Chapter 17

[88]The Emperor Charles V. See note 2, p. 78.[89]Maurice of Saxony, cousin of the Elector John Frederic, and son-in-law of the Landgrave of Hesse, unworthily betraying the cause of the Confederates, concluded a secret treaty with the emperor, to whom he took the oath of fidelity, and who guarantied to him in return the spoils of his father-in-law.[90]Nicolas des Gallars, of Paris, (M. de Saules,) the friend and secretary of Calvin, and one of the most distinguished ministers of Geneva. He was sent as pastor to the Church at Paris in 1557, reappointed in 1560 to the French Church of London, assisted the following year at the conference at Poissy, was named minister of the Church of Orleans, and became, in 1571, preacher to the Queen of Navarre. We have several of his works mentioned by Senebier,Hist. Litt., tom. i. p. 341.[91]Helène de Falais. She had married Adrien de L'Isle, Seigneur de Trénoy.[92]This diversion, dictated to the King of France by sound politics, was not effected, and Francis I. remained a peaceable spectator of events, whose necessary tendency was to secure, by the defeat of the Protestant party in Germany, the ascendency of Charles V. in Europe.[93]The ministers of Berne were divided by incessant disputes on the subject of the Supper. Sulzer and certain of his colleagues inclined to the Lutheran view, which Erasme Ritter combated; and by an abuse of power, that was not uncommon at that period, the Seigneury of Berne claimed to determine by itself the sense of the controverted dogma, the settlement of which ought to have been remitted to a Synod.—Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 225, 226.[94]The senator, Nicolas de Zerkinden, friend of Calvin and prefect of Nyon.[95]The Roman Catholic and Reformed Cantons, solicited, the former by the emperor, the latter by the Protestant princes, to take part in the struggles of which Germany was the theatre, had both observed a strict neutrality. But the Seigneury of Berne having received information that military movements were taking place in Franche-Comté, then under the rule of the Spaniards, summoned ten thousand men to arms, and occupied the passes of the Jura. That measure, which arose out of the pressure of circumstances, would perhaps have brought about a division among the confederates, and serious complications from without, if the treachery of the Elector Maurice had not hastened on the course of events in Germany.—John de Müller,Hist. de la Confédération Suisse, continuation of M. Vulliemin, tom. xi. p. 292.[96]A word effaced in the original.[97]The original letter is without address. But it is generally believed that it was addressed by Calvin to the widow of the celebrated William Budé, great-grandson of the secretary to King Charles V., and one of the most learned personages of the period of the revival of letters. William Budé having declared in his will that he wished to be buried without ceremony, this circumstance led to the supposition that he had died in the faith of the Reformed. His widow not being able to make free profession of her faith at Paris, was about to settle at Geneva, on the solicitation of Calvin, (June 1549.) She was accompanied by her daughter and three of her sons, Louis, Francis, and John de Budé, who held a distinguished rank in the republic. The best known of the three brothers is John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace, the particular friend of Calvin and of Théodore de Bèze. He was received an inhabitant of Geneva the 27th June 1549, burgess the 2d May 1555, member of both Councils in 1559, fulfilled several important missions to the Protestant princes of Germany, and died in 1589, after having rendered distinguished services to his new country, and thereby added fresh lustre to his family, whose descendants still live at Geneva.—Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques des Familles Genèvoises, tom. iii. p. 83,et seq.[98]On the back, in another handwriting,—"Of 46. I think that this letter must be to Madame Budé."[99]Catharine de Budé married, in 1550, William de Trie, Seigneur de Varennes, a gentleman of the Lyonnais, a refugee at Geneva on account of religion.[100]John Francis Nœguely, one of the most illustrious magistrates, and one of the most able captains of the republic of Berne, in the sixteenth century. In 1536 he commanded the Bernese army, which conquered the Pays de Vaud from the Duke of Savoy; discharged the functions of Avoyer from 1540 to 1568, and died at a very advanced age.[101]In a note, by an unknown hand, "Philippe Buissonnier de Bresse."[102]Several ministers of the Pays de Vaud, and particularly Zebedee, later pastor of Nyon, Lange, pastor of Bursins, delivered from the pulpit the most virulent declamations against the doctrines of the Reformer.[103]On the news of the dangers that menaced the churches of Germany, an important mission had been confided to the Reformer. "Calvin is despatched by the Seigneury to Zurich, to obtain certain information of the condition of the war between the Emperor and the Protestant princes."—Registers of Council, 23d January 1547. "Calvin having returned, reports that the war between the Emperor and the Protestants is more enkindled than ever, and that the Swiss, apprehensive of that prince turning his arms against them, are putting themselves in a state of defence."—Ibid., 23d January 1547.In a letter to Farel, he gave with greater detail the impressions he had received during his hasty journey.[104]Situated at the extremity of the Confederation, without forming part of it, and sharing the faith of the Reformed Cantons, Constance, the first city open to the attacks of the Emperor upon the banks of the Rhine, invoked the aid of the Cantons, whose rigorous neutrality left it exposed without defence to its adversaries.—Histoire de la Confédération Suisse, tom. xi. p. 296.[105]Ulrich, Duke of Wurtemberg, although among the first to submit to the Emperor, was compelled to sue for pardon on his knees, and to pay a ransom of 300,000 crowns.—Robertson,Hist. of Charles V., book viii.[106]The presentQuai des Bergues.[107]Calvin at that time inhabited the house of the Sieur de Fréneville, situated in theRue des Chanoines, near St. Peter's Church, and corresponding to the house in the same street which is now No. 122.—See theMémoires de la Société d'Histoire de Genève, vol. ix. p. 391.[108]He sought in marriage a relation of M. de Falais.[109]The Emperor Charles the Fifth,—conqueror, without a combat, of the army of the confederate princes: thanks to the treason of Maurice of Saxony, this prince, although suffering severely from the gout, was at this very time receiving the submission of the confederate towns of Suabia and of the Palatinate, from which he exacted enormous penalties.[110]The King, Francis I. He died the following month, the 31st March 1547.[111]On the back—To Monseigneur, Monsieur de Fallez, at Basle, near to the Cauf-Hauss.—M. de Falais was in fact about to quit Strasbourg, then threatened by the imperial army, to fix his residence in Switzerland.[112]"Quid enim audeat, qui tyranno se implicuit?" The town of Strasbourg had submitted itself to the emperor. The terms of that submission bore, that it shall renounce the League of Smalkald, and shall contribute, with the other states, to the execution of the sentence pronounced against the Landgrave and the Elector.[113]Sebastian Castellio, who had then retired to Bâle.[114]Antoine Perrenot, Bishop of Arras, Cardinal de Granvelle, the celebrated minister of Charles V. and of Philip II. He was born at Ornans, near Besançon in 1517, and died in 1586 at Madrid.[115]Allusion to Valeran Poulain. It appears from the next letter in this Series, pp. 104-106, that Valeran sought, in spite of the opposition of M. de Falais, the hand of Mademoiselle de Willergy, a relation of this Seigneur, likewise sought by M. de Paré.—See Note 1, p. 98.[116]Enclosed in a letter to M. de Falais, with the words,—Copy of a letter written to Valeran.There has been already repeated mention of Valeran Poulain in the correspondence of Calvin with M. de Falais, and we shall again find his name in the subsequent letters of the Reformer, when a refugee at Strasbourg on the ground of religion. He aspired at that time to the functions of the ministry, which he exercised at a later period at London and Frankfort; and if, by his indiscretion, he at first drew down upon himself the severe censures of Calvin, he afterwards succeeded in regaining his esteem and meriting his affection. See the correspondence of the Reformer, (years 1555, 1556.)[117]Invested with the right of censure and ecclesiastical excommunication, the Consistory daily beheld its authority assailed and disowned by numerous adversaries, who accused it of encroaching upon the power of the magistrates. "The ministers complain that they are accused of exceeding the authority accorded them by the edicts, and request permission to put into force the right of excommunication, in order to bring offenders to their duty. Resolved to hand over to the Consistory rebellious and obstinate offenders, and to leave the others unmolested."—Registers of Council, 21st and 29th May 1547.[118]"Arrival at Geneva of the minister Viret, a very excellent man."—Registers, April 1547.[119]Doubtless Michel Morel.[120]Is this an allusion to the gradually declining influence of Amy Perrin?