Chapter 19

[263]"To John Haller, Pastor of the Bernese Church."John Haller, of the illustrious family of that name, which reflected so much honour on Switzerland, was born at Zurich in 1523, and became a minister at the age of nineteen, as he informs us himself in hisChronicle. He became the colleague of Musculus, at Augsburg, in 1545, was recalled to Zurich three years afterwards, and, yielding to the pressing solicitations of the Seigneury of Berne, undertook the duties of a minister of that church in 1548. His zeal and talents, together with his prudence, which was remarkable in one so very young, raised him to the highest offices; and before he was quite twenty-nine, he was chosen president of the clergy of Berne, an office which he filled for a long period amidst very trying circumstances.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 329,et suiv.[264]See note 2, p. 224.[265]The ministers of the Pays de Vaud were accustomed to meet weekly to consult about religious matters, and for mutual exhortation. This custom displeased the Seigneurs of Berne, who abolished it by an edict dated 2d September 1549, under pretext that those assemblies, instead of producing edification, engendered disputes, divisions, and disorders. The College of Lausanne protested in vain, through Viret, against this measure, which obtained the approbation of the leading ministers of Berne, notwithstanding the strong representations addressed by Calvin to Haller and Musculus.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 382,et suiv.[266]Deposed from the ministry, and appointed Principal of the College of Lausanne, Zebedee ranked among the most violent adversaries of Viret and of Calvin. Numerous testimonies to his animosity against the Reformation will be found in the sequel.[267]Pope Paul III. died on the 20th November 1549, of grief and rage, on hearing of the treachery of his grandson Octave Farnese, who, to obtain the restitution of Parma, joined the cause of the Emperor against his grandfather.—De Thou, b. vi.; Robertson, b. x.[268]The title:—To the father of Mademoiselle de Saint-Lorrans.Sansdate (1549?) This gentleman retired in the following year to Geneva.[269]On the back, in the hand writing of Calvin: "To Monsieur the Protector of England.—Sent."This letter was addressed to the Earl of Somerset after his first disgrace.—(See the letter of the 22d October 1548, and the Note p. 275.) Set at liberty, the 6th February 1550, by the favour of the king his nephew, he resumed his place in the Privy Council, but losing the title and dignity of Protector. The letter of Calvin is without any doubt of February or March 1550.[270]During his disgrace, which was regarded as a public calamity by the friends of the Reformation in England and throughout Europe, the Duke of Somerset had sought consolation in reading and in pious meditations. He translated into English a work on Patience, to which he added a preface containing the expression of the most elevated sentiments. He received also exhortations from Peter Martyr, and shewed himself no less constant in his attachment to the Gospel, than resigned to the loss of fortune and credit.—See Burnet,History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 184; vol. iii. p. 209, fol. London.[271]The young King Edward VI. Instructed by the most able masters, this prince gave early proof of a strong mind and of a lively piety. When scarcely fourteen years of age, he set forth in a discourse, of which a fragment has been preserved, the plan of the Reformation in England. He drew up with much care a journal of events which happened during his reign. He composed, besides, a collection of passages of the Old Testament condemning idolatry and image-worship. This collection, written in French, was dedicated by the young King to the Duke of Somerset, his uncle.—Burnet,History of the Reformation, vol. ii. pp. 224, 225.[272]The letter to the Protector, of January 1550.[273]See Note 3, pp. 240-1.[274]The Reformer having attacked theInterimin one of his writings, was accused of Pelagianism by a German theologian, perhaps Flacius Illyricus. He replied to this accusation in a publication entitled,Appendix Libelli de vera Ecclesiæ reformandæ ratione, in qua refutat Censuram quamdam typographi ignoti de parvalorum Sanctificatione et muliebri Baptismo. Geneva, 1550.[275]The pontifical chair, rendered vacant in the month of November 1549, by the death of Paul III., was occupied in the month of February of the following year by the Cardinal del Monte, who took the name of Julius III. The irregularities of his past life, and the disgraceful accusations which rested on his character, rendered him very unfit to be a reformer of the Church.[276]On the back: "To the very Illustrious M. Francis Dryander, a Spaniard, at Baslo, with M. Myconius."Dryander left Strasbourg (for England) in 1548. Melanchthon gave him letters of introduction to King Edward and to Cranmer, by whose patronage he obtained a Chair in the University of Cambridge.—(Zurich Letters, first series, tom. i. p. 349.) At the end of the following year (December 1549) we find Dryander in Strasbourg again. What were his motives for returning to the Continent cannot now be ascertained. See the notice of Dryander, p. 111.[277]"To Nicolas Colladon, a man distinguished for piety and learning."Among the numerous French refugees whom persecution led yearly to Geneva, there were none more distinguished than the members of the Colladon family, originally from Berry, where they occupied an eminent position, and are reckoned, even in our own day, among the number of the Genevese aristocracy. Nicolas Colladon, to whom the letter of the Reformer is addressed, was the son of Leon Colladon, the celebrated parliamentary advocate of Bourges, who, with his brother Germain, retired to Geneva in the early part of the year 1551. Long initiated in evangelical doctrine, Nicolas Colladon continued to exercise those pastoral functions in his adopted country, which he had previously performed in Berry. In 1564 he was made Principal of the College of Geneva, and in 1566 succeeded Calvin himself in the chair of theology, without ceasing to discharge his pastoral duties with a zeal which, during the plague of 1570, found a perilous opportunity of signalizing itself. He spent the last years of his life in the Canton de Vaud. The precise date of his death is not known.—Senebier,Hist. Litt., tom. i. p. 398. Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques, tom. ii. p. 566; and Haag,France Protestante, Art Colladon.[278]In allusion to the various members of the Colladon family, who were contemplating a removal to Geneva.[279]Anne Colladon, the sister of Nicolas, was on the point of being married to Laurent de Normandie. See Note 1, p. 217.[280]Three years after the death of Gruet, beheaded for the crime of rebellion and of blasphemy, (see the note p. 226,) there was discovered in a garret of his house a writing in his own hand, of twenty-six pages, which was brought to the magistrates of Geneva. These latter submitted the document to Calvin, who drew up his opinion in the Memorial which we here reproduce, as an undeniable evidence of the religious doctrines and the morals professed by some of the chiefs of the Libertin party.The writing in question was condemned, the 23d May 1550, as being full of the most detestable blasphemies, and was burnt by the hand of the hangman in front of the house of Gruet.[281]The proclamation of theInterimplunged Germany into a state of extraordinary confusion. Some towns were so bold as to present remonstrances to the Emperor, and protested against an arbitrary edict, which reprobated alike the partisans of the ancient worship and those of the new. But their voice was not heard, and the greater number of the towns submitted. There were even theologians compliant enough to legitimize this submission. Of this number was Melanchthon, who, by his virtues and his knowledge, deserved the first rank among the Reformed doctors, but who, deprived now of the manly exhortations of Luther, and led away by an excessive love of peace, and by the natural weakness of his character, was making concessions which cannot be justified. Led by his example, and seduced by the artifices of the Elector Maurice, the Assembly of Leipsic declared that in matters purelyindifferentwe ought to obey the orders of our lawful superiors,—a dangerous principle, which applied to ceremonies, and led to the revival of the grossest and most pernicious errors of the Romish Church. Melanchthon himself wrote a great number of the letters of [Greek: Adiáphoros]Αδιάφορος [indifferent], in support of this doctrine, and his weakness drew down upon him the most violent reproaches from the zealous Lutherans, who accused him of being an accomplice of the enemies of the Gospel.—Sleidan, book xxii.; Robertson, book x. Moved by this sad news, Calvin did not hesitate to blame Melanchthon in a letter addressed to him, in which respect and affection are joined to a just severity.[282]The town of Magdeburg, then besieged by the army of the Elector Maurice, persisted in rejecting theInterim, and the theologians of that Church flooded Germany with pamphlets, in which Melanchthon was not spared. The Burghers of Magdeburg, put under the ban of the empire, sustained a long siege, and did not submit till the following year.—Sleidan, book xxii.[283]In a reply to Flacius Illyricus, who maintained that, rather than tolerate the restoration of the Popish ceremonies, he would plunder and destroy the Churches and stir up the people,—"vastitatem faciendam in templis, et metu seditionum terrendos principes." Melanchthon advocatedimmovable steadfastness in doctrine, submission in everything else.—"In ceremoniis tolerandam aliquam servitutem, quæ tamen sit sine impietate."—Melch. Adam.Vita Melanchthonis, p. 344. But was it possible to submit to the Church of Rome without deserting sound doctrine?[284]This letter is without date. We discover the date, however, in a letter of Calvin's to Valentin Pacaeus, a doctor of Leipsic, of 18th June 1550, where we meet with these words:—"I make no mention of M. Philip, as I am writing specially to himself."—Calv.Opera, tom. ix. p. 54.[285]See note 2, p. 175. M. de Falais lived during the summer in a country-seat, situated at Veigy, a small village of Savoy, a few leagues from Geneva.[286]On the opposite bank of the lake, where rises the delightful eminence of Chambesy, crowned at the present day with beautiful villas.[287]Paolo Vergerio, one of the missionaries of Reform in Swiss Italy. Born of an illustrious family of Istria, he had successively studied law and oratory, was made Bishop of Istria, and discharged the duties of Pope's legate in Germany. He became a convert to the Gospel through conversations with Melanchthon, abandoned his diocese, and retired among the Grisons. He died in 1565.[288]There is a beautiful letter from Bucer to Calvin, [CalviniOpera, tom. ix. p. 58,] dated from Cambridge, and containing curious details regarding the religious state of England. We find this passage in it relative to the young King Edward VI.,—"Increase in prayer in behalf of the most serene King, who is making quite wonderful progress in pious and literary studies."[289]See the preceding letter.[290]We find no allusion to this fact in the Registers of the Council of that year. But Ruchat mentions, after Roset, the arrest of one Jean Baptiste Didaco, Receiver-General of Finance at Rouen, who, having been imprisoned at Geneva at the impeachment of one of his domestics, was released at the request of the King of France, and of the Bernese, after three months' imprisonment.—Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 311, 313.[291]The nature of this tax is not known; it was set on foot in the localities belonging to the ancient territory of the Chapter of Saint Victor, and shared between the jurisdiction of the two republics.[292]Commentarii in Iesaiam Prophetam.In fol. Geneva, 1550. A work dedicated to the King of England.[293]In omnes Pauli Epistolas atque etiam in Epistolam ad Hebraeos Commentarii.In fol. Geneva, 1550. With a preface by Theodore Beza.[294]The title:—To William Rabot, "Dictus a Salena" of Avignon.It appears from a letter of Rabot's to Calvin, preserved in the Library of Gotha, that, exiled from his native country from conscientious motives, this young man was then engaged in the study of law at the University of Padua, in company with a number of gentlemen, among others Charles de Jonvillers, Francis and Louis de Budé, &c. Their studies were intermingled with religious discourses, which contributed to the spread of the Gospel in certain distinguished families, among which we remark that of Contarini, originally of Padua. The increasing rigours of persecution soon scattered this focus of Evangelism, and led some of those youthful missionaries to Geneva, where Charles de Jonvillers, one of their number, gained the friendship of Calvin, and became his secretary.—Divers MSS. of Gotha and of Geneva.[295]The Treatise on Scandals, one of the most remarkable of Calvin's writings appeared this same year, with a beautiful dedication addressed by Calvin to Laurent de Normandie,his old and constant friend. It was published at first in Latin, under the following title:—De Scandalis quibus hodie plerique absterrentur, nonnulli etiam alienantur a pura Evangelii Doctrina. Geneva, 1550. This work was translated into French by Latern during the following year. It is to be found in tom. viii. of hisOpera, and in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 1145.[296]Henry II. of France, to gain the good-will of the cantons, pretended at that time to take a lively interest in the protection of Geneva, menaced by the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor of Germany. He even informed the magistrates of the republic regarding certain plots, real or imaginary, laid for its destruction.—Registers of the Council, 1549, 1550,passim.[297]The Emperor Charles V. published, at that time, his bloody edict against the Protestants, Lutherans, Zuinglians, and others, and seemed to be preparing himself for a general crusade against the Reformed Churches.—Sleidan, book xxii.[298]See note 3, p. 277.[299]This passage in the letter is addressed to Christopher Fabri, or Libertet, a colleague of Farel's at Neuchatel.[300]Calvin had stood godfather to one of the daughters of Libertet, whose wife he habitually called by the familiar name ofmy godmother.[301]Saddened by his exile, and tormented by a malady under which he sunk the year following, Bucer complained bitterly of being continually the object of an unjust suspicion to the theologians of Zurich, and of being neglected by his friends in Switzerland.[302]Two of the keenest adversaries of the Reformation in France.[303]See note 2, p. 283. Having left Strasbourg at the same time as Bucer and Fagius, John Utenhoven went to London, where he resided for many years before going to exercise the ministry in Poland. See his correspondence with Bullinger, (1549-1554,)Zurich Letