocese of Meaux 
 his mind was not extricated from the superstitious 
 notions in which he had been educated. But when 
 he was forced to leave France, his old pupil meeting 
 him at Strasburg, put him in mind of his former 
 prediction, and asked him if he did not think it was 
 now accomplished, to which he answered in the affir- 
 mative, and exhorted him to persevere in preaching 
 the gospel. 03 
 
 Notice has already been taken of the livings 
 which Calvin's father procured for him during his 
 minority. On the 5th of July 1529 he exchanged 
 his benefice as parish priest of St. Martin of Marte- 
 ville for that of Pont l'fiveque, the native place of 
 his father. On the 8th of April preceding he had 
 resigned the chaplainship of La Gesine to his brother 
 Anthony, but resumed it on the 26th February 
 1531. 64 Whatever might be the motives for these 
 exchanges, they were, however, made in his absence, 
 and under the direction of his father. Everything 
 to be found in the registers of Noyon, which looked 
 like a charge against him, has been sought out and 
 published. In 1526, on a complaint made against 
 him and one of his brothers at the instance of the 
 proctor, they were both declared contumacious, and 
 in the following year, on a new summons in the 
 same cause, the sentence was repealed. But the 
 process evidently referred to some difference which 
 
68 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, had arisen among the chaplains as to their right to 
 
 , ", certain perquisites ; and that the complaint, at 
 
 1533. least in so far as it referred to John Calvin, who at 
 both the terms specified was studying at Paris, 
 involved nothing relating to moral character, is 
 evident from this circumstance, that the Chapter 
 before which it was tried accepted, a few months 
 after, a presentation in his favour to be cure of 
 Marteville. 65 The Popish writers exclaim, though 
 with little consistency, against his non-residence 
 and negligence in performing the duty attached to 
 the situations which he held. These were indeed 
 great abuses, but they arose out of the preposterous 
 and unnatural custom of the times. If he had 
 remained at home, he might indeed have appeared 
 among the chaplains in the Cathedral of Noyon, 
 but what duty could he have performed as parish 
 priest of Marteville, or Pont l'fiveque ? He could 
 neither say mass, nor celebrate the sacraments, 
 which formed the principal employment of priests 
 at that time. He had merely the simple tonsure, 
 as it was called, and had not received any sacred 
 order, nor was he capable of it on account of his 
 youth. The only way in which he could discharge 
 the duties of the situation was by deputy, and it 
 belonged to his ordinary to see that this was not 
 neglected. But he had now reached the age of 
 twenty-five, when it was competent for him to be 
 ordained, and as he could not submit to the Popish 
 ordination, or take the oaths required on the occa- 
 sion, he resolved to denude himself of the livings 
 which he had hitherto held. 66 Accordingly, on the 
 4th of May 1534, he resigned his chaplainship in 
 favour of Anthony de la Marliere ; and his parish 
 
RESIGNS THEM ALL. 69 
 
 in favour of William du Bois, or according to chap. 
 
 • ii 
 
 another account, a relation of his own named v__L^ 
 
 Cairn. 07 1533. 
 
 Whether Calvin was present at Noyon during 
 these transactions does not appear from the docu- 
 ments ; but we know that he paid a visit to his 
 native city about this time, and that he was not 
 idle. His friends tell us that he preached some 
 sermons at Pont l'Eveque, which were highly 
 esteemed. His enemies say that he spent his time 
 in endeavouring to poison the minds of his relations 
 and acquaintances with his heretical doctrine. It 
 is certain that he made not a few converts to the 
 Reformed faith, including, besides those of his own 
 family, the two persons to whom he had resigned 
 his benefices, Henry Collemont, a canon of the 
 
 Cathedral, and de Normandie, civil lieutenant 
 
 for the King, and Mayor of Noyon, all of whom 
 either followed him on his leaving France, or joined 
 him at a later period. 6S 
 
 The facts which have been brought forward 
 comprehend everything concerning him to be found 
 in the records of his native city, after a diligent 
 search made by persons very far from being pre- 
 judiced in his favour ; a circumstance proper to be 
 recollected as bearing on certain calumnious charges 
 which were fabricated after his death, and will be 
 noticed in a subsequent part of this work. To 
 these may be added a few facts respecting his 
 relations taken from the same sources. His elder 
 brother Charles was parson of Roupy, in the vicinity 
 of Noyon. He is represented as a person of slender 
 intellect, and addicted to brawls, for which he was 
 more than once called to account by the ecclesiasti- 
 
70 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, cal court. In 1534, one of the Chapter was ap- 
 k^L^/ pointed to speak with him " as secretly as possible," 
 1534. to learn if he intended to defend the erroneous 
 proposition which he had advanced, and to advise 
 what should be done after his answer ; and at his 
 death, on the 31st of October 1537, he was denied 
 the rites of sepulture, and buried at night under the 
 four pillars of the gibbet, because he refused to 
 receive the sacraments on his deathbed. 69 His 
 younger brother, Anthony, who is allowed by the 
 annalists of Noyon to have been a person of superior 
 understanding and character to Charles, held a 
 chapel at Travercy, a village seven leagues distant 
 from the city of Noyon, and was the bosom friend 
 of the Reformer, to whom he attached himself during 
 life. 70 His two sisters were married ; the one re- 
 mained in her native place ; the other, whose name 
 was Mary, followed her brother to Geneva. 71 
 
 The state of matters in Paris encouraged Calvin 
 to revisit it in the course of the year 1534. Under 
 the patronage of the Queen of Navarre, Gerard 
 Ruffi, or Roussel, formerly mentioned, and two 
 Augustinians, Bertout and Courault, preached the 
 truth with great boldness to crowded assemblies, 
 and after being interdicted by the Sorbonne, con- 
 verted their sermons into lessons, which they de- 
 livered in private houses. But their adversaries 
 prevailed within a short time so far, that they were 
 thrown into confinement. Bertout was induced to 
 recant, and the other two were released by powerful 
 intercession. Courault went to Switzerland, and 
 was afterwards a minister of Geneva. 72 Roussel 
 retired to Beam, where he obtained a bishopric 
 through the influence of Queen Margaret, and con- 
 
LEAVES PARIS SERVETUS ORLEANS. 71 
 
 tinued to promote evangelical doctrine and reform, 
 so far as was compatible with his remaining 
 communion with the Church of Rome. Nothing 1534. 
 but the protection of the Court of Navarre could 
 have enabled him to retain his bishopric, as he was 
 regarded as a heretic by the French clergy. He 
 published a catechism or familiar exposition of the 
 creed, decalogue, and Lord's prayer, for the use of 
 his diocese, containing the leading doctrines held 
 by the Reformers. This work was censured in 1550, 
 and ordered to be inserted in the list of prohibited 
 books, by a decree of the Sorbonne, which extracted 
 twenty -two propositions from it as a specimen that 
 it abounded with opinions savouring of heresy, 
 plainly heretical, and pernicious to the whole of 
 Christianity. 73 
 
 This unfavourable change made it unsafe for 
 Calvin to remain in Paris. He did not, however, 
 leave it until he had accepted a challenge from the 
 noted heretic Michael Servetus, whose inauspicious 
 star crossed his path at this early period, as if 
 in presage of their future fatal conjunction. The 
 Spaniard had already begun to disseminate his 
 peculiar opinions concerning the Holy Trinity, and 
 having heard of Calvin's rising fame as a divine, 
 was induced by that self-confidence which charac- 
 terised him at every period of his life, to court 
 a meeting for the purpose of discussing his favourite 
 tenets. Calvin, at no small risk to his person from 
 the spies of the clergy who had heard of his being 
 in the capital, kept the appointed place and time, 
 but Servetus did not make his appearance. 74 
 
 From Paris Calvin went to Orleans. About 
 this time there came to France, chiefly from Bra- 
 
72 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 bant and Holland, certain individuals who professed 
 great zeal against idolatry, but were addicted to 
 1534. private opinions at variance with the common faith 
 of Christians in every age. Calvin was early im- 
 pressed with the hurtful tendency of this spirit, as 
 calculated to unsettle the minds of the friends of 
 truth, and afford a handle to the enemies of re- 
 form in the Church. It was one of the advantages 
 which he enjoyed above the early Reformers, that, 
 previously to his appearance as a public teacher, he 
 had the opportunity of observing both extremes on 
 the subjects of divine grace and Christian liberty 
 which embraced the leading points of controversy in 
 that age. This is one reason of that uniformity 
 of sentiment between his earliest and last writings 
 which has been often remarked. His first avowed 
 work on religion was not an attack on any part 
 of the Popish system, but a defence of a doctrine 
 which had been held by the Church in every age, 
 and was now attacked by some of those who had 
 left the communion of the Church of Rome. 75 At 
 the earnest request of some of his friends he at this 
 time drew up and published a refutation of the error 
 of those who maintained that the soul either perished 
 with the body at death, or slept till the resurrection. 
 This treatise discovers great maturity of thought ; 
 the Scripture argument for the separate existence 
 and activity of the soul is fully brought out and 
 stated with much perspicuity, animation, and force. 
 It was published at Orleans in the year 1534. 76 
 In an advertisement prefixed to a second edition 
 of the work, printed two years after, 77 he says with 
 becoming candour : " On reviewing this treatise I 
 found that certain expressions rather too keen and 
 
PSYCHOPANNYCHIA. 73 
 
 even harsh had escaped me in the heat of argument chap. 
 
 which may perhaps wound some persons of delicate ( **_, 
 
 feelings ; and knowing that some good men have 1534. 
 partially imbibed the doctrine here opposed, in 
 consequence of their minds not being at the time 
 sufficiently fortified by the knowledge of Scripture, 
 or their lending too easy an assent to plausible 
 statements, and not from any wilfulness or obs- 
 tinacy, it is not my wish to give them offence. 
 I would therefore take this opportunity of intimat- 
 ing to such persons that nothing here said is in- 
 tended to bring them into contempt." Speaking 
 of the persons whom he had chiefly in his eye in 
 the dispute he says : " Even against them I have 
 been moderate in testifying my displeasure, abs- 
 taining throughout from all abusive and insolent 
 language, and almost everywhere tempering my 
 style so that it should be fitted to teach rather than 
 to compel, yet so as that it may draw those who 
 will not be led. Certainly my wish as to all was to 
 bring them back to the path of truth rather than to 
 provoke them." Speaking of the disposition of the 
 age he says : "I know what power novelty has to 
 tickle the ears of men, but we ought to remember 
 that there is but one word of Life, that which pro- 
 ceeds from the mouth of the Lord. To this alone 
 we should open our ears so far as the doctrine of 
 salvation is concerned, and shut them to every 
 other. His word is not new, but was from the 
 beginning, and will remain. As those are in an 
 error who stigmatise as a novelty the word of God 
 when brought to light after it had long lain 
 neglected through slothfulness and perverse custom, 
 so they also err, on the other hand, who are like 
 
74 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 reeds shaken by the wind, nay, bend and turn with 
 every breath. Is this to learn Christ — to listen to 
 any doctrine which may be taught without per- 
 ceiving a foundation for it in the word of God ? 
 Though it should be truth, yet if you receive it 
 on the authority of man, would you not drink in 
 falsehood with the same ease ? Not so those who 
 * searched the Scriptures whether these things are 
 so.' An illustrious example ! if we would only 
 'mitate it ; but we receive the word of God with 
 such indescribable sloth, or rather contempt, that 
 we have no sooner made ourselves masters of a few 
 syllables than we are puffed up with an opinion of 
 our wisdom and strut as kings. Hence you will 
 find so^many persons making tragical exclamations 
 against the ignorance of all ages, while they are 
 themselves no less ignorant. They would seem, and 
 be called Christians, because they have taken a 
 smack of a few general topics ; and being ashamed 
 to appear ignorant, they give their opinion on every 
 point with all the confidence of an oracle. Hence 
 so many schisms, so many errors, so many scandals 
 to our faith by which the name and word of God 
 are blasphemed among the ungodly. In fine (which 
 crowns the evil), being obstinately addicted to what 
 they have once hastily blabbed out, they consult 
 the oracles of God to find support to their errors. 
 And then, good God, what do they not turn upside 
 down ! What do they not deprave, and distort, 
 and bend to their own opinions ! " 78 
 
 While Calvin was thus employed in checking 
 the progress of extravagant tenets in the provinces, 
 an ebullition of zeal in the capital had nearly proved 
 fatal to the Reformed cause in France. Though 
 
• THE PLACARD OF PARIS. 75 
 
 much reliance could not be placed on the resolu- 
 tions of a monarch, whose measures relating to 
 religion varied according to his political interests, 1534 
 and were influenced in no small degree by the heat 
 of his own passions, Francis was at this time 
 favourably disposed towards the Reformers. Ir- 
 ritated by the turbulence and inquisitorial pro- 
 ceedings of the Parisian divines, he had thrown 
 their leader Beda into prison, and banished one 
 of his most active associates ; and he listened to 
 Cardinal Bellay, Bishop of Paris, and his brother, 
 William de Langey, who urged him to allay the 
 dissensions in his kingdom by correcting the un- 
 deniable abuses of the Church, and to send for 
 Melanchthon, one of the most learned and moderate 
 of the Reformers, with the view of obtaining 
 his advice in a matter of such importance. The 
 friends of the Reformed doctrine in Paris were 
 ignorant of these plans. They were deprived 
 of their teachers, and of all opportunities of de- 
 claring those opinions which not only they, but 
 a great proportion of their countrymen, believed 
 to be founded on the word of God. In these cir- 
 cumstances, some of the more indiscreet Reformers, 
 contrary to the advice of their wiser brethren, 79 
 resolved on publishing a paper against the mass, 
 written in a very offensive style, which they had 
 got printed in the form of a placard at Neuchatel ; 
 and in one night, during the month of October, 
 1534, copies of it were affixed to all the public 
 places in Paris, and even to the door of the royal 
 chamber at Fontainebleau, where the king was then 
 residing. 80 The actors in this affair merited punish- 
 ment ; but the clergy and their friends at court, 
 
76 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 availed themselves of it to exasperate the mind of 
 the prince, by representing it as a concerted scheme 
 1534. of the whole party to offer an affront to his royal 
 person, and the religion of the kingdom ; and a 
 severe edict was issued, ordaining that all Lutherans 
 should be strictly sought out and brought to con- 
 dign punishment. The prisons were filled with 
 victims, and many excellent men who were uncon- 
 scious of the offence suffered a cruel death. A 
 solemn supplication, as it is called in the Popish 
 Church, was ordained throughout the whole king- 
 dom, to expiate the horrible blasphemies uttered 
 against the holy and august sacrament of the mass ; 
 which was celebrated at Paris in the month of 
 January. On that occasion, the king appeared in 
 the public procession, accompanied by his three 
 sons, and walked on foot with uncovered head, and 
 a flaming torch of white wax in his hand ; eight 
 persons were burned alive at different stages of the 
 procession, amidst the execrations of the inflamed 
 and fanatical mob, who were Avith difficulty pre- 
 vented from takinof the victims from the hands of 
 the executioners and tearing them in pieces ; and, 
 after dining in the hall of the Episcopal palace, 
 Francis, rising up in the midst of a great assemblage 
 of the clergy, nobility, and foreign ambassadors, 
 protested his inviolable attachment to the Church, 
 declaring that he would show no mercy to any 
 of that pestiferous sect which had perpetrated so 
 atrocious a crime, and that if a member of his own 
 body was infected with their doctrine he would 
 instantly tear it off. 81 These violent proceedings 
 struck terror into the minds of those who had 
 avowed their partiality to the new opinions ; many 
 
DESIRES RETIREMENT. 77 
 
 hastened to quit the kingdom, while a greater chap. 
 number consulted their safety by abandoning the — v — > 
 cause of reform, and conforming to the established 1534 - 
 worship. 82 
 
 Constitutionally addicted to contemplation rather 
 than action, Calvin had long cherished the wish of 
 securing a retreat in which he could prosecute his 
 studies free from interruption, and with greater 
 advantages than he possessed ; but his own con- 
 victions of duty, no less than the importunities of 
 his brethren, had hitherto prevented him from form- 
 ing any serious resolution of that kind. Now, 
 however, providence appeared to have removed the 
 conscientious obstacles which stood in the way of 
 his gratifying his inclinations ; and as he could not 
 in present circumstances be of any service to his 
 countrymen, he resolved to leave France and retire 
 to some place in Germany or Switzerland. He was 
 prevented from visiting his relations before taking 
 this step. The city of Noyon signalized its zeal 
 for the Church on the present occasion ; the clergy 
 and inhabitants anticipated the day for the observ- 
 ance of the supplication fixed by their bishop, who, 
 having laid some of the canons under excommuni- 
 cation for disobedience, was summoned before the 
 Parliament of Paris, and obliged to remove the 
 censure. 83 After such a demonstration of feeling 
 on the part of the inhabitants, it would have been 
 imprudent in Calvin to make his appearance at 
 Noyon. Wherefore, being joined by the friend 
 with whom he had lived at Saintonge, he left 
 Orleans, and traversed Lorraine, on the way to 
 Germany. In the neighbourhood of Metz they 
 were reduced to great straits ; one of their servants, 
 
78 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, probably aware of the circumstances in which they 
 v_JJ_, travelled, stole their money, and mounting the 
 1534. fleetest horse belonging to the party made his 
 escape. By borrowing what the other servant 
 happened to possess, which amounted only to ten 
 crowns, they, with difficulty, accomplished the re- 
 maining part of their journey, and arrived in safety 
 at Strasburg. 84 
 
 It may be proper to introduce here the reflections 
 which Calvin made on that portion of his life which 
 we have reviewed. ' My father destined me, when 
 yet a boy, to the study of theology, but perceiving 
 afterwards that the profession of law was the surer 
 way to wealth, he all at once altered his purpose 
 and I was recalled from my philosophical course to 
 the study of jurisprudence. In deference to parental 
 authority, I applied myself faithfully to this new 
 study ; but God, by the secret rein of His pro- 
 vidence gave a different direction to my course. 
 First, when I was obstinately addicted to the papal 
 superstition, and steeled with prejudice beyond my 
 years, so as to resist all attempts to draw me from 
 the miry pit, it pleased Him, by a sudden conver- 
 sion, to subdue my mind to docility. Being thus 
 imbued with some relish for true piety, I became 
 so inflamed with a desire to make some proficiency 
 in divine knowledge, that other studies, though not 
 altogether laid aside, were prosecuted with coldness; 
 and before a year had elapsed all the friends of 
 true doctrine had sought to me, though as yet but 
 a novice and tiro, for instruction. Naturally, some- 
 what clownish, and always fond of ease and the 
 shade, I courted retirement, but instead of obtain- 
 ing it, my retreat resembled a public school. In 
 
STRASBURG — BASLE. 79 
 
 short, while my sole desire was to enjoy an inglori- chap. 
 ous ease, God so surrounded me by various windings, ^*!_, 
 that I could find it nowhere, and in spite of myself, 1534. 
 I was drawn into the light. On that account I 
 resolved to leave my native country, and went to 
 Germany in the hope of finding in some obscure 
 corner, that retirement which I had long sought in 
 vain.' 85 
 
 After remaining for a short time in Strasburg, 
 where he was introduced to that distinguished 
 ornament of the Reformation, Wolfgang Fabricius 
 Capito, Calvin removed to Basle as the place most 
 suited for study. " You will find many conveniences 
 here," says the excellent (Ecolampadius, when 
 inviting a friend to be professor in their university. 
 " Healthful air, a pleasant situation, a people, since 
 they embraced Christ, more peaceable and simple 
 in their manners ; ready access to printers ; the 
 celebrity of the place and your labours will, I have 
 no doubt, attract a crowd of noble youths, from 
 whom you may derive no small profit. Basle has 
 always been a favourite city with learned men. 
 Let it not distress you that some have left us ; 
 within a short time, if I am not mistaken, their 
 place will be abundantly supplied. We can want 
 them. Nobody is forced to go away, but they 
 choose to live elsewhere, being displeased that Christ 
 reigns amongst us. Erasmus is indeed gone, to 
 please the princes to whom he is under obligations ; 
 but it is my opinion that he will soon return. We 
 do not, however, mind them, as we are about to erect 
 a new academy, and on a better foundation." 86 
 Before Calvin's arrival, Basle had been deprived of 
 its excellent reformer and pastor ; but he was 
 
80 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 succeeded by Phrygio ; while the University was 
 provided with Sebastian Munster and Simon 
 1535. Grynasus, who obtained the names of the German 
 Ezra and Strabo, for their skill in the languages 
 which they taught. 87 With the former, Calvin 
 contracted an intimate friendship, and under the 
 latter he prosecuted the study of Hebrew, the first 
 elements of which he had acquired before leaving 
 France. S8 
 
 In the course of this year he contributed a pre- 
 face and a recommendation to the French translation 
 of the Bible, by his friend Olivetan. This work 
 owed its appearance to the zeal and liberality of the 
 Vaudois of Piedmont. In the year 1531 William 
 Farel was deputed by the Presbytery of Granson 
 in the Pays-de-Vaud, to visit that interesting people. 
 Perceiving their want of public instruction and the 
 Scriptures, he despatched to them, on his return, 
 four teachers, including Olivetan, 89 who, besides 
 preaching, commenced a system of tuition for the 
 youth. Farel undertook the task of providing the 
 Scriptures for them, and having revised the trans- 
 lation of Faber, got it, or a part of it, printed in the 
 course of the same year in which he had visited the 
 valleys. 90 But as its language was rude, and in 
 many places unintelligible, it was agreed at a synod 
 held at Angrogne in 1532, that a new version made 
 from the original Hebrew and Greek should be 
 procured. 91 As this proposal originated with 
 Olivetan, the execution was devolved upon him. 
 In the "Apology of the Translator," prefixed to the 
 Bible, addressing his "faithful brethren in Christ, 
 Hilerme Cusemeth, Cephas Chlorotes, and Antoine 
 Almeutes," and having adverted to the defects in 
 
OLIVETAN S BIBLE. 8 
 
 point of Scriptural knowledge which they had chap. 
 
 witnessed in the churches of the Valleys three years , ' 
 
 before, he adds, " perceiving also that the copies of 1535. 
 the Old and New Testament, which they had long 
 possessed, were in manuscript, and therefore both 
 inconvenient and confined to a few persons, we 
 advised the brethren to procure a pure translation 
 into French from the Hebrew and Greek." A pre- 
 fixed address to "The Church of Christ" is dated 
 " From the Alps, this 7th of February 1535," where 
 the translation appears to have been executed ; and 
 he informs us it was finished in the course of one 
 year. Being shut out, he says, from the coun- 
 sel of living friends, he betook himself to those 
 dumb advisers, books ; and besides the originals, 
 availed himself of all the helps to which he could 
 obtain access, including the ancient versions, and 
 those which had recently been made in Italian and 
 German. He speaks with great modesty of the 
 result of his labours ; and the addresses at the com- 
 mencement of the work testify a warm heart and 
 lively imagination, allied with much simplicity and 
 fervent piety. 9:2 Though this translation cannot 
 stand the ordeal of modern criticism, and bears 
 evident marks of the author's imperfect knowledge 
 of the original languages, and of the haste with 
 which it was composed, it was yet a most meritorious 
 production, was of unspeakable use at the time, and 
 formed the basis of all the French versions, Castellio's 
 excepted, which proceeded from the Protestant press 
 for two centuries. It subsequently underwent 
 repeated revision by Calvin, with the view of 
 correcting the faults which had escaped the trans- 
 lators, and rendering the style more polished and 
 
 F 
 
82 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 intelligible. 93 Father Simon, after some severe 
 remarks in his usual style on Olivetan's qualifica- 
 1535. tions, allows that " his plan is commendable, and at 
 the same time a clear proof of his judgment ;" and 
 speaking of the revision by Cornelius Bertram, who 
 was a good Oriental scholar, he adds, "there is 
 much more judgment displayed in the translations 
 of Olivetan and Calvin, though they had but a very 
 slender acquaintance with the Hebrew tongue." 94 
 
 Both Popish and Protestant writers have ascribed 
 a share in the original execution of this work to 
 Calvin. 95 But there is no reason to think that he 
 contributed anything to it except what is to be found 
 in the preliminary matter. In one of his contribu- 
 tions, which runs in the form of a privilege, 96 after 
 vindicating the right of the Christian people to the 
 use of the Word of God in their native tongue, he 
 adds, " I wish to say little of the translator, lest it 
 should be set down to relationship, and the friend- 
 ship which has long subsisted between us. This, 
 however, I will say (on my own credit, and without 
 the fear of contradiction), that he is a person 
 destitute neither of talents nor learning, and so far 
 as industry, application, and care are concerned, is 
 entitled to the greatest confidence in that species of 
 interpretation which he has undertaken. Notwith- 
 standing this, I doubt not there are some things in 
 the work which will not please every person, con- 
 sidering the variety of men's judgments, and the 
 oversights which an author is liable to commit in a 
 large work. But I would exhort the readers if they 
 meet with anything of this kind, instead of abusing 
 and traducing a man who deserves well of sacred 
 literature, rather to admonish him mildly of his 
 
CALVIN S PREFACE. 83 
 
 faults. Such candour becomes Christianity and chap. 
 liberal studies, and it will be well received by my v__^ 
 friend Robert, whose modesty excels the many other 1535. 
 gifts with which he is endowed ; if indeed that can 
 be called modesty, and not rather immoderate bash- 
 fulness, which would have hindered him from 
 publishing this sacred work, had it not been for the 
 importunity of those pious and intrepid witnesses 
 for the truth, Cusemeth and Chlorotes. If there 
 are any who will not be restrained from abusive 
 language, I would just remind them that they have 
 to do with one whom they may attack with im- 
 punity, so far as relates to the retaliation of 
 petulant censures." 97 
 
 Calvin's preface to the New Testament is an 
 elaborate and well-written oration on the theme, 
 "Christ the end of the law" — in which, after a 
 rapid but perspicuous and comprehensive view of 
 the series of Divine Revelations, he shows that the 
 knowledge of Christ communicated by the Gospel 
 contains everything which is requisite to restore 
 man to the favour of his Maker, to renovate and 
 purify his soul, to fortify it under tribulation and 
 persecution, and to animate it in the prospect of 
 death. 98 Having mentioned the fall and subsequent 
 depravity of mankind, he gives the following 
 account of the Divine conduct to the heathen world : 
 — " When ages fruitful in vice had provoked the 
 Divine ire to the utmost, God who is not only 
 inclined to mercy and paternal forbearance, but is 
 mercy and forbearance itself, being unwilling not to 
 show love to that which was so unworthy of being 
 loved, did not suffer the human race to perish 
 utterly, and be swallowed up by merited destruc- 
 
84 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 tion ; He prolonged the time and means of repent- 
 ance, if haply they might in some way come to 
 1535. themselves ; and though He apparently concealed 
 His indignation, as if winking at their conduct, and 
 left them to themselves without any express voice, 
 or law, or rule, to convince them of guilt ; yet 
 He never hid himself from them so far as not to 
 present to their senses objects which admonished 
 them of their duty, and led them as if by the 
 hand to feel after Him ; that so they might 
 recognise Him according to their opportunities of 
 knowledge, and, recognising, yield to Him that 
 homage and worship which is His due. Whither 
 could any of them turn without hearing vocal 
 testimonies to the existence and glory of the great 
 architect in the admirable mechanism of the uni- 
 verse, proclaiming all around with loud and swell- 
 ing voice the majesty of the One Supreme, and 
 without beholding everywhere the most intelligible 
 marks of His glorious and eternal power, goodness 
 and wisdom, impressed and engraven on all His 
 works above and below ? There were as many 
 heralds of His boundless glory, as there were beings 
 which He had made, and even those creatures 
 which were dumb had in this respect a tongue 
 for man. The birds in their warblings sung of 
 God, and the lowing steers more loudly told of 
 Him, while the heavenly bodies moved on in silent 
 adoration ; the mountains resounded His praise, and 
 fountain and Hood pointed to Him with then glance, 
 and every herb and flower seemed to woo man to 
 his Maker." After describing the appearance of 
 Christ, as giving truth and substance to what had 
 been foretold, and shadowed forth by the law of 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 85 
 
 Moses, he goes on to say : " Of all this we have chap. 
 an authentic record in this book, called the New ^^L, 
 Testament. Here Christ appears the heir to His 1535. 
 Father's inheritance ; here He declares His will as 
 to those who are ajDpointed hens, and who shall 
 in due time enter into full possession. To this 
 inheritance we are all called without respect of 
 persons, male, female ; high, low ; masters, ser- 
 vants ; teachers, taught ; learned, unlearned ; Jews, 
 Greeks, French, Romans ; none is excluded from it 
 who receives and embraces Christ as offered by the 
 Father for the salvation of all. Come, then, with 
 me, Christian men and women ; let us not permit 
 the concealment or corruption of this Testament 
 which is ours by the most valid title, and without 
 which all hope of the Kingdom of Heaven is vain, 
 and all expectation of the good things promised by 
 Christ, and of the incomparable blessedness be- 
 queathed to us by Him, will end in disappointment 
 and confusion. Deprived of this light, how shall we 
 be able to discern between good and evil, what God 
 commands and what He forbids, between light and 
 darkness, what is from heaven and what is of man ? 
 The Gospel is the only way to life and salvation, 
 the only basis of confidence in the promises of God. 
 The learning and understanding of the Gospel pro- 
 duces a living faith, a firm hope, sincere love to 
 God, and fervent love to our neighbour. What 
 then should withdraw or alienate us from the 
 Gospel ? Should reproaches, curses, disgrace, the 
 loss of goods and honours ? What though we 
 should be forced to leave our native country — the 
 earth is the Lord's : what though we should be 
 shut out from every harbour, and banished from 
 
86 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, the earth itself, — will that exclude us from the 
 
 J^_, Kingdom of God?" 99 
 1535. But Calvin was at this time engaged on a work 
 
 of a higher order, which at' once established his 
 reputation as a divine, and continues to sustain it 
 to the present day. He had been employing his 
 leisure hours in drawing up a brief view of Christian 
 doctrine, intended immediately for the instruction 
 of such of his countrymen as had acquired a relish 
 for the truth, when he was induced by circum- 
 stances to remodel and enlarge his plan. The 
 Protestant princes of Germany were highly dis- 
 pleased at the cruel manner in which the friends 
 of the Reformation in France were treated, and 
 as Francis was anxious to secure their aid against 
 his rival, Charles v., he instructed his ambassador, 
 De Langey, to say that the proceedings complained 
 of were not directed against those of the same faith 
 as the princes, but against certain Anabaptists who 
 pretended to be led by a private spirit instead of 
 the Word of God, and were enemies to all magis- 
 tracy. Calvin felt an irresistible desire to wipe off 
 this foul slander, and with that view composed his 
 " Institution of the Christian Religion "— a work at 
 once didactic and apologetical. It was published at 
 Basle ; [and under the fictitious name of Alcuinus, 
 which was assumed more from modesty and the diffi- 
 dence of a young author, than from either affecta- 
 tion or the apprehension of danger.] The following 
 is his own account of the origin and design of the 
 work : " While I lay concealed in Basle, the burn- 
 ing of so many pious men in France gave great 
 offence throughout Germany, and to allay this feel- 
 ing certain false and wicked libels were spread, 
 
ORIGIN OF THE INSTITUTES. 87 
 
 bearing that those who had met with such cruel chap. 
 treatment were Anabaptists and turbulent men, w^w 
 who by their frantic notions sought to overturn 1535. 
 both religious and civil polity. Perceiving that 
 these slanders originated in the artifices of the 
 Court, and were calculated not only to bury the 
 blood of the innocent and holy martyrs under a 
 load of infamy, but also to give a license to commit 
 similar atrocities, without check, for the future, I 
 could not keep silence nor acquit myself from the 
 charge of treachery unless I did all in my power 
 to put a stop to that course of fraud and violence. 
 This was the reason of my publishing the Institu- 
 tion ; first, to clear from injurious reproaches the 
 memory of my brethren, whose death was precious 
 in the sight of the Lord, and then to secure for 
 those poor people who are in danger of the same 
 punishments, some share at least of the sympathy 
 and commiseration of foreigners. What I then pub- 
 lished was not the large work which is now known 
 by the same name, but a small manual ; nor did I 
 court fame by it, as is evident from my quitting 
 the place soon after its appearance, and the circum- 
 stance that no one then knew that I was the author. 
 This I also concealed elsewhere, and it was my wish 
 to have kept the secret." 100 
 