[121]To the excellent servant of Christ our Lord, Doctor Wolfgang Musculus, most reverend pastor of the Church of Augsbourg, brother, and fellow-minister.Wolfgang Musculus, born in a small town of Lorraine, and of an obscure family, raised himself by his talents, and the varied range of his accomplishments, to a place among the most distinguished men of his time. He cultivated with success music, poetry, and theology; was converted to the gospel in a convent by the perusal of the writings of Luther; gained the friendship of Capito and Bucer, and quitted Strasbourg in 1531, with a view to the discharge of the functions of the ministry in the church of Augsbourg. Driven from that city in 1548, by the proclamation of theInterim, he withdrew at first to Zurich, and afterwards to Berne, where he died in 1563. His numerous manuscripts, as well as those of Abraham Musculus his son, are preserved in the Library of Zoffingue.—Melch. Adam,Vitæ Theol. Germ., p. 367.[122]Named pastor of the Italian church at Augsbourg in October 1545, Ochino fled from that city on the approach of the imperial army, in the early part of the year 1547.—SchelhornErgoetzlichkeiten, vol. iii. pp. 1141, 1142.[123]Wolfgang Musculus did not cease to proclaim the Gospel in Augsbourg until the church in which he preached had been closed by order of the emperor, and his congregation dispersed. He was himself obliged to take his departure the year following, (26th June 1548.)—Melch. Ad., p. 381.[124]Seeante, vol. i., pp. 312, 313,note. Calvin called on him for his aid with the magistrates of that town for having a promise of marriage cancelled between Mademoiselle de Wilergy and Valeran.—Bibl. de Genève, vol. 106.[125]To the most erudite Doctor Francis Dryander, and very dear friend.Francis Enzinas, better known under the name of Dryander, born at Burgos in Spain, was the disciple of Melanchthon, and embraced the Reformation with ardour. Imprisoned for having published a translation of the New Testament in Spanish, he recovered his liberty in 1542, and visited Calvin at Geneva. He afterwards withdrew to Strasbourg, whence he passed over to England, after the adoption of theInterim, and occupied a chair in the University of Oxford. There are several letters of Dryander to Bullinger (1549-1552,) in the fine collection ofZurich Letters, published by theParker Society, 1st series, Vol. i. p. 348, and following.[126]Valeran Poulain. See pp. 104, 110.[127]The Emperor Charles the Fifth had just gained a decisive victory at Mühlberg (24th April 1547) over the Protestant princes.[128]That is to say, at Bâle. The French church of that town was founded after the massacre De la Saint Barthelemy, at the request of a great number of refugees, among whom we find the children of the Admiral de Coligny.—MSS. of the archives of the French Church of Bâle.[129]The bearer of this letter was the captain-general, Amy Perrin, then on his way to Bâle. He had been charged with a secret mission to the new king of France, Henry II., and was imprisoned after his return to Geneva, because of unfaithfulness in the fulfilment of his commission.[130]A pretender to the hand of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.[131]Valeran Poulain. See note 1, p. 113.[132]Nicolas Zerkinden, senator of Berne, prefect of the town of Nyon.[133]The establishment of discipline in the churches of the Pays de Vaud.[134]An ordinance had recently interdicted the use of slashed breeches at Geneva. The reason which Calvin gives for this prohibition may be seen in a subsequent letter to the faithful of France, (24th July 1547.)[135]John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace. See note 1, p. 90.[136]Amy Perrin.[137]See the notice concerning the family of Budé, p. 90. We believe, contrary to the opinion of M. Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques, tom. iii. p. 83, that this letter is addressed to Louis or to Francis Budé, and not to John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace, their brother. This latter had already made a journey to Geneva, and he was known to the Reformer, who had introduced him in very kind terms to M. de Falais.—Letter of 4th June 1547, p. 118. It is not then to the Sieur de Vérace, that the first words of Calvin's letter can apply, but to one of his brothers: "Although I am personally unknown to you, I do not on that account hesitate to write you privately, in the hope that my letter will be welcome," &c. The family of Budé were then preparing to leave France. Two years afterwards, they settled at Geneva, as appears from their registration in the list of the inhabitants, 27th June 1549, and the following passage of a letter from Viret to Calvin, 12th June of the same year: "I rejoice that the Budé have arrived, along with their mother."—MSS. of the Library of Geneva.[138]"Complaint of Calvin against the wife of Amy Perrin, who insulted the minister Abel in full Consistory."—Registers of Council, 24th June.[139]The import of this note, written in the Savoyard language, and affixed to the pulpit of the ministers, was, "that people did not wish to have so many masters; that they (the ministers) had now gone far enough in their course of censure; that the renegade monks like them had done nothing more than afflict all the world in this way; that if they persisted in their course, people would be reduced to such a condition that they would curse the hour in which they emerged from the rule of monachism; and that they (the ministers) should take care lest as much should be done to them as was done to the Canon Vernly of Fribourg." The last passage was equivalent to a threat of death.[140]The former canon, Jacques Gruet, of dissolute manners, of licentious and perverse doctrine, constantly opposed to the ministers, and intolerant of all rule in the Church as in the State, had lain under the imputation of having been the instigator of the attempt at poisoning Viret in 1535.—Histoire de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 364.[141]Pierre Vandel, one of the chief of the reprobate children of Geneva. Handsome and brilliant, he loved to exhibit himself surrounded by valets and courtezans, with rings on his fingers, and his breast covered with gold chains. He had been imprisoned on account of his debaucheries, and his insolent behaviour before the Consistory.[142]Doctor Chelius, in the handwriting of Calvin.[143]Henry of Brunswick.[144]The personage here designated is doubtless Erich, hereditary prince of Sweden, who ascended the throne in 1560, and was deposed in 1568.[145]A common interest at that time conciliated the King of France and the Swiss. The ambassadors of Henry II., Brissac and Marillac, assured Geneva of the friendship of the King, and took in charge letters of Calvin to the Helvetic Churches.—Histoire de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 358.[146]The minister Francis Perucel, called La Rivière.[147]Intimidated by the defeat of the Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse had submitted himself to the Emperor, and only obtained his pardon by imploring it upon his knees, and surrendering his person and states into the power of this prince.[148]Amy Perrin. His wife, daughter of a rich burgess, François Favre d'Echallens, and reprimanded incessantly by the Consistory, was the implacable enemy of the ministers and of Calvin.[149]Jacques Gruet, formerly a Canon, and a man of licentious and irregular morals, impatient of all restraint either of Church or State. Severely censured by the ministers on account of his debaucheries, he had uttered threats of death against them, which he even ventured to affix to the pulpit of St. Peter's Church. His trial, conducted with all the rigour of that period, terminated by a sentence of capital punishment. Condemned for sedition, blasphemy, and atheism, he perished on the scaffold the 26th July 1547.[150]Subjected to torture, Gruet admitted his guilt, and as well on the ground of his impious and blasphemous productions, as of a letter written to a private individual, in which he exhorted the Duke of Savoy to turn his arms against Geneva, he was condemned to death. It appeared, according to the letter of Calvin to Viret, of which a fragment is here reproduced, that this sentence was not unanimous, and that Gruet reckoned up to this time, in the councils of the republic, friends or accomplices who were desirous of saving him. This did not prevent his execution on the 26th July 1547, and the example threw terror into the ranks of the party of the Libertins. On the trial of Gruet, see the various historians of Geneva,—Spon, Picot, and theHistoire de la Suisse, vol. xi. pp. 364, 365.[151]Entitled: To our very dear lords and brethren who desire the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.During the period that the Reformation was for a while overcome in Germany, and that it had to sustain the rudest conflicts in order to its establishment at Geneva, the most alarming reports were spread among the French Protestants, and carried discouragement and dismay into their ranks. Calvin, addressing his brethren from the midst of the struggle in which he was engaged against the party of the Libertins, reassured and comforted them by his letters, and exhorted them to place their entire confidence in God.[152]Ils font des mauvais chevaulx à mordre et à regimber.[153]Francis Baudouin of Arras, a distinguished lawyer, fled to Geneva on account of religion. He became the friend and the secretary of Calvin, whose opinions at a later period he attacked, and betrayed his confidence by robbing him of his most precious papers.—(See Drelincourt, Defence of Calvin, pp. 251, 252.) Called successively as Professor of Law to Bourges, to Strasbourg, and to Heidelberg, Baudouin died in 1573, leaving the reputation of one of the most learned men of his time, and of a most versatile spirit in matters of religion. It has been justly said of him, that he was a Roman Catholic in France, a Lutheran at Strasbourg, and a Calvinist at Geneva.[154]See note 1, p. 111. Dryander seems at this period to have filled the office of secretary to M. de Falais. He carried on at the same time a correspondence with Calvin, expressing the highest esteem for his character and talents.—Library of Geneva, Vol. 110. One of his brothers, John Ensinas, had been burnt at Rome in 1545, a martyr to the Protestant faith.[155]Some Flemish and French refugees had already formed a community at Vezel, which was enlarged in 1553 by the dispersion of the foreign congregation of London, and which was constituted as a church by the minister Francis Pérucel, called La Rivière.[156]Jacques Gruet. See p. 128.[157]Amy Perrin.[158]Isaiah lix. 15.[159]Of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.[160]The conclusion of the letter is in the handwriting of Francis Baudouin.[161]The signature of the letter is autograph.[162]"M. Calvin has represented that letters have been written to him, as well from Bourgoyne as from Lyons, to the effect that the children of Geneva were willing to give five hundred crowns to have him put to death; he does not know who these are."—Registers of the Consistory, 1st September 1547.[163]Charged with an important mission to the court of King Henry II., Perrin, on his return, was subjected to the accusation of treason in the carrying out of his commission. The King of France had said that he would give two millions to be master of Geneva. Perrin was accused of having replied, that two hundred horse would be sufficient to conquer the city.—Hist. de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 361. It could not however be proved, that he had contracted secret engagements with France. He was nevertheless imprisoned, afterwards released at the request of the Seigneury of Berne, and stripped of his offices.—Registers of Council, September and November 1548.[164]Idelette de Bure is known to have espoused in her first nuptials an Anabaptist, Jean Storder. According to the doctrines of that sect, which denied the authority of the civil power, the marriage to be legitimate had no need of the sanction of the magistrate.[165]Allusion to the work which Calvin was at that time preparing against the Council of Trent, and which appeared at the end of the year.—See the Letter to Farel of the 28th December 1547.[166]See the letter to M. de Falais of the 16th August, p. 132.[167]Emmanuel Tremelli, a learned Hebraist of Ferrara, disciple of Peter Martyr, at that time in retirement at Strasbourg.[168]The book,—De la Vertu et Usage du Saint Ministère et des Sacremens, Genève, 1548. Senebier,Hist. Litt., vol. i. p. 156,Art.Viret.[169]The minister Antoine Maigret, who was shortly afterwards deposed from his charge.[170]We read in the Life of Calvin by Theodore Beza, "From his youth he was all the better, and liberally brought up,—at the expense of his father, however—in the society of the children of the house of Montmor, whom he also accompanied as the companion of their studies at Paris." It is to one of the members of that noble family, Claude de Hangest, Abbot of Saint Eley, that Calvin dedicated, in 1532, his Commentary on Seneca's TreatiseDe Clementia.[171]Bullinger had submitted his book on the Sacraments to Calvin, (Absoluta de Christi et ejus Ecclesiæ Sacramentis Tractatio,) in which he departed slightly from the doctrine of Zwingle, with the view of approximating to that of the French Reformer. Still, however, the mystery of the spiritual presence of Christ, under external and material symbols, was not expressed in it with sufficient clearness. Calvin had fully criticised this book in a letter, or rather in an extended memoir, the original of which is preserved at Zurich, under the title,Censura Libri Bullingeri de Sacramentis, Geneva, 27th February 1547. This memoir, written with a brotherly freedom, concludes with these words:—"You thus have what in your book I desire to see corrected, that it may meet with absolute approval. I make no note of the parts that merit commendation. I have discharged the office of a friend, by complying with your wishes, and freely admonishing you; it now remains for you to take my liberty in good part. This I am confident you will do."—Library of Zurich. Coll. Hottinger, M. F. 80, p. 338.[172]Peter Farnese, son of Pope Paul III., had in truth been recently assassinated at Placentia, and that city had opened its gates to Charles V. But Parma remained under the power of the Pope, who in vain sued for justice from the Emperor on account of the murder of Farnese, and the dispossession of his children.—Robertson,History of Charles V., B. ix.[173]The Catholic cantons having engaged to take no step that should have the effect of connecting them with the Emperor, the Reformed cantons, with Berne at their head, bound themselves to the strictest neutrality, and informed the German princes, that they could give them no aid without throwing the half of the confederate states into the hands of their enemy.—Hist. de la Suisse.Tom. xi. p. 291.[174]M. de Montmor. See note, p. 141.[175]ForThe Apologyof M. de Falais.[176]According to the testimony of the Registers of Council, Amy Perrin had been restored to liberty, on bail, at the instance of the Seigneury of Berne and his family, and on condition of begging the forgiveness of God and men, and paying the expenses of justice.—Register, 23d November 1547. Had this legal liberation been preceded by the escape of the prisoner? We are not aware.[177]The scene of tumult and sedition described in this letter left so lively an impression on the mind of Calvin, that he recalled it seventeen years afterwards, on his deathbed, in his farewell to the ministers of Geneva, subjoining these memorable words:—"Although I am nothing, yet I know that I prevented three thousand disturbances from taking place in Geneva; but take courage, you will become strong, for God will make use of that city, and will maintain it; and I assure you he will keep it."—Collection de M. Tronchin, à Genève. Adieux de Calvin, recueillis par Pinaut.The Registers of Council are silent on this scene, the date of which has been given, by a frequently repeated mistake, as the 17th September; but the circumstances tally with the 13th December 1547.[178]Disarmed for a moment by the heroic attitude of Calvin in the rising of the 13th December, the parties that divided Geneva were not slow to renew their lamentable strife. The voice of the Reformer was disregarded, and he wrote with deep sadness on the 23d December,—"Our affairs are in no better condition. I do not cease to press upon them, but I cause them to make little or no advancement. I am now returning from the Senate; I said a great deal, but it is like telling a story to the deaf. May the Lord restore them to their right mind."—Calvin to Viret, MSS. of Geneva, Vol. 106.[179]Calvin had just published his celebrated treatise of theAntidote, (Acta Synodi Tridentinæ cum Antidoto, 1547,) which he translated into French the year following, with changes fitted to bring it within the comprehension of the people.—Opuscules, p. 881. In this work the Reformer passes in review the decrees of the Council of Trent, and refutes them with a merciless logic and a marvellous eloquence. The Catholic theologian Cochlæus replied to him by personal attacks, which Des Gallars and Beza undertook to refute.[180]See Letter, p. 148.[181]In testimony of regard for Calvin, the Council adopted the following decree: "Resolved to present to Calvin all the furniture that is in his house belonging to the city, 29th December 1547." The preceding year he had been offered ten crowns as a present, but he refused them, praying the Council to distribute them among the other ministers who were poor compared with him, "and even to diminish his stipend in order to benefit them."[182]This family had not yet quitted France. See the letters, pp. 90, 119. They received this new letter of Calvin, on the occasion of the death of one of its members, perhaps Mathieu de Budé, who had corresponded with the Reformer in 1546, and of whom, subsequent to this period, all trace is lost. There exists (MSS. of the Library of Geneva, vol. 109) a letter of Mathieu de Budé to Calvin, relative to the assassination of John Diaz at Neubourg. We remark the following passage:—"I have received your letter ... which was most welcome to me, as well because I recognize in it your disposition of goodwill and love, as on account of the ordinary consolation which I have received from it...."—26th April 1546. The author of that letter is not mentioned by M. Galiffe.—Notices Généalogiques, tom. iii. p. 83. He had died, no doubt, before the establishment of his family at Geneva.

[88]The Emperor Charles V. See note 2, p. 78.

[89]Maurice of Saxony, cousin of the Elector John Frederic, and son-in-law of the Landgrave of Hesse, unworthily betraying the cause of the Confederates, concluded a secret treaty with the emperor, to whom he took the oath of fidelity, and who guarantied to him in return the spoils of his father-in-law.

[90]Nicolas des Gallars, of Paris, (M. de Saules,) the friend and secretary of Calvin, and one of the most distinguished ministers of Geneva. He was sent as pastor to the Church at Paris in 1557, reappointed in 1560 to the French Church of London, assisted the following year at the conference at Poissy, was named minister of the Church of Orleans, and became, in 1571, preacher to the Queen of Navarre. We have several of his works mentioned by Senebier,Hist. Litt., tom. i. p. 341.

[91]Helène de Falais. She had married Adrien de L'Isle, Seigneur de Trénoy.

[92]This diversion, dictated to the King of France by sound politics, was not effected, and Francis I. remained a peaceable spectator of events, whose necessary tendency was to secure, by the defeat of the Protestant party in Germany, the ascendency of Charles V. in Europe.

[93]The ministers of Berne were divided by incessant disputes on the subject of the Supper. Sulzer and certain of his colleagues inclined to the Lutheran view, which Erasme Ritter combated; and by an abuse of power, that was not uncommon at that period, the Seigneury of Berne claimed to determine by itself the sense of the controverted dogma, the settlement of which ought to have been remitted to a Synod.—Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 225, 226.

[94]The senator, Nicolas de Zerkinden, friend of Calvin and prefect of Nyon.

[95]The Roman Catholic and Reformed Cantons, solicited, the former by the emperor, the latter by the Protestant princes, to take part in the struggles of which Germany was the theatre, had both observed a strict neutrality. But the Seigneury of Berne having received information that military movements were taking place in Franche-Comté, then under the rule of the Spaniards, summoned ten thousand men to arms, and occupied the passes of the Jura. That measure, which arose out of the pressure of circumstances, would perhaps have brought about a division among the confederates, and serious complications from without, if the treachery of the Elector Maurice had not hastened on the course of events in Germany.—John de Müller,Hist. de la Confédération Suisse, continuation of M. Vulliemin, tom. xi. p. 292.

[96]A word effaced in the original.

[97]The original letter is without address. But it is generally believed that it was addressed by Calvin to the widow of the celebrated William Budé, great-grandson of the secretary to King Charles V., and one of the most learned personages of the period of the revival of letters. William Budé having declared in his will that he wished to be buried without ceremony, this circumstance led to the supposition that he had died in the faith of the Reformed. His widow not being able to make free profession of her faith at Paris, was about to settle at Geneva, on the solicitation of Calvin, (June 1549.) She was accompanied by her daughter and three of her sons, Louis, Francis, and John de Budé, who held a distinguished rank in the republic. The best known of the three brothers is John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace, the particular friend of Calvin and of Théodore de Bèze. He was received an inhabitant of Geneva the 27th June 1549, burgess the 2d May 1555, member of both Councils in 1559, fulfilled several important missions to the Protestant princes of Germany, and died in 1589, after having rendered distinguished services to his new country, and thereby added fresh lustre to his family, whose descendants still live at Geneva.—Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques des Familles Genèvoises, tom. iii. p. 83,et seq.

[98]On the back, in another handwriting,—"Of 46. I think that this letter must be to Madame Budé."

[99]Catharine de Budé married, in 1550, William de Trie, Seigneur de Varennes, a gentleman of the Lyonnais, a refugee at Geneva on account of religion.

[100]John Francis Nœguely, one of the most illustrious magistrates, and one of the most able captains of the republic of Berne, in the sixteenth century. In 1536 he commanded the Bernese army, which conquered the Pays de Vaud from the Duke of Savoy; discharged the functions of Avoyer from 1540 to 1568, and died at a very advanced age.

[101]In a note, by an unknown hand, "Philippe Buissonnier de Bresse."

[102]Several ministers of the Pays de Vaud, and particularly Zebedee, later pastor of Nyon, Lange, pastor of Bursins, delivered from the pulpit the most virulent declamations against the doctrines of the Reformer.

[103]On the news of the dangers that menaced the churches of Germany, an important mission had been confided to the Reformer. "Calvin is despatched by the Seigneury to Zurich, to obtain certain information of the condition of the war between the Emperor and the Protestant princes."—Registers of Council, 23d January 1547. "Calvin having returned, reports that the war between the Emperor and the Protestants is more enkindled than ever, and that the Swiss, apprehensive of that prince turning his arms against them, are putting themselves in a state of defence."—Ibid., 23d January 1547.In a letter to Farel, he gave with greater detail the impressions he had received during his hasty journey.

In a letter to Farel, he gave with greater detail the impressions he had received during his hasty journey.

[104]Situated at the extremity of the Confederation, without forming part of it, and sharing the faith of the Reformed Cantons, Constance, the first city open to the attacks of the Emperor upon the banks of the Rhine, invoked the aid of the Cantons, whose rigorous neutrality left it exposed without defence to its adversaries.—Histoire de la Confédération Suisse, tom. xi. p. 296.

[105]Ulrich, Duke of Wurtemberg, although among the first to submit to the Emperor, was compelled to sue for pardon on his knees, and to pay a ransom of 300,000 crowns.—Robertson,Hist. of Charles V., book viii.

[106]The presentQuai des Bergues.

[107]Calvin at that time inhabited the house of the Sieur de Fréneville, situated in theRue des Chanoines, near St. Peter's Church, and corresponding to the house in the same street which is now No. 122.—See theMémoires de la Société d'Histoire de Genève, vol. ix. p. 391.

[108]He sought in marriage a relation of M. de Falais.

[109]The Emperor Charles the Fifth,—conqueror, without a combat, of the army of the confederate princes: thanks to the treason of Maurice of Saxony, this prince, although suffering severely from the gout, was at this very time receiving the submission of the confederate towns of Suabia and of the Palatinate, from which he exacted enormous penalties.

[110]The King, Francis I. He died the following month, the 31st March 1547.

[111]On the back—To Monseigneur, Monsieur de Fallez, at Basle, near to the Cauf-Hauss.—M. de Falais was in fact about to quit Strasbourg, then threatened by the imperial army, to fix his residence in Switzerland.

[112]"Quid enim audeat, qui tyranno se implicuit?" The town of Strasbourg had submitted itself to the emperor. The terms of that submission bore, that it shall renounce the League of Smalkald, and shall contribute, with the other states, to the execution of the sentence pronounced against the Landgrave and the Elector.

[113]Sebastian Castellio, who had then retired to Bâle.

[114]Antoine Perrenot, Bishop of Arras, Cardinal de Granvelle, the celebrated minister of Charles V. and of Philip II. He was born at Ornans, near Besançon in 1517, and died in 1586 at Madrid.

[115]Allusion to Valeran Poulain. It appears from the next letter in this Series, pp. 104-106, that Valeran sought, in spite of the opposition of M. de Falais, the hand of Mademoiselle de Willergy, a relation of this Seigneur, likewise sought by M. de Paré.—See Note 1, p. 98.

[116]Enclosed in a letter to M. de Falais, with the words,—Copy of a letter written to Valeran.There has been already repeated mention of Valeran Poulain in the correspondence of Calvin with M. de Falais, and we shall again find his name in the subsequent letters of the Reformer, when a refugee at Strasbourg on the ground of religion. He aspired at that time to the functions of the ministry, which he exercised at a later period at London and Frankfort; and if, by his indiscretion, he at first drew down upon himself the severe censures of Calvin, he afterwards succeeded in regaining his esteem and meriting his affection. See the correspondence of the Reformer, (years 1555, 1556.)

[116]Enclosed in a letter to M. de Falais, with the words,—Copy of a letter written to Valeran.

There has been already repeated mention of Valeran Poulain in the correspondence of Calvin with M. de Falais, and we shall again find his name in the subsequent letters of the Reformer, when a refugee at Strasbourg on the ground of religion. He aspired at that time to the functions of the ministry, which he exercised at a later period at London and Frankfort; and if, by his indiscretion, he at first drew down upon himself the severe censures of Calvin, he afterwards succeeded in regaining his esteem and meriting his affection. See the correspondence of the Reformer, (years 1555, 1556.)

[117]Invested with the right of censure and ecclesiastical excommunication, the Consistory daily beheld its authority assailed and disowned by numerous adversaries, who accused it of encroaching upon the power of the magistrates. "The ministers complain that they are accused of exceeding the authority accorded them by the edicts, and request permission to put into force the right of excommunication, in order to bring offenders to their duty. Resolved to hand over to the Consistory rebellious and obstinate offenders, and to leave the others unmolested."—Registers of Council, 21st and 29th May 1547.

[118]"Arrival at Geneva of the minister Viret, a very excellent man."—Registers, April 1547.

[119]Doubtless Michel Morel.

[120]Is this an allusion to the gradually declining influence of Amy Perrin?

[121]To the excellent servant of Christ our Lord, Doctor Wolfgang Musculus, most reverend pastor of the Church of Augsbourg, brother, and fellow-minister.Wolfgang Musculus, born in a small town of Lorraine, and of an obscure family, raised himself by his talents, and the varied range of his accomplishments, to a place among the most distinguished men of his time. He cultivated with success music, poetry, and theology; was converted to the gospel in a convent by the perusal of the writings of Luther; gained the friendship of Capito and Bucer, and quitted Strasbourg in 1531, with a view to the discharge of the functions of the ministry in the church of Augsbourg. Driven from that city in 1548, by the proclamation of theInterim, he withdrew at first to Zurich, and afterwards to Berne, where he died in 1563. His numerous manuscripts, as well as those of Abraham Musculus his son, are preserved in the Library of Zoffingue.—Melch. Adam,Vitæ Theol. Germ., p. 367.

[121]To the excellent servant of Christ our Lord, Doctor Wolfgang Musculus, most reverend pastor of the Church of Augsbourg, brother, and fellow-minister.

Wolfgang Musculus, born in a small town of Lorraine, and of an obscure family, raised himself by his talents, and the varied range of his accomplishments, to a place among the most distinguished men of his time. He cultivated with success music, poetry, and theology; was converted to the gospel in a convent by the perusal of the writings of Luther; gained the friendship of Capito and Bucer, and quitted Strasbourg in 1531, with a view to the discharge of the functions of the ministry in the church of Augsbourg. Driven from that city in 1548, by the proclamation of theInterim, he withdrew at first to Zurich, and afterwards to Berne, where he died in 1563. His numerous manuscripts, as well as those of Abraham Musculus his son, are preserved in the Library of Zoffingue.—Melch. Adam,Vitæ Theol. Germ., p. 367.

[122]Named pastor of the Italian church at Augsbourg in October 1545, Ochino fled from that city on the approach of the imperial army, in the early part of the year 1547.—SchelhornErgoetzlichkeiten, vol. iii. pp. 1141, 1142.

[123]Wolfgang Musculus did not cease to proclaim the Gospel in Augsbourg until the church in which he preached had been closed by order of the emperor, and his congregation dispersed. He was himself obliged to take his departure the year following, (26th June 1548.)—Melch. Ad., p. 381.

[124]Seeante, vol. i., pp. 312, 313,note. Calvin called on him for his aid with the magistrates of that town for having a promise of marriage cancelled between Mademoiselle de Wilergy and Valeran.—Bibl. de Genève, vol. 106.

[125]To the most erudite Doctor Francis Dryander, and very dear friend.Francis Enzinas, better known under the name of Dryander, born at Burgos in Spain, was the disciple of Melanchthon, and embraced the Reformation with ardour. Imprisoned for having published a translation of the New Testament in Spanish, he recovered his liberty in 1542, and visited Calvin at Geneva. He afterwards withdrew to Strasbourg, whence he passed over to England, after the adoption of theInterim, and occupied a chair in the University of Oxford. There are several letters of Dryander to Bullinger (1549-1552,) in the fine collection ofZurich Letters, published by theParker Society, 1st series, Vol. i. p. 348, and following.

[125]To the most erudite Doctor Francis Dryander, and very dear friend.

Francis Enzinas, better known under the name of Dryander, born at Burgos in Spain, was the disciple of Melanchthon, and embraced the Reformation with ardour. Imprisoned for having published a translation of the New Testament in Spanish, he recovered his liberty in 1542, and visited Calvin at Geneva. He afterwards withdrew to Strasbourg, whence he passed over to England, after the adoption of theInterim, and occupied a chair in the University of Oxford. There are several letters of Dryander to Bullinger (1549-1552,) in the fine collection ofZurich Letters, published by theParker Society, 1st series, Vol. i. p. 348, and following.

[126]Valeran Poulain. See pp. 104, 110.

[127]The Emperor Charles the Fifth had just gained a decisive victory at Mühlberg (24th April 1547) over the Protestant princes.

[128]That is to say, at Bâle. The French church of that town was founded after the massacre De la Saint Barthelemy, at the request of a great number of refugees, among whom we find the children of the Admiral de Coligny.—MSS. of the archives of the French Church of Bâle.

[129]The bearer of this letter was the captain-general, Amy Perrin, then on his way to Bâle. He had been charged with a secret mission to the new king of France, Henry II., and was imprisoned after his return to Geneva, because of unfaithfulness in the fulfilment of his commission.

[130]A pretender to the hand of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.

[131]Valeran Poulain. See note 1, p. 113.

[132]Nicolas Zerkinden, senator of Berne, prefect of the town of Nyon.

[133]The establishment of discipline in the churches of the Pays de Vaud.

[134]An ordinance had recently interdicted the use of slashed breeches at Geneva. The reason which Calvin gives for this prohibition may be seen in a subsequent letter to the faithful of France, (24th July 1547.)

[135]John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace. See note 1, p. 90.

[136]Amy Perrin.

[137]See the notice concerning the family of Budé, p. 90. We believe, contrary to the opinion of M. Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques, tom. iii. p. 83, that this letter is addressed to Louis or to Francis Budé, and not to John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace, their brother. This latter had already made a journey to Geneva, and he was known to the Reformer, who had introduced him in very kind terms to M. de Falais.—Letter of 4th June 1547, p. 118. It is not then to the Sieur de Vérace, that the first words of Calvin's letter can apply, but to one of his brothers: "Although I am personally unknown to you, I do not on that account hesitate to write you privately, in the hope that my letter will be welcome," &c. The family of Budé were then preparing to leave France. Two years afterwards, they settled at Geneva, as appears from their registration in the list of the inhabitants, 27th June 1549, and the following passage of a letter from Viret to Calvin, 12th June of the same year: "I rejoice that the Budé have arrived, along with their mother."—MSS. of the Library of Geneva.

[138]"Complaint of Calvin against the wife of Amy Perrin, who insulted the minister Abel in full Consistory."—Registers of Council, 24th June.

[139]The import of this note, written in the Savoyard language, and affixed to the pulpit of the ministers, was, "that people did not wish to have so many masters; that they (the ministers) had now gone far enough in their course of censure; that the renegade monks like them had done nothing more than afflict all the world in this way; that if they persisted in their course, people would be reduced to such a condition that they would curse the hour in which they emerged from the rule of monachism; and that they (the ministers) should take care lest as much should be done to them as was done to the Canon Vernly of Fribourg." The last passage was equivalent to a threat of death.

[140]The former canon, Jacques Gruet, of dissolute manners, of licentious and perverse doctrine, constantly opposed to the ministers, and intolerant of all rule in the Church as in the State, had lain under the imputation of having been the instigator of the attempt at poisoning Viret in 1535.—Histoire de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 364.

[141]Pierre Vandel, one of the chief of the reprobate children of Geneva. Handsome and brilliant, he loved to exhibit himself surrounded by valets and courtezans, with rings on his fingers, and his breast covered with gold chains. He had been imprisoned on account of his debaucheries, and his insolent behaviour before the Consistory.

[142]Doctor Chelius, in the handwriting of Calvin.

[143]Henry of Brunswick.

[144]The personage here designated is doubtless Erich, hereditary prince of Sweden, who ascended the throne in 1560, and was deposed in 1568.

[145]A common interest at that time conciliated the King of France and the Swiss. The ambassadors of Henry II., Brissac and Marillac, assured Geneva of the friendship of the King, and took in charge letters of Calvin to the Helvetic Churches.—Histoire de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 358.

[146]The minister Francis Perucel, called La Rivière.

[147]Intimidated by the defeat of the Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse had submitted himself to the Emperor, and only obtained his pardon by imploring it upon his knees, and surrendering his person and states into the power of this prince.

[148]Amy Perrin. His wife, daughter of a rich burgess, François Favre d'Echallens, and reprimanded incessantly by the Consistory, was the implacable enemy of the ministers and of Calvin.

[149]Jacques Gruet, formerly a Canon, and a man of licentious and irregular morals, impatient of all restraint either of Church or State. Severely censured by the ministers on account of his debaucheries, he had uttered threats of death against them, which he even ventured to affix to the pulpit of St. Peter's Church. His trial, conducted with all the rigour of that period, terminated by a sentence of capital punishment. Condemned for sedition, blasphemy, and atheism, he perished on the scaffold the 26th July 1547.

[150]Subjected to torture, Gruet admitted his guilt, and as well on the ground of his impious and blasphemous productions, as of a letter written to a private individual, in which he exhorted the Duke of Savoy to turn his arms against Geneva, he was condemned to death. It appeared, according to the letter of Calvin to Viret, of which a fragment is here reproduced, that this sentence was not unanimous, and that Gruet reckoned up to this time, in the councils of the republic, friends or accomplices who were desirous of saving him. This did not prevent his execution on the 26th July 1547, and the example threw terror into the ranks of the party of the Libertins. On the trial of Gruet, see the various historians of Geneva,—Spon, Picot, and theHistoire de la Suisse, vol. xi. pp. 364, 365.

[151]Entitled: To our very dear lords and brethren who desire the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.During the period that the Reformation was for a while overcome in Germany, and that it had to sustain the rudest conflicts in order to its establishment at Geneva, the most alarming reports were spread among the French Protestants, and carried discouragement and dismay into their ranks. Calvin, addressing his brethren from the midst of the struggle in which he was engaged against the party of the Libertins, reassured and comforted them by his letters, and exhorted them to place their entire confidence in God.

[151]Entitled: To our very dear lords and brethren who desire the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

During the period that the Reformation was for a while overcome in Germany, and that it had to sustain the rudest conflicts in order to its establishment at Geneva, the most alarming reports were spread among the French Protestants, and carried discouragement and dismay into their ranks. Calvin, addressing his brethren from the midst of the struggle in which he was engaged against the party of the Libertins, reassured and comforted them by his letters, and exhorted them to place their entire confidence in God.

[152]Ils font des mauvais chevaulx à mordre et à regimber.

[153]Francis Baudouin of Arras, a distinguished lawyer, fled to Geneva on account of religion. He became the friend and the secretary of Calvin, whose opinions at a later period he attacked, and betrayed his confidence by robbing him of his most precious papers.—(See Drelincourt, Defence of Calvin, pp. 251, 252.) Called successively as Professor of Law to Bourges, to Strasbourg, and to Heidelberg, Baudouin died in 1573, leaving the reputation of one of the most learned men of his time, and of a most versatile spirit in matters of religion. It has been justly said of him, that he was a Roman Catholic in France, a Lutheran at Strasbourg, and a Calvinist at Geneva.

[154]See note 1, p. 111. Dryander seems at this period to have filled the office of secretary to M. de Falais. He carried on at the same time a correspondence with Calvin, expressing the highest esteem for his character and talents.—Library of Geneva, Vol. 110. One of his brothers, John Ensinas, had been burnt at Rome in 1545, a martyr to the Protestant faith.

[155]Some Flemish and French refugees had already formed a community at Vezel, which was enlarged in 1553 by the dispersion of the foreign congregation of London, and which was constituted as a church by the minister Francis Pérucel, called La Rivière.

[156]Jacques Gruet. See p. 128.

[157]Amy Perrin.

[158]Isaiah lix. 15.

[159]Of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.

[160]The conclusion of the letter is in the handwriting of Francis Baudouin.

[161]The signature of the letter is autograph.

[162]"M. Calvin has represented that letters have been written to him, as well from Bourgoyne as from Lyons, to the effect that the children of Geneva were willing to give five hundred crowns to have him put to death; he does not know who these are."—Registers of the Consistory, 1st September 1547.

[163]Charged with an important mission to the court of King Henry II., Perrin, on his return, was subjected to the accusation of treason in the carrying out of his commission. The King of France had said that he would give two millions to be master of Geneva. Perrin was accused of having replied, that two hundred horse would be sufficient to conquer the city.—Hist. de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 361. It could not however be proved, that he had contracted secret engagements with France. He was nevertheless imprisoned, afterwards released at the request of the Seigneury of Berne, and stripped of his offices.—Registers of Council, September and November 1548.

[164]Idelette de Bure is known to have espoused in her first nuptials an Anabaptist, Jean Storder. According to the doctrines of that sect, which denied the authority of the civil power, the marriage to be legitimate had no need of the sanction of the magistrate.

[165]Allusion to the work which Calvin was at that time preparing against the Council of Trent, and which appeared at the end of the year.—See the Letter to Farel of the 28th December 1547.

[166]See the letter to M. de Falais of the 16th August, p. 132.

[167]Emmanuel Tremelli, a learned Hebraist of Ferrara, disciple of Peter Martyr, at that time in retirement at Strasbourg.

[168]The book,—De la Vertu et Usage du Saint Ministère et des Sacremens, Genève, 1548. Senebier,Hist. Litt., vol. i. p. 156,Art.Viret.

[169]The minister Antoine Maigret, who was shortly afterwards deposed from his charge.

[170]We read in the Life of Calvin by Theodore Beza, "From his youth he was all the better, and liberally brought up,—at the expense of his father, however—in the society of the children of the house of Montmor, whom he also accompanied as the companion of their studies at Paris." It is to one of the members of that noble family, Claude de Hangest, Abbot of Saint Eley, that Calvin dedicated, in 1532, his Commentary on Seneca's TreatiseDe Clementia.

[171]Bullinger had submitted his book on the Sacraments to Calvin, (Absoluta de Christi et ejus Ecclesiæ Sacramentis Tractatio,) in which he departed slightly from the doctrine of Zwingle, with the view of approximating to that of the French Reformer. Still, however, the mystery of the spiritual presence of Christ, under external and material symbols, was not expressed in it with sufficient clearness. Calvin had fully criticised this book in a letter, or rather in an extended memoir, the original of which is preserved at Zurich, under the title,Censura Libri Bullingeri de Sacramentis, Geneva, 27th February 1547. This memoir, written with a brotherly freedom, concludes with these words:—"You thus have what in your book I desire to see corrected, that it may meet with absolute approval. I make no note of the parts that merit commendation. I have discharged the office of a friend, by complying with your wishes, and freely admonishing you; it now remains for you to take my liberty in good part. This I am confident you will do."—Library of Zurich. Coll. Hottinger, M. F. 80, p. 338.

[172]Peter Farnese, son of Pope Paul III., had in truth been recently assassinated at Placentia, and that city had opened its gates to Charles V. But Parma remained under the power of the Pope, who in vain sued for justice from the Emperor on account of the murder of Farnese, and the dispossession of his children.—Robertson,History of Charles V., B. ix.

[173]The Catholic cantons having engaged to take no step that should have the effect of connecting them with the Emperor, the Reformed cantons, with Berne at their head, bound themselves to the strictest neutrality, and informed the German princes, that they could give them no aid without throwing the half of the confederate states into the hands of their enemy.—Hist. de la Suisse.Tom. xi. p. 291.

[174]M. de Montmor. See note, p. 141.

[175]ForThe Apologyof M. de Falais.

[176]According to the testimony of the Registers of Council, Amy Perrin had been restored to liberty, on bail, at the instance of the Seigneury of Berne and his family, and on condition of begging the forgiveness of God and men, and paying the expenses of justice.—Register, 23d November 1547. Had this legal liberation been preceded by the escape of the prisoner? We are not aware.

[177]The scene of tumult and sedition described in this letter left so lively an impression on the mind of Calvin, that he recalled it seventeen years afterwards, on his deathbed, in his farewell to the ministers of Geneva, subjoining these memorable words:—"Although I am nothing, yet I know that I prevented three thousand disturbances from taking place in Geneva; but take courage, you will become strong, for God will make use of that city, and will maintain it; and I assure you he will keep it."—Collection de M. Tronchin, à Genève. Adieux de Calvin, recueillis par Pinaut.The Registers of Council are silent on this scene, the date of which has been given, by a frequently repeated mistake, as the 17th September; but the circumstances tally with the 13th December 1547.

The Registers of Council are silent on this scene, the date of which has been given, by a frequently repeated mistake, as the 17th September; but the circumstances tally with the 13th December 1547.

[178]Disarmed for a moment by the heroic attitude of Calvin in the rising of the 13th December, the parties that divided Geneva were not slow to renew their lamentable strife. The voice of the Reformer was disregarded, and he wrote with deep sadness on the 23d December,—"Our affairs are in no better condition. I do not cease to press upon them, but I cause them to make little or no advancement. I am now returning from the Senate; I said a great deal, but it is like telling a story to the deaf. May the Lord restore them to their right mind."—Calvin to Viret, MSS. of Geneva, Vol. 106.

[179]Calvin had just published his celebrated treatise of theAntidote, (Acta Synodi Tridentinæ cum Antidoto, 1547,) which he translated into French the year following, with changes fitted to bring it within the comprehension of the people.—Opuscules, p. 881. In this work the Reformer passes in review the decrees of the Council of Trent, and refutes them with a merciless logic and a marvellous eloquence. The Catholic theologian Cochlæus replied to him by personal attacks, which Des Gallars and Beza undertook to refute.

[180]See Letter, p. 148.

[181]In testimony of regard for Calvin, the Council adopted the following decree: "Resolved to present to Calvin all the furniture that is in his house belonging to the city, 29th December 1547." The preceding year he had been offered ten crowns as a present, but he refused them, praying the Council to distribute them among the other ministers who were poor compared with him, "and even to diminish his stipend in order to benefit them."

[182]This family had not yet quitted France. See the letters, pp. 90, 119. They received this new letter of Calvin, on the occasion of the death of one of its members, perhaps Mathieu de Budé, who had corresponded with the Reformer in 1546, and of whom, subsequent to this period, all trace is lost. There exists (MSS. of the Library of Geneva, vol. 109) a letter of Mathieu de Budé to Calvin, relative to the assassination of John Diaz at Neubourg. We remark the following passage:—"I have received your letter ... which was most welcome to me, as well because I recognize in it your disposition of goodwill and love, as on account of the ordinary consolation which I have received from it...."—26th April 1546. The author of that letter is not mentioned by M. Galiffe.—Notices Généalogiques, tom. iii. p. 83. He had died, no doubt, before the establishment of his family at Geneva.

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