 Reserving to a future stage a more particular 
 account of this work, which he afterwards so greatly 
 enlarged, I confine myself at present to the Pre- 
 face, which dedicated it to his sovereign, Francis I. 
 It does not appear, so far as I have seen, that he 
 ever attempted any improvement on this dedication, 
 which, by the common consent of learned men, has 
 been pronounced in point of spirit and style one of 
 
88 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 the three unrivalled compositions of that kind in 
 modern times. 101 He bespeaks the favour of the 
 1535. prince, not in a strain of servile adulation, but with 
 a freedom and boldness becoming a servant of Jesus 
 Christ, a defender of the truth, and an advocate of 
 oppressed innocence. " I am not afraid to confess," 
 says he, "that I present you with a summary of that 
 doctrine, which, if the vociferations of its enemies 
 are to be believed, ought to be punished with im- 
 prisonment, banishment, confiscation, and the stake, 
 and to be exterminated by sea and land. I know 
 well with what atrocious informations they fill your 
 ears, to make our cause odious to you ; but it 
 becomes you in your clemency to consider, that if 
 it is sufficient to accuse, there can be no innocency 
 either in words or actions. That we do not make 
 this complaint without reason, you yourself, most 
 noble King, can witness, before whom we are daily 
 traduced and calumniated, as persons who wish to 
 wrest the sceptre from the hands of kings, to 
 overthrow all tribunals and seats of justice, sub- 
 vert all order and government, disturb the public 
 peace, abolish all laws, dissipate every kind of 
 heritage and property, in fine, turn all things 
 upside down. And yet you hear but a small 
 part of the slanders ; things still more horrid are 
 spread among the vulgar, which, if true, would 
 justly expose the abettors of the doctrine to a 
 thousand fires and racks. What wonder that the 
 public indignation is kindled against us when such 
 atrocious charges are believed ? Hence it is that 
 all ranks of men conspire in condemning us and our 
 doctrine ; and judges, hurried away by the common 
 feeling, carry the prejudices which they have 
 
DEDICATION TO FRANCIS. 89 
 
 imbibed at home along with them to the bench, 
 and think they have discharged their duty if they 
 order none to punishment except those who are ,1535. 
 convicted of holding this doctrine, either by their 
 own confession or by sufficient evidence. But con- 
 convicted of what, I ask ? Of holding this con- 
 demned doctrine, it is said. But upon what ground 
 is it condemned % Here we make our stand ; we 
 do not deny the doctrine, but we maintain its truth. 
 Here, however, we are precluded from uttering 
 a word. Wherefore, invincible monarch, what I 
 ask of you, and not without good reason, is, that 
 you will take under your own cognisance the whole 
 cause which hitherto has been treated with the 
 turbulent heat of passion rather than the grave and 
 dispassionate spirit of legal investigation." In ask- 
 ing this, he says he did not aim at his own excul- 
 pation, with the view of being permitted to return 
 in safety to France ; for though he cherished a 
 becoming affection for his native country, yet in its 
 present state he could bear absence from it without 
 great pain. What he pleaded was the common 
 cause of the godly, yea, the cause of Jesus Christ, 
 which lay prostrate and bleeding in that kingdom, 
 through the violence, and at the instigation, of 
 certain Pharisaical men, rather than by the royal 
 inclination ; while none dared to stand up in its 
 defence against the fury of its adversaries. If any 
 seemed to favour the truth they were contented to 
 plead for indulgence to error and the imprudence 
 of unlearned men; "in this manner these modest 
 persons are pleased to speak, calling that error 
 which they know to be the undoubted truth of 
 God, and those unlearned men to whom they see 
 
90 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 that Christ has deigned to impart the mysteries of 
 his heavenly wisdom." 
 1535. He reminds the king that he owed them pro- 
 
 tection, and that it was a matter of supreme im- 
 portance that the glory and truth of God should be 
 maintained, and the Kingdom of Christ preserved. 
 " The matter is worthy of your royal ears, worthy 
 of your cognisance, worthy of your tribunal. What 
 constitutes one a true king is the acknowledgment 
 that in the administration of his kingdom he is the 
 minister of God. He is not a ruler but a robber 
 who does not seek by his reign to advance the 
 divine glory ; and he deceives himself in thinking 
 that his government will be long prosperous if he 
 does not rule by the sceptre of God, that is, His 
 Holy Word ; for the heavenly oracle cannot fail, 
 ' Where there is no vision, the people perish.' " 
 
 In answer to the charge of their adversaries, that 
 they corrupted the Scriptures, he requests his 
 Majesty to judge for himself; and to induce him 
 to read the following confession of their faith, and 
 aid him in the inquiry, he brings the whole dispute 
 to a single point. " What can be more agreeable to 
 the analogy of faith, than to divest ourselves of all 
 goodness, that we may invest God with it, — to 
 acknowledge ourselves the slaves of sin, that we 
 may give Him the honour of our liberation, — to 
 confess ourselves blind and lame and weak, that 
 we may be illuminated, guided, and sustained by 
 His grace, — to throw away all matter of gloriation 
 in ourselves, that He alone may appear glorious 
 and we may be glorified in Him ? To this our 
 adversaries oppose, I know not what blind light of 
 nature and free will, pretended preparations, works 
 
DEDICATION. 91 
 
 meritorious of eternal life, and even supereroga- chap. 
 tory ; the language of all which is that they will Vj ' y 
 not allow God the praise and glory of all that is 1535. 
 good, virtuous, holy, and wise. Again, what can 
 be more accordant to the faith than to trust in God 
 as a propitious Father, when He hath given Christ 
 to be a brother and propitiation, — confidently to 
 expect all that is good from Him, who in His un- 
 speakable love hath not spared His own Son, but 
 delivered him up for us, — and to rest in the sure 
 hope of eternal life, when it hath pleased the Father 
 that all its treasures should be securely laid up in 
 Him ? This certainty and confidence, our adver- 
 saries charge with arrogance and presumption ; but 
 without the smallest reason, seeing we presume 
 nothing on ourselves, but all on God, and strip 
 ourselves of every matter of boasting, that we may 
 glory only in the Lord. Let our cause be rigidly 
 examined, great prince, and we are willing to be ac- 
 counted the worst of men, if you do not clearly find 
 that we suffer for no other reason than this, that we 
 hope in the living God, and believe that it is eternal 
 life to know Him and Jesus Christ whom He hath 
 sent. For this hope's sake some of us are thrown 
 into chains, others scourged and exposed as spec- 
 tacles to the people ; others banished or forced into 
 flight ; others cruelly tortured ; while all of us are 
 reduced to poverty, excommunicated, calumniated, 
 and treated with every species of indignity. Turn 
 now to our adversaries (the priests, I mean, by 
 whose instigation all this hatred has been excited 
 against us), and consider to what object all their 
 endeavours are pointed. It is of small moment to 
 them that they and others should be ignorant of, 
 
92 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 neglect and despise the true religion as delivered in 
 the Scriptures, which should be well known to all ; 
 1535. they care little Avhat men think about God and 
 Christ, if they submit to the judgment of the 
 Church with an implicit faith as they call it ; nor 
 does it distress them much that God is dishonoured 
 by open blasphemy, provided no one lift a finger 
 against the primacy of the apostolical See and the 
 authority of holy mother Church. Why then do 
 they fight with such fierceness for the mass, pur- 
 gatory, pilgrimages, as to affirm that without the 
 most explicit faith of these and such like trifles, 
 there can be no saving piety, although the Word 
 of God is silent about them ? Why, but that their 
 god is their belly, and the kitchen their religion, 
 without which they think they would cease to be 
 Christians and even men. Some of them spend 
 their lives in splendour and luxury, while others 
 confine themselves to a spare diet ; but they all look 
 to the same quarter for their subsistence, which 
 would fail them if these fables were discredited, 
 just as a pot cools and freezes when the fuel is 
 withdrawn from under it." 
 
 He next states and answers at some length the 
 most common objections brought against the Reform- 
 ers by their adversaries ; such as that their doctrine 
 was new ; that it was not confirmed by miracles ; 
 that it contradicted the opinions of the fathers ; 
 that they rejected common and laudable customs ; 
 that either they must acknowledge that the Church 
 had perished, or that they were setting themselves 
 in opposition to the Church ; and that the doctrine 
 which they taught had given rise to tumults and 
 contention. Having stated in an answer to this 
 
DEDICATION. 93 
 
 last objection that their doctrine was only the chap. 
 
 innocent occasion of these evils, which sprung from , ' , 
 
 the enmity of the human heart to the truth of God, 1535. 
 and that similar evils arose on the first promulgation 
 of Christianity, he asks, " What then were the 
 Apostles to do in these circumstances, — were they 
 to dissemble for a time, or to decline preaching the 
 Gospel, or to abandon it as the seed-plot of so much 
 strife, the cause of so many dangers, the occasion of 
 such great scandals ? In this strait they were 
 relieved by reflecting that Christ was a stone of 
 stumbling and a rock of offence, set for the fall and 
 rising again of many, and for a sign to be spoken 
 against ; and, armed with this assurance they 
 advanced boldly, in the midst of tumults and 
 offences and dangers." 
 
 He concludes by beseeching the king not to 
 listen to the base calumnies of their enemies, who 
 insinuated that they sought only an opportunity 
 for moving sedition, or impunity in the practice of 
 vice ; protesting the innocence of the accused party, 
 among whom a factious word had never been heard, 
 and whose conduct had been uniformly peaceable 
 and obedient to the laws of their sovereign, for 
 whose prosperity they continued to pray in their 
 exile. But if any were to be found, who, under the 
 mask of the gospel, conducted themselves in a dif- 
 ferent manner, there were laws and punishments by 
 which they could be restrained ; and that without 
 slandering the gospel of God on account of their 
 wickedness. He again entreats a calm and favour- 
 able hearing : " But if your ears should be so pre- 
 occupied by the whispers of evil-minded persons, 
 that no room is left for the accused to defend them- 
 
94 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, selves ; if their importunate fury shall, through 
 ^^\y your connivance, continue to rage by imprisonments, 
 1536. stripes, tortures, confiscations, and burnings, then 
 we will be reduced to the greatest extremity, as 
 sheep doomed to the slaughter, but still we will 
 possess our souls in patience, and wait the strong 
 hand of the Lord, which, without fail, shall show 
 itself in due time, in rescuing the poor from afflic- 
 tion, and in taking vengeance on the proud who 
 now insult over them in so great security." 
 
 There is no reason to think that Francis was 
 ever allowed to see this eloquent appeal to his 
 humanity and justice ; it must, however, have pro- 
 duced a powerful impression, in favour of the per- 
 secuted, on the minds of those who read it. 
 
 Feeling that he had discharged his duty to his 
 native country by the publication of this work, 
 Calvin thought he might gratify the desire which 
 he felt to visit Italy. He was the more induced by 
 the report which had reached him of the piety of 
 the Duchess of Ferrara, the accomplished daughter 
 of Louis xii. of France, who hospitably received 
 such of her countrymen as had fled from persecu- 
 tion. At the court of Ferrara, Calvin appeared 
 under the assumed name of Charles Hippeville, and 
 by his religious instructions confirmed the mind of 
 the Duchess, who continued to cherish a high 
 respect for him, of which she gave a distinguished 
 proof after his death. 102 She might have endeav- 
 oured to retain him with her ; but, soon after his 
 arrival, the Duke entered into a treaty with the 
 Pope and Emperor, by one of the secret articles of 
 which he bound himself to remove all natives of 
 France from his court. 103 In consequence of this 
 
AOSTA. 95 
 
 Calvin resolved to leave Italy, whose territories, lie chap. 
 used to say, he entered only to quit them. It v_^^/ 
 would appear that, on his return, he spent some 1536 - 
 time in Piedmont, most probably in visiting the 
 Waldensian churches, among whom his friend 
 Olivetan continued to labour. At least this is 
 the only period of his life with which I can 
 connect a visit, which is commemorated by a 
 monumental inscription still to be seen in Aosta. 104 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTEE II. 
 
 1 D'Argentre, torn. i. part ii. pp. 308-318. One article of his retrac- 
 tation runs thus : " I confess having uttered the eighth proposition, viz., 
 that, since Pope Sylvester, the Church of Eome was no longer the church 
 of Christ, but of Caesar and money. And these words I used in repeat- 
 ing the opinions of Wickliffe, as of a great doctor. I did ill in preaching 
 this proposition to the people ; and I ought not to have published, 
 alleged, or repeated of any heresiarch, nor to have called him a great 
 doctor." 
 
 2 D'Argentre, torn. i. part ii. p. 350. 
 
 3 In 1518, the Theological Faculty of Paris qualified two propositions 
 respecting Indulgences, and declared, " that it is not certain or infallible 
 that all souls, indifferently, who are in purgatory, are, upon putting for 
 each two sous Tournois into the Chest of the Crusade, immediately and 
 unquestionably admitted to Paradise ; but that this must be referred to 
 God, who applies the treasure of the church, according to His pleasure, 
 to the said souls." (D'Argentre, Collect, de Nov. Err. torn. i. part ii. pp. 
 355, 356 ; Gerdes, torn. i. Doc. no. x. Comp. Dupin, Cent. xvi. 6, ii. 
 chap. 33, p. 223. 
 
 4 Seckendorf., lib. i. sect. xlvi. § 113. 
 
 5 D'Argentre, torn. i. part ii. pp. 345-374. 
 
 6 D'Argentre, torn. ii. part xiii. col. 2. 
 
 7 D'Argentre, torn. ii. part i. p. 233. 
 
 8 Hist, sui Temp., ad an. 1559. 
 
 9 D'Argentre, torn. ii. pp. 143-159. 
 
 10 " Quincuplex Psalterium : Gallicum, Romanum, Hcbraicum, Vetus, 
 Conciliatum. Parisiis ex officina Henrici Stephani, 1509." It was re- 
 
96 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP. Panted in 1513 and 1515. (Le Long, edit. Masch. vol. ii. pp. 12-14.) 
 
 II. The reader must not suppose that this psalter is in various languages ; it 
 
 v — -y—- ^ merely contains different versions in Latin. The psalter was published 
 
 in French with the following title : Ici comence le Psaultier de David, 
 
 translate en Franchois. Paris, 1513, black letter, 12mo. 
 
 The Quincuplex Psalterium is a beautifully printed book of 290 folios, 
 in quarto. The Gallicum, Bomanum, et Hebraicum, are printed in 
 separate columns, with annotations below each psalm, arranged under 
 the several heads of Titulus, Fxpositio continua, Concordia, and Adverte. 
 At the end are the two other translations called Vetus and Conciliation, 
 with an Argumentum prefixed to each. 
 
 In the annotations many critical remarks are made, both on the Greek 
 and Hebrew. The versions of Symmachus and Aquila are produced, as 
 well as the Septuagint. In Hebrew criticism, besides Jerome, Paulus 
 Hebraaus (Burgensis) is often referred to with approbation, and some- 
 times Eeuchlin. By the time he came to the remarks on the Vetus and 
 Conciliatum, Faber had made himself acquainted with Hebrew ; and 
 accordingly, in the Argumenta, we have criticisms of his own on the 
 original, with references to various readings in Hebrew manuscripts (see 
 folios 239 b, 260 a, 262 a, 272 b, 282 a.) It is curious that the Hebrew 
 characters which are to be found used in this part of the work are much 
 superior to the Greek. 
 
 11 DArgentre, torn. ii. parts x. xi. 
 
 12 Fabri Comment, in Rom., cap. ix. xi., in 1 Cor. xv. 10, et in Gal. vi., 
 et in Matt. xxvi. Beda, Censur. in Fabri comment, locc. citatt. Simon, 
 Hist. Crit. des Commentateurs du N. Testament, pp. 488-503. The 
 Spanish divines ordered whole pages to be expunged from his Com- 
 mentary on the Four Gospels, and prohibited entirely his Commentary 
 on John " as incapable of correction." Index Lib. Prohib., pp. 690-696 ; 
 Madrid, 1667. 
 
 13 Simon, Lett. Choisies, torn. iv. p. 102. 
 
 14 " Plurimi etiam eruditi, poetae et rhetores novitati studebant, cui 
 parti faverent ancipites." (DArgentre, torn. ii. part iv. col. 2.) 
 
 15 DArgentre, torn. i. p. vi. col. 2, torn. ii. p. 101. 
 
 16 Budseus, De Asse et ejus partibus, lib. v. p. 593. 
 
 17 Gerdes, Hist. Bef., ii. Doc. num. vii. 
 
 18 DArgentre, torn. ii. part i. pp. 138-9. 
 
 19 Carolus Molinseus, De Monarchia Francice, num. 155 ; Gerdes, 
 Hist. Bef., torn. i. p. 20. 
 
 20 Epist. Zuinglii et (Ecolampadii, f. 2. Sculteti, Annates Fvang., 
 decad. ii. 204-316. Buchat, Hist. Feci, de Suisse, torn. iii. pp. 252-270. 
 
 21 Beza, Hist. Feci., torn. i. pp. 35, 36. 
 
 22 DArgentre, torn. ii. pp. 2-5. 
 
 23 For testimonies of the zeal of this princess for the circulation and 
 use of the Scriptures, see Florimond de Bemond, Histoire de VHeresie, p. 
 849. Bayle, Diet, Art. Navarre. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 24 Robertson's Charles V., vol. ii. p. 252. Beza, Hist. Eccl., torn. i. 
 pp. 5, 6. 
 
 25 D'Argentre, torn. i. part ii. p. 375. 
 
 29 D'Argentre, torn. i. part ii. pp. 375-379. 
 
 27 The bishop was a nephew of Cardinal Bricjonnet, Archbishop of 
 Narbonne, and a cousin of Francis Briconnet, grand treasurer. 
 (Maittaire, Vit. Stepk, p. 8.) 
 
 28 The Sorbonne condemned forty-eight propositions contained in this 
 work, as derogatory to good works, satisfaction for sin, the worship of 
 saints, holidays, ecclesiastical decrees, etc., ordering it to be committed 
 to the flames, and its authors to be forced to abjure it. (D'Argentre, 
 torn. ii. pp. 35-40.) 
 
 29 Mesurier was unable to escape the suspicion of those to whom he 
 had returned. On the 28th of November 1544, he was accused of 
 certain things which he had uttered in a sermon preached before the 
 people in French, and satisfied the Faculty, partly by denying the 
 charge, and partly by explaining his words in a sound sense. And on 
 the 15th of October 1550, the Faculty disapproved of his book entitled 
 " Instruction et doctrine a se bien confesser et prier Dieu." (D'Argentre, 
 torn. i. Ind. p. xvii. col. 2 ; torn. ii. part i. p. 138.) 
 
 30 From a letter of Erasmus, dated September 4th, 1524, it appears 
 that Farel was then preaching in Burgundy. (Gerdes, iv. 30.) 
 
 31 Among these was John le Compte, a countryman and scholar of 
 Faber, who afterwards became the first reformed minister of Granson 
 in Switzerland. (Ruchat, Hist. Eccl. de Suisse, iv. 225-9.) 
 
 32 Launoi, Hist. Gymnas. Nav., Opera, torn. iv. part ii. p. 621. 
 D'Argentre, torn. iii. part ii. p. 9. Beza, Hist. Eccles., torn. i. p. 5. 
 Varillas, Hist. Hceres., lib. v. p. 373. 
 
 33 Beza, Icones, sig. z. j. 
 
 34 D'Argentre, torn. ii. pp. 8-17. 
 
 35 Farelli Epist. ad Seipper. Kappii Spicileg. ed. Hist. Itef., part ii. 
 p. 603. Gerdes, iv. 51. 
 
 36 D'Argentre, torn. ii. part i. pp. 21-30. Among the articles of charge 
 against him are the following : — " If the faithful give all worship to God 
 alone, they do well, and the Virgin Mary and other saints will not take 
 it ill." " The Scripture is better understood now than it was in former 
 times." " When speaking of the Son of God, Caroli often called Him 
 the Christ, instead of saying Jesus Christ." " It is better to give six 
 blancs to a poor man, than to give them to a priest to say mass." 
 " Women may preach at home to their sons and daughters, and men to 
 their wives ; and the common people may have the Gospel and the Epistles 
 of Paul in French, and study and explain them." " Blessing and sprink- 
 ling with holy water is of no use." " There is a historical faith by which 
 men believe that the Son of God took humanity, was crucified, etc. 
 There is another faith by which we believe the things in the Bible in the 
 way of confiding in the promises which God has made. The latter, not 
 the former, is justifying." It appears that spies were employed to 
 
 G 
 
98 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 watch him, while he was preaching, for the following words are given 
 in one of the censured propositions : " I say this for the sake of those 
 who are behind the pillars, with the view of accusing me " (pour me 
 reprendre). 
 
 37 Simon, Lettres Choisies, torn. iv. pp. 102-104. Father Simon allows 
 that these decrees were directed against Catholic versions ; but pleads 
 that they did not prohibit translations absolutely. At least they 
 declared them absolutely " inexpedient and useless." 
 
 38 Harduin, Concil, torn. ix. pp. 1919-1949. The Council of Sens 
 decreed " that persons convicted of heresy, if they return to the unity 
 of the Catholic faith, shall be condemned to perpetual penance and 
 imprisonment : if they refuse to abjure, they shall be delivered over to 
 the secular power. And they exhorted all Christian princes to drive 
 them from their dominions." 
 
 39 [Jean Chastelaine (or Castellan), a native of Tournay, Doctor of 
 Divinity, and a friar of the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine, suf- 
 fered martyrdom at Vic, 12th January 1524. A particular account of the 
 process of his degradation is given by Crespin, Mist, des Martyrs, p. 
 177. Jean le Clerc was whipped and branded at Meaux, January 1523, 
 and burnt at Metz in 1524, Ibid., Varillas, lib. v. p. 375. Note by Dr. 
 Thos. M'Crie, jr.] 
 
 40 Beza, Hist. Eccles., i. 6 ; Icones, sig. z. j. ; Histoire dcs Martyrs, f. 
 92 b. fol. 
 
 41 DArgentre, torn. i. Ind. p. iv. part ii. pp. 404-406 ; torn. ii. p. 
 xii. 40-42. Beza, Hist. Eccles., torn. i. pp. 7, 8 ; /cones, sig. z. iiij. Acta 
 Martyrum, f. 57-59. [Crespin says Berquin was martyred " mense 
 Maio." Act. Mart. p. 59. Note by Dr. Thos. M'Crie, jr.] 
 
 42 A correspondent of Erasmus gives a still stronger picture of the 
 fanaticism of the Parisians at this time. " Here all of every rank, and 
 even the women themselves, exclaim loudly against Berquin as an enemy 
 to God and the church. You know how savage the mob are against 
 those suspected of heresy." (Epistola Gervasii Theologi Parisiensis ad 
 Erasmum; Lutetian, 17 Kal. Sept. 1528 [1529]. Jo. Frid. Burscheri 
 Spicileg. Autogr. ad Erasmum Spic, xxiii. pp. 13-16.) 
 
 43 This Franciscan was, I suspect, Dr. Merlin, penitentiary of Paris, 
 of whom Beza says, that " he was constrained by the constancy of the 
 sufferer to say aloud before the people, to the great displeasure of his 
 accusers and judges, that no man had for these three hundred 
 years and more died a better Christian than Berquin." So differently 
 are the same words reported and understood. (Hist. Eccles., torn, 
 iv. p. 8.) 
 
 44 This letter, which is the 1060th in the collection of Erasmus' 
 Epistles, is reprinted by Gerdes, Hist. Ref., torn. iv. Doc. num. ix. It is 
 addressed to Carolus Utenhovius, and contains an account of his corre- 
 spondence with Berquin, very characteristic of the writer's caution and 
 timidity, not to say selfishness. While the generous Frenchman was 
 exposing himself to odium and danger in defence of his learned friend, 
 
NOTES. 99 
 
 Erasmus (though placed beyond the reach of personal hazard) is con- CHAP. 
 tinually expressing his fears lest his cause should be identified with that "■• 
 of Berquin. At the time that the divines of the Sorbonne were pro- v "~"v~""''' 
 hibiting his colloquies, " I would rather (says he) that my books were 
 unjustly condemned by them, than that my peace should be disturbed 
 at this time of my life, or that I should be involved in endless 
 warfare ; and I would rather, if I could accomplish it, that all men would 
 yield to the authority of the divines, than that they should be 
 discredited." After this we need not wonder to find him, after describ- 
 ing the cruel treatment of his friend, saying that France had become a 
 slave to the Court of Rome, adding, " And yet perhaps it is better to 
 err on this side than to give occasion to the unbridled license which we 
 see spring up in some of the German States in which the Pope is Anti- 
 christ, the cardinals creatures of Antichrist, the bishops spectres, the 
 priests swine, the monasteries synagogues of Satan, the princes tyrants, 
 where the supreme rule is in the hand of the Evangelical mob with arms 
 in their hands, more skilled in fighting than in reasoning." 
 
 45 Alexander Moms in his oration on Calvin is of opinion that he 
 was not a Protestant when he published tfeneca de dementia, "lorsque 
 n'ayant pas encore embrassee le bon parti." Calvin himself says that a 
 year had not elapsed after his change of views before he was known 
 to all the friends of pure doctrine. (Prof. Comment, in Psalmos.) 
 
 46 Beza, Vit. Calv. ; Papyrius Masson, Elog. Calvini ; Melch. Adam, 
 Vit. Theol. Exter. p. 64. Calvin says of him, " De interprete parcius 
 loquor, ne quid cognationi quae illi mecum intercedit, aut veteri nostrae 
 familiaritati dare videar." (Pratf. in Bibl. Gall. Neve. 1535. Epist., 
 p. 245). 
 
 47 " J'appris que ce fut a Orleans, ou il fut premierement subverty de 
 la foy par un Jacobin apostat, Allemand de nation, avec lequel il 
 logea en chambre garnie." (Desmay, Rem. sur la Vie de Jean Calvin, 
 p. 43 : Drelincourt, pp. 168-9.) 
 
 48 Prof at. in Psalmos. 
 
 49 Calvini opera, torn. viii. p. 114. 
 
 60 While Calvin renounced the study of civil law it was successfully 
 prosecuted by one of his relations. This was Anthony le Conte. 
 
 51 Beza, Vit. Calvini, sig. * * b. ; Opera, torn, i, 
 
 52 Gerdes, Hist. Ref., iv. 201. Burnet's Hist, of the Reform. [The 
 letter to which Burnet refers in Calv. Epist., p. 124, does it refer to 
 Henry viii. ?] 
 
 53 Beza, Hist. Eccles. torn, i., pp. 9, 10. 
 
 54 Among these was John Sturm, afterwards rector of the Academy 
 of Strasburg, and distinguished by his philological writings and his 
 services to the cause of literature, who taught in Paris from 1529 to 
 1537 (Brucker, Tempi. Honor, num. xlii., Sturmii, Antipapp. iv. 17. 
 Scultet., Anal. ii. 443. 
 
 65 Beza, Vit. Calv.; Hist, des Martyr es, f. 107, b ; Calvini Opera, 
 viii. 376. 
 
100 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP. 5 6 A particular account of this affair is given by Calvin, in a letter to 
 H- his friend Francis Daniel, which occupies the first place among his 
 
 v— ~ r ~~''^ printed letters. See also Beza, Hist. Ecchs., i. 13-15 ; Launoi, Hist. 
 Gymnas. Navar., p. 411. A similar attack on the Queen of Navarre 
 was made about the same time, in the neighbourhood of Bourges, by the 
 guardian of the Franciscans, who, declaiming from the pulpit, called her 
 a Lutheran, and said she ought to be enclosed in a sack and thrown into 
 the river. Francis was determined that the monk should suffer the 
 punishment he had denounced against his sister, but Margaret procured 
 a commutation of it into two years' imprisonment in the galleys. (Vita 
 Fran. Junii, p. 6, Opera, torn, i.) 
 
 57 Calvini Epist., p. 2. 
 
 58 He is mentioned as an intimate friend, by Calvin, in a letter to 
 Francis Daniel, dated Parisiis, 5 Cal. Jul. 1529 (MS. Lett.) 
 
 59 Beza, Vit. Calv., Hist. Eccles. i. 14. Other writers have given a 
 different account of Calvin's escape. Papyrius Masson says : " He was 
 searched for by the criminal lieutenant, but descended from a window 
 by means of sheets, and in this way saved himself from that imminent 
 danger." (Elog. Calvini.) Desmay adds to this certain circumstances 
 which he received from a certain dean, who received them from an old 
 canon. " Having escaped by a window he took refuge in the Faubourg 
 de S. Victor at the house of a vine-dresser, where he changed his 
 clothes. Dressed with the vine-dresser's frock, a wallet of white linen 
 in his hand, and a hatchet over his shoulder, he took the way to Noyon. 
 The canon met him on the road and recognised him. Having remon- 
 strated with him on his fault, he promised to procure him a good salary 
 if he would alter his conduct and mind his salvation ; but Calvin, who 
 was then hot-headed and intoxicated with the vain promises of the 
 sectaries, replied, " Since I have embarked in the cause, I will go 
 through with it : if my choice were now to make, I would have nothing 
 to do with it ;" — no great evidence, one would think, of his being then 
 intoxicated with promises. But let us hear another of Desmay's stories : 
 " The dean told me that he had often heard from a nephew of Calvin, who 
 died while I preached at Noyon, that he had in his youth seen his uncle 
 John Calvin at Geneva, and that his said uncle never introduced the 
 subject of religion, but that he, being young and curious, said to him, 
 ' Uncle, do you think that the Catholics are in a state of damnation V to 
 which he replied in the negative ; and that he never sought to persuade 
 him to change his religion." He then tells the story of the old canon 
 a second time with this variation, that " Calvin replied with a sigh, It is 
 too late." (Desmay, Remarq. sur la Vie de Calvin, pp. 44-51.) Le 
 Vasseur is less prudent than Desmay, for he specifies names. Germain 
 Fagard, Chancellor of the Church at Noyon (says he), a simple man and 
 good Catholic, passing through Geneva, having asked Calvin if he ought 
 to leave the Church of Eome, received this reply : " Germain, remain 
 where you are ; your faith is good." Annales, p. 1168. 
 
 60 Senebier, Hist. Litt. de Geneve, i. 180. 
 
NOTES. 101 
 
 61 Verheiden, Elog. Viror. I)ort., p. 105. (Beza, Hist. Eccles., 
 i. 14.) 
 
 62 His death, which happened in 1537, was rather singular in its 
 circumstances, which are detailed by Jurieu (Apologie pour la 
 Reformation, etc.), and by Witsius (Miscell. Sac, torn. ii. exerc. vi. 
 sec. 33). 
 
 63 Epist. Gul. Farelli ad Conrad. Pellican, a. 1556. J. H. Hottin- 
 geri Hist. Eccles., sec. xvi. part ii. p. 18. 
 
 64 Desmay, pp. 40-46 ; Le Vasseur, pp. 1159-1161. 
 
 65 Desmay, pp. 34-36. 
 
 66 Le Vasseur says he retained his benefices in the hope that, after 
 finishing his studies, he could dogmatise at Noyon on his return, in 
 which he was frustrated. {Annales, p. 1167.) 
 
 67 Desmay, pp. 48-49 ; Le Vasseur, pp. 1060-61. Papyrius Masson, 
 Elog. Calvini. Desmay says, on the authority of an inquest by Mons. 
 de Melle official, that " he sold his chapel for ready money ;" and that 
 Cairn did not serve the cure better than Calvin ; for " that worthless 
 man," adds he, " soon after followed him, having first debauched his 
 mother-in-law." But the author does not refer to the registers of 
 Noyon for this fact, and we find no mention elsewhere of such a person 
 as Cairn. 
 
 68 Le Vasseur, p. 1172. The canon Collemont returned to Noyon and 
 did penance. 
 
 69 Le Vasseur, pp. 1165-7. Pap. Masson, Elog. Calv. " He was," says 
 
 Desmay, " of a spirit, and led a bad life, unbecoming the order 
 
 to which he belonged." The only proofs of immorality which he pro- 
 duces are his striking one Tourneur, a macer of the Chapter, and a 
 clerk or chorister named Maximilian. For this he was excommunicated 
 and referred to Phalet, a priest, for absolution, after he had performed 
 the public penance enjoined him, which was "to assist on the following 
 Sunday at all the hours of Divine Service." Charles refused to submit 
 to this penance, and spoke contemptuously of the censures of the 
 Church. 
 
 70 Le Vasseur, pp. 1167-8. 
 
 71 Ibid. p. 1152. Le Vasseur is minute in giving the names of the 
 children and grandchildren of the first of these sisters. The second 
 must have been married at Orleans if she is the person called " Maria 
 Paludana," in a letter of Calvin's already quoted, see above, p. 27, 
 note 23 . 
 
 72 Beza, Vit. Calv., Hist. Eccles., i. 14-15. 
 
 73 The title of the book is Familiere exposition en forme de colloque 
 sur le Symbolc, Decalogue, et Oraison Dominicalej faite et recolligee de 
 I'Ecriture et vrais Expositeurs d'icelles, suivan le vouloir et intention de 
 Boi de Navarre par Gerard Roussel Eveque d'Oleron. The following 
 are among the passages condemned by the Parisian divines : " This 
 death (of Christ) may well be called the true medicine of the soul and 
 of all its diseases, and the only propitiation for sins. His wisdom and 
 
102 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 righteousness is perfect and entire, and no other can bring me to glory. 
 Let us embrace it once for all, without turning aside to anything else. 
 The Church is a society composed solely of the saints, elect, and sons 
 of God. Evangelical faith cannot be without charity. God desires the 
 removal of all the darkness of error, superstition, and idolatry, and that 
 every knee should bow to him only. Without being elected, called, and 
 justified, we cannot obey the Divine will. By a lively faith we may and 
 should be fully persuaded and assured that we shall be denied nothing." 
 (D'Argentre, torn. ii. pp. 161-2.) 
 
 74 Ibid. 
 
 75 It is not unworthy of observation that he does not dwell on the 
 fact that one of the popes was convicted of the error which he refutes. 
 All the notice he takes of it is in the following sentence : " We read 
 that the authors of this tenet were certain Arabians who gave forth that 
 the soul died with the body, and that both would rise together at the day 
 of judgment ; and it was embraced some time after by John, Bishop of 
 Rome, whom the Academy of Paris forced to recant ; but after being 
 laid asleep for a number of ages, it was lately revived by some of the 
 Anabaptists." (Opera, torn, viii., p. 335.) 
 
 76 The title is Psycliopannychia, qua refellitur quortindam imperitorum 
 error, qui animas post mortem usque ad ultimum judicium dormire 
 putant. The Prozfatio Joannis Calvini ad amicum quendam is dated 
 Aureliae, 1534. 
 
 77 This is dated "Basileaa, 1536." 
 
 78 Opera, torn. viii. p. 336. 
 
 79 Courault, the preacher, who was then in confinement, when con- 
 sulted, gave it as his opinion " that the paper ought not to be published, 
 as it would excite great commotion in the minds of the people, and 
 bring odium on the whole body of the faithful." (Hist. Martyrum, fol. 
 64 b, 4to.) 
 
 80 The placard is inserted at large in Histoire des Martyrcs, pp. 105, 
 106, fol. 
 
 81 Beza, Hist. Ecclcs. i. 15, 20. Vit. Calv., Sleidan. 
 
 82 Among those of the last class was James Amiot, the celebrated 
 translator of the works of Plutarch, who escaped from Paris during the 
 persecution for the placards, and afterwards became preceptor to Charles 
 ix., bishop of Auxerre, and grand almoner of France. (Beza, Hist. 
 Eccles. i. 16, 17. LAbbe de Castres, Trois Siecles de la Litterat. 
 Francoise, torn. i. p. 16. 
 
 83 Le Vasseur, pp. 1125-1131. The following were the terms of the 
 order for observing the supplication at Noyon : — " 9 Januari 1535.— Per- 
 missio generalis, cum concione ad populum per A. Fabri, ad exorandum 
 Altissimum pro hereticis ac Lutheri sectatoribus extirpandis, confun- 
 dendis, seu convertendis. Ita ordinatum super litteris Papse et Regis ad 
 capitulum transmissis." 
 
 84 Beza, Vit. Calv. 
 
 85 Prcefat. in Psalmos ; Opera, torn. ii. 
 
NOTES. 103 
 
 86 (Ecolampadii, Epist. ad Sim. Grynamm, Mart. 31 and April. 11, 
 1529. Epp. Zuingli et CEcolamp., lib. iv. f. 179, 181. 
 
 87 Melch. Adam, Vit. Germ. PMos., p. 1191, 143-5. Gerdes, Hist. 
 Ref., torn. ii. 378, Doc. num. xxvii. 
 
 88 Beza, Vit. Calv., sig. * * 2. Papyr. Masson, Elog. Calv. 
 
 89 Beza was incorrect in stating (Hist. Eccles., torn. i. p. 21) that 
 Olivetan did not leave France till 1535, at the same time as Calvin. 
 
 90 The following is the description of it in a letter (Ecclesiastae 
 Moratensi, G. Farello Adamus, 5 Nov. 1531), published by Kirch- 
 hofer in his Life of Farel : — " Gallice characteribus majusculis, sit altera 
 columna major ; Latine vero minutioribus, sit altera minor, ambse in 
 eadem pagella." Loupard mentions another Bible printed at Semeres, 
 which had not the two columns of Latin and French. 
 
 91 Leu. Did., Art. Olivetan. 
 
 92 The following is the title of the work : — La Bible, qui est toute la 
 sonde escripture en laquelle sont contenue le Viel Testament et le Nouveau, 
 translates en Francoys. Le Viel de VEbrieu, et le Nouvearb du Grec. 
 Aussi deux amples tables, I'une pour T interpretation des propres noms, 
 I'autre en forme d'indice pour trouver plusieurs sentences et matures. 
 Dieu en tout. Lsaiah i, Escoutez cienl et toy terre preste Voreille car 
 I 'Eternel parle. On the last page is the following : — " Acheve d'imprimer 
 en la Ville e Comte de Neufchastel par Pierre de Wingle diet Perot 
 Picard L'an 1535 le in e jour de Juing." Black Letter. The verses 
 are not numbered, only in the Psalms they are arranged in distinct 
 paragraphs. On the margin are several annotations, e.g. Job ii. 9, " Lors 
 sa femme luy dit, Tu persevere tu encore en ta simplice. Bensis Dieu 
 [marg. maul-dis] et si mourras. Et il luy dit, Tu a parle comme une des 
 folles femmes. [Prosperite et adversite de Dieu.] Si nous recevons le 
 bien de Dieu, pourquoy ne recevons nous le ruaulx [e'est adversite]. 
 1 Jean v. 7, Ceste sentence commenceant a Car jusqua Aussi ne se 
 trouvent polt en plusieurs examplaires acies tant Grecz que Latins.' 
 
 93 In 1564 the New Testament was published in Latin and French 
 by Renee Benoit, parson of St. Eustache, and a celebrated preacher, who 
 had accompanied Queen Mary to Scotland in 1560. It was nearly a 
 reprint of the version of Olivetan as corrected by Calvin. The Privy 
 Council having, at the instigation of the Sorbonne, condemned it, 
 Benoit charged the printers with infidelity in having inserted Calvinistic 
 notes without his knowledge, and in 1566 published a translation of the 
 Old and New Testament. This work was censured by the Sorbonne, and 
 prohibited by an order of Council ; but the author being supported by 
 the Parliament and his diocesan, the Bishop of Paris, the matter was 
 referred to the Pope, who, after many delays, issued a bull in 1575, ap- 
 proving of the censure of the theological Faculty of Paris, and prohibit- 
 ing the translation. Benoit does not deny having made large use of the 
 Genevese version, for which he makes the following apology : — " C'est 
 pourquoi il n'a fait difficulte de repeter des heretiques tout ce qu'il a 
 pense etre bon, et pouvoir edifier, soit au texte, ou aussi aux annota- 
 
104 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 tions, propositions, et scholies, imitant Abraham et David et Job, 
 lesquels ayant surprises et vaincus les pillars [pilleurs] ont non seule- 
 raent repete et prins d'iceux ce que leur appertenoit, mais aussi ont 
 pille les pilleurs, cornme les enfans d'Israel les Egyptiens, etc." (D'Ar- 
 gentre, Collect. Judiciorum de Novis erroribus, tom. ii. pp. 404-411, 425- 
 440.) 
 
 94 Histoire Crit. du V. Test, liv. ii. cap. xxiv. pp. 382-388. 
 
 95 Nouv. Diet. Hist., Art. Olivetan. Leu. Diet Beza, Icones, sig. b. 
 j, b. Calvin was at a distance from the place where the translation 
 was composed, and Olivetan makes no mention of any assistance which 
 he received from his friend. 
 
 96 The strain of it is perfectly serious, though the title is a species of 
 mock Privilegium, " To all emperors, kings, princes, and nations subject 
 to the rule of Christ, John Calvin wishes health." 
 
 97 Calvini Epist., pp. 244, 245 ; Opera, tom. ix. Olivetan went to 
 Rome in 1538, where he is said to have had poison administered to him, 
 at an entertainment, in consequence of which he died some time after at 
 Ferrara. (Spanhemii Geneva Restituta, pp. 56, 57 ; Colomesii Gallia 
 Orient, p. 258.) 
 
 98 The reader will observe that there is more ornament of style and 
 more diffuseness of illustration in this and some other of his early pieces, 
 than are to be found in the works which proceeded from his pen at a 
 subsequent period. 
 
 99 Calvini Epist., pp. 246-250 ; Opera, torn. ix. 
 ioo p r(e f a t, in Psalmos, Opera, tom. iii. Gerdes says that Calvin was 
 
 urged, by his friends, to publish the work which he wished to have 
 rendered more perfect before committing it to the press. (Miscell. Gron- 
 ingana, torn. ii. part i. p. 452.) But this does not agree with his own 
 statement. 
 
 101 The other two are, De Thou's Dedication of his History of his Own 
 Times, and Casaubon's Preface to his Edition of Polybius. (Mena- 
 giana, torn. iii. p. 77.) 
 
 102 Beza, Vit. Calvini. 
 
 103 History of the Reformation in Italy, p. 89, 2d Edition. 
 
 104 In the city of Aosta, near the Croix-de-Ville, stands a column 
 surmounted by a cross, and bearing the following inscription : — 
 
 " Hanc 
 Calvini Fuga 
 
 erexit 
 
 Anno MDXLI 
 
 Religionis Constantia 
 
 Reparavit 
 Anno MDCCXLI." 
 
 In a publication entitled, Guide du Voyageur dans la Cite et Vallee 
 d'Aoste, p. 16, the date of the erection is MDXII, but this is evidently 
 a mistake for MDXLI. My friend, the Rev. Mr. Tweedie of London 
 
NOTES. 105 
 
 Wall Church, who examined the inscription on the spot, says that the 
 lower limb of the L is much effaced, and requires to be nicely noticed, to 
 enable one to distinguish between it and the I, for which it was mistaken. 
 This is also evidently implied in the antithesis between 1541 and 1741. 
 It may be observed that the inscription fixes the date of the erection of 
 the pillar, not that of Calvin's visit. This last could not have taken place 
 in 1541, as we are enabled by means of his correspondence to determine 
 the place of his residence during every month and even week of that 
 year. The inscription contains the only notice I ever met with of 
 Calvin's having been in that city, and it conveys no information as to 
 anything that happened on that occasion, except it be that he was forced 
 to leave the place, and that religion was the cause of his flight. 
 
 Note by Dr. Thos. M l Crie,jr. — May not " Calvini Fuga" signify only 
 the defeat of Calvinism, in opposition to " Bcligionis Constantia " 1 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF GENEVA, A.D. 500-1536. 
 
 chap. Before proceeding further with the biography of 
 
 w^-w Calvin, it will be necessary to give some account of 
 50 °- a city in which he spent the remainder of his life, 
 to advert to its external relations and internal 
 government, and to put the reader in possession of 
 the leading facts connected with the introduction 
 of the Reformation into the city and its territories. 
 Without this it would be impossible to understand 
 many of the facts to be related, or to form a proper 
 judgment of the difficulties which Calvin had to 
 encounter, and the services which he performed. 
 
 Though we had not known from the testimony 
 of Caesar and from inscriptions, that Geneva was an 
 ancient city, we might have inferred the fact from 
 the obvious attractions of its site. Built upon the 
 Rhone at the spot where that river escapes from 
 the Leman Lake, and surrounded with fruitful 
 plains, and with a range of mountains which leave 
 open an extensive and varied prospect, it unites the 
 three great recommendations of a place of residence: 
 beautiful scenery, a healthful climate, and fertility 
 of soil ; while its position in regard to France, 
 Germany, and Italy, points it out as an eligible 
 place of strength in war, and of intercourse and 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 107 
 
 trade in time of peace. Christianity was intro- chap. 
 
 hi. 
 
 duced into Vienne in the end of the second century, 
 and it is probable that it soon spread through the soo 
 towns of that province, of which Geneva was one. 
 But though a list of its bishops connecting these 
 with the Apostles by means of Denis and Panodus 
 has been given, we have no authentic account of a 
 bishop of Geneva before the commencement of the 
 sixth century. 1 After the dismemberment of the 
 Roman Empire, Geneva was subject successively to 
 the Burgundians, Ostrogoths, and Franks ; on the 
 decline of the Carlovingian dynasty, it became part 
 of the new kingdom of Burgundy, and at its fall 
 passed into the Empire of Germany. During the 
 weakness of the imperial authority, produced by its 
 contests with the popedom about the right of 
 investiture, and its occupation with the holy war, 
 the dukes and earls who were at first governors and 
 officers of justice, removable at pleasure, usurped 
 the dominion of the provinces over which they were 
 placed, and the emperors were forced to yield to 
 their claims in the way of obtaining from them an 
 acknowledgment of homage. In the same way, or 
 by voluntary grants from the heads of the Empire, 
 did many bishops obtain the government of their 
 dioceses, or of the cities in which they resided. 
 This led to the disputes for the superiority over 
 Geneva, which were carried on almost without 
 interruption from the eleventh to the sixteenth 
 century between the bishops of that see and the 
 most powerful of the neighbouring lords. The 
 counts or earls of Genevois, an adjoining territory 
 which derived its name from that city, were the 
 first to advance this claim, partly under the colour 
 
108 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, of their being the advocates or patrons of the see, 2 
 v^ . , and partly on the pretexts of grants from the 
 1100. Emperor. Secular and religious considerations 
 combined in inclining the people to prefer the 
 claims of their bishops. Geneva was from an early 
 period a manufacturing and commercial town, 2 6 and 
 there was a greater prospect of enjoying that peace 
 which is essential to trade, under an ecclesiastic 
 than under the warlike and restless barons of that 
 age. While the bishops could always call in the 
 aid of spiritual weapons to check the aggressions 
 of their more powerful neighbours, and to procure 
 redress for depredations committed within their 
 territories, the inhabitants were careful to secure 
 themselves against the obligation to support them 
 in any war in which they might engage for purposes 
 foreign to the defence of its city and its territories. 3 
 The disputes between the bishops and neigh- 
 bouring lords for the sovereignty over Geneva, were 
 favourable to the preservation and growth of 
 popular liberty. By several imperial decrees the 
 church and city of Geneva was declared to be "a 
 noble member of the empire," and all princes were 
 prohibited from usurping authority over it ; but 
 though these deeds recognised its independence, 
 with the single exception that, the Chapter were 
 bound to perform certain litanies when the emperor 
 should pass through the town, they recognised the 
 bishop and his successors as its sovereign princes, 
 without any mention of rights or privileges belonging 
 to the citizens. 4 They had, however, such rights, 
 which they claimed as belonging to them from time 
 immemorial, and they embraced every fit opportunity 
 to procure the ratification and enlargement of them. 
 
GENEVAN PRIVILEGES. 109 
 
 The clergy and people had the right of electing their chap. 
 bishop, 5 who, on entering the city after his consecra- ,____, 
 tion, swore to preserve their ancient franchises and 1387. 
 customs. These were solemnly ratified in 1387 by 
 Bishop Ademar Fabri in a deed which specified the 
 following privileges : — That processes before the 
 Vidomne, or bishop's lieutenant, should be con- 
 ducted verbally and in the vulgar tongue ; 6 that 
 criminal causes should be tried only before the 
 syndics elected by the burgesses ; 7 that the guard 
 of the city and all jurisdiction, pure and mixed, from 
 sunset to sunrise, should belong to the citizens, and 
 not to the bishop or his officers ; 8 and that the 
 citizens, burgesses, and tradesmen of the city should 
 create every year four syndics or procurators, who 
 should have full power in all the affairs of the 
 community. " These," says the bishop, " are cus- 
 toms which our lieges, the citizens, burgesses, 
 inhabitants, and craftsmen of the said city use, and 
 have used for so long a time, that there is no re- 
 membrance of the contrary." 9 
 
 The triumph of freedom in the establishment of 
 the Helvetic Confederacy during the fourteenth 
 century was a propitious event for Geneva ; and 
 though the inhabitants of this city appear to have 
 been at first insensible to its advantages, it ulti- 
 mately proved, under Providence, the chief means of 
 their emancipation from civil and spiritual bondage. 10 
 By the activity of its princes and fortunate mar- 
 riages, the house of Savoy had obtained possession 
 of the territories of most of the neighbouring chiefs. 
 Besides the pretensions which they made as vicars 
 of the empire, the dukes of that house claimed a 
 right of sovereignty over Geneva, in virtue of their 
 
110 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, succession to the counts of Genevois. Charles in., 
 
 in 
 v___^ who succeeded his father in 1504, determined to 
 
 1504. execute the design on Geneva which had been 
 planned by his predecessors ; but he soon found 
 that a spirit had been evoked which it would require 
 all his address and power to conquer. He began 
 by offering to procure, through his influence with 
 the French Court, the restoration of the fair, which 
 a former Duke of Savoy had been the means of 
 removing from Geneva to Lyons, on the condition 
 that the Council would concede to him certain 
 rights in the city. Tempting as the boon was, the 
 General Council unanimously refused the condition 
 on which it was offered ; and when the Duke urged his 
 proposal, and insisted on the syndics taking an oath 
 of fidelity to him, the deputies of the town told him 
 that they would rather live in poverty as freemen 
 than grow rich in chains, and that their magi- 
 strates would swear allegiance to no prince on 
 earth. 11 The see having become vacant in 1513, 
 the Duke, by his interest at Rome, procured, 
 in opposition to the people's choice, the appoint- 
 ment of John of Savoy, an illegitimate son of 
 a former bishop of Geneva. This minion executed 
 a deed conveying the temporal jurisdiction of 
 the city to his patron, which Pope Leo x., whose 
 brother had married the Duke's sister, confirmed ; 
 but the papal brief was not carried into execution 
 in consequence of the scruples of the cardinals. 12 
 In the meantime the Duke, availing himself of 
 the privilege of making a temporary residence in 
 Geneva, prosecuted his plans against its liberties. 
 By distributing money and conferring offices he 
 extended his interest in the city. In concert with 
 
EIDGNOTS AND MAMELUKES. 1 1 1 
 
 the Bishop he encroached on its franchises, and chap. 
 seizing those who opposed his measures, caused v^^w 
 them to be conveyed to Chamberri, where they l51 °- 
 were put to the torture on false or frivolous 
 charges. These violent and illegal proceedings 
 fanned the spirit of liberty among the citizens ; 
 and some of the patriots who had taken refuge at 
 Friburg, concerted a defensive alliance between 
 that canton and their native city, which, after a 
 keen struggle with the partisans of Savoy, was 
 approved by the authorities in Geneva, and form- 
 ally ratified. By this measure the inhabitants were 
 divided into two parties ; the friends of the alliance 
 with Friburg were called Eidgnots : a word which 
 signifies confederates or covenanters, and had been 
 adopted by the Swiss Cantons when they associated 
 for the defence of their freedom, 13 while the adher- 
 ents of Savoy were called by their opponents 
 Mamelukes, in allusion to the mercenary soldiers 
 of the Soldan of Egypt, who had renounced their 
 religion and sacrificed the liberties of their country. 
 Finding that he could not prevent the alliance, the 
 Duke entered Geneva by force of arms, and took 
 upon him the supreme management of affairs. The 
 canton of Friburg sent an army to the relief of 
 their confederates, but before the matter came to 
 the decision of arms, it was accommodated by the 
 mediation of the other cantons, who decided that 
 the late alliance should be set aside, that the Duke 
 should desist from all attempts against the liberties 
 of Geneva, and that both parties should withdraw 
 their troops from its territory. 14 This treaty was 
 agreed to by the Duke, only that he might break 
 it on the first favourable opportunity. The Bishop 
 
112 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, under his direction, accompanied by a band of 
 w^w armed men, entered the city, breathing out threat- 
 1526. enings against all who had opposed the pretensions 
 of the Court of Savoy, and having seized Philibert 
 Berthelier, one of the most active and zealous 
 patriots, caused him to be tried by his officers 
 and beheaded. 15 The election of the Syndics was 
 set aside, and the council modelled according to the 
 will of his superior. Soon after this, the Duke, 
 who had married a daughter of the King of 
 Portugal, took up his residence in Geneva, and 
 by the splendour and festivities of a court, cor- 
 rupted the minds of the young men, who lost 
 their love of country in their passion for luxury 
 and licentiousness. Having assumed the appoint- 
 ment of Vidomne or bishop's lieutenant, he exacted 
 from him an oath of fidelity, and so slavish were 
 the magistrates that they agreed, with only one 
 dissentient voice, that appeals from his decisions 
 should be made to the Ducal council instead of to 
 the Syndics. Nothing now remained but a public 
 proclamation of the Duke's sovereignty, and that 
 this might be done with the greater security, orders 
 were given to seize the persons of eight of the 
 principal citizens who belonged to the Eidgnots. 
 Being apprised of their danger, the most of them 
 made their escape, and repairing to Friburg and 
 other parts of Switzerland laid open the ambitious 
 designs of Savoy, and entreated for aid to their 
 native city. The report of their negotiations served 
 to encourage their friends at home, and the cantons 
 of Friburg and Berne having signified their will- 
 ingness to enter into a defensive treaty with 
 Geneva, it was ultimately adopted by the latter 
 
PIERRE DE LA BAUME. 113 
 
 city amidst the acclamations of the assembled chap. 
 
 TTT 
 
 people and expressions of gratitude to those who w^^ 
 had been instrumental in procuring the alliance. 1528. 
 This happened on the 12th of March 1526. The 
 arms of the Duke were defaced from the Chateau 
 de l'lsle, which he had occupied ; the officers 
 whom he had nominated left the town, and were 
 followed by his principal adherents among the 
 citizens, who were afterwards banished as enemies 
 to their country. 16 
 
 During; these strugo-les Peter de la Baume, who 
 had succeeded to the bishopric, showed little sym- 
 pathy for the people of his charge. He was not 
 attached, like his predecessor, to the interests of 
 the Duke, and could not relish the encroachments 
 which that prince had made on the Episcopal juris- 
 diction ; but the fear he had of losing the benefices 
 which he possessed in Savoy, joined perhaps to the 
 jealousy with which he viewed the rising spirit of 
 liberty among the citizens, induced him to tem- 
 porise, and at a diet of the Helvetic body, held to 
 deliberate on the differences between the Duke and 
 city of Geneva, an envoy from the Bishop actually 
 appeared for each party. 17 After courting the alliance 
 of the Swiss and requesting to be made a burgess 
 of Geneva, he, in 1528, embraced the interests of 
 Savoy, revoked the right of judging in civil actions 
 which he had lately granted to the syndics, and 
 leaving the city became its irreconcilable enemy. 1 
 
 The internal government of the city underwent 
 at this time a considerable change. Formerly its 
 affairs were conducted by a council of twenty-five 
 persons, consisting of four syndics or magistrates, 
 twenty councillors, and a treasurer, besides a secre- 
 
 H 
 
114 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 tary who had no voice. If anything extraordinary 
 happened, the council called to its assistance the 
 1528. masters or wardens of the trades ("maitres jures 
 des metiers"), and on certain emergencies they 
 summoned a general council, composed of the heads 
 of families who were citizens or burgesses. But at 
 this time in addition to the ordinary council, there 
 were created those of sixty and of two hundred, 
 after the model of government established at Fri- 
 burg and Berne. 19 The second of these included 
 the members of the first, and the third included 
 those of the other two. The syndics continued as 
 before, to be chosen annually by the people in 
 public assembly. Formerly the syndics had the 
 power of choosing the ordinary council ; but as 
 this was considered as lodging too great power in 
 their hands, and giving occasion to favouritism and 
 bribery, this power was now lodged with the Two 
 Hundred, who, however, were restricted to a list of 
 double the number required, made up by a conjunct 
 meeting of the old and new syndics. The ordinary 
 council, again, had the power of filling up vacancies 
 which occurred in the Two Hundred. The business 
 of the syndics and ordinary council was formerly 
 very limited, 20 but recent changes had added 
 greatly to it ; and on the representation of the 
 syndics that they could not attend to the general 
 affairs of the city and also judge in those causes 
 which had come before the Vidomne, the Council 
 of Two Hundred appointed a lieutenant and four 
 auditors or assessors, as a court to determine in 
 all civil processes. These were chosen, like the 
 syndics, by the people from a list made up by the 
 Two Hundred. 21 
 
CHURCHES IN GENEVA. 115 
 
 There were seven parish churches in Geneva chap. 
 and its suburbs ; St. Peter's or Holy Cross, which v^.^^ 
 was the Cathedral, Notre Darne, La Neuve, the 1528. 
 Magdalene, St. Germains, St. Gervais, and St. 
 Victor's. The two last were razed along with the 
 suburbs, in which they were situated, two years 
 before the establishment of the Reformation, when 
 the fortifications of the city were completed, with 
 the view of resisting the attacks of the Duke of 
 Savoy. There were three monasteries within the 
 walls ; those of the Cordeliers of the Franciscan 
 Order, the Jacobins of the Dominican, and the nuns 
 of St. Clara ; and two without the walls, the 
 monastery of St. Victor of the Order of Clugny, 
 and Nostre Dame de Grace of the Order of St. 
 Augustine. To these may be added seven hospitals 
 and a great many chapels. 22 In almost each of the 
 rural towns belonging to the territory of Geneva, 
 and amounting to about twenty -four, there was a 
 church or chapel. The number of monks does not 
 appear to have been great at the time of the 
 Reformation : 23 but their revenues were consider- 
 able, and the priory of St. Victor, in particular, pos- 
 sessed extensive lands and villages. The canons 
 of St. Peter were thirty-two in number, and as the 
 situation was honourable, it was courted by those 
 of other places. 24 
 
 Geneva was well provided for, so fa.r as related 
 to churches and priests, but there was no connec- 
 tion between these and the religious instruction 
 and oversight of the people. The bishops of that 
 See were temporal sovereigns, kept their court, 
 received ambassadors, and lived in the same 
 splendour as other princes, and the time which 
 
116 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, they saved from secular business was spent in 
 w^L/ hawking and other amusements, instead of the 
 1528. duties of their religious functions. They rarely 
 performed any part of the public service, and even 
 devolved the task of confirmation on others. 25 The 
 secular priests did not consider it as any part of their 
 office to instruct the people, nor was their fitness for 
 this looked upon as a qualification for receiving 
 orders. The friars were the only preachers of that 
 time. At intervals of four or five years, some of 
 them were sent to preach through the diocese ; the 
 Dominicans and Cordeliers claimed the right of per- 
 forming this service, 26 but so deficient in talents 
 were those of Geneva, that the preacher at Advent 
 and Lent, was, for the most part, if not always, 
 brought from some other quarter. 27 The manner 
 in which they acquitted themselves was frequently 
 so offensive, that the Council found it necessary to 
 make complaints on this head to the ecclesiastical 
 authorities. 28 So great was the ignorance of the 
 clergy, that when the opinions of the Church began 
 to be called in question in Geneva, none of them 
 could be found to defend them, and they professed 
 their incapacity for the task. The manners of the 
 secular priests and of the monks were equally 
 irregular and dissolute. The disorder caused by 
 their irregular habits could scarcely have been 
 greater than it was. Not only did they keep con- 
 cubines in their houses with unblushing publicity, 
 but maintained harems of dissolute women in the 
 vicinity of their churches and convents. Such were 
 the fruits of the enjoined celibacy of the clergy, 
 and of their exemption from secular jurisdiction. 29 
 During half a century previous to the Reformation, 
 
MANNERS OF CLERGY. 117 
 
 these practices had been forced on the notice of the chap. 
 Council, which repeatedly made remonstrances on v^_^ 
 the disgusting subject to the bishops and heads of 1528. 
 religious houses. 30 So habituated had they become 
 to a dissolute life, that even after the light of the 
 Reformation had broke in among them and exposed 
 their shame to the eyes of all, and when their 
 manners threatened to entail ruin on themselves 
 and their whole order, they refused to change their 
 practices. The Abbe de Bonmont, old man and 
 dean of the Chapter as he was, persisted in retaining 
 his mistress to the last. The bishop himself, Pierre 
 de la Baume, at the very time that the clergy had 
 incurred the indignation of the citizens by favouring 
 the pretensions of Savoy, carried off a young woman 
 of respectable connections in the time of Lent, and 
 was forced to deliver her up in consequence of a 
 tumult excited in the town by that discreditable 
 outrage on public feeling. 31 When the city was 
 besieged by the Duke in 1535, and victuals became 
 scarce, the Council issued a decree that all the " use- 
 less mouths" should leave the town, and among 
 those who were excluded the concubines of the 
 priests formed a great proportion. 32 Their licentious- 
 ness, along with their extreme ignorance, contri- 
 buted greatly to facilitate the introduction of the 
 Reformation ; as those who could not judge of the 
 points in dispute between the two parties, were at 
 no loss to draw the conclusion, that either the pro- 
 fligate priests did not believe the doctrine they 
 professed, or that that doctrine was not of God. 
 
 Though attached to the religion of their fathers, 
 and capable, like all the votaries of superstition, of 
 being roused, by the artful representations of their 
 
118 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, priests, to indignation against those who attempted 
 v " Ij , to deprive them of their accustomed rites, the 
 1528. Genevese do not appear to have been a devotional 
 people, nor do topics connected with religion seem 
 to have engaged much of their attention. They 
 went to mass, kept Lent, and took pleasure in 
 those religious processions which were incorporated 
 with their secular employments, and are calculated, 
 through the senses, to gratify the multitude ; but 
 their intellect had never been cultivated so as to 
 lead them either to inquire into the grounds of 
 what they practised, or to entertain a doubt of its 
 propriety. There is not a hint in their records 
 of any heresy or novel opinion which sprung up 
 among them. Collections were made in Geneva 
 for carrying on the war against the Albigenses, 
 but there is not a trace of any individual of 
 that persecuted people having set a foot within 
 the city, although they were numerous in the 
 adjoining districts. It may be considered as an 
 indirect proof of this, that the words heretic and 
 heresy with them had a peculiar meaning, and were 
 of the same import with sorcerer and sorcery. 33 
 There was an inquisitor in Geneva, but his employ- 
 ment seems to have been confined to the trial of 
 that offence. 34 
 
 It was impossible that the Genevese could be 
 ignorant of the new opinions vhich for many years 
 had made so great a noise in Germany and Switzer- 
 land, and had led to the adoption of new forms of 
 worship in the most powerful of the neighbouring 
 Cantons. But their ignorance, joined to the contest 
 in which they were involved for the maintenance of 
 their liberties, had prevented them from directing 
 
GENEVA AND BERNE. 119 
 
 their attention to those questions which were excit- chap. 
 ing an absorbing interest all around them. The v-^— / 
 only knowledge they had of Luther and Zuingle 1528 - 
 was from the mouth of their monks, who repre- 
 sented them as monsters of impiety who wished to 
 banish Christianity from the world, and had thrown 
 the torch of dissension and discord into every place 
 which their pestilent doctrine had reached. Matters 
 remained in this state until 1528. In the course 
 of that year the Reformation was finally established 
 in Berne by the persevering exertions of Berthold 
 Haller. The close alliance which that Canton had 
 lately formed with Geneva occasioned a greater 
 intercourse between the two places than formerly ; 
 and the Bernese, whose minds were warmed with 
 the recent change, could not refrain from talking on 
 the subject with such of their confederates as they 
 lodged with during the visits which they paid to 
 Geneva. They expressed their astonishment at the 
 superstitious submission which they yielded to the 
 dictates of a profligate priesthood, exposed the un- 
 reasonableness of scrupling the use of certain kinds of 
 food which God and nature had made common ; and 
 succeeded by degrees in exciting a spirit of inquiry, 
 and shaking the confidence which had hitherto been 
 placed in an order of men who were venerated, not 
 on account of their learning or probity, but the 
 sacerdotal character which they bore, and the 
 sanctity of the office which they discharged. 35 
 
 As they were destitute of the means of instruc- 
 tion, it is natural to suppose that some, perhaps 
 the greater part, of those who listened to the dis- 
 course of the Bernese were actuated by a fondness 
 for change, and the pleasure of humbling the clergy, 
 
120 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, rather than any regard to the purity of religion and 
 y^\y Christian liberty. In the beginning of the year 
 1529. 1529, a band of citizens made a mock procession in 
 derision of the priests ; a step on which they could 
 scarcely have ventured at that time but for the bad 
 odour into which the clergy had by their morals 
 brought themselves with the people. This is con- 
 firmed by the slight manner in which the offence 
 was passed over ; the principal persons engaged in 
 the procession were called before the Episcopal 
 council and reprimanded. 36 At their head was Bau- 
 dichon de la Maisonneuve, a family which after- 
 wards became one of the most considerable in the 
 Republic. His youth had been disorderly ; and his 
 daring courage and disregard of consequences fitted 
 him for taking an active part in the dangers which 
 accompanied the progress of the Reformation. 37 
 The approach of Lent discovered still further the 
 progress which the new opinions had made among 
 the citizens. It had been agreed, by the ordinary 
 council, that the usual proclamation against eating 
 flesh should be made, but the matter was brought 
 before the Council of Two Hundred, which decreed 
 that the intimation should be given privately, to 
 avoid, no doubt, any disorder or public expression 
 of opinion against the practice, 38 — a circumstance 
 trifling in itself, but indicating a great change in 
 Genevese feeling, and a still greater change that 
 was approaching. 
 
 Those who entertained serious wishes for reforma- 
 tion, and were aware of the difficulties which sur- 
 rounded the enterprise, asked the advice of Francis 
 Bonnivard, prior of St. Victor, a person in high 
 esteem among his fellow- citizens for his sagacity 
 
FRANCIS BONNIVARD. 121 
 
 and the pecuniary losses he had sustained in the chap. 
 cause of his country's independence. 39 His answer ^^^ 
 was striking and oracular. A change in the church 1529. 
 (he said) was certainly desirable, but it behoved to 
 be of such a kind as would remove, not disguise, 
 the evils complained of; the church and the clergy 
 needed reformation, but so also did those who 
 demanded it ; many of the people were chargeable 
 with the same vices which disgraced the priesthood, 
 and those who were themselves corrupt could not 
 seek the reformation of others with any degree of 
 consistency or hope of success ; it was not so much 
 the vices of the clergy as their ambition, crossing 
 the schemes of others, which rendered them odious ; 
 many wished to get rid, not of vices but of the 
 vicious, not for the good of the city, but that they 
 might riot alone in debauchery ; they should con- 
 sider what would be the consequence of their expel- 
 ling the clergy, and calling in the ministers of the 
 word ; the clergy, conscious of their own faults, 
 connived at vices which the ministers would not 
 tolerate ; the former urged obedience to the laws 
 of the Pope, and were indifferent about the com- 
 mandments of God ; while the latter held the divine 
 precepts sacred, and showed little regard to those of 
 men : they ought, therefore, to examine themselves 
 and ascertain if they wished for a reformation of life 
 as well as doctrine ; if this was their desire, they 
 should urge on the undertaking which they had 
 begun ; if not, he advised them to speak no more of 
 reform. 40 Bonnivard spake "as an angel of God," 
 and shewed how well he knew his countrymen ; 
 though he had not himself escaped altogether from 
 the contamination of their example, and fell at a 
 
122 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, future period under the censures of which he had 
 
 ^J^ forewarned others. 41 
 1528. The zeal which their enemy Charles ill. of Savoy 
 
 testified for the Church, would not make the 
 Genevese more averse to the Reformation. He 
 requested them, in 1528, to send one or two 
 persons to maintain the faith against the Lutheran 
 sect ; but the Council of Two Hundred resolved 
 that they would neither send a deputation nor 
 answer the letter, but merely direct the bearer to 
 say that they would take care to conduct them- 
 selves properly, and it did not belong to him to 
 correct them. 42 The conduct of the bishop, Pierre 
 de la Baume, was ill calculated to secure the attach- 
 ment of his flock to the interests of the Church. 
 Having retired into Burgundy, he secretly accom- 
 modated his differences with the Duke of Savoy, 
 revoked the power which he had granted to the 
 syndics to judge in civil causes, and threatened 
 them with excommunication if they did not re- 
 nounce that privilege ; used his influence in favour 
 of the Mamelukes, or citizens who had been banished 
 for plotting against the independence of the State, 
 encouraged the Gentlemen of the Spoon (a band of 
 neighbouring freebooters) in the attacks which they 
 made on Geneva, and declared himself an open 
 enemy of the city. 43 The public indignation was 
 raised to a high pitch by a sentence of the Metro- 
 politan Court of Vienne excommunicating the ma- 
 gistrates and people of Geneva for banishing the 
 Mamelukes, and threatening them with an interdict. 
 On this occasion the General Council assembled, and 
 passed an edict, forbidding, under severe penalties, 
 all recognition for the future of the authority of that 
 
THE DUKE INTERPOSES. 123 
 
 court. 44 It happened that, soon after this event, chap. 
 a deputation was sent from Geneva to Berne, w__^ 
 Bonnivard, who accompanied it, stopped to read 1531. 
 the excommunication, which was posted on the 
 churches by the way, and being warned by his 
 fellow-travellers that he exposed himself to the 
 penalties of the curse, replied, " If you have un- 
 justly banished your fellow-citizens, you have reason 
 to fear the anathema of Heaven, but if not, Pope 
 Berthold (referring to the Beformer of Berne) will 
 absolve you. God alone can bind the conscience ; 
 the devil and the pope can hurt those only who 
 ignorantly stand in awe of them." The speaker 
 paid the forfeit of his boldness, being soon after 
 seized by the agents of Savoy, and imprisoned in 
 the Castle of ChiUon. 45 
 
 During the two following years the attention 
 of the inhabitants was engrossed by the means 
 necessary for defending their liberties. Never were 
 these in greater danger than in the course of the 
 year 1531. The Duke exerted all his influence to 
 break their alliance with Berne and Friburg, and 
 being supported by the interest of the Pope and 
 King of France, to which he now added that of the 
 Emperor, considered his success as certain. He for- 
 bade his subjects to supply the inhabitants of Geneva 
 with victuals, and collected an army to besiege 
 the city. When things were in this state deputies 
 arrived from Berne and Friburg to advise them to 
 settle their differences with the Duke, as they could 
 not afford to protect them, having received no re- 
 muneration for the expense which they had already 
 incurred in their defence. The conduct of the 
 Genevese on this occasion was noble, and showed 
 
124 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, that they were worthy of the liberty for which they 
 >_ ' , contended. The three councils, having successively 
 1531. assembled, returned this answer to their allies : 
 " That they were prepared to stand to the oaths 
 they had sworn, and, though poor and embarrassed, 
 would pledge their goods, their wives and children, 
 for the payment of what they owed ; but if their 
 allies should forsake them, they were determined 
 for their part to resist to the last and to die in 
 defence of their independence." On receiving this 
 magnanimous reply the Cantons of Friburg and 
 Berne felt ashamed of their timid and mercenary 
 scruples, and came to the determination of hazard- 
 ing everything in defence of the spirited Republic. 46 
 In the meantime the Genevese took the most 
 prompt and decisive measures for self-defence. 
 They strengthened their fortifications, and though 
 the suburbs contained nearly as many inhabitants 
 as the rest of the city, yet as these afforded an 
 advantage to an enemy, disregarding the complaints 
 of those who suffered, they razed them to the ground, 
 and employed the materials in completing the walls 
 and bulwarks. 47 In the midst of this struggle for 
 civil liberty the cause of the Reformation was 
 silently advancing. Two things contributed to this. 
 In the first place, the perseverance of the clergy in 
 their vicious habits, which induced the Council, 
 after in vain remonstrating with their ecclesiastical 
 superiors, to threaten that they would take the 
 affair into their own hands and apply an effectual 
 remedy to the evil. 4s The second cause was the 
 refusal of the clergy to bear a part of the extra- 
 ordinary burdens necessary for the defence of the 
 city, and the payment of the debts it had incurred, 
 
THE VERNLT RIOT. 125 
 
 which could not fail at that time to expose them to chap. 
 the odium of the people. 49 " I learn," says Farel in w ^^ 
 a letter dated from Granson, October 1531, "that 1531 - 
 Geneva thinks of embracing Jesus Christ. If they 
 are not restrained," etc. (Ruchat, iv. 144.) Before 
 this time the Procurator-Fiscal had complained of 
 persons who showed themselves Lutherans, and the 
 Ordinary Council had issued inhibitions, which how- 
 ever were not much regarded. 50 The Duke of Savoy 
 also complained, through the deputies of Friburg, 
 that some citizens of Geneva, passing through his 
 territories, eat flesh on prohibited days, and at- 
 tempted to persuade his subjects to embrace the 
 Lutheran doctrine, and to withhold the accustomed 
 tithes from the priests. The Council increased the 
 penalties against those who transgressed the laws, 
 but at the same time intimated that if the clergy 
 did not use their revenues in a more becoming 
 manner, they would be forced to appropriate them 
 to the more unexceptionable purpose of supporting 
 the poor. 51 The differences between the Council 
 and the clergy, together with the general dissatis- 
 faction felt at the behaviour of the latter, gave 
 courage to those who favoured the Reformation. 
 It being understood that Clement vii. had issued 
 a bull for a jubilee (which was proclaimed at Geneva 
 in the month of August), they resolved to anti- 
 cipate this by an indirect censure ; and on the 9 th 
 of June a placard was found affixed to all the public 
 places in the city, promising a general pardon of 
 sins to all on the sole condition of repentance and a 
 lively faith in Jesus Christ. The sight of this 
 threw the priests into a violent rage, and a canon, 
 named Peter Vernli, 52 a burgess of Friburg, seeing 
 
126 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap. John Goulas, a young Genevese, fixing one of the 
 ^J^ placards on a pillar before St. Peter's, gave him 
 1531. a blow, and attacked him with a drawn sword ; for 
 the priests of Geneva at that time wore swords, and 
 were more expert in the use of them than in that 
 of " the Sword of the Spirit." Goulas drew in his 
 own defence, and wounded the aggressor in the 
 arm. A similar affray took place at the Bourg 
 de Four, where two partisans of the clergy were 
 hurt. The council imposed a fine on Goulas, and 
 issued a proclamation forbidding, under severe 
 penalties, the publishing of placards and everything 
 tending to a breach of the peace. On this occasion 
 a deputy arrived from Friburg to complain not only 
 of the injury done to Vernli, but of the liberty 
 given to spread the new opinions in Geneva. The 
 Council returned a satisfactory answer to their 
 allies. 53 But soon after, in consequence of the 
 ridicule which the priests drew on themselves by 
 the legends which they read from the pulpit, they 
 found it necessary to request -the Grand Vicar to 
 take order that in all the churches and convents 
 the gospel should be preached according to the 
 truth, without being mixed up with any fables, 
 or other human inventions, that so the inhabitants 
 might live in good accord like their fathers. 54 
 
 Hitherto the Genevese had enjoyed the instruc- 
 tions of no teacher of the Protestant doctrine, and 
 any knowledge they had of it was gathered from 
 report and private conversation. But in the month 
 of September 1532, William Farel and Anthony 
 Saunier came to Geneva, on their return to Berne 
 from a visit to the churches in the Valleys of 
 Piedmont. Farel had, from the time he was forced 
 
FAREL AND SAUNIER. 127 
 
 to leave Meaux, been assiduously employed in chap. 
 disseminating the truth. After preaching and dis- ^J^_, 
 puting at Basle, in the principality of Montbeliard, 1532. 
 in various parts of Burgundy, and at Constance, 55 
 he repaired to Berne, and received from the magis- 
 trates of that republic a patent and safe- conduct to 
 preach the gospel in those parts of their territory 
 where his native tongue was spoken, including those 
 of their neighbouring allies, " provided these neigh- 
 bours were willing to receive him." 56 Encouraged 
 by this protection, he introduced the Reformed doc- 
 trine into L'Aigle, Morat, Bex, Granson, Bonne- 
 ville, Bienne, Avenches, Neuchatel, Orbe, Prevote, 
 Peyerne, Olon, Valengin, and Lausanne ; so that 
 he may justly be viewed as the Reformer of that 
 division of Switzerland, which, on account of the lan- 
 guage spoken by its inhabitants, is called Romande 
 or French. In performing this task there was no 
 humiliation to which he did not submit, no labour 
 from which he shrank, no danger by which he 
 suffered himself to be deterred. Sometimes he 
 gained admission under the character of a school- 
 master, and at other times as a priest. When 
 driven from cities by the violence of the mob, 
 instigated by the priests, he retired to the villages, 
 from which he returned with fresh courage to the 
 attack. Those who heard him preach applied to 
 him the words by which the eloquence of Pericles 
 was described : " he lightened and thundered, rather 
 than spoke." When roused by opposition and 
 danger, his voice terrified his adversaries ; he was 
 known more than once to silence the trumpets and 
 drums employed to prevent the people from hearing 
 him ; and those who had come avowedly for the 
 
128 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, purpose of creating disturbance and offering violence 
 ^^ to his person, were, before he concluded his sermon, 
 1532. among the most attentive and eager of his auditors. 
 Farel resembled the Reformer of Scotland more than 
 any of his contemporaries in fervid eloquence and 
 contempt of danger, while he excelled him in bodily 
 vigour and equability of animal spirits. Like Knox, 
 too, he was charged, and not altogether unjustly, 
 with yielding to the impetuosity of his temper, and 
 being deficient in the virtues of gentleness and 
 forbearance. 57 But these were the faults of his 
 temper, betraying him into an excess of zeal ; his 
 heart was disinterested, generous, and devoted to 
 the cause of truth. 58 
 
 Farel came to Geneva with Anthony Saunier, his 
 countryman and the companion of his labours, and 
 lodged at the inn of Tour Pourie. He was not 
 ignorant of the state of religion in that city, and 
 readily communicated instructions to such of the 
 friends as repaired to the inn at which he had 
 taking up his lodging, as soon as they heard of his 
 arrival. Finding them ignorant of religion, but 
 willing to be instructed, the two strangers ex- 
 pounded to them the Gospel, and showed them 
 from the Scriptures how far they had been led 
 astray by their priests. The citizens talked with 
 rapture of the doctrine which they had heard, and 
 the apartment of Farel was soon filled with visitors. 
 The clergy, to whom the name of Farel was an 
 object of hatred and dread, no sooner heard of his 
 being in the town, than they complained to the 
 Council, who called the preachers before them, and 
 charged them with raising disturbance in the city. 
 They denied the charge, and produced their letters 
 
COMES TO GENEVA. 129 
 
 of safe-conduct from the Republic of Berne, upon chap. 
 which they were dismissed with an admonition to ^__^ 
 avoid everything which might disturb the public 1532. 
 peace. But they had scarcely returned to their 
 lodging when they received a summons from Beau- 
 mont, Vicar-general of the diocese, to appear before 
 the Episcopal Court, and give an account of the 
 doctrine they had preached. Nothing could be 
 more agreeable to Farel than this opportunity of 
 bearing witness to the truth, and he immediately 
 set out with his companion. Two of the syndics 
 accompanied them, to prevent any injury to their 
 persons. As they passed through the streets they 
 were loaded with insults by the mob. In the mean- 
 time the ecclesiastical procurator-fiscal had persuaded 
 the clergy not to enter into dispute with the 
 preachers. 59 " Come forward, thou wicked devil, 
 Farel," were the first sounds which the strangers 
 heard on entering the hall. " What mean you by 
 thus going to and fro ? What want you here ? 
 Why are you come to this city to trouble it ?" 
 "I am neither devil, nor a servant of the devil," 
 replied Farel calmly, "but a servant of Jesus Christ. 
 The sum of my doctrine is Christ crucified and 
 risen, and my grand aim is to bring men to' place 
 a true reliance on Him. This doctrine I am ready 
 to proclaim to all who have ears to hear it, and am 
 here ready not only to give a reason of my faith, if 
 you will hear me patiently, but also to seal it, if 
 necessary, with my blood." Bergier, one of the 
 assessors, exclaimed, " He blasphemes ; it is better 
 to throw this Luther into the Rhone than that the 
 whole city be disturbed." Farel replied, "Speak 
 the words of God, and not of Caiaphas." Upon which 
 
130 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, the whole assembly rose up in the utmost agitation, 
 v— ^ crying, " Kill, kill this Luther ; kill, kill this dog ;" 
 1532. ^ile others who wished to be more moderate, cried, 
 in the Savoyard dialect, " Tapa, tapa — strike, 
 strike ! " and began to suit the action to the word. 
 In the midst of this confusion, a servant of the 
 vicar-general discharged at him a musket, which 
 burst without doing any harm, Farel exclaiming, 
 "Do not think to frighten me with a report; I 
 am not afraid of reports." The syndics with great 
 difficulty restrained the enraged priests, by re- 
 presenting the danger of offending their powerful 
 allies of Berne, and by promising that the preachers 
 should quit the city without delay. Accordingly, 
 Farel and Saunier embarked that night on the Lake, 
 and were convoyed by a number of their friends to 
 the neighbourhood of Lausanne. 60 
 
 This short visit strengthened the Protestant 
 party, though it exposed them to greater danger. 
 Several persons belonging to the principal families 
 in the city, chiefly young men, now espoused their 
 opinions. But not a single female joined their 
 number. " Of the women," says Froment, " there 
 was not at that time so much as one who discovered 
 the least spark of desire to know the truth. On the 
 contrary, they made the most violent opposition to 
 those who attempted to speak to them of the new 
 doctrine, being instigated by the priests, among 
 whom they had brothers, friends, and neighbours." 61 
 On his arrival at Granson, Farel met with 
 Anthony Froment, a native of the same part of 
 France with himself, who had followed him as a 
 personal attendant and scholar, and shared in his 
 sufferings and dangers. Knowing his piety and 
 
FROMENT. 131 
 
 courage, Farel exhorted him to repair to Geneva, chap. 
 and endeavour, as Providence should afford him the > '._ , 
 opportunity, to set forward the work which had 1532. 
 been begun by himself and Saunier. The young 
 man (for Froment was then only about twenty-two 
 years of age) urged his unfitness for the difficult 
 task, but overcome by the authority of his master, 
 gave his consent, and, being commended to God by 
 the prayers of his friends, set out for Geneva, where 
 he arrived on the third day of November. The 
 description which he has given of his situation and 
 feelings at this time is extremely interesting. He 
 knew no one, he had no means of subsistence, and 
 no place in which to harbour himself. When he 
 discovered the friends of reformation, he found them 
 so discouraged with the reception which Farel and 
 Saunier had lately met with, that they dared not 
 avow their sentiments or compromise their safety by 
 mutual intercourse. In these circumstances he was 
 strongly tempted to return ; but resuming courage, 
 he hired a room and issued bills, in which he offered 
 to teach persons to read and write French within a 
 short time, and to give medical advice gratis. 62 The 
 appearance of this bill caused great speculation, and 
 completely answered the purpose for which it was 
 published. Several children were put under his 
 charge, to whom, in the course of his teaching, he 
 expounded the New Testament. Struck with what 
 they heard, the children repeated it to their parents, 
 who were induced to attend themselves, and within 
 a short time the schoolroom was crowded with 
 men and women. Curiosity drew even some of the 
 priests to hear him, and though their jealousy was 
 awakened, yet so far had the schoolmaster gained the 
 
132 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, affections of the people that they durst not inhibit 
 ^™_, him, but contented themselves with deriding him as 
 1532. mere pretender to knowledge. "Why do you 
 suffer yourselves to be thus enchanted ? What 
 can such a young fool know ?" To which it was 
 answered, " Such fools teach you to be wise." 
 Among the converts made by Froment was Claudine, 
 the wife of Amy Levet. She had repeatedly refused 
 the invitations of her acquaintances to go with them 
 to hear the strange preacher. At last female 
 curiosity overcame her scruples ; but she resolved 
 to arm herself against his sorcery, and therefore 
 went to the hall loaded with a more than usual 
 quantity of catholic and approved amulets. These 
 were, however, unable to resist the force of truth, 
 and when sermon was ended she could not refrain 
 from putting some questions to the preacher, who 
 gave her a copy of the New Testament, and desired 
 her to judge his doctrine by its authority. She read 
 it with deep interest, and the consequence was, that 
 she not only avowed her belief of the truth, but 
 won over her husband and several of their friends 
 to the same faith. As they belonged to families of 
 great respectability in the city, their conversion 
 made a great noise, and the clergy complained 
 loudly of the spread of heresy. On the last day 
 of December the Council came to the resolution 
 that Claude Bernard, Claude Paste, John Goulas, 
 Estienne Donda, with other partisans of the new 
 preacher, should be called before them after dinner, 
 and that the said preacher should also be sum- 
 moned and charged to leave the city. This appear- 
 ance was prevented by an occurrence which threw 
 the town into a state of alarm. The Vicar of 
 
FROMENT CALLED TO PREACH. 133 
 
 Madeleine Church having engaged to prove that chap. 
 Froment had taught heresy, some of the Protestants ^__J^ 
 met with him by agreement, to hear his proofs. As 1533. 
 they were discussing the points in dispute over a 
 glass of wine, a band of armed priests entered the 
 house and were proceeding to violence, when the 
 Protestants had recourse to their swords which 
 they had laid aside. Upon this the priests sounded 
 the tocsin ; and the two parties would have come 
 to blows in the street had not the lieutenant ot 
 justice interfered and restored peace, after seizing 
 some of the most refractory of the aggressors. The 
 Council having met requested the Vicar to punish 
 the priests who had begun the tumult and insulted 
 the lieutenant ; they at the same time exhorted 
 the leaders of the opposite party to " cause Froment 
 to cease from preaching, as well as others who 
 preached in private houses throughout the town ;" 
 to which it was answered that the Gospel ought 
 not to be hid, and that the conduct of the clergy 
 who refused to obey the decree of the Council of 
 Two Hundred to preach the Word of God, con- 
 strained them to hear such as were willing to 
 expound it to them. 63 
 
 Next day being the 1st of January 1533, ac- 
 cording to the new mode of reckoning, 64 the hall 
 of Froment was crowded to excess, and the people 
 who could not gain admittance, forced him to 
 leave the house, and moving to the Square of 
 Molard placed him upon a fish-stall, amid the 
 cries of Preach to us; Preach to us the Word of 
 God. 65 Yielding to their entreaties, he read the 
 words in Matthew's Gospel, " Beware of false 
 prophets," &c, from which he warned his audience 
 
134 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, of the danger of being deceived by those pretenders 
 ^ ___, to religion who put the commandments of men in 
 1533. the place of the Word of God, and made a gain of 
 godliness, urged upon them the necessity of adding 
 a holy life to their profession of the truth, and 
 inculcated the duty of contending for the truth, 
 against the supporters of Antichrist, by the Word 
 of God, and not by tumults and brawling. When 
 he had begun his sermon the Sheriff came with a 
 message from the Council, ordering him to desist, 
 but Froment, warmed with his subject and the 
 enthusiasm of his audience, merely said, "We 
 must obey God rather than men," and proceeded. 
 Soon after one of his friends who had been watch- 
 ing the motions of the opposite party, came with 
 breathless haste to inform him that the First Syndic, 
 accompanied with a band of priests and citizens, 
 was on his way to apprehend him, but he still 
 persevered, until the audience entreated him to 
 consult his own safety and prevent a tumult. 
 Upon this he descended from the bench and was 
 conducted by an alley to the house of a friend. 
 
 The Council met next day, and, in consequence 
 of the complaints made to them, passed a summary 
 and strong decree. They ordained that no one 
 should presume to preach, either in private houses 
 or in public places, without the permissions of the 
 Syndics and the Grand Vicar; that all who shall 
 know of such preachers shall give information of 
 them, that they may be imprisoned and prosecuted 
 according to law ; and that if the Vicar decline this, 
 the Syndics, accompanied by their guard if neces- 
 sary, shall go instantly and seize them. At the 
 same time the Council were convinced of the neces- 
 
THE COUNCIL'S RESOLUTION. 135 
 
 sity of doing something to pacify the inhabitants, chap. 
 who complained loudly of the want of religious v^__^ 
 instruction. They came to the following resolution 1533. 
 on the same day : "As many demand the Word of 
 God, it is ordained that he who preached during 
 last Advent in the Convent of St. Francis de Rive, 
 named Christofle Bouquet, whom all relish and 
 listen to willingly, shall be retained as preacher 
 until the ensuing Lent, at the expense of the 
 seven cures of the city, and that he remain during 
 Lent if the Dominicans of the Palais do not provide 
 a preacher of the Word of God, and that a hint be 
 given them to provide as good a one as they can." 
 Before dismissing, the Council had recourse to a 
 method of restoring harmony which was not un- 
 usual with them. They ordained that all the 
 citizens, burgesses, and inhabitants should swear 
 with uplifted hands and a loud voice to forget 
 past offences and animosities, and abstain for the 
 future from mutual injuries or reproaches. 66 
 
 This procedure of the Council, while it reveals 
 the deplorable state of ignorance into which the 
 clergy were sunk, shows that the Protestant party 
 had increased both in numbers and respectability. 
 The same thing appears from the treatment of 
 Froment, who was neither seized nor ordered anew 
 to quit the city. On leaving the Molard he went 
 to the house of John Chantemps, whence he re- 
 moved at nightfall to that of Amy Perrin, in which 
 he remained for some time as a maker of ribbons. 
 Perrin insisted he had a right to employ any one 
 as his servant, but perceiving that his host was 
 exposed to trouble on his account, Froment crossed 
 the Rhone to that part of the city called St. 
 
136 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 Gervais, and acted as assistant to Amy Levet, who 
 was an apothecary. The mob collecting about the 
 1533. door, and throwing stones and mud into the shop, 
 obliged him to leave Geneva, and to return to 
 Ivona, near the Lake of Tverdun, where he had 
 formerly been a minister. 67 
 
 Bouquet the preacher referred to above was a 
 Cordelier, whose mind had been partially imbued 
 with the Reformed opinions. He pleased the Papists 
 by his monkish habit, and the Protestants by his 
 doctrine. But he incurred the suspicions of the 
 clergy, who resolved to rid themselves of him. 
 They started difficulties as to his lodging, provided 
 another Lent preacher, and incited the magistrates 
 of Friburg to complain of him as a Lutheran. The 
 Council agreed to dismiss him with an honorary 
 present, on the alleged ground of avoiding dissen- 
 sion between the favourers of the two preachers, 
 but in reality to avoid displeasing their ally of Fri- 
 burg. 68 That canton had already shown the most 
 determined purpose to prevent the introduction of the 
 Reformed doctrine into Geneva, by making repeated 
 remonstrances on this subject. 69 Not contented with 
 obtaining the removal of Bouquet it sent a deputa- 
 tion to renew the threatening of a dissolution of 
 the alliance between the two republics ; and the 
 Genevese Council, sensible of the critical state in 
 which they were placed from the hostile designs 
 of their bishop and the Duke of Savoy, engaged to 
 persevere in the measures they had taken for the 
 suppression of the obnoxious tenets. 70 
 
 The council had promised more than they could 
 perform. Shut out from public instruction, the 
 people sought it more eagerly in private, and by 
 
FIRST REFORMED CHURCH IN GENEVA. 137 
 
 shifting the places in which they met, eluded the chap. 
 search of their adversaries. They availed them- ^^_^, 
 selves of the services of such preachers as visited 1533. 
 the city, especially refugees from France and Pied- 
 mont, and, when destitute of these, the most 
 learned of their own number expounded the Scrip- 
 tures. Amongst these, the most distinguished was 
 John Guerin, an intelligent citizen, by trade a 
 bonnet-maker, who, assisted by a minister named 
 Peter Masneri, dispensed the sacrament of the 
 Supper to them, according to the simple institution 
 of Christ, on the property of Stephen Dada in Pre 
 l'Eveque, without the walls of the city. 71 This 
 happened in the month of March 1533, and on 
 that occasion a great many respectable citizens, 
 both male and female, participated of the sacred 
 feast. At the same time, they, after the example 
 of the primitive Christians, established a fund for 
 the relief of the poor. Thus was a reformed church 
 erected in Geneva, which, in the course of less than 
 three years, spread over the whole territory of the 
 republic. 72 
 
 These proceedings, which could not be long hid, 
 incensed the clergy, and sharpened their vigilance. 
 Olivetan, Froment, and Farel, severally visited their 
 brethren in Geneva, with the view of remaining 
 for some time among them ; but they were quickly 
 discovered and driven from the city. The first was 
 banished ; the second was with difficulty rescued 
 from the hands of those who were in the act of 
 throwing him over the bridge into the Rhone, and 
 the last escaped after experiencing several indig- 
 nities. Provoked by this treatment, two citizens, 
 Baudichon de la Maisonneuve and Claude Salomon, 
 
138 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 repaired privately to Berne, and complained of the 
 violence with which the cause of Reform was borne 
 1533. down. 73 In consequence of this the Bernese autho- 
 rities sent letters to the Council of Geneva, com- 
 plaining that their request for liberty to have cer- 
 tain books printed had been refused ; that those 
 who preached the truth and exposed the glaring 
 abuses in religion were expelled ; and that Farel, 
 who was under their protection, had been disgrace- 
 fully used. The reading of these letters threw the 
 ordinary council into a state of great embarrassment, 
 by obliging them to displease one or other of their 
 powerful allies. It was agreed to take the advice of 
 the Council of Sixty, and in the meantime to summon 
 the persons who were suspected of having procured 
 the remonstrance from Berne. While they were in- 
 vestigating the matter a band of citizens, to the 
 number of about two hundred, entered the hall, 
 complaining that discord was sown in the city by 
 preaching a new faith, demanding justice on those 
 who had gone to Berne, and insinuating that they 
 had been deputed by the Council. They were told 
 that the Council were proceeding in the investigation 
 of the affair ; but the leading person of the party 
 persisted in demanding instant justice, and the 
 execution of the promise made to Friburg to live as 
 their fathers had lived ; upon which the whole com- 
 pany, waving their hands, exclaimed, " Do justice, 
 and we will support you ; suffer us not to be insulted 
 by being called Papists and Pharisees." By soft 
 words they were prevailed on at last to depart peace- 
 ably. But two days after, an armed mob organised 
 by the priests, assembled in the church of St. Pierre, 
 and, having sounded the tocsin, and brought out the 
 
MORE FIGHTING. 139 
 
 artillery, proceeded to the house of Baudichon, to chap. 
 which the Protestants on hearing of the first alarm v__^ 
 had repaired with the resolution, if attacked, to sell 1533. 
 their lives dear. John Phillippe, one of the syndics, 
 and captain of the guard, who was suspected of 
 inclination to the new opinions, was knocked down ; 
 Peter Vandel, a respectable citizen, while exhorting 
 them to lay down their arms, was basely stabbed in 
 the back by Portier, secretary to the Vicar, and 
 every person who ventured to speak of peace was 
 pursued as a Lutheran. That their prey might not 
 escape, they had shut the gates of the city. The 
 cries of the priests in animating the mob were 
 dreadful, and they were only relieved by the 
 lamentations of those who expected every moment 
 to see the father meeting in deadly conflict with 
 the son, and the brother with the brother. The 
 magistrates had attempted in vain to appease them, 
 when certain merchants of Friburg, who happened 
 to be in the city, interposed with success. They 
 addressed themselves first to the priests, reproaching 
 them with acting a part so unbecoming their char- 
 acter as ministers of peace and prayer ; but they 
 spoke to the air, or rather to the storm. Their 
 remonstrances had a better effect upon the people, 
 who, after listening for a time, exclaimed, " We 
 will not murder one another to please the clergy ; 
 if they have any quarrel with the new religionists, 
 let them settle it between them, or dispute with the 
 Scripture instead of the sword." Perceiving that 
 they would be deserted, the priests agreed to dis- 
 perse. The Council took hostages from both parties, 
 and issued an edict of pacification, which provided, 
 among other things, that none should preach without 
 
140 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, the permission of the ecclesiastical superiors and the 
 
 v_™^ syndics, and that nothing should be preached but 
 
 1533. what could be proved from the Sacred Scriptures; 
 
 the first injunction being intended to quiet the 
 
 priests, and the second to please the Reformed. 74 
 
 After this, the Council finished the investiga- 
 tion of the affair which had occasioned the tumult. 
 Baudichon and Salomon being put on their oath, 
 acknowledged that they had gone to Berne to 
 solicit the interference of that republic in favour of 
 the friends of reform, but cleared the councillors 
 who were suspected of having encouraged, them to 
 take that step. 75 They were enjoined to interfere 
 no more in such matters ; but the Council having 
 deputed two declared enemies to go to Berne with 
 the answer to the late letters from that Republic, 
 they resolved to follow them ; and the deputies, on 
 obtaining an audience of the Bernese Council, were 
 confounded to see Baudichon and Salomon prepared 
 to answer any charges which might be brought 
 against them, and to present a petition in the name 
 of their Protestant brethren, praying them to grant 
 them one of their ministers to preach the pure Word 
 of God, and to use their influence with the authori- 
 ties of Geneva to obtain the use of a church for 
 him. 76 
 
 From this time the negotiations of Friburg and 
 Berne are intimately connected with the history of 
 the Reformation of Geneva, the former using all 
 their influence to obstruct, and the latter to favour 
 its progress. The interference, as we have seen, 
 began on the part of Friburg ; and when we con- 
 sider the relative position of all the parties, it is 
 impossible to condemn the reformers in Geneva for 
 
FRIBURG AND BERNE. HI 
 
 seeking aid from Berne, or the conduct of the chap. 
 latter in affording it. At first view it might be ^Jr~_, 
 thought that the interference was discreditable to 1533. 
 the cause, but it was in reality otherwise. The 
 influence of the two foreign powers, in fact, balanced 
 one another ; at the same time they kept the two 
 parties of Geneva in check ; and by preventing the 
 Council from crushing the Reformed doctrine at the 
 beginning and afterwards from adopting too hasty 
 measures for establishing it, they afforded time for 
 the spread of knowledge and conviction on the con- 
 troverted points, so that at last the change was 
 made with as little injury to the safety of the 
 State, and violence to the consciences of individuals, 
 as could reasonably be expected from the circum- 
 stances of the case, and the maxims by which men 
 were guided in that age. If the proximity of 
 Berne gave them an advantage, this was more than 
 counterbalanced by the influence which Friburg, in 
 conjunction with the bishop and the Duke of Savoy, 
 exerted, by means of the clergy, in Geneva. 
 
 It was certainly the interest of Berne to pro- 
 mote the Reformation in Geneva, as tending to 
 counterbalance the preponderance of the Roman 
 Catholic Cantons in the Confederacy. But, on the 
 other hand, it must be allowed that they confined 
 their original demands within the limits of reason 
 and justice ; and if they afterwards transgressed 
 these, they could plead the intolerance of their 
 opponents as an excuse. A canon named Vernli, a 
 native of Friburg, having been mortally wounded 
 while with sword in hand he took part in a tumult 
 which the priests had raised in Geneva, 77 the 
 Bernese sent deputies to assist in settling the 
 
142 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, dispute which this occurrence occasioned between 
 v_™_, the two Republics. The deputies, at an interview 
 1533. which they had with the Genevese Council on the 
 17th May 1533, after representing to them that the 
 religious differences had occasioned all the tumults 
 which had of late disturbed the peace of the city, 
 advised them to grant freedom of worship to both 
 parties, and to allot one of the seven churches or one 
 of the convents for the use of a Protestant preacher. 
 At a subsequent period (Oct. 11) they appealed to 
 the Council if they had ever, like those of Friburg, 
 insisted on their adopting a particular religion as a 
 condition of alliance with them, and if they had not 
 always exhorted them to live in Christian charity, 
 and to leave every one to his own conscience, without 
 doing violence to any person on account of religion. 78 
 In the meantime the Bishop Pierre de la Baume 
 had, by the advice of those of Friburg, returned 
 to Geneva. He was honourably received ; and his 
 continuance in the city must have contributed 
 greatly to check the progress of the new opinions ; 
 but not contented with throwing the leading Pro- 
 testants into prison, he embroiled himself with the 
 Council by encroaching on their rights, and being 
 thwarted in his views, abruptly left Geneva, to 
 which he never again returned. 79 His conduct 
 after leaving the place lost him all authority and 
 credit, except with the most bigoted adherents of 
 the Church of Rome. Besides joining the Duke of 
 Savoy, he encouraged the clergy in their refusal 
 to assist in paying the debts which the city had 
 contracted in defence of its independence. 80 Per- 
 ceiving that the Romish tenets could not abide the 
 test of the Bible, instead of sending able disputants 
 
THE BISHOPS EDICT. 143 
 
 versed in the controversy, he continued to urge the chap. 
 Council, by letters and messengers, to banish the v_^w 
 teachers of the new opinions, and prohibit the use 1533. 
 of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue. 81 He was 
 even so reckless as to send an edict, before Advent, 
 prohibiting the preaching of the Gospel, and requir- 
 ing this order to be publicly proclaimed in the city. 
 When it was read in the Council, the members, 
 without speaking a word, instantly rose, astounded, 
 if not at the impiety, at the gross imprudence of 
 the measure. 82 The bishop caused it to be pro- 
 claimed on the lands dependent on his abbey of 
 St. Claude, and a similar proclamation was soon 
 after made in Geneva without the authority of the 
 magistrates. 83 The truth is, that the bishop, trust- 
 ing to the preparations which he was making 
 without, and the intelligence which he held within, 
 expected at this time to make himself master of 
 the city by force. 84 
 
 In the meantime Froment, as soon as he was 
 informed by his friends of the departure of the 
 bishop, had returned to Geneva accompanied by 
 Alexander du Moulin, called also Canus, a native of 
 Paris. They resided in different parts of the town, 
 and taught for some time in private houses ; but 
 being discovered they began to preach in the open 
 air, being protected by their followers, who now 
 formed a numerous party in the city. To counter- 
 act their influence, the clergy had sent for Guy 
 Furbity, a Dominican of Mount Montmalian and 
 doctor of the Sorbonne, who commenced preaching 
 during the Christmas holidays. Though his confid- 
 ence was greater than his talents, yet as the clergy 
 had taken care to spread his fame before him, great 
 
144 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, crowds flocked to his sermons, and, leaving the 
 IIL convent which had been assigned to him by the 
 1533. Council, he took possession of the church of St. 
 Peter. He railed against those who taught the 
 Protestant doctrine in the city, calling them 
 chimney-preachers, who led captive silly women, 
 and durst not face the light of day ; compared the 
 German heretics to the executioners of Christ, 
 stigmatised those who ate flesh on Wednesdays 
 and Fridays as furious dogs, worse than Jews or 
 Turks, and exhorted his audience to have no deal- 
 ings with them. 85 Froment, who happened to be 
 present at one of these exhibitions, was unable to 
 restrain his zeal, and rising up began to refute the 
 doctrine of the preacher from the Scriptures. 
 Some of the hearers said, " He speaks well," and 
 there was a call for Furbity to answer on the spot ; 
 but the priests seeing their champion disconcerted 
 at the unexpected challenge, exclaimed, " Kill the 
 Lutheran," upon which swords were drawn, and 
 Froment was with great difficulty rescued by his 
 friends, and conveyed to a place of concealment. 
 Du Moulin, having expressed an approbation of his 
 companion's conduct in the porch, as the people 
 were leaving the church, was immediately seized, 
 and being carried before the Council, had sentence 
 of perpetual banishment pronounced upon him. s6 In 
 conducting Froment out of the church, Amy Perrin 
 said to him, " You have spoilt all; things were going 
 on well ; all is now lost." " You do not know what 
 you say," was Froment's reply, "all is gained, not 
 lost." 87 It is certain that this occurrence led to the 
 most important consequences. 88 
 
 A letter from the magistrates of Berne com- 
 
AMBASSADORS FROM BERNE AND FRIBURG. 145 
 
 plained of these proceedings, and desired Furbity to chap. 
 be apprehended, that he might answer the charges Vj '^ 
 to be brought against him by the ambassadors who 1534. 
 were to be sent to Geneva. The Council had 
 already ordained that Furbity should be advised 
 " to preach nothing but the Gospel, for the sake of 
 preventing disturbance." They now endeavoured to 
 persuade the vicar to undertake for the preacher's 
 appearance, but he refused, and being averse to 
 arrest an ecclesiastic, they placed him under a guard 
 of six soldiers, who attended him even when he 
 went to the pulpit. 89 
 
 The bearer of the letter from Berne was accom- 
 panied by Farel, who immediately commenced 
 preaching in private houses, though not so privately 
 but that it was known at Friburg in the course of 
 a few days. 90 In the beginning of 1534 ambassadors 
 from Berne and from Friburg arrived in Geneva at 
 the same time, and had separate audiences of the 
 Council during several days. The latter complained 
 that Farel was permitted to preach, and threatened 
 to dissolve the alliance unless the Genevese adhered 
 to the old religion. On this occasion Claude Salo- 
 mon, a member of council, stood up and avowed 
 his belief of the new doctrine, and his resolution, 
 through grace, to live according to the Word of 
 God and not of man. Chantemps, De Letra, and 
 Bernard, citizens who happened to be present, joined 
 in this declaration ; and the latter pleaded an article 
 of the franchises, which said that any edict or ordi- 
 nance not agreeable to reason ought to be reviewed, 
 protesting, in the meantime, that his liberty should 
 not be restrained until the matter in dispute were 
 duly examined. 91 The ambassadors of Berne, having 
 
 K 
 
146 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, complained of the injuries done to the Reformed, 
 ___^ and the calumnies which Furbity had uttered against 
 1534. themselves from the pulpit, demanded payment of 
 the debt owing to them for the succours they had 
 given to Geneva. In this emergency, the canons 
 having declined to contribute to the payment of the 
 debt, and the vicar to call the preacher to account, 
 the Council of Two Hundred, with the heads of 
 families, were called together, and endeavoured to 
 persuade the ambassadors to apply for redress to 
 the Ecclesiastical Court ; but they, looking on this 
 as a subterfuge and affront, laid the treaty of 
 alliance on the table, and threatened to remove the 
 seals ; declaring at the same time that they would 
 not quit the city until they had received payment 
 of the debt. Upon this Furbity was brought to the 
 Maison de Ville, and ordered to answer the charges 
 which should be brought against him. After refus- 
 ing for some time to answer before a secular court, 
 he at last consented to give in his replies, and also 
 to engage in a dispute which continued for several 
 days with Farel and Viret, the last of whom had 
 also come to Geneva. The dispute turned upon the 
 power of the Church, 92 the distinction of meats, and 
 the ceremonies used in baptism. Furbity showed no 
 small dexterity in the argument, but was in the end 
 adjudged, with his own consent, to beg pardon pub- 
 licly for the offence he had given to the lords of 
 Berne ; and having failed in his promise, was thrown 
 into prison. An account of the dispute, taken by a 
 notary, was printed in the course of the same year, 
 and had great influence in promoting the reformed 
 
 cause. 93 
 
 The dispute was interrupted by a tumult, in 
 
DISPUTATION INTERRUPTED. 147 
 
 which many were wounded, and a Protestant was chap. 
 killed while standing in his shop. Two persons were ^__^ 
 apprehended for the murder, and among the papers 1534. 
 of one of them were found proofs of a traitorous 
 correspondence with the bishop and Duke of Savoy. 
 The opposition which the bishop and clergy made 
 to the execution of this person, who was secretary 
 to the Grand Vicar, and the imprudence of a Cor- 
 delier, who had been chosen as Lent preacher, and, 
 contrary to the directions of the Council, introduced 
 the controverted points of religion, contributed to 
 strengthen the party of the Reformers. Farel, Viret, 
 and Froment, who still preached in private, insisted 
 for liberty to defend the truth against his mis- 
 representations, and the Bernese ambassadors urged 
 their former recommendation, that the use of a 
 church should be granted to the Reformed, with this 
 addition, that they were entitled, as the representa- 
 tives of an allied state, to have a place of worship 
 allotted to them during their stay in the city. The 
 Council, aware of the offence that this would give to 
 Friburg, evaded the demand as long as they could, 
 but at last told them that they might take one 
 themselves. 94 The report of this having gone 
 abroad, a number of citizens assembled on the 1st of 
 March, and carried Farel to the hall of the Convent 
 de Rive, where he preached to a large congregation. 
 Whether we consider the state of public feeling 
 which it indicated, or the effect it was calculated to 
 produce, we cannot fail to perceive in this occurrence 
 a certain prelude of the approaching fall of the esta- 
 blished religion. Farel saw the advantage he had 
 gained, and he was not the person to surrender his 
 post. Truth wanted only a fair field to prevail over 
 
148 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, error in the gross form in which it then appeared, 
 vj^_, and the patrons of the old religion were themselves 
 1534. conscious of their inability to cope with the zealous 
 and enlightened preachers of the reformed faith. 
 Their only hope lay in being able to silence them by 
 force. For this purpose they put in requisition all 
 the means within their reach — the superstition of 
 the multitude, the powerful support of the canton 
 of Friburg, and the influence of the bishop. 
 
 On the day after Farel made his public appear- 
 ance in the Convent de Hive, Nicole Ducrest, 
 accompanied by several citizens, presented a com- 
 plaint against him before the Council, insisting to 
 know if the preacher had acted by their authority 
 or with their consent. Soon after, the Bernese 
 ambassadors, entering the Council-room, said that 
 what they had long requested had, without their 
 knowledge, been done " by the inspiration of God," 
 for which they gave Him thanks ; and entreated 
 the Council to continue the preachers in the place 
 where Providence had put them. The Council 
 expressed their aversion to interpose in ecclesias- 
 tical affairs, and begged the ambassadors, as they 
 were about to return home, to take their preachers 
 along with them, for fear of disturbances which 
 might arise in their absence. The latter repeated 
 what they had said, and urged the Council not to 
 oppose those who had testified such a strong desire 
 to hear the Word of God in purity, adding, in 
 language sufficiently intelligible, that they con- 
 sidered this as a test of friendship to Berne. 95 
 It is easy to perceive the embarrassing situa- 
 tion in which the magistrates were now placed, 
 but the apparently contradictory nature of their 
 
FEELING IN THE COUNCIL. 149 
 
 proceedings must be ascribed in part to policy. By chap. 
 this time the Protestants formed a large party, IIL y 
 if not the majority, in the Council; 96 but they 1534. 
 were unwilling to push matters lest they should 
 irritate their allies of Friburg. 97 They appointed 
 some of them to converse in private with some of 
 the hearers of Farel, "and if possible with the 
 preacher himself," with the view of inducing them 
 to hold their meetings in the house of J. Tascon, as 
 formerly, and thus to avoid all scandal, until the 
 answer of the ambassadors of Friburg and Berne 
 should be received. In answer to the articles of 
 charge given in by Farel against Coutellier, the 
 Lent preacher, the Council promised that they 
 would not permit any blasphemy against God, or 
 abuse of their excellencies of Berne, but begged him 
 to have regard to their divisions and embarrassments. 
 On the 2d of April, the Council of Two Hundred 
 agreed that he should be told not to ring the bell of 
 Rive to sermon on that day or the following (Good 
 Friday) for the sake of observing the usual cus- 
 tom. 98 This forbearance was shown to the reformed 
 preachers in spite of the violent opposition of those 
 who supported the ancient religion. Ducrest, who 
 had a seat in the ordinary council as one of the 
 ancient syndics, and who was at the head of the 
 Popish party in the city, repeatedly attacked Farel 
 with great violence of language in the Council, and 
 threatened that if a stop was not put to his preach- 
 ing, the people would lay violent hands on him. 99 
 But the chief thing which the Reformers had to dread 
 was the opposition of the canton of Friburg. In the 
 course of the month of April, their ambassadors 
 demanded an audience of all the assemblies of the 
 
150 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap. State, from the ordinary to the General Council, in 
 ^"^ which they declared that if determined measures 
 1534. were not taken to suppress the reformation, they 
 would renounce their alliance with Geneva. With 
 difficulty they were prevailed on to defer that step 
 to a meeting of the Helvetic diet, to be held at 
 Lausanne eight days after, when they carried their 
 threat into execution by tearing off their seal from 
 the treaty between the two States. On the same 
 day on which they made their declaration before 
 the General Council, Ducrest rose up, and in the 
 name of his adherents protested that all the loss 
 and injury which might accrue to the State should 
 fall on those who had brought Farel and preachers of 
 the same stamp ; upon which the first syndic, Sept, 
 declared, with corresponding ceremony, that he and 
 the whole ordinary council had long ago protested 
 for damages against those who are the cause of the 
 present differences. 100 
 
 The breach with Friburg, which had been antici- 
 pated with alarm by the Protestants, turned out to 
 be of the greatest advantage to their cause. From 
 zeal for the Church of Rome, and jealousy of the Ber- 
 nese, that canton made a common interest with the 
 Bishop of Geneva ; and many of the adherents of the 
 old faith, trusting to the effect of this union, quitted 
 the city and took up their residence within the ter- 
 ritories of its avowed enemies, by which step they 
 brought great odium on their friends who remained 
 behind thern. Their number was increased by the 
 detection of a conspiracy between them and their 
 friends in Geneva, to deliver the city to the bishop, 
 which contributed to identify still further the cause 
 of religious reform with that of civil liberty. 101 
 
DESTRUCTION OF IMAGES. 151 
 
 The Government of Geneva persevered in the chap. 
 moderate course which they had adopted, giving ^__^ 
 encouragement to the diffusion of the truth by 1534. 
 protecting its preachers, but checking their zeal, 
 and refusing to make any change in the established 
 rites. This prudential management led to certain 
 excesses on the part of the people, who were im- 
 patient of delay and irritated by the disputes which 
 were daily carried on between the two parties. 102 
 Rumours had for some time been in circulation of a 
 design on the part of the Protestants to destroy the 
 monuments of idolatry in the churches and con- 
 vents. 103 But on the morning of the 24th of May, 
 nine images of stone placed over the gate of the 
 Convent de Rive were found thrown down, be- 
 headed, dismembered, or cast into the water. The 
 authors of this outrage could not be discovered ; all 
 that the neighbours when examined could say was 
 that a number of men with ladders were seen at 
 the spot, and that the sound of blows was heard. 
 Though the Council expressed their high dissatis- 
 faction with the deed, it is observable that they 
 characterise it, not as sacrilegious, but " rash and 
 dishonourable to the jurisdiction of the city. " 10i By 
 advice from Berne, the Council ordered the statues 
 to be replaced, but this was prevented by the op- 
 position of the people. 105 On the 28th of July, the 
 images within the convent were thrown down and 
 broken ; on which occasion the Council came to the 
 decision, " that although such images ought to be 
 removed and destroyed according to the law of God, 
 yet the actors ought not to have done it without 
 orders and permission, because it appertained to the 
 magistrate." 106 After this declaration, the Council 
 
152 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, should have taken the work into their own hand, 
 ^™_, instead of which they continued to imprison and 
 153 1. fine those who from zeal or wantonness did that 
 very thing which according to their own acknow- 
 ledgment they ought themselves to have done. 
 Nay, at a period somewhat later they condemned a 
 person to the torture for breaking an image. 
 
 In the meantime Farel, Viret, and Froment 
 continued to preach with great success in the 
 church belonging to the Convent de Rive, where 
 they not only baptized such children as were 
 brought to them, but dispensed the sacrament of 
 the Supper. A singular circumstance occurred 
 during the first celebration of that ordinance, which 
 was at the time of Pentecost. A priest fully dressed 
 in the habits in which he was accustomed to say 
 mass approached the table ; and all at once, to the 
 astonishment of the assembly, having laid aside his 
 robes, made profession of the Reformed religion, 
 and communicated. About the same time, Louis 
 Bernard, a priest attached to the Cathedral, quitted 
 his habit, and was married by Viret to a sister of 
 the celebrated Amy Perrin. 107 The vicar of St. 
 Gervais, irritated by the success of the preachers, 
 attacked them from the pulpit ; and being accused 
 of falsehood, disputed before the Council, first with 
 Viret, and afterwards with Farel, " by whom," says 
 the Register, " he was completely routed." When 
 enjoined to preach the gospel in its simplicity, he 
 asked if he was forbidden to preach at all for the 
 future ; to which the Council replied that they pro- 
 hibited him from preaching falsehood but not 
 truth. 10 
 
 Baffled in his attempt to make himself master 
 
APPRO ACHING RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION. 153 
 
 of the city by treachery, the bishop launched an chap. 
 excommunication against the magistrates, council, ,_J^, 
 and inhabitants of Geneva, in which he accused 1535. 
 them of heresy and rebellion, and forbade all to 
 assist or hold intercourse with them. Soon after 
 he transferred the Episcopal Court to Gex, a town 
 within the territories of Savoy, and delivered up 
 his Castle of Piney to the fugitives from the city, 
 including the Mamelukes. About the same time 
 the Duke of Savoy prevailed on the Pope to ex- 
 communicate the Genevese, and presuming that 
 these measures must have struck them with terror, 
 made preparation for another attack on the city. 
 On this occasion the Council acted with equal spirit 
 and wisdom. They pronounced that the bishop, by 
 abandoning the city, joining its capital enemy, and 
 engaging in different enterprises against it, could 
 no longer be considered as its pastor but its de- 
 clared foe. And having assembled the members 
 of the Chapter, and laid before them a statement 
 of facts, required them, as the See was now virtually 
 vacant, to proceed to choose a Vicar and other 
 necessary officers. The clergy listened to this 
 communication with great coldness, and to their 
 request, " whether they should perform the usual 
 service on Christmas Eve," the Council replied with 
 equal coldness, " that they might do as they thought 
 
 "109 
 
 proper. y 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1535 it was evident 
 that matters were fast hastening to a complete 
 revolution in the religious establishment of Geneva. 
 Two of the three syndics, and the greater part of 
 the Ordinary Council, were favourable to the Re- 
 formation. A majority of the inhabitants were still 
 
154 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, addicted to Popery, but their numbers daily de- 
 m ^ creased by the withdrawing of the adherents of the 
 1535 bishop and duke, while their opponents were receiv- 
 ing an accession to their number by new conver- 
 sions, and the arrival of refugees who fled from 
 persecution in France. The clergy incurred great 
 odium by an attempt made to take off the ministers 
 by poisoning their food, from which Viret, the only 
 one who tasted it, suffered severely. 110 In conse- 
 quence of this the Council ordered apartments to 
 be provided for Farel and Viret, in the Convent de 
 Rive, and the syndics went in person to see them 
 comfortably settled. This was the first act of the 
 Council giving direct countenance to the Protestant 
 ministers. 111 On the same day they gave eighteen 
 florins to a Cordelier who had preached in the 
 Church of St. Germain during Lent to the great 
 dissatisfaction of the Papists, and particularly the 
 female portion of them, 112 and assigned him lodgings 
 in the house of the cure. 113 The Protestant cause 
 derived more than empty honours from these two 
 steps. The cure of St. Germain became a convert 
 to his guest ; and a great number of the inmates of 
 the Convent de Hive were gained over by Farel 
 and Viret. A report having been circulated that 
 the canons of St. Peter meant to retire to Annecy, 
 in the territories of the Duke of Savoy, the Council 
 issued orders to secure the registers and effects 
 belonging to the Cathedral ; and these orders were 
 extended to the property of the other churches and 
 of the religious houses. 114 This led to discoveries 
 which loaded the priests with confusion, and de- 
 prived them of any influence they had hitherto 
 retained over the thinking part of the community. 
 
FRAUDS OF THE PRIESTS. 155 
 
 They had systematically practised the grossest chap. 
 frauds on the credulity of the people. In the Popish v^^ 
 Church baptism is deemed essential to salvation, 1535. 
 and notwithstanding the privilege conferred on 
 physicians and midwives, there were often instances 
 of children dying without having this ordinance 
 administered to them. But on these being taken 
 to the Aufmstinian Church of Notre Dame de 
 Grace, they were resuscitated so as to receive bap- 
 tism. On investigation, it was found that by means 
 of certain applications, the body was made to move 
 or perspire, on which the ceremony was performed, 
 amidst the ringing of bells, which proclaimed the 
 miracle over the town. 110 In the Church of St. 
 Gervais was discovered a machine emitting sounds, 
 which the priests interpreted as proceeding from the 
 saints buried beneath, who were about to take their 
 leave on account of the indifference shown to their 
 relics, and containing springs which had hold of and 
 retained the chaplets and other offerings presented 
 by superstitious devotees. These and similar in- 
 stances of false miracles and pious frauds were now 
 detected, and the deposition of the witnesses who 
 had examined them was laid before the proper 
 authorities. 116 They naturally led to a renewal of 
 those acts of violence on images which had ceased 
 for some time. The Council, thinking to put a stop 
 to the practice by making an example, condemned 
 to the torture one Patter, who had broken certain 
 statues belonging to a chapel on the bridge of the 
 Hhone. The consequence of this severe sentence 
 was that a mob, headed by some of the principal 
 citizens, repaired to the Church of St. Peter, and 
 demolished all the statues and paintings with the 
 
156 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, exception of a picture of the Virgin, which was 
 w^«^ saved by the syndics. The leaders defended them- 
 1535. selves before the Council by saying that they did 
 not consider themselves as infringing any law when 
 they destroyed what had been erected contrary to 
 the law of God ; after which there were no more 
 prosecutions for image-breakiug. 11T Though violent 
 hands were not laid on the priests, some of them 
 were treated with an indignity which two years 
 before would have subjected the city to an in- 
 terdict. 118 
 
 Among the converts made by the ministers in 
 the Convent de Bive was James Bernard, who had 
 formerly been a great opponent of Farel. He 
 addressed himself to the Council, probably in con- 
 cert with his new friends, and expressing a desire 
 to give a public account of the reasons which had 
 induced him to change his sentiments, requested 
 liberty to hold a dispute on certain articles which he 
 laid before them. The Council granted his request 
 as calculated to " enlighten the minds of the citizens 
 and restore peace to the Republic." Information 
 was sent to the Chapter to prepare for the defence 
 of their creed, and they were told that they might 
 avail themselves of the assistance of any learned 
 men whom they chose from other places. On their 
 refusal to take part in the disputation, the Council 
 resolved that it should nevertheless proceed, and 
 named secretaries and auditors. On the appointed 
 day John Chapuis, a Jacobin of the Convent de 
 Palais, and Peter Caroli, a doctor of the Sorbonne, 
 appeared in support of the established faith, and 
 disputed against Bernard, who was assisted by 
 Farel and Viret. The dispute, which was carried 
 
BERNARD'S DISPUTATION. 157 
 
 on in the presence of the syndics, and lasted during 
 the greater part of a month, led to the conversion 
 of the Popish champions. Encouraged by this 1535. 
 circumstance the citizens, who were zealous for the 
 Reformation, urged their magistrates to take steps 
 for abolishing that form of worship which had been 
 convincingly proved to be contrary to the Word 
 of God and idolatrous, but the Council, still adverse 
 to precipitate measures, excused themselves on the 
 ground that the minutes of the late dispute were 
 not yet in a state to be submitted to their delibera- 
 tive judgment. 119 In this resolution they persisted, 
 even after the preachers had given an account of 
 the dispute, and the secretaries had laid an authentic 
 copy of the proceedings on their table. 120 But the 
 people were impatient. Having assembled in great 
 numbers on the 23d of July, at the Church of 
 Magdalene, they constrained Farel to mount the 
 pulpit. The Council ordered him to confine himself 
 to the churches of Hive and St. Germain ; but that 
 intrepid and sagacious Reformer, perceiving the vast 
 importance of pushing the advantages which he had 
 gained, and the danger of yielding to temporising 
 measures at such a crisis, persisted in the course 
 which he had begun, under the cover of an appeal 
 allowed by the constitution to a higher assembly. 
 When called before the Ordinary Council, his 
 speech, though respectful, partook as much of a 
 remonstrance on their duty as an apology for his 
 own conduct. If the Reformation, so much to be 
 desired, had not, he said, prospered so much as 
 it had done by the divine blessing, the Council 
 might, from reasons of policy, have delayed coming 
 to a determination, and even have doubted if it 
 
158 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, were a work of God. But as almost the whole city 
 ^™_^ had declared for the doctrine which he preached, 
 1535. they could not fail to see the finger of Providence 
 distinctly marked on the work. It could no longer 
 be mistaken for His work, and they could not delay 
 coming to a conclusion without fighting against 
 God. As for himself, he was placed in the painful 
 situation of those who were under the necessity of 
 offending either God or men, and who did not 
 hesitate to incur the displeasure of the latter that 
 they might obey the former. " If, noble Lords, 
 you wish to be cheerfully obeyed by the servants 
 of God, issue such commands as are just, and as 
 become those who, like you, have discovered, since 
 the light of the gospel began to dawn on this city, 
 that everything which cannot be proved by sacred 
 Scripture, or which is contrary to it, should be 
 removed from religion. Give then glory to God, 
 and, as Christian magistrates, make the truth to 
 triumph everywhere over error and falsehood, since 
 the most zealous defenders of Popery, confounded 
 in the late dispute, had been constrained to 
 acknowledge the truth of the holy religion preached 
 by us, and to do homage to it by their conver- 
 sion." He concluded by renewing his demand 
 for the convocation of either the assembly of Sixty 
 or of Two Hundred. 121 The refusal of this request 
 increased the popular agitation, and on the 8th of 
 August, the citizens having assembled in great 
 crowds bore Farel in triumph to the church of St. 
 Peter, where he preached for the first time. He 
 was immediately summoned before the Council, and 
 chid for transgressing their orders ; to which he 
 replied that they had shut him up to the course he 
 
FAREL BEFORE THE COUNCIL. 159 
 
 had taken, by refusing to grant him a hearing before chap. 
 a higher assembly- — a request which was seldom if ^^^s 
 ever denied. The magistrates could no longer resist 1535. 
 a demand which was seconded by the general voice 
 of the inhabitants. Accordingly, on the 10th of 
 August, Farel, accompanied by Viret, some of his 
 late converts from the monks, and many respectable 
 citizens, appeared before the Council of Two Hun- 
 dred. The occasion was of the deepest importance, 
 for, in the opinion of both parties, the fate of the two 
 religions in Geneva turned on the deliberations of that 
 day. Farel was aware of this, and acquitted himself 
 in a manner worthy of his character and suited to the 
 emergency. He addressed the assembly in a speech 
 replete with that unaffected and manly eloquence 
 which is so much fitted to win an audience to the 
 sentiments of the speaker, and without any mixture 
 of that violence into which he was sometimes be- 
 trayed by the warmth of his temper. His discourse 
 turned chiefly on the dispute lately held under the 
 authority of the great council ; he touched on the 
 principal points which had been discussed, and then 
 confined himself to the sacrifice of the mass and 
 images, reading extracts from the minutes taken by 
 the secretaries, and showing that these leading 
 points in the Popish worship had no authority in 
 the Word of God ; he adverted to the steps which 
 had been taken to induce the clergy to come for- 
 ward in defence of these doctrines, and their refusal 
 generally to attend the meeting, from which he 
 drew the inference that they shunned the light, 
 and shut their eyes on the truth ; he referred 
 triumphantly to the complete failure of those who 
 did appear to support the old faith, as esta- 
 
160 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, blished by their own voluntary confessions ; as to 
 v_?JL/ the Roman ecclesiastics who opposed the doctrine 
 1535. which he, along with others, maintained, he pro- 
 tested in his own name and that of his colleagues 
 that they wished no harm to their persons, but 
 contented themselves with offering up fervent prayers 
 for their conversion. He then launched out into an 
 encomium on the beauty and sanctity of the doctrine 
 of the Gospel, when stripped of the cumbrous 
 additions by which superstition and human autho- 
 rity had deformed it ; after which, yielding to the 
 impulse of zeal for the cause which he was defend- 
 ing, he exclaimed, " We are ready," speaking of 
 himself and his colleagues, " we are ready to seal 
 with our blood the truth of the religion which we 
 announce. We are not afraid of the most cruel 
 death, if it is necessary to support the good cause 
 in which we have embarked. We will cheerfully 
 endure it ; yea, we now condemn ourselves to it ; pro- 
 vided the priests can make it appear that we have 
 advanced either in the dispute or in our sermons 
 anything contrary to the Word of God." He con- 
 cluded with an earnest exhortation to the Council 
 to declare without delay either for or against the 
 doctrines which he preached ; and then, falling on 
 his knees, he offered up a most impressive prayer, 
 that God would enlighten the minds of all the 
 members of the Council in deliberating on a matter 
 in which His own glory and the salvation of a whole 
 people were so deeply involved. 
 
 A deep impression was made by this powerful 
 appeal. But still the Council, steady to their prin- 
 ciple of caution, declined coming to an immediate 
 decision. After a long discussion, conducted with 
 
THE COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS. 161 
 
 much calmness and order, they came at last to the chap. 
 following resolutions : — First, That the ecclesiastics ^^w 
 should be called before the Great Council, to be told 1535. 
 the result of the dispute, and to learn from them if 
 they had yet anything to say in support of the mass 
 and images ; Secondly, That in the meantime a stop 
 should be put to the destruction of images, and those 
 which had been thrown down should be restored, pro- 
 vided the priests would show that the use of them 
 was agreeable to Scripture ; and Thirdly, That the 
 celebration of mass in the city should be discontinued 
 until contrary orders were given. 122 Two days after 
 this, the inmates of the several religious houses were 
 called before the ordinary Council, to receive intima- 
 tion of these resolutions. A summary of the dispute 
 having been read to them, they were asked if they 
 had anything to say against the arguments of the 
 Reformed preachers. They replied that they could 
 say nothing against them ; that they were simple 
 persons who had been accustomed to live as their 
 fathers had taught them ; that they never inquired 
 into such things, and begged to be allowed to do as 
 they had hitherto done. On the afternoon of the 
 same day, the syndics, with two councillors, went, 
 in the name of the Council, to make the same 
 intimation to the canons and parish priests, who 
 refused to hear the summary of the dispute read, 
 or to listen to anything that might be said by 
 Farel ; desiring that they might be permitted to 
 live in their accustomed manner without molesta- 
 tion. 123 An attempt was made by the adherents of 
 the old religion in the Council to delay the final 
 sentence against it, but the argument on which they 
 chiefly rested their plea, shows that their cause had 
 
 L 
 
162 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, sunk very low. They pleaded that nothing should 
 >_,. '._, be finally decided until they should obtain the 
 1535. advice of their allies of Berne, who were better 
 acquainted than they with such matters. Accord- 
 ingly, on the 27th of August, the Council made 
 their provisional act against images and the mass 
 absolute, and appointed the public worship to be 
 conducted agreeably to the "Word of God. 124 The 
 paintings in the churches were defaced, and the 
 statues and relics removed. 125 From this time, 
 Farel, Viret, and Froment preached, dispensed the 
 sacraments, and celebrated marriage, as the regular 
 ministers of the city. 126 
 
 The Abbe de Bonmont, vicar of the diocese, 
 accompanied by a number of the clergy, secular and 
 regular, left the city upon this change. They were 
 allowed to depart peaceably, and to take their 
 private property along with them, though it was 
 known that the greater part intended to take up 
 their abode among the declared enemies of the 
 city. 127 The means used to retain the nuns of St. 
 Claire may be viewed as a testimony to their good 
 conduct. When the syndics waited on them to 
 express the wishes of the Council, the good ladies 
 addressed them in these words — " Gentlemen, for 
 the honour of God, be so good as allow us to depart, 
 and give us a convoy so far as Perise, whence we 
 will go to Annecy ; for his highness the Duke has 
 allotted us a dwelling there, and invited us thither 
 two months ago, through our relations and friends, 
 to whom we have sent a message to have the place 
 ready for us." 12S They were told that their request 
 should be laid before the Council, and they would 
 receive an answer. Further means were used to 
 
PROTESTANT WORSHTP. 163 
 
 persuade them to remain, and Farel preached to chap. 
 
 them in the convent on the words of the Gospel, , ", 
 
 " Mary arose and went to the hill country," from 1535. 
 which he proved that though a pattern of sanctity, 
 the Virgin was no recluse. But the Council, finding 
 that they persevered in their resolution, granted 
 them liberty to go when they pleased, and to take 
 their clothes, books, and other property along with 
 them. One of them embraced the Reformation. 129 
 The rest, to the number of nine, were escorted by 
 the Syndics and Lieutenant. Some of them having 
 been upwards of thirty years immured in a cloister, 
 expressed great alarm at the sight of the cows and 
 oxen which were grazing in the fields, and which 
 they mistook for lions and bears. 130 
 
 The Council now took order with the churches 
 and religious houses with their rents. Several of 
 the churches and monasteries had already been 
 demolished, when measures were adopted for con- 
 tracting the city with a view to its defence. The 
 Cathedral Church of St. Peter's was now fitted up 
 for receiving a congregation, and public worship 
 was for some time confined to it and St. Gervais, 
 either because these were sufficient for the numbers 
 who attended, or on account of the paucity of 
 Protestant ministers. 131 The Convent de Rive was 
 turned into a public school, and the Nunnery de Ste. 
 Claire into an hospital for the poor and diseased. 
 The jewels and ornaments of the churches and 
 monasteries were sold, and the produce, after pro- 
 viding for such of the priests as embraced the Re- 
 formation, was appropriated, along with the ecclesi- 
 astical rents, to the support of the hospital. These 
 arrangements were ratified by the General Council or 
 
164 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, assembly of the people, called expressly for that 
 
 > ', i purpose. 132 
 1535. These changes were not made without resistance 
 
 on the part of the possessors of the ecclesiastical 
 goods, or without ebullitions of popular feeling on 
 the part of the Reformed. The priests of the Mag- 
 dalene refused to yield up their vestments and other 
 ornaments, and while the Council from motives of 
 forbearance delayed to enforce their order, the 
 rabble in some instances commenced the work of 
 private pillage. 133 A considerable number of the 
 Popish priests still remained in the city, where 
 they said mass, baptized and celebrated marriage 
 in private. These practices, together with the 
 fresh discoveries made as to the frauds which 
 they had practised on the credulity of the people, 
 and their vicious lives, irritated the more zealous 
 Protestants against them. The magistrates, how- 
 ever, were disposed to treat them with lenity. It 
 having been reported that those who appeared in 
 sacerdotal dress were in danger of being stripped, 
 as they were disliked by the military, the Council 
 agreed that they should be mildly advised to lay 
 aside their vestments, and to desist from adminis- 
 tering the sacraments unless they were prepared 
 to prove that their form was according to the Word 
 of God. 134 The complaints against them being 
 renewed, the Council of Two Hundred ordered 
 them to appear before the ordinary Council, and 
 to be dealt with more closely. They accordingly 
 made their appearance "in great numbers," says 
 the Register. Being asked if they were ready to 
 defend the mass and other points of Popery, they 
 answered that they could not take upon them the 
 
POPTSH WORSHIP PROHIBITED. 165 
 
 defence of such things for want of sufficient know- chap. 
 ledge — "quia nee sint sufficientes nee sciant." They v____, 
 were then told that they were at liberty to call 1535. 
 to their assistance learned men from other places, 
 and on their declining this proposal, they were 
 enjoined to desist from the performance of religious 
 service, and to go to the Protestant sermons " to 
 learn how to live." The Council gave them still 
 another hearing on the 6th of December, when they 
 were again asked if they would comply with the 
 orders which they had received. One of them 
 named De l'Orme, said, that he had long performed 
 mass by constraint, and wished to remain in the 
 city. The rest pleaded that if they attended the 
 Protestant sermons they would not be recognised 
 as priests in other places to which they might 
 retire ; upon which they were ordered to change 
 their dress and abstain from dispensing the sacra- 
 ments, or else to quit the city. 135 Individuals 
 among them who remained were at intervals com- 
 plained of for transgressing the law, and slightly 
 punished. 136 
 
 According to our ideas of religious liberty and 
 the proper business of civil magistrates, the Genevese 
 authorities overstepped their limits in thus prohibit- 
 ing entirely and under civil pains the ceremonies 
 of the Popish worship. But in judging of their 
 conduct we must not forget the maxims of the age 
 in which they lived and the circumstances in which 
 they were placed. No enlightened person who feels 
 for the best interests of mankind, will be disposed 
 to pass a severe censure on their proceedings, or to 
 identify their conduct with that of Roman Catholic 
 powers at that time. They made no inquisition 
 
166 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, into the private opinions of individuals, and the 
 v™^ penalties by which they sought to support their 
 1535. laws about religious matters were moderate, and 
 inflicted with evident reluctance. When we view 
 the complex character of the Popish superstition 
 and hierarchy in connection with the manners of 
 the existing clergy, secular and regular, can we 
 wonder that a people whose eyes were suddenly 
 opened on the truth should have thought it their 
 duty to proscribe such a system of ignorance, 
 imposture and profligacy, and to abate it as a 
 nuisance equally revolting to religion and good 
 morals, and no less degrading to the members of 
 a free state, than it was repugnant to the principles 
 of Christianity and the Bible ? Nor must we forget 
 the danger to which the political independence and 
 liberties of Geneva were then exposed from a 
 determined supporter of the Church of Rome, to 
 whose interests the clergy as a body were devotedly 
 attached. 
 
 The city was at this time blockaded by the arms 
 . of the Duke of Savoy, and the inhabitants were in 
 daily expectation of an assault. In these circum- 
 stances nothing but unanimity and mutual con- 
 fidence could have saved them. The cautious policy 
 of the Bernese Republic reduced them to the brink 
 of ruin, by obliging them to seek the assistance of 
 the French Court, from whose ambitious projects 
 they were preserved by the defeat of the first 
 cordon of troops sent to their succour. This event 
 opened the eyes of their allies to their own interest, 
 and the army of Berne, strengthened by auxiliaries 
 from Neuchatel, dispersed the Savoyards and raised 
 the siege of Geneva. The conquest which they 
 
CARE OF THE COUNTRY PARISHES. 167 
 
 made of the Pays de Vaud in this campaign should chap. 
 have been deemed by the Canton of Berne an ample IIL 
 reward for their brotherly assistance : it is humili- 1536. 
 ating to think that they demanded a part of the 
 Genevan territory in addition, though they were 
 induced to rest satisfied with a pecuniary indemnifi- 
 cation. 
 
 During this struggle the Reformed ministers 
 recommended themselves to the citizens by their 
 patriotic exertions. Farel in particular availed him- 
 self of the circumstances in which they were placed 
 to press upon all ranks the necessity of a reformation 
 of manners. In repeated addresses to the ordinary 
 Council and that of Two Hundred, he exhorted 
 them fervently to turn to God, to correct every 
 species of vice among the people, to see that they 
 attended to the Word of God and prayer, to 
 cultivate union among themselves, and to seek the 
 peace of the city and the good of Christendom. 137 
 At his solicitation the Council turned their atten- 
 tion to the country parishes, and resolved that 
 measures should be taken for extending the refor- 
 mation and means of religious instruction to 
 them. 138 On the 3d of April 1536, the village 
 priests appeared before the Council. To the ques- 
 tion of the first syndic Savoye, if they were willing 
 to live henceforth according to the Evangelical 
 doctrine, they answered at first in the affirmative, 
 but afterwards said they wished to live as their 
 fathers, who were good folk, had lived before them ; 
 but if their neighbours altered their mode of living 
 they would do the same. 139 The syndic said they 
 had books which deceived the people, to which 
 they replied they had a Postille on the Gospel. 
 
168 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 Farel, whose attendance had been required, told 
 them that they should to keep the gospel rather 
 1536. than the Postille, which meant, after it, adding, 
 says the Register, " many excellent advices." They 
 answered by the mouth of the priest Malva, that 
 all which had been said was true, but requested 
 that a month might be granted them to read the 
 Gospel, and inform themselves better. This was 
 granted with an injunction to them to abstain from 
 all Popish practices, and an exhortation to the 
 people to attend the sermons of the Reformed 
 preachers. 140 "The venerable Messire Guillaume 
 Furbity," doctor in theology, 141 now requested to 
 be heard. He said he had listened to Farel's 
 exhortation to the priests, which in his judgment 
 was entirely accordant with the Sacred Scriptures. 
 
 In the course of the summer (1536) the Pro- 
 testant Church in Geneva was formally organised. 
 According to previous arrangements, the General 
 Council met on the 21st of May. The first syndic 
 Savoye rose in the midst of the Assembly and asked, 
 with an audible voice, if there was any present 
 who knew or wished to say anything against the 
 doctrine then preached in the city. After a pause, 
 during which no one spoke, he next asked if they 
 were ready to give their solemn promise to live 
 according to that doctrine, upon which the whole 
 people assembled arose, and lifting up their hands, 
 promised and sware to God that by His help they 
 would live according to the holy Evangelical re- 
 ligion, and Word of God lately preached to them, 
 renouncing the mass, idols, images, and every other 
 Papal abuse, and that they would live in union, 
 and obedience to justice. The scene was deeply im- 
 
INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH. 169 
 
 pressive. At the same meeting it was agreed that chap. 
 provision should be made for the instruction of the , IIL ^ J 
 youth, that all parents should send their children 1536. 
 to school, and that such salaries should be given to 
 the masters as should enable them to teach the 
 children of the poor gratuitously. 142 
 
 There was a public school in Geneva before the 
 Reformation. In 1510 the schoolhouse is called a 
 new building. It was situated near Rive, opposite 
 to the convent of the Cordeliers ; and there was a 
 place near it called D'arriere VEcole, where they 
 played at crossbow. 143 On the 15th of May 1528, 
 Crespin the rector, or head-master of the school, 
 having left the place, another person was employed 
 on trial. On the 3d January 1531 the schoolhouse 
 was ordered to be shut until a master was found, as 
 the children were destroying it. 144 January 17, 
 1533, Jean Christin was appointed master for three 
 months, with a salary of five florins a month. 145 
 
 The old house being cold, and liable to great 
 interruption from the noise of labourers through 
 the day and of watchmen by night, the Council, 
 on the representation of the rector, ordered him 
 to remove with the scholars to the Convent de 
 Rive, where there were empty rooms and a large 
 hall. 146 The masters of the school appear to have 
 been all priests and hostile to the Reformation. 
 In consequence of their refusal to remove to the 
 Convent de Rive, the two assistants were thrown 
 into prison ; 147 and the rector, Christin, scrupled to 
 conform to the new laws as to religion. 148 Com- 
 plaints being made that the children were neglected, 
 the Council, after some delay, superseded Christin, 
 and made Anthony Saunier, who first came to 
 
170 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap. Geneva with Farel, and had lately returned to it, 
 ^^^ rector in his place, with a good salary, and the 
 1536. assistance of two regents. 149 There was also a 
 school for girls established. 150 
 
 The ministers of the city at this time were 
 Farel, Viret, Froment, and Christofle or Fabri. 
 In the country parishes Henry de la Mare was 
 pastor of Jussy, 151 and Satigny, Cologny, Russin, 
 and probably some other places, had either stated 
 ministers or preachers. For some time the minis- 
 ters were supported by an allowance from the 
 Council, but afterwards the ecclesiastical revenues 
 in the several parishes were appropriated to them, 
 though it would appear that these had been reduced 
 by allotments to the hospital and otherwise. 152 
 From the first establishment of the Reformation 
 in Geneva, the observance of all holidays, with 
 the single exception of the Christian Sabbath, was 
 abolished. 153 This cannot be imputed to any in- 
 difference to either prayers or preaching. Besides 
 the ordinary hours of public worship, there was a 
 sermon appointed every Lord's Day at four o'clock 
 in the morning for servants. 154 The establishment 
 of the Reformation was accompanied by laws against 
 vice and profaneness. Proclamation was made 
 against whoredom and blasphemy, and innkeepers 
 were prohibited from allowing profane swearing, 
 or playing at cards or dice, and from giving drink 
 to any person during sermon, especially on Sunday, 
 or after nine o'clock at night. 155 Amy Cortet, the 
 lieutenant of the city, was confined for three days 
 on bread and water, and afterwards deprived of his 
 office, for keeping a concubine. 156 
 
 Such great changes, especially when accom- 
 
OBJECTIONS TO NEW REGULATIONS. 171 
 
 panied with so rigid a superintendence over morals, chap. 
 could not fail to be displeasing to many. The ^^^ 
 words of the sagacious Bonnivard to those who 1536. 
 took the first steps in the work of reformation 
 now turned out to be a prophecy ; and it is singular 
 that he should himself have furnished an exemplifi- 
 cation of their truth. In spite of his wisdom and 
 the public spirit which he had displayed, there are 
 not wanting proofs that the ex-prior of St. Victor's 
 had not escaped from the vices of his order, and 
 that he found some difficulty to contain himself 
 within the limits prescribed by a reformed code of 
 laws. 157 Few have confidence to complain of being 
 restrained from acts grossly immoral, how reluct- 
 antly soever they may submit to it ; but the Council 
 gave occasion for complaint, by obliging, at the 
 suggestion of the ministers, all, and especially those 
 in public office, to attend the Protestant sermons, 
 which afforded a plausible plea for resistance to 
 others beside those who felt conscientious scruples. 
 Several councillors were summoned for absenting 
 themselves from church. One of them, Balard, an 
 ancient syndic, defended himself by reminding his 
 brethren of the arguments which they had them- 
 selves very lately employed. Being asked why he 
 refused to hear the Word of God, he replied that 
 he believed in God who would teach him by the 
 Spirit, but could not believe in the preachers ; that 
 the citizens ought not to be constrained to go to 
 sermon against their consciences ; and that the 
 Protestants themselves had said at the beginning 
 of this affair, that no one should exercise dominion 
 over conscience. Being asked if he was ready to 
 assign any good reason for not complying with the 
 
!72 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, public order, he answered, " I wish to live according 
 IIL to the Gospel, and not according to the interpreta- 
 
 "TsST"' tion of any particular individual, but according to 
 the interpretation of the Holy Spirit by the holy 
 church universal, in which I believe." 158 Being 
 again asked if he was ready to comply, he said, 
 he must first be taught by a higher authority than 
 that of such preachers ; on which he was told that 
 if he went not to sermon with his family, he must 
 quit the town within six days. This decision was 
 confirmed by the Council of Sixty, but we find 
 Balard afterwards employed to audit the accounts 
 of the treasurer, and still in the city on the 24th of 
 November, when his shop was shut, and he was told 
 that "he must do as others and go to the ser- 
 mon." 159 Others without professing any attachment 
 to Popery insisted that they should be allowed to 
 live at liberty, and not subjected to the remon- 
 strances of the preachers. 160 Thus it is that com- 
 pulsion in religion defeats its own object, prejudices 
 persons against the truth, and enables them to 
 impart an air of reason to conduct which rests 
 on the most unreasonable of all things, implicit 
 belief in human authority, or which may be traced 
 to sheer obstinacy, or to some principle still more 
 reprehensible. We see all this, and we condemn 
 it, with a severity which a fuller acquaintance with 
 the circumstances of those who committed the fault 
 would teach us to mitigate, while we perhaps cherish 
 opinions equally removed from sound reason, and 
 flatter ourselves that we are in the right, merely 
 because we keep at the greatest distance from an 
 extreme, into which we are under no temptation to 
 run. 
 
NOTES. 173 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1 Spon, Hist, de Geneve, torn. i. p. 27, note (m). 
 
 2 In an agreement entered into in 1155 between Ardutius, Bishop of 
 Geneva, and Ainie, Count of Genevois, with the view of putting an end 
 to the injuries which the latter had done to the former, it is declared, 
 inter alia, that " Comes est et bonus advocatus sub episcopo esse debet." 
 (Spon, Preuves pour VHistoire de Geneve, No. iii.) 
 
 2 b See article from Galiffe entitled, " Geneva a mercantile people." 
 
 3 In consequence of what they suffered by sending at the request of 
 the Bishop some troops to defend the Valleysans against the confederated 
 Cantons of Switzerland, they obtained in 1477 a letter from the Bishop 
 with concurrence of the Chapter, declaring that the citizens and 
 inhabitants of Geneva should not be bound for the future, either by him 
 or his successors, to take arms for any foreign prince or state, but 
 solely for the defence of the city, its suburbs and territory. (Spon, 
 Preuves, No. lvii.) 
 
 4 See particularly the decree of the Emperor Frederic in 1162, called 
 the Golden Bull. (Spon, Preuves, No. vii.) 
 
 5 See the letter of Pope John vm. to the clergy and people of Geneva 
 in Spon, Hist., torn. i. p. 35, note (t). 
 
 6 Comp. Flournois, liemarques sur les extraits, under the heads Plead- 
 ing and Vulg. tongue. 
 
 7 This of course did not include the trial of ecclesiastics who claimed 
 exemption from the civil power. In May 1st, 1472, " the three members 
 of the city" ("trois membres de la ville") are mentioned; viz., the 
 Chapter, the Episcopal Council, and the Council of the city. The first 
 seems to have judged in matters ecclesiastical ; the second in civil and 
 criminal causes relating to the clergy ; and the third in what related to 
 the citizens and common good. (Flournois, Remarqucs- sur les extraits 
 des Registres Publics j art. Trois, etc.). Frequent collisions must have 
 taken place between so many authorities, whose powers were far from 
 being accurately defined. 
 
 8 This gave the syndics power over the clergy during the night. In 
 1505 a young lady was carried off by John Braset, a canon. The minute 
 of council respecting this outrage contains the following words : — 
 "Attento praesertim quod post solis occasuni Nob. Syndici super 
 quibuscunque personis habeant omnimodam jurisdictionem." (Extraits 
 des Registres Publics ecrits en Latin. M. le Clerc, ad Jan. 21, 1505.) 
 
 9 Spon, i. 70. This deed was printed in the year 1507, and is 
 
174 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP, not included in the Preuves published at the end of the second edition 
 
 III- of Spon's History. Moudon, Nyon, Morges, and other cities in the 
 
 v — -r— J Pays-de-Vaud, subject to the Duke of Savoy, claimed and obtained the 
 
 ratification of similar privileges. (Documens relatifs a VHistoire du 
 
 Pays-de-Vaud, pp. xiv-xvii.) 
 
 10 In 1447, the Bishop, Jean-Louis, took steps for establishing a per- 
 petual alliance between the Helvetic body and Geneva, but, the citizens 
 opposing it, he was obliged to restrict it to a treaty during his own 
 lifetime. (Spon, i. 94.) 
 
 11 Flournois remarks that while the Bishop, the Duke, the Vidomne, 
 and all other officers, took oaths before the Syndics on entering the city, 
 or on assuming their charges, the Syndics took no oath to any of them. 
 (Eemarques sur les extraits des Registres Publics; Art. Liberies de Geneve.) 
 
 12 Spon, torn. i. p. 112, note (o), and p. 120, note (x). 
 
 13 Eidgnots has, not without good reason, been considered as the 
 proper origin of the name Huguenots, given to the Protestants of France. 
 See Miiseum JSaganum, torn. iv. part i. pp. 152-162. 
 
 14 Spon, i. pp. 120-157. 
 
 15 Bonnivard, prior of St. Victor, who was intimately acquainted with 
 Berthelier, says that he deserved the title of republican more than any 
 man he ever knew, and informs us that he said to him one day, " The love 
 of liberty will cost you your benefice and me my head." The heroism 
 with which he suffered produced a deep sensation ; and the following 
 lines, made in allusion to the words in Psalm cxv. 17, which he had uttered 
 on his trial, struck terror into the hearts of his persecutors : — 
 
 Quid mini mors nocuit? Virtus post fata virescit. 
 Nee cruce nee ssevi gladio perit ilia Tyranni. 
 
 16 Spon, i. 157-185. 
 
 1T Ibid. i. p. 172, 181-2. 
 
 18 Ibid. p. 199, comp. p. 190. 
 
 19 Bonnivard, De VAncienne et Nouvelle Police de Geneve. Flournois, 
 Remarques sur les extraits des Registres Publics, ad Feb. 23, 1527. 
 Flournois says the " grand Conseil " in former times was usually called 
 " Le Conseil des 50 quinquagenarium," because it consisted of fifty 
 persons, not counting the " Conseil Ordinaire," though a much greater 
 number was sometimes added to it. Even after the change the Council 
 of 60 was called by the old name " le Conseil des 50," and the title 
 of "Grand Conseil" was sometimes given indifferently to that of 60 
 and of 200. Anne" Porral, on assuming the office of secretary (23d 
 February 1527), calls the " Petit Conseil" the "Conseil des 25,"— a 
 name which it had never before received ; and the " grand Conseil extra- 
 ordinaire," which was summoned February 24th, 1526, " un Conseil des 
 200 fort general ;" but, adds Flournois, the first time the Conseil des 
 200 properly so-called is mentioned is on April 20th, 1527. 
 
 20 Bonnivard states that an aged person who had been often Syndic in 
 the time of Duke Philibert (from 1497 to 1504), when they went to the 
 
NOTES. 175 
 
 Maison de Ville in summer, they caused all the windows to be thrown 
 open, that they might enjoy the fresh air ; they then talked of the ships 
 which the Duke and his brother, the Bastard, were constructing, after 
 which they caused their allowance to be brought, which was a sou and a 
 glass of Malmsey, upon which they retired and fed on the common 
 good, which did not then amount to more than 3000 florins. After the 
 forcible entrance of the Duke into the city, and in order to pay for the 
 army of Friburg (1519), a tax on flesh was imposed, which produced 
 5000 florins, and thus raised the revenue to 8000 florins. (De VAnc. et 
 Nouv. Police.) 
 
 21 Spon, i. 200-202. 
 
 22 Ibid. i. 212-213. 
 
 23 There were a prior and nine monks in the Monastery of St. 
 Victor. The nuns of Ste. Claire at the establishment of the Reformation 
 do not appear to have exceeded thirteen. (Spon, i. 259, note (r).) 
 
 24 Flournois, Remarques sur les Extraits des Registres Publics, art. 
 Chanoines. Scaliger states that the Canons of Geneva were all Apostolical 
 Notaries. (Scalig. Secunda, Art. Geneve.) 
 
 25 Enquete contre un Eveque de Geneve. Spon, Preuves, pp. 401, 
 441. Pierre de Sissons, who held the See between 1213 and 1219, is the 
 prelate referred to ; and though he had incurred the displeasure of his 
 Chapter, it does not appear that he had conducted himself worse than 
 his predecessors or successors. 
 
 20 Flournois, Remarques, under the head of Lent Preachers. Frag- 
 metis Hist, avant la Reformation, 25th December 1486. 
 
 27 Flournois, Remarques under the head of Ignorance of the Priests ; 
 speaking of the "Pr^dicateur de Careme" (in 1528), he says, "On lui 
 donne le salaire ordinaire, qui est ff. 17 : 6." 
 
 28 Le Clerc, Extraits des Reg. Publics, February 29th and March 13th 
 1516. See an account of a singular preacher, a Cordelier, an. 1517, in 
 Flournois, Remarques, Art. Singular Cordelier. 
 
 29 Formerly when the priests fell into any irregularity of life, they 
 were suspended, and sent to Rome to do penance, but afterwards a 
 pecunial fine was substituted. (Spon, PreiCves, p. 414.) 
 
 30 I shall only mark the dates under different heads of the acts of 
 Council which Flournois has collected on this subject. 
 
 Dissolute lives of the Cordeliers de Rive, September 2d 1483, June 
 13th, July 11th, November 28th 1486; June 24th 1491 ; June 20th 
 1503 (they refuse to be reformed) ; May 10th 1527, and May 4th 1534. 
 
 Dissolute lives of the Jacobins or Dominicans de Palais, July 22d 
 1513 (on which occasion Frere Marchepala and some others are accused 
 of an unnatural crime) ; June 20th and 23d 1522. 
 
 Dissolute lives of the Augustinians de Notre Dame de Grace, August 
 29th 1483, and September 9th 1491. 
 
 Dissolute lives of the priests. October 10th 1513 ; July 12th 1527 ; 
 April 1st 1530, and August 18th 1534. 
 
176 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP. The Register contains nothing unfavourable as to the nuns of Ste. 
 
 TTT 
 
 I11 - Claire, and it seems ungenerous in Flournois to say of them, Si non cas- 
 V— "^ tiores saltern cautiores. Their sisters of the order of St. Francis were 
 
 not equally unblameable : " Praedicator Magdalene dixit quod omnes 
 mulieres, quae gesserant et gerunt in prsesentiaruni habitum Divi Fran- 
 cisci erant ribaldae et meretrices." (Le Clerc, Extrait des Reg. Pub. in 
 Latin, June 10, 1516.) 
 
 31 Spanheira, Geneva Restituta, p. 22. Ruchat, Hist, de la Reform, de 
 la Suisse, torn. ii. p. 277. 
 
 32 Roset, Extraits des Reg. Publics, Dec. 10, 1535. 
 
 33 In the Register, 22d May 1524, mention is made of " un prisonnier 
 au chateau de l'Isle pour crime d'her^sier." Upon this Flournois re- 
 marks that the words hereticus and heretica, in the style of the original, 
 mean sorcier and sorciere, called herege in the language of the country. 
 This use of the words continued for some time after the Reformation. 
 For example, in January 2, 1538, the Register speaks of "femme 
 heretique soupconnee d'heregerie," and on the 8th of the same month 
 another is mentioned as "heretique," because " she caused the sheep to 
 die." (Flournois, Remarq., Art. Heretiques.) May 13, 1527, " Fuit 
 propositum de quadam heretica et de quodam sacrilego detentis." They 
 were condemned to be beheaded. In a note Le Clerc says, " Sorciere : 
 a voce heretica formatur vox vernacula herejox, herege quae significant 
 sorciarium, sorciariam." (Extraits des Registres escrits en Latin.) 
 
 Those who practised sorcery and witchcraft were considered as having 
 renounced their baptism, and the trial of this crime was committed as a 
 species of heresy to the inquisitors. 
 
 34 « p r ieur et quelques moines du Couvent de Palais apres plusieurs 
 debats au sujet de l'office de l'Inquisition, consentent a priere du Conseil 
 que Frere F. Martin religieux du dit couvent exerce cet office encore 
 quelque temps." (Flournois, Extraits, 22 Juin 1529.) 
 
 35 Spanheim, Genev. Rest., p. 32-3. 
 
 36 Flournois, Extraits des Reg. Publics, 17 Janvier 1528. 
 
 37 Flournois characterises him as "grand ennemy de la Messe, et 
 hardis a tout entreprendre sans craindre des suites." Galiffe informs us 
 that in 1513 he compounded with Jeanette, widow of Meynard Sautier, 
 for the murder of her son Claude. He charges him also with playing a 
 base part in 1533, by exciting the Bernese to force the Reformation on 
 his fellow-patriots, adding that " he became one of the most fanatical 
 disciples of the Reformation." This and similar epithets applied to the 
 Reformers show the leanings of the learned author. (Not. Gfaieal., torn, 
 i. p. 387.) 
 
 38 See Flournois, Remarq., Art. Eating flesh during Lent, on 8th Feb. 
 1528. 
 
 39 In 1519, Bonnivard was deprived of his priory by the Duke of 
 Savoy. (Spon.) 
 
 40 Spanheim, 34-35. 
 
NOTES. 177 
 
 41 In September 1536, the Council allow Bonnivard a pension of 200 CHAP. 
 crowns a year, and give him the house inhabited by P. Gruet,* Chanoine, HI- 
 to belong to him and his legitimate children, " pendant qu'il vivre v """~ s .^-"'' 
 honestement dans la ville, et non autrement." He is also made a burgess 
 (Flournois, Extraits, Sept. 4, 1536). He involved himself in debt, had a 
 
 tutor appointed to him, and was more than once in prison. (Vide Ext. 
 March 14, 1539 ; May 9, 1539 ; June 11, 16, and 25, 1545 ; Aug. 30, 
 1548.) 
 
 42 Flournois, Extraits, Feb. 7, 1528, i.e. 1529. This is the first time 
 the word Lutheran occurs in the registers. April 24, 1530, the Council 
 of Two Hundred agreed to return an answer to the ambassadors of the 
 King of Hungary and the bishop, that it was judged proper to supersede 
 the proclamation of indulgences for the plague, and to say " que, pour 
 nous, nous sommes prets a rendre nostre devoir, rnais que nos voisins 
 sont nos ennemis, et que nous ne savons point d'intelligence que le Due 
 de Savoye peut avoir pour detroire la ville." (Ibid.) 
 
 43 Spon, i. 186-199. Ruchat, iii. 210-225. 
 
 44 Fragmens de Grenus, p. 148. 
 
 45 Spanheim, 35-36. 
 
 46 Ruchat, iv. 129-137. 
 
 47 Spon, i. 
 
 48 Pretres. " Ordonne en 200 que dorenavant ils ayant a laisser leurs 
 bordeaux, leurs pu tains, et leur lubricity" (Flournois, Extraits, Avril 1, 
 1530). " Antoine l'Hote, religieux de Palais, ayant fait un grand insulte 
 en la ville, qu'on lui donne 3 traits de corde, et que soi banni en per- 
 pdtuitd" (Ibid. Oct. 31, 1530). The same year, Aug. 12, it was de- 
 creed that if M. Le Vicaire did not take cognisance of the case of a priest 
 who had been guilty of a heinous crime, the Council would enter on it 
 themselves. (Ibid.) 
 
 49 " Maccabees — Ordonne que Mess, les syndics leur aillent encore une 
 fois dire si veulent bailler pour le fortification de la ville et s'ils refusent, 
 qu'on prennent leur pre." On 16th of same month, a demand had been 
 made upon this religious corporation for 500 ecus sol to help in foitifying 
 the town. Oct. 31, 1531, certain Chanoines (who had probably been 
 banished for refusing payment) having returned to the city, are ordered 
 to retire within two hours, as the Council cannot promise for their safety. 
 Oct. 24, the Council of Sixty order the priests to pay the sum which the 
 town owes to Basle (Flournois, Extraits). 
 
 50 Chroniques de Boset, livre ii. chap. 46. 
 
 51 Ibid, livre ii. chap. 50. 
 
 52 Not Verli, as in Spon. 
 
 53 Spon, i. 213-215 ; Ruchat, iv. 298-300 ; Roset, Chroniques, livre ii. 
 chap. 66, 67. A papal Nuncio, returning through Chamberri to Rome, 
 addressed a letter to the syndics, citizens, and community of Geneva 
 
 * Pierre Gruet was viear of the bishop before 1527, when the Abbe de 
 Beaumont was put in his place. (Spon, i. 183, comp. 189.) 
 
 M 
 
178 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP. (July 8, 1532), inquiring into the truth of a report he had heard, that 
 
 IIL the impious and abominable heresy of the Lutherans had made great 
 
 K ~~Y~ y progress among them. The Council merely told the messenger to say 
 
 that " they would live Christianly, according to God and the law of 
 
 Christ" (Spon, i. 215). 
 
 54 This decree, which throws considerable Light on the state of reli- 
 gious feeling in Geneva, is translated by Flournois (see Extraits, June 
 30, 1532). 
 
 55 Gerdes, iv. 30 ; Euchat, i. 232-236, 391. 
 
 56 Ruchat, iii. 12. 
 
 57 The censures of Erasmus, who called him " Phallicus Gallus," are 
 not so much to be regarded, as no two men could be more opposite in 
 their tempers and modes of acting. But CEcolampadius, who was a more 
 impartial judge, reckoned it necessary to caution him against intemper- 
 ance : " You are sent to evangelise, not to curse ; I commend your zeal, 
 provided gentleness be not wanting. There is a time for pouring in 
 wine and oil. Act the evangelist, not the tyrannical ruler " (Gerdes, iv. 
 30). 
 
 68 The following letter, written by Farel, Dec. 15, 1529, to his bre- 
 thren at l'Aigle, during his first mission to Neuchatel, will remind some 
 readers of the feeling and language of Knox on a similar occasion : — 
 " Health, grace, and peace, dear brethren ; I am unwilling to conceal from 
 you what Christ hath wrought in His own, while beyond all expectation 
 He hath so moved the hearts of multitudes, that, in spite of the tyran- 
 nical prohibitions and hindrances of the shavelings, they have flocked to 
 the Word, which I have preached at the doors of the rich, on the 
 streets, in areas, and in houses, to persons eager to hear, and, which 
 is still more wonderful, the most of them, believing what they heard, 
 though it was directly opposed to errors deeply imprinted on their 
 hearts. Wherefore, brethren, give thanks to the Father of mercies, who 
 hath made His grace to light on the grievously oppressed ; and take 
 my absence in good part, for God is my witness, it is not owing to un- 
 willingness to bear the Cross along with you, with whom I wish to live 
 and die. The glory of God, and the thirst of all here for the Word, 
 compel me to endure trials still heavier, and which it is not easy for 
 tongue to express ; but Christ, whose cause is dear to you, and I pray 
 it may be still dearer, makes all light. Beseech the Lord to per- 
 fect what He hath begun. 1 ' (MS. Life of Farel, in the Library of 
 Geneva. Kirchhofer, i. 115.) 
 
 59 " Si disputetur (said he, in his elegant Latin) totum mysterium 
 nostrum destruetur." 
 
 60 Froment, Actes et Gestes Merveilleux de la Cite de Geneve, nouvelle- 
 ment convertie a VEvangile; MS. Roset, Chroniques de Geneve, livre iii. 
 chap. i. ; Spanheim, Geneva Eestituta, pp. 42-46 ; Spon, i. 215-217. 
 
 61 Froment adds, " Je ne parle pas plus avant pour cette heure pour 
 sauver l'hon^tete des dames " (nt siqwa). 
 
NOTES. 179 
 
 fi - The following is a translation of this singular Bill : — " There is a CHAP. 
 person come to this city who will teach all, male and female, young and HI. 
 old, to read and write French in the course of a month, though they ^—^y^-"^ 
 never have been at school ; and if, at the end of a month, they cannot 
 read and write, he will take nothing for his pains. He wdl be found at 
 the great hall of Boytet, near the Molard, at the sign of the Golden 
 Cross. And he also cures many diseases for nothing" (Actes et Gestes). 
 
 63 Flournois, Extraits des Registres, Dec. 31, 1532. 
 
 64 The Council agreed at this time that the commencement of the year 
 should be reckoned, not from Easter as formerly, but from Christmas, 
 and thus the 26th of December was the first day of the year. The title 
 of a new book of the Begisters is, — Duplwrt Libri Consilliorum hujus 
 Civitatis Gevenn. Anni a Nativitate Dni. Millesimi Quingentesimi 
 Tricesimi Tertii incipit. And the first minute begins, " D. Jovis xxvi. 
 mensis Decembris, anni a Nativitate Dni. Sumpti 1533." But it seems 
 to have been soon altered to the first of January. 
 
 65 The following presents a fresh copy of the impression which the 
 scene made on the preacher himself. After mentioning their having 
 lifted him on the bench, he adds, " Crioyant encore plus fort, homines et 
 femmes, ' Preches nous ! preches nous la parolle de Dieu.' Auxquels 
 (Froment) respondit a haulte voix, ' C'est aussi celle que demeurera 
 eternellement ; ' et leur fit signe de la main qu'ils fissent silence, et se 
 teurent. Le peuple etant appayse commenca a precher, se mettant a 
 genoux, a terre, levant ses yeux au ciel, avec larmes et joincts mains, 
 exhortant le peuple d'invoquer Dieu avec lui, s'elevant sa voix si hault 
 que un chaseur l'entendoit parler, comme si fussent tous aupres de lui 
 disant." (Les Actes et Gestes Merveilleux.) 
 
 cti Flournois, Extraits des Registres, Jan. 2, 1533. 
 
 67 Froment, ut supra; Spanheiin, pp. 53, 54 ; Buchat, iv. 318, 319. 
 
 68 Registres, Jan. 13 and 31, Feb. 10. 
 
 69 Ibid. June 24 and July 21, 1532. 
 
 70 Ibid. Feb. 25, 1533 ; Spon, i. 220, 221. 
 
 71 This fact is stated by Froment, who had the best opportunity of 
 being acquainted with the circumstances. His words are : — " Y avoit 
 ung bonetier, nomme Mre. Guerin, scavant es Escriptures sanctes, de 
 bonne vie et conversation qui enseignoit et preschoit par les maisons 
 secrettement en leur assemblees ; avec lequel se trouva ung autre 
 scavant homme, Pierre Masneri, ministre, et qui en passant fust longe 
 chez Claude Paste, qui fit aussi devvoir a les instruir ; et firent la 
 premiere cene de nostre Seigr. Jesu Christ selon son institution," etc. 
 " Ce non obstant, Guerin, qui la bailla, fust constraint de s'en aller," etc. 
 {Actes et Gestes.) Some may be ready to take offence at a layman and a 
 bonnet- maker celebrating the communion ; but few, I trust, will think 
 that he was less qualified for performing the service than an ignorant or 
 licentious priest, upon whose head some bishop, not better than himself, 
 had happened to lay his hands. ■ 
 
180 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP. 72 Froment; Spanheim, 55 ; Spon, i. 221. Guerin, being forced to 
 HI- leave the city, joined Froment, went to Montbeliard, and afterwards 
 v -^y~-- / became a minister in the territory of Neuchatel. 
 
 73 Those who candidly weigh the circumstances of the case will not 
 feel disposed to subscribe to the following censure of a modern writer, 
 " Le troisieme Baudichon de la Maisonneuve joue un fort vilain role en 
 1533, en taschant d'exciter MM. de Berne contre ses compatriotes pour 
 les forcer d'embrasser la Reformation." (Galiffe, Not. Oenealog., i. 3870 
 
 74 Flournois, Extraits, Mar. 25-28, 1533 ; Roset, Chroniques, livre iii. 
 chap. 10 ; Le Clerc, Extrait, Mar. 28, 1533 ; Ruchat, iv. 325-334 ; Spon, 
 i. 222-225 ; Spanheim, 57-60. 
 
 75 The suspected councillors were J. Phillippe, J. Lullin, Mich. Sept, 
 Est. Chapeaurouge, Fr. Favre, and CI. Roset, all of whom, I believe, 
 afterwards declared in favour of the Reformation (Flournois, Mar. 29, 
 1533). That the council was already divided on the religious question 
 is evident from the words of the minute, ordering proclamation to be 
 made of the restored harmony : " Fuerunt eodem die de mandato 
 utriusque partis concilii Syndicum et Principis factee Cridoe," etc. (Le 
 Clerc, Extrait, Mar. 25, 1533). 
 
 76 Spon, i. 225, 226 ; Flournois, Extraits, April 11, 1533. 
 
 77 Flournois, Extraits, May 4, 1533. The Minute of Council, giving 
 an account of this tumult, begins thus, " Quis est qui dicat manum Dni. 
 fortiorem ; Dnus. mirabilis fortis et potens in prselio ; rerum eventus 
 solus Dnus. videt " (Le Clerc, Extraits du Beg. Publ. ecrits en Latin). 
 
 78 Ruchat, v. 40-61 ; Flournois, May 27, 1533. 
 
 79 Froment, Actes et Gestes, chap. ix. The bishop left Geneva, July 15, 
 (Spanheim, 62). 
 
 80 Flournois, Extraits, Aug. 30, 1533. " The canons replied to the 
 syndics who had asked them to assist in paying the debts of the city, 
 that they would quit the city sooner than give anything" (Ibid. 
 Oct. 3). 
 
 81 Eegistres, Oct. 24, 1533 ; Ruchat, v. 64. 
 
 82 " Lettres de nostre Rever. Prince, de ne prescher point l'Evangile, 
 avec les cries sur ce sujet ; on n'opine point sur ces lettres parceque 
 tout le Conseil apres leur lecture se leve et sort, tout etonne de ce 
 qu'on defendoit de prescher l'Evangile dans le temps qu'on accoutou- 
 me" de la lire et de la prescher." (Flournois, Extraits, November 30, 
 1533.) On the 2d of December the bishop's letter was read a second 
 time, and thought to be exorbitant both in the prohibition to preach 
 the gospel and in the penalties it enjoined. It was resolved to consult 
 the Ecclesiastical Court, and to have the cries according to the form 
 used in March last. (Ibid.) One would be inclined to suppose that 
 the bishop used the word Evangile as synonymous with Lutheranisme. 
 That this was sometimes done about this period appears from the cir- 
 cumstance that when the Roman Catholic deputies of Villette came to 
 consult with their brethren of Lutry as to the best means of opposing 
 
NOTES. 181 
 
 the Reformation (October 15, 1536), they told them that they were CHAP. 
 resolved to hold a General Council, " pour savoir ceux qui voudraient HI- 
 a l'ancienne loi ou a l'Evangile" (Ruchat, vi. 332). It is however a v — "v"""' 
 strong objection to this view that the Council seem to have understood 
 the word literally. 
 
 83 " Crie faite par les paroisses, de ne point lire les saintes lettres 
 ni le Sancte Evangile de Dieu, quelques uns l'apportent en 200, ou 
 personne n'en fut content, et cependant on ne fit rien la dessus." 
 (Flournois, Extraits, January 1, 1534.) The words as given in the 
 Latin Register (which is the original) are " Tandem quiclam attulerunt 
 Cridam hodie per parochias publicandum," etc. (Le Glerc.) Ruchat, 
 on the authority of Lavion and others, states that the bishop's letter 
 commanded all who had Bibles in French or German to burn them 
 under the pain of excommunication (v. 71). 
 
 84 Froment, Aetes et Gestes, chap. ix. 
 
 85 In giving the salutations usual on Circumcision or New Year's 
 Day, he added : " May God convert the Lutherans, and if they refuse to 
 turn to him, send them a fit of the ague. Let them wear the mittens 
 who think they fit them" — "qui veut si prennent ses mittaines" (Dis- 
 pute tenue a Geneve Van mdxxxiv.). 
 
 86 Froment says Du Moulin was condemned to death, but that Baltizard 
 and certain other Nicodemites in the Council prevailed to have the sen- 
 tence changed into banishment on the ground of his being a stranger 
 and a Frenchman. He adds : "A great many people followed him from 
 curiosity without the gate of St. Gervais, aupre de la monnaye, where he 
 delivered to them a discourse of two hours, which won many souls to 
 Christ." Du Moulin afterwards suffered martyrdom at Paris. 
 
 87 Froment, Actes et Gestes, chap. ix. Flournois, Extraits des Beg., 
 December 2, 1533. Ruchat, v. 5, 6. 
 
 88 The number of Protestants in the city amounted to about 400 in 
 the end of the year 1533 (Ruchat, v. 71). 
 
 89 Flournois, Extraits, December 22, 23. 
 
 90 See what is said in Flournois on this head, December 22. 
 
 91 Flournois, January 7, 8, 1534. 
 
 92 The question of Episcopal authority was also discussed, and Farel 
 proved from the Scriptures and from Jerome that bishops and priests or 
 presbyters were the same (Ruchat, v. 114-119). 
 
 93 Farel, in a letter to Fabri or Libertat, dated May 22, 1534, requests 
 him, " faire imprime a Neufchastel, au noms des freres ce qui c'estoit 
 passe en un rencontre de dispute avec Furbity." It would appear 
 however from the " Typographus Lectori," prefixed to the second 
 edition, that the work was printed at Vienne. The second edition, 
 in French, with a Latin translation by Francis Monget, was printed 
 at Geneva in 1634. 
 
 94 On the 22d of February the Bernese ambassadors made a represen- 
 tation to the Council, in which they complained of the conduct of the 
 
182 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP. Lent preacher, and of the disrespectful language used by the populace 
 III. against them and their chaplains, who were said to preach to swine in a 
 
 v ~"""y— "^ stye, and begged the rescinding of the Act banishing Alexander du Mou- 
 lin, as it had been proved that the charges he had brought against 
 Furbity were well founded, and concluded by saying that they had received 
 special instructions from their constituents to insist that they should be 
 allowed the use of a church during their stay in the city, in which they 
 promised nothing should be spoken against the mass or images. The 
 Council replied that they had nothing more at heart than to see the 
 Word of God purely preached in the city, but begged them in present 
 circumstances not to insist for the use of a church, adding however, 
 " Toutefois, que s'ils prennent eux-memes une place, ils sont puissants, 
 et nous ne pouvons ni n'osons leur resister." The request was repeated 
 on the 1st of March, and received the same answer (Flournois, Extraits 
 des Eegistres). 
 
 95 The words are, " qu'ils savent qu& ceux qui aiment les Bernois ne 
 seront point contraires a ceux qui recherchent la parole de Dieu." 
 (Flournois, Extraits, March 2, 1534.) 
 
 90 See the names of the members of Council in Flournois, Extraits, 
 November 13, 1534. 
 
 97 It would appear that some of the Protestant members of the 
 Council had absented themselves from its meetings about this time, 
 probably from prudential motives ; yet their colleagues took no advan- 
 tage of this to silence Farel. To the complaint against his preaching in 
 the church of Bive, the Council replied, " qu'il ne tient pas a nous 
 qu'on ne cesse de le faire, mais plutot a eux qui sont de Conseil et qui 
 refusent d'y venir selon leur devoir" (Flournois, Extraits, March 6). 
 
 98 Flournois, Extraits, March 2, 7, and 20 ; April 2. 
 ." Flournois, Eegistres, March 6 and 17. 
 
 100 Le Clerc, Extraits des Eegistres, March 30. 
 
 101 Spanheim, 72, 73 ; Euchat, v. 149, 216-222. 
 
 102 Euchat, v. 149-150. 
 
 103 Le Clerc, Extraits du Beg. Lai, Jan. 7, 1534. Andreas Gaillard 
 faber ferrarius dixit, audivisse, etc. Comp. Flournois, Extraits. 
 
 104 Flournois, Extraits, May 24, 1534. Le Clerc expressly says, " Le 
 Conseil les jugeoit temeraires, sachons bien que les images ne devoyent 
 pas demeurer en estre." 
 
 105 Euchat, v. 151. 
 
 108 Flournois, Extraits. 
 
 107 Euchat, v. 214-216. Louis B. appears to have been a brother of 
 James B., to be afterwards mentioned.— Vid. Flournois, Extraits, May 
 8, 1534. 
 
 108 Le Clerc, Extr., June 8 and July 20 and 24, 1534. Flournois, 
 Extr., of same dates. See his extract of July 24. 
 
 109 Eegistres, Sept. 18, Oct. 1, Dec. 24, 1534 ; Euchat, v. 225, 228, 
 235-237, 244. 
 
NOTES. 183 
 
 110 Rucliat, v. 253-256. The servant-maid who administered the CHAP. 
 poison accused a canon named Gonin or Hugonin D'Orsieres, his chaplain ***■• 
 named Gardet, and his valet, of having bribed her to commit the ^"^v-^ 
 crime (Flournois, Remarq., April 15, 1533). D'Orsieres, who was of 
 
 noble family in Geneva, was imprisoned but afterwards dismissed. 
 Ruchat thinks the process against him was quashed from political con- 
 siderations. Galiffe, on the contrary, says — " En 1535 le parti fanatique 
 l'accusa d'avoir voulu faire empoisonner Farel et Viret, et cette odieuse 
 calomnie a ete repetee par les historiens quoiqu'il ait ete reconnu 
 innocent et acquitte " (Notices Geneal., i. 180). It appears, however, 
 from the Registers that the sentence of acquittal was of a very qualified 
 kind. After mentioning the oath of purgation, the sentence runs thus — 
 " Jurato absolvatur, saltern nisi alia indicia contra eum resultent ; quo 
 tunc, novis repertis indiciis contra eum procedi potest." The same sen- 
 tence was pronounced respecting Gardet (Flournois, Remarq., Aug. 30, 
 1535 ; sentence against Gonin D'Orsieres). 
 
 111 " Cependant le Conseil n'avoit pas encore voulu maintenir ouverte- 
 ment les Prescheurs jusques au 3 Avril 1535, qu'il ordonna leur estre 
 pourvuca de logis. Et le 13 de dit mois et fit faire crie des deffences 
 publiquement de ne pas danser" (Roset, Chroniq., livre iii. chap. 32). 
 The following is the ordinance respecting dancing, to which Roset refers, 
 " Danses en rond, etc." (Flournois, Extra/its, April 13, 1535). 
 
 112 See the sentence against a female named Tout-ronde in Flournois, 
 Extraits, Feb. 14, 1535. 
 
 113 Flournois, Extraits, April 2, 1535. On the 9th of that month is 
 the following entry in the Register : — " Pottie, prestre refusant de faire 
 le guet, et ayant dit ' Je vous verrois plutot trestons crever que faire le 
 guet,' Ordonne que M. le Lieutenant si informe et qu'il le mette en 
 prison." 
 
 114 Registres, May 7, 11 ; June 1, 21, 25 ; Aug. 16, 1535. 
 
 115 The minute recording the first intimation of this fraud to the 
 Council is very simply expressed, " qu'une certaine femmelette — retour- 
 nee en vie." Roset is more minute in his details, " y avoit la de veilles 
 matrones — sonnent les cloches." 
 
 116 Flournois, Extraits, May 10 and Dec. 8, 1535 ; Roset, Chroniq., 
 livre iii. chap. 35, 50. 
 
 117 Flournois, Extraits, Aug. 8, 1535 ; Remarques, July 3, 1535. The 
 picture of Our Lady was publicly burnt at the door of the Council 
 Chamber on the 31st of October. On the 17th of September, the Council 
 had refused to destroy it, but this seems to have arisen from a wish not 
 to offend the Duke, as it was the gift of Rene Bastard of Savoy. (Le 
 CI ere, Extraits, Oct. 31, 1535.) The picture had the power of working 
 miracles, on which account the " Caphards" (as Flournois called the 
 Augustinian hermits) gave the name of Notre Dame de Grace to their 
 convent. It was so beautiful (says the writer in his Remarks) that those 
 who destroyed the images spared it, and the Council transferred it 
 
184 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 CHAP, for safety to the town hall. This is scarcely consistent with bis own 
 
 TJX J 
 
 LLL ' account elsewhere. 
 v — v~— ' us «d u is Septembre, suivant, &c. " Roset, Chroniq., livre iii. 
 chap. 37. 
 
 119 Flournois, Extr., June 28, 1535. 
 
 120 Flournois, Extr., July 23. 
 
 121 Spon, i. 256 ; Flournois, Extraits, July 30, 1535 ; Eoset, Chroniq. 
 livre iii. chap. 37. 
 
 122 Flournois, Extr., Aug. 10, 1535 ; Spon, i. 257, 259. 
 
 123 Flournois, Extr., Aug. 12 ; Euchat, v. 298-300. 
 
 124 Euchat, v. 300 ; Spanheim, 84, 85. 
 
 125 A painting of the virgin on the arch of St. Peter's remained until 
 the middle of 17th century. (See its history in Alexandri Mori Oratio 
 de duobus Genevan miraculis, p. 16.) 
 
 126 Euchat, v. 300-1. 
 
 127 Euchat, v. 313-4; Spon, i. 261. The "Enfans de Choeur" were 
 allowed at the request of the chapter, to retain their effects, and to 
 carry them away along with their singing books. (Flournois, Extr., 
 Sept, 10.) 
 
 128 This request is inserted in old French in the Registers, though the 
 rest of the minute is in Latin. (Le Clerc, Extr., Aug. 25, 1535 ; comp. 
 Flournois, Extr., Aug. 25 and 27.) 
 
 129 Her name was Blasine Varambart, and she married M. Thomas 
 Genod, an ecclesiastic belonging to the Church of St. Gervais, on the 
 23d of January 1536 (Flournois, Bemarq.). 
 
 130 This is the account given by one of their own number, the Sceur 
 de Jussie in a narrative of their exodus which she published under the 
 name of " Le Commencement de VHeresie de Geneve," of which Spon says, 
 " it is written with all the naivete" and confusion which might be expected 
 from a poor nun " (Hist, de Geneve, i. 260). 
 
 131 Flournois, Extraits, Oct. 9, 1535. Le Clerc, lb. 
 
 132 Flournois, Extraits, Aug. 27, Sept. 7 and 10, and Nov. 12. Le 
 Clerc, Aug. 27 ; Eoset, Chroniq. livre iii. chap. 44. There had been 
 seven hospitals in the city during the times of Popery, and some wished 
 that two should be preserved, but it was decided in the general council 
 that they should be reduced to one. The reduction was laid hold of by 
 the Eoman Catholics of that day, to excite odium against the Reforma- 
 tion as drying up the sources of charity, and the Reformers defended 
 themselves by saying that the wants of the poor would be more carefully 
 attended to in one house placed under a vigilant and effective adminis- 
 tration than they had been by the old system under which the funds 
 served little other purpose than to feed the persons intrusted with their 
 management. According to the modern ideas respecting pauperism, the 
 reformed magistracy of Geneva would stand exposed to the charge of 
 doing too much rather than too little for the poor, and of doing that at 
 the expense of the ministers of religion. 
 
NOTES. 185 
 
 133 Flournois, Extraits, Nov. 12. As every one was pillaging the CHAP. 
 Convent de Palais the Council ordered everything belonging to it to be Un- 
 sold to the highest bidder, and it brought " 322 ecus d'or Sol." On the Y 
 same day " a sale of wine took place in the General Council, after the 
 
 Lord's Prayer had been said " (Ibid. Nov. 14). 
 
 134 Flournois, Extr., Oct. 15. 
 
 135 Flournois, Extr., Nov. 12 and 29, Dec. 6 ; Eoset, bvre iii. chap. 44, 
 50. 
 
 136 "Jaq. l'Hote prisonnier pour avoir celebrer la messe contre les 
 defenses. On le libere en lui faisant de bonnes remonstrances, et on lui 
 defend de ne se ineler plus de cela" (Flournois, Extr., Jan. 21 1536). 
 " Pretres " — the Council decrees to call some priests before them who 
 had been found marrying and baptizing. Dom. J. Manilier swears that 
 he will baptize and marry no more (Ibid., Feb. 23, 26, 1536). Three 
 priests detained for saying mass contrary to orders are liberated and 
 have their goods returned to them with the exception of their arms 
 (Ibid., May 10, 1536). 
 
 137 Flournois, Extr., Dec. 17, 1535, Jan. 10, 1536. At Easter 1536 
 Farel was gratified by the number of communicants (see extract from his 
 letter to Fabri, 22d April 1536, in Ruchat, v. 642). 
 
 138 Flournois, Extraits, Feb. 10, 1536. On the 31st of March the 
 procureur of Vendouvres in the name of the whole parish petitioned for 
 the use of their great clock, and that they might have one mass each 
 Sunday, after which they were willing to go to the sermon. As the same 
 request was made by other parishes, the Council resolved "that all the 
 procurators and priests of the parishes (tous les procureurs des parroches, 
 et tous les presbters) should attend on the following Monday to hear the 
 Council's determination " (Flournois ; comp. Le Clerc, Mar. 24). 
 
 139 Meaning the inhabitants of Gex (says Flournois in his Remarqties) 
 who were now under the government of the Canton of Berne ; " Messrs. 
 de Berne n'interdirent la Messe qu'apres les disputes de Lausaune en 
 Septembre 1536." 
 
 140 Flournois, Extr., April 3, 1536 ; Le Clerc, ib. Spon relates this 
 affair in such a way as to throw odium on the Council. He puts into 
 the mouth of the village priests a very enlightened and pathetic speech, 
 representing the hardship of their being required to change so hastily a 
 religion which the magistrates themselves had so recently professed. 
 And he ascribes to Bonnivard the merit of inducing the Council, in 
 opposition to Farel, to grant the delay requested by the priests (His- 
 toire, torn. i. pp. 272-3). This representation is altogether unsupported 
 by the Registers, or rather inconsistent with what they contain. And 
 Flournois justly remarks that Bonnivard had not at this time the 
 authority with the Council which Spon ascribes to him. 
 
 141 Roset, in his Chroniques (livre iii. chap. 63), confounds this person 
 with his brother Guy Furbity, the great opjsonent of the Reformation, 
 who was still in prison for slandering the Bernese. His name often 
 
186 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 occurs in the Registers as interceding for the release of his brother. On 
 the 5th of April, Guy Furbity, at the intercession of the King of France 
 and the representation of his brother William, was brought before the 
 Council, of whom he begged pardon with great readiness, adding, " Je 
 vous promets que, d'icy en avant, je tacherai a mieux viyre, et a precher 
 la verite mieux que je n'ai faits; je vous prie, pardonnez moi." On this 
 he was released (Flournois, Extr.). It is probable that Saunier's liberty 
 was procured by that of Furbity (Events of the Reform, arranged chrono- 
 logically, March 31, 1536 ; and Flournois, Extr., April 23, 1536). 
 
 142 Flournois, Extr., May 21, 1536. 
 
 143 Flournois, Remarq. 
 
 144 Flournois, Extr. and Events chronologically, etc. 
 
 145 Le Clerc, Jan. IV, 1533. 
 
 146 Ibid., Aug. 27, 1535. 
 
 147 See Euchat, v. 627, 642-647. 
 
 148 Flournois, Extr., April 28, 1536. 
 
 149 Ibid., May 19, June 13, 1536. 
 
 150 Ibid., April 4, 1536. 
 i5i » Predicant de Jussy — apres l'avoir ouy, on lui accorde des lettres 
 
 qu'il puisse precher, battiser et epouser par tout le mandement." (Flour- 
 nois, Extr., March 10, 1536). Was this De la Mare ? 
 
 152 "Predicans— on parle de leur entretien, et on ordonne qu'on les 
 nourrira, vestira et ententretiendra sur les biens des eglises paroissales, 
 tant de la ville que de nos terres." (Flournois, Extr., May 18, 1536.) 
 As to the previous sustenance of Farel and Bonnivard, see ibid. April 
 7. See also June 16, 1536. 
 
 153 Flournois, Extr., June 13, 1536, and June 4, 1537. 
 
 154 Flournois, Extr., Feb. 21, 1538. At Farel's suggestion a sermon 
 was appointed to be preached at six in the morning, that the members 
 of the Council might attend it before their meeting at seven (Ibid., 
 Sept. 8, 1536). 
 
 155 Flournois, Extr., Feb. 28, March 10, Dec. 5, 1536. 
 
 156 Ibid., Aug. 8. 
 15T After making him a burgess, the Council gave him 200 crowns a 
 
 year, and a house to belong to him and his legitimate children ; but it is 
 added in the Register : " Nota quod conditio additur, quamdiu infra 
 civitatem honeste vixerit, et non alias." (Le Clerc, Extr., Sept. 4, 1536.) 
 " On repondit a une lettre de S. Bonnivard, cydevant prieur de St. 
 Victor, que les chemins estayent ouverts a tous les gens de bien." 
 (Flournois, Extr., Nov. 9. 1 537.) 
 
 158 These words are written and signed by the hand of Balard in the 
 original Register, July 24, 1536. 
 
 169 Flournois, Extr., July 24, Aug. 15 ; and Remarques. 
 
 160 Roset, iv. 1. : Flournois, Extr., Sept. 4, 1536. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GENEVA, 1536. 
 
 Such was the state of matters in Geneva when 
 Calvin took up his residence in it. The Reforma- 
 tion had supplanted the ancient religion, and was 1536 
 established by law. But the new church was not 
 organised. Its worship was conducted agreeably 
 to Scripture, but no regular discipline had been 
 settled hi it. The great body of the inhabitants 
 were favourable to the change which had taken 
 place, but many of them were imperfectly in- 
 structed, and not a few were known to be attached 
 on various grounds to Popery, and ready to em- 
 brace the first opportunity which offered to endea- 
 vour its restoration. 
 
 Calvin's first employment was to deliver a 
 course of lectures on theology, which he began to 
 read in the Cathedral in the month of August. 
 This he undertook at the desire of Farel and the 
 other ministers ; but in the following month it was 
 approved of by the Council, who agreed to support 
 him, without, however, specifying any fixed salary. 1 
 Soon after he began to preach, and was admitted 
 one of the stated pastors of the city. 2 
 
 Farel had at this time the chief direction of 
 ecclesiastical matters, and all the intercourse be- 
 tween the ministers and the civic authorities was 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 carried on through him. On the 10 th of Novem- 
 ber, he laid before the ordinary Council articles for 
 1536. the government of the Church, which were approved 
 of, first by them, and afterwards by the Council of 
 Two Hundred. They provided, among other things, 
 that the Lord's Supper should be celebrated four 
 times a year ; that baptism should be dispensed on 
 any day when there was a public congregation ; and 
 that marriages should also be celebrated in public 
 after the proclamation of banns on three several 
 Sabbaths. At the same time it was agreed that 
 provision should be made for ministers ; that all 
 shops should be shut on Sabbath during sermon ; 
 that images remaining in the churches should be 
 taken down ; and that whoredom and gaming 
 should be punished. 3 The reputation of Farel was 
 at this time at its zenith, and his admonitions to 
 the Council are repeatedly characterised in the 
 registers as "divine." 4 
 
 When the Reformed Church of Geneva was in 
 this imperfect state of organisation, and remained 
 still exposed to attacks from the adherents of the 
 old faith, she was assailed by adversaries of an 
 opposite description. Soon after Luther had de- 
 clared against the Church of Rome, a number of 
 persons appeared in Germany, who blamed his 
 reformation as radically defective, and professed to 
 seek for a state of things vastly purer and more 
 spiritual. As they were generally weak and un- 
 learned men, who seemed to be under the influence 
 of a heated imagination, they were not at first much 
 regarded by the Reformers, who endeavoured by 
 private admonitions to correct the mistakes under 
 which they laboured, and check their extravagances. 
 
PISE OF THE ANABAPTISTS. 189 
 
 But their appearances of piety and pretensions to a chap. 
 prophetic spirit imposed upon some individuals of w^-1^/ 
 note, and, the minds of men being in that state 1536. 
 which exposes them to religious infection, they 
 within a short time made numerous converts in 
 various parts of Germany, from which they spread 
 into Switzerland. The adherents of the new sect 
 were called Anabaptists, from their practice of re- 
 baptizing those who had received the initiatory rite 
 of Christianity in their infancy. The radical tenet, 
 or fountain- error of this sect, was that the Christian 
 Church should be composed of true saints only, 
 that all who do not give positive evidence of their 
 possessing this character should be refused admis- 
 sion to its privileges, or if already admitted, should 
 be ejected by excommunication : and that it is 
 sinful to hold communion with churches or societies 
 not constituted after this pattern. Accordingly, 
 they looked on ancient Israel, not as a church, but 
 as a carnal and worldly community ; and supersed- 
 ing the authority of the Old Testament Scriptures, 
 they confined themselves to those of the New, as 
 their rule in all matters of faith and practice. In 
 this way they were led to deny the lawfulness of 
 infant baptism, national churches, oaths, and defen- 
 sive war, to hold that Christians could not lawfully 
 act as civil magistrates, and were not bound to pay 
 taxes or tithes ; and to plead for a community of 
 goods. Being destitute of any external bond of 
 union to serve as a check on novelties, a variety of 
 strange doctrines, besides those which characterised 
 the sect, prevailed among its members, consisting 
 chiefly of old heresies resuscitated ; and the anti- 
 trinitarian tenets, before these were reduced to their 
 
190 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 chap, modern shape by Socinus, had found shelter under 
 ^33^ the fostering wing of anabaptism. The system, if 
 it is entitled to this name, was a compound of 
 heresy and fanaticism ; it was the mysticism of the 
 middle ages, impregnated by the spirit of active 
 reform and daring inquiry, which the transactions 
 of the sixteenth century had evoked. Its adherents 
 depreciated human learning, and decried the Re- 
 formed ministers, especially when opposed by them, 
 as book-taught and mercenary teachers ; and the 
 leaders, by boasting of immediate revelations and 
 visions, pushed their followers to various excesses, 
 which subjected them to proscription, and in some 
 instances to heavier penalties, from the civil autho- 
 rities. Impartiality requires us to state that there 
 were circumstances connected with the Protestant 
 churches which proved a stumbling-block to these 
 sectaries, and counteracted the means used for their 
 recovery. As the bondage under which the com- 
 mon people were then held, and the heavy exactions 
 which their princes levied upon them, were a prin- 
 cipal cause of the insurrectionary war of the boors 
 in Germany, so the aversion of Luther to remove a 
 number of Popish abuses, such as the withholding 
 of the cup from the laity, and the use of images, 
 together with the imperfect organisation of the 
 churches formed under his direction, contributed 
 greatly to the spread of anabaptism. Nor were 
 there wanting grounds of offence in some of the 
 Reformed churches in Switzerland ; Zuingle having 
 unhappily adopted the opinion that ecclesiastical 
 discipline, including excommunication, was un- 
 necessary under a Christian magistrate. For his- 
 tory has shown, that it is not religious liberty so 
 
END OF FRAGMENT. 191 
 
 IV. 
 
 much, as the neglect of ecclesiastical discipline and chap 
 promiscuous admission to the seals of the new 
 covenant in established churches, which, has led 
 to the increase of the tenets classed by divines 
 under the common name of sectarianism. 
 
 [Dr. M* One's MS. ends abruptly here.] 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 1 " Magister Guil. Farellus exponit sicuti sit necessaria ilia lectura 
 quain initiavit ille Gallus in Sto. Petro. Propterea supplicat advideri de 
 ipso retinendo et sibi alimentando. Super quo fuit advisum quod 
 advideatur de ipsum substinendo " (Le Clerc, Extr. dcs Reg., Sept. 5, 
 1536). This is the first reference to Calvin in the Registers, and so little 
 was he known at this time that the secretary seems to have been ignor- 
 ant of his name. There is no more reference to him during this year, 
 but his name occurs often in the minutes of the following year. He is 
 generally called Gauvin. On the 13th of February 1537, though the 
 Register was then kept in French, he is called Calvinus ; on the 13th of 
 March of that year he is called " Cauvin c'est a dire Calvini," and in 
 January and February 1538 Caulvin. 
 
 2 On the 13th March 1537, Farel and Calvin gave in a representation 
 to the Council concerning the celebration of the supper. (Flournois, 
 Extr aits.) 
 
 3 Flournois, Extraits, 10th Nov., 5th Dec. 1536, and 15th and 16th 
 January 1537. 
 
 4 " G. Farellus instat et admonet et dat admonitionem scripto. Super 
 quo fuit arrestatum cum scripta dicti D. Guillelmi sint tarn divina quod 
 habeatur sermo matutinus statim post sextam horam de mane in ecclesia 
 St. Germani " (Le Clerc, Extraits, Sept. 8, 1536). This was intended to 
 allow the members of Council (which met at 7 a.m.) to attend. " Farellus 
 divinas fecit demonstrations " occurs in the minute of January 6, 1536. 
 "Detur Magistro Guill. Farello unum dolium (tun) vini albi de 
 Paradys" (lb., Sept. 15, 1536). Le Clerc adds in a note, " C'estoit 
 une vigne k Vendouvre des biens de l'Eglise situ£e en un bien dit 
 Paradis." (See the minute conferring the right of burgess-ship on Farel 
 and his brothers in Flournois, Extraits, March 9, 1537 ; comp. Feb. 14.) 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Adam, Melchior, 25 etc. 
 
 Aime, Count of Genevois, 173 (note 2). 
 
 Albigenses, 45. 
 
 Alencon, 43, 48. 
 
 Alciat, 17. 
 
 Almeutes, 80. 
 
 Amiot, 102 (note 82). 
 
 Anabaptists, 61, 86; rise of, 172. 
 
 Angrogne, 80. 
 
 Anselm, 25. 
 
 Aosta, 95, 104 (note 141). 
 
 Ardutius, 173 (note 2). 
 
 Arians, 45. 
 
 Artois, 50. 
 
 Aubigne" (D'), 47. 
 
 Batesii Collkctanea, 25 (note 4). 
 
 Earf, 9. 
 
 Barrbatz, 28 (note 30). 
 
 Basle, 41, 79. 
 
 Baudicbon, 120, 137, 140. 
 
 Baume, Peter de la, 113, 117, 122, 
 
 142. 
 Bayle, 28. 
 Beam, 47. 
 Beaumont, 129. 
 Beda (Noel), 36, 48, 50, 64. 
 Bellay, 65. 
 
 Benoit's New Test., 103 (note 93). 
 Bergier, 129. 
 
 Berne, 41, 119, 144, 145, 146, 148. 
 Bernard, 145 ; James, 156, 157 ; 
 
 Louis, 152. 
 Berquin, 34, 42, 50, 98 (note 44). 
 Bertbelier, 112, 174 (note 15). 
 Berthold, 123. 
 
 Bertout, 70. 
 
 Bertram, 82. 
 
 Beza, 5, 26, 96. 
 
 Biograpbie Universelle, 26 (note 7 
 
 et seq.) 
 Bohemians, 44. 
 Bonmont, 117, 162. 
 Bonnivard, 120, 123, 171. 
 Boors, 61. 
 Boulogne, 50. 
 Bouquet, 135. 
 
 Bourges, 17, 22, 48, 49, 55, 62, 63. 
 Braset, 173 (note 8). 
 Bricounet, 45, 47, 50, 96 (note 27). 
 Brosse, 22, 28 (note 30). 
 Brucker, 99 (note 54 et seq.) 
 Buchanan, 26 (note 7). 
 Budeeus, 8, 26 (note 8). 
 Burnet, 99. 
 
 Burscher, 98 (note 42). 
 Buslidean College, 9. 
 
 Calvin, John — 
 
 Notices of his father, 1. 
 Mother, 1, 25. 
 Birth and baptism, 1. 
 Parentage and position, 1. 
 Early life, 3. 
 Calumnies as to birth, 3. 
 Youthful companions, 5. 
 Destined for Church, 5. 
 Cbaplainship at twelve, 6. 
 Cure at eighteen, 6, 27. 
 Paris University at fourteen, 6. 
 College of La Marcbe under Cor- 
 dery, 10. 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Calvin, John — continued. 
 
 Dedication to Corclery, 10. 
 College of Montaigu, 11. 
 Destination altered, 12. 
 Studies law at Orleans, 13, 27. 
 Story of the cup, 27. 
 Chemin and Daniel, letters to, 13. 
 Visits Noyon (1528), 14. 
 Goes to Paris, 15, 19. 
 ToBourges (1531), 17. 
 Commences Hebrew, 18. 
 Publishes his De dementia, 19, 
 
 28. 
 Dedication to Hangest, 19. 
 Letter to Daniel, 21. 
 Preparation for future work, 22. 
 Religious views, 29. 
 Embraces the Reformed cause 
 
 (1533), 53, 55. 
 Letters (1529 to 1532), 54. 
 Influence of Olivetan, 55. 
 Vindicates Seceders in reply to 
 
 Sadolet, 56. 
 Mode of study, 62. 
 Consulted as to marriage of 
 
 Henry viii., 63. 
 Expounds, 63. 
 Goes to Fortrat, 63. 
 Meetings in La Forge's, 64. 
 Assists Cop, 65. 
 Papers carried off, 65. 
 Sent for by Queen of Navarre, 
 
 66. 
 Goes to Saintonge, 66, 100 (note 
 
 59.) 
 To Nerac to see Faber, 66. 
 His benefices, 67, 100 (note 66). 
 Visits Noyon, 69. 
 Brothers and sisters, 69, 70. 
 Paris (1534), 70. 
 Challenged by Servetus, 71. 
 Orleans, 71. 
 Publishes Psychopannychia, 73, 
 
 102 (notes 75 and 76). 
 Returns to Germany, 77. 
 Metz, 77. 
 Strasburg, 78. 
 
 Calvin, John — continued. 
 
 Reflections on life at this period, 
 17. 
 
 Basle, 79. 
 
 Revises Olivetan's Bible, 81. 
 
 Preface to Olivetan's Bible, S3, 
 103 (note 92). 
 
 Origin of Institutes, 86. 
 
 Dedication to Francis, 87. 
 
 Visits Italy, 94. 
 
 Ferrara, 94. 
 
 Aosta, 95. 
 
 Comes to Geneva, 187. 
 
 First employment, 187. 
 
 First reference in Register, 191 
 (note 1). 
 Calvin, Anthony, 6, 19, 67, 70. 
 
 Charles, 6, 18, 69, 101 (note 69). 
 
 Mary, 27 (note 23), 70, 101 
 
 (note 71). 
 Cairn, 62, 101 (note 67). 
 Cambray, 3. 
 Canter, 15. 
 Canus, 143. 
 Capeltes, College of, 5. 
 Capito, 79. 
 
 Caroli, 48, 97 (note 36). 
 Carolstadt, 34. 
 Casaubon, 104. 
 Castellio, 81. 
 Cathari, 44. 
 Chantemps, 135, 145. 
 Charles v., 86. 
 Charles viii., influence on French 
 
 literature, 7. 
 Chastellain, 98 (note 39). 
 Chauvin, Gerard, 1 ; death of, 18. 
 Chemin, 13, 22, 27 (note 17). 
 Cheradamus, 26. 
 Chimney preachers, 144. 
 Chlorotes, 80, 83. 
 Churches of Geneva, 115. 
 Coiffart, 16. 
 
 Collemont, 69, 100 (note 6S). 
 Colomesius, 104 (note 97). 
 Compte (John Le), 27 (note 31). 
 Connon, 20. 
 
JNDEX. 
 
 195 
 
 Conte (Anthony le), 99 (note 50). 
 
 Convents in Geneva, 115. 
 
 Cop, 65. 
 
 Corclery, Mathurin, professor at La 
 Marche, 10. 
 
 appointed to Grammar School, 
 
 Geneva, 11. 
 
 death at eighty-eight, 11. 
 
 first work, 26 (note 12). 
 
 Cortet, punished for keeping a con- 
 cubine, 170. 
 
 Cosmas, 44. 
 
 Council of Geneva, 113, 174 (notes 
 19 and 20). 
 
 Farel before them, 159. 
 
 their resolutions, 161. 
 
 act against images, 162. 
 
 Country parishes, care of, 167- 
 
 ministers, 170. 
 
 Courault, 70, 102 (note 79). 
 
 Coutellier, 149. 
 
 Crespin, 98 (note 59). 
 
 Cusemeth, 80, 83. 
 
 Dader, 137. 
 
 D'Albret, King of Navarre, 43. 
 
 Damian, 44. 
 
 Danes, 16, 26 (note 11), 39. 
 
 Daniel, Francis, 13, 15, 16, 21, 27 
 
 (note 23). 
 
 Frances, 16. 
 
 D'Argeutre, 95 et seq. 
 
 De dementia, 19, 27 (note 29), 28 
 
 (note 32). 
 De Huren, 50. 
 De Langey, 86. 
 De Letra, 145. 
 De Linieres, 63. 
 Desmay, 25 et seq. 
 De Thou, 35. 
 Disputation — Farel and Furbity, 
 
 146. 
 
 interrupted, 147. 
 
 Vicar of St. Gervais, 152. 
 
 Dissolute lives of Clergy, 1 16, 175 
 
 (note 30). 
 D'Olivet, 55. 
 
 Drelincourt, 27 et seq. 
 
 Du Bois, 69. 
 
 Du Brosse, 22. 
 
 Ducrest complains of Farel, 148. 
 
 Dupin, 95 et seq. 
 
 Du Prat, 43. 
 
 Eckius, 33. 
 
 Eidgnots, 111, 174 (note 13). 
 
 Erasmus, 9, 26 (note 16), 40, 50, 98 
 
 (note 44). 
 Etoile or Stella, 13. 
 Eunonius, 44. 
 
 Faber — 
 
 At Lemoine, 8. 
 
 His scholars, 26 (note 7). 
 
 His Psalter, 36. 
 
 New Testament, 37. 
 
 Books censured, 42. 
 
 Goes to Meaux, 46. 
 
 Flees to Beam, 47. 
 
 Calvin visits him at Nerac, 66. 
 
 Commentaries, 96 (note 12). 
 
 His death, 100 (note 62). 
 Farel — 
 
 Goes to Meaux, 46. 
 
 To Switzerland, 47. 
 
 Faber's prophecy to him, 66. 
 
 Visits the Vaudois, 80. 
 
 Letter, 125. 
 
 Goes to Geneva (1532), 126. 
 
 Many flock to him, 128. 
 
 Before the Episcopal Court, 129. 
 
 Retires to Lausanne, 130. 
 
 Revisits Geneva, 137. 
 
 Accompanies Berne Ambassadors, 
 145. 
 
 Begins preaching, 145. 
 
 Disputes with Furbity, 146. 
 
 Preaches at Convent du Bive, 
 147. 
 
 Preaches at the Church Mag- 
 dalen, 157. 
 
 Before the Council, 159. 
 
 Direction of ecclesiastical matters, 
 187. 
 
196 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Farel — conihi tied. 
 
 His admonitions characterised as 
 
 "divine."' 172, 175 (note 4). 
 Letter to TAigle, 17S (note 50). 
 Provision made for him. 191 
 (notes 1 and 4). 
 Ferrara, 94. 
 Finnseus, 26 (note 11). 
 First Martyr, 49. 
 Flonrnois, 173 (note 6 et seq.) 
 Forge (Etienne de la), 64. 
 Fortrat, 63. 
 
 Franc, Joanna, 1, 3, 4, 25 (note 2). 
 France, Social position of Calvin 
 in, 1. 
 State of literature, 7- 
 Religious condition, 29. 
 Francis I., Patron of Letters. 9 ; 
 College, 9. 
 In absence Queen Mother at- 
 tempts to put down Lutheran 
 heresy, 42. 
 Irritated by indignities shown 
 
 to his sister, 64. 
 Favours the Reformed, 75. 
 Wishes to secure aid from tbe 
 Protestant princes of Ger- 
 many, S6. 
 Frauds of the priests, 155. 
 Friburg — 
 
 Duke tries to break Genevan 
 
 alliance with, 123. 
 Ambassador sent from, to Geneva, 
 
 145. 
 Complains of change of religion 
 
 by Geneva, 145. 
 Opposes Eeformation, 140, 149. 
 Cancels their treaty, 150. 
 Froment — 
 
 Meets Farel at Granson, 130. 
 Called to preach in Geneva, 133. 
 Retires to Ivona, 136. 
 Revisits Geneva, 137. 
 Disputes with Furbity, 143. 
 Furbity. Guy, preacher against Re- 
 formation, 143; apprehended, 145; 
 released, 186 (note 141). 
 
 Furbity. William, approves Farel, 
 168, 1S5 (note 141). 
 
 Gexeva — 
 
 Sketch of its history, 106. 
 
 Cfesar, 106. 
 
 Earliest history, 107. 
 
 Privileges, 109. 
 
 Helvetic Confederacy, 109. 
 
 John of Savoy, 110. 
 
 Eidgnots and Mamelukes, 111. 
 
 Berthelier (1526), 112. 
 
 De la Baume, 113. 
 
 Its government, 113, 174 (notes 
 19 and 20). 
 
 Its churches, 115. 
 
 Want of religion, 115. 
 
 Manners of clergy, 116. 
 
 Connection with Berne, 119. 
 
 Bonnivard, 120. 
 
 Duke of Savoy interferes, 122. 
 
 Defence of liberties, 123. 
 
 The Yernli riot, 125. 
 
 Farel and Saunier, 126. 
 
 Farel preaches in Geneva, 129. 
 
 Froment, 130. 
 
 Froment called to preach, 133. 
 
 The Council's resolution, 134. 
 
 Bouquet, 136. 
 
 First Reformed Church, 137. 
 
 More fighting, 139. 
 
 Negotiations with Friburg and 
 Berne, 140. 
 
 Bishop Baume returns, 142. 
 
 Embroils himself with Council, 
 142. 
 
 Leaves, 142. 
 
 Sends an Edict, 143. 
 
 Froment returns and preaches, 
 143. 
 
 Furbity (Guy), preaches against 
 him, 143. 
 
 Ambassadors arrive from Fri- 
 burg and Berne, 145. 
 
 Breach with Friburg, 150. 
 
 Progress of Reformation, 150. 
 
 Destruction of images, 151. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 197 
 
 Geneva — continued. 
 
 Blockaded by Savoy, 166. 
 
 Protestant Church organised, 
 168. 
 
 Schools, 169. 
 
 Ministers, 170. 
 
 Opposition and objection, 171. 
 
 In 1536, 187. 
 
 Calvin comes to, 187. 
 
 Lectures in Cathedral on theo- 
 logy, 187. 
 
 Farel, chief direction in ecclesi- 
 astical matters, 187. 
 
 Articles of Church government, 
 188. 
 
 Assailed by Anabaptists, etc., 
 18S. 
 Galiffe, 180 (note 72). 
 Gerdes, 95 et seq. 
 Gervasius, 98 (note 42). 
 Gex, 153. 
 Goulas, 126. 
 
 Granson, 80, 97 (note 31). 
 Greeks who visited France, 8, 25 
 
 (note 5). 
 Grenoble, 48. 
 Grynseus, 80. 
 
 Guerin, 137, 179 (note 71). 
 Guidacier, 39. 
 Guise, 66. 
 
 Haller, 119. 
 Hangest, Charles, 6. 
 
 Claude, 5, 6, 19, 25. 
 
 Genlis, 5, 25 (note 3). 
 
 Jean, 6. 
 
 Harduin, 98 (note 38). 
 
 Henry vm., 63. 
 
 Heresy, 176 (note 33). 
 
 Hippeville, Charles : Calvin's assumed 
 
 name, 94. 
 Hospitals in Geneva, 163, 184 (note 
 
 132). 
 Hottinger, 101 (note 63). 
 " Hours," 64. 
 Huren, 50. 
 Hutten, 40. 
 
 Images, destruction of, 151, 156. 
 Immorality of the Clergy, 116, 175 
 
 (note 30). 
 Index Lib. Protest., 96 (note 12). 
 Institutes of Theology, origin of, 86. 
 Indulgences, 33, 95. 
 Italy, Calvin visits, 14. 
 
 Junius, 100 (note 56). 
 Jurieu, 100 (note 62). 
 Justinian teaches Hebrew at Paris, 
 26 (note 11). 
 
 Kirchhofer, 102 (note 90 et seq.) 
 
 La Gesine, 6, 67. 
 
 La Marche, college of, 10. 
 
 Laillier, 32, 95 (note 1). 
 
 Lambinus, 26 (note 15). 
 
 Launoi, 26 et seq. 
 
 Le Clerc, 49. 
 
 Le Long, 95 et seq. 
 
 Le Moine, college of, S, 46. 
 
 Le Roye (Regius), 22, 28 (note 30). 
 
 Le Vasseur, 25 et seq. 
 
 Leu. Diet., 103 (note 91 et seq.) 
 
 Levet, 136. 
 
 Linieres, 63. 
 
 Louis xii., 9, 30, 41. 
 
 Loupard, 103 (note 90). 
 
 Louvain, college of, 9. 
 
 Luther, 33, 40, 42. 
 
 " Lutheran," first occurrence of the 
 
 word in Registers, 177 (note 42). 
 Lyons, 48. 
 
 Maccabees, 45, 177 (note 49). 
 Maigret, 48. 
 Maittaire, 26 et seq. 
 Malva, 168. 
 Mamelukes, 111. 
 Marliere, 68. 
 Marlorat, 66. 
 
 Margaret of Valois, 42, 96 (note 23). 
 Masneri, 137. 
 
 Mass, paper against, 75, 102 (note 
 79). 
 
198 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Masson (Papyrius), 27 (note 25). 
 M'Crie, Thos., D.D., LL.D., jr., notes 
 
 by, 9S (notes 39 and 41), 105 (note 
 
 104). 
 Meaux, 45, 48. 
 Melanchthon, 23, 34. 
 Melchior, 15. 
 Merlin, 98 (note 43). 
 Mesurier, 46, 50, 97 (note 29). 
 Metz, 47, 50, 77. 
 " Mirror of a sinful soul," a poem by 
 
 the Queen of Navarre, condemned 
 
 bjr Sorbonne, 64. 
 Mock tragedy (1524), 40. 
 Molinaeus, 96 et seq. 
 Mommorii, 5, 7. 
 Monasteries in Geneva, 115. 
 Montaigu, College of, 11. 
 Montius, 53, 98 (note 44). 
 Morus, 99 (note 45). 
 Moulin, 143, 181 (note 94). 
 Munster, 80. 
 
 Navarre College, boys' comedy, 64. 
 Navarre, Queen of, 17, 47, 64, 66, 
 
 96 (note 23), 99 (note 56). 
 Neuchatel, 41, 79. 
 Nerac, 66. 
 
 New Testament, Faber's, 37. 
 Nouv. Diet. Hist., 103 (note 94 et seq.) 
 Noyon, 1, 3, 6, 14, 67, 77. 
 
 CECOLAMPADIUS, 79. 
 
 Olivetan, 55, 80, 104 (note 97), 137. 
 
 Olivetan's Bible, 80. 
 
 Opposition to new regulations in 
 
 Geneva, 171. 
 Orleans University, 13, 14, 15, 22, 
 
 47, 55, 62, 71. 
 
 Paradisi, 39. 
 Paris, 6, 15. 
 
 Ebullition in, 74. 
 
 State of, at beginning of six- 
 teenth century, 7. 
 Parliament of Paris, 49, 51, 77. 
 Parvi, 64. 
 
 Patriotic exertions of Reformed 
 pastors, 167. 
 
 Pavanes, 50. 
 
 Pays de Vaud, 80. 
 
 Perrin, 135, 144, 152. 
 
 Pestilence in Noyon, 6. 
 
 Philip, 14. 
 
 Phillippe, 139. 
 
 Phrygio, 80. 
 
 Picture of our Lady burnt, 156 (note 
 117). 
 
 Pigmseus, 15, 22, 28 (note 30). 
 
 Poblatius Hispanus, 26 (note 15). 
 
 Poison, attempts to, 154 (note 110). 
 
 Poissy, 66. 
 
 Pont l'Evgque, 1, 67. 
 
 Popish worship prohibited, 165. 
 
 Postille, 167. 
 
 Porphyry, 44. 
 
 Portier, 139. 
 
 Pretres, punishment of, 177 (note 48). 
 
 Priests, opposition of, 164. 
 
 Protestant Church of Geneva or- 
 ganised, 168. 
 
 Psalterium Quincuplex, 25 (note 6), 
 95 (note 10). 
 
 Psychopannychia, 73, 102 (notes 75 
 and 76). 
 
 Quincuplex Psalterium, 25 (note 
 6), 95 (note 10). 
 
 Eegistres de Geneve, 173 (note 8 
 
 et seq. ) 
 Religious Revolution approaching, 
 
 153. 
 Remond, 96 et seq. 
 Reuchlin, 33, 40. 
 Robertson (Principal), 96 et seq. 
 Roset, 176 (note 32 et seq.) 
 Rothweil, 17. 
 Roupy, 69. 
 Roussart, 15. 
 Roussel. See Ruffi. 
 Ruffi (or Roussel), 46, 47, 70, 101 
 
 (note 73). 
 Ruchat, 96 et seq. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 199 
 
 St. Augustine, 35. 
 
 St. Claire, nuns of, 162, 175 (note 23). 
 
 St. Eloy, 5, 19. 
 
 St. Eutropius, 44. 
 
 St. Ficarius, 44. 
 
 St. Godaberte, 1. 
 
 St. Martin de Marteville,6, 67. 
 
 St. Peter's, Geneva, fitted up for 
 Protestant worship, 163. 
 
 St. Remigius, 7. 
 
 Sadolet, 56. 
 
 Saiutonge, 66. 
 
 Salomon, 137, 140, 145. 
 
 Saunier, 126, 128. 
 
 Savoy, Duke of, gets the Pope to ex- 
 communicate the Genevese, 153. 
 
 Scaliger, 175 (note 24 et seq.) 
 
 Scrimger, 27 (note 11). 
 
 Scultetus, 96 (note 20), 99 (note 54). 
 
 Seckendorf, 95 et seq. 
 
 Senebier, 27 (note 18). 
 
 Senlis, 47, 64. 
 
 Sens, 49, 98 (note 38). 
 
 Servetus, 71. 
 
 Simon, 82, 96 et seq. 
 
 Sleidan, 102 (note 81). 
 
 Sorbonne, 6, 33, 36, 39, 42, 46, 48, 
 64. 
 
 Spanheim, 104 (note 97 et seq.) 
 
 Spon, 1 7 3 et seq. 
 
 Stella (Etoile), 13. 
 
 Stephens, Henry, 25 (note 6), 35, 95 
 (note 10). 
 
 Stephens, Robert, 9, 40. 
 Strasburg, 41, 78. 
 Sturm, 27 et seq. 
 Surguet, 15, 2S (note 30). 
 
 Tascon, 149. 
 Travercy, 70. 
 Turlepins, 44. 
 Tussan, 16, 26 (note 11). 
 
 Utenhovius, 98 (note 44). 
 
 Vandel, 139. 
 
 Varillas, 27 (note 30). 
 
 Vasseur, 25 et seq. 
 
 Vatable, 26 (note 11), 39, 40. 
 
 Vaudois Bible, 80, 102 (notes 90 and 
 
 92). 
 Vendouvre, 191 (note 4). 
 Verheiden, 101. 
 
 Vermand, old name of Noyon, 3. 
 Vernli, 125, 141. 
 Viermer, 16. 
 Viret, 146. 
 
 Waldenses, 41, 44. 
 Wickliffe, 40. 
 Witsius, 100. 
 Wolfgang, 79. 
 Wolmar, 17, 27 (note 24). 
 
 Zuingle, 96 (note 20), 190. 
 
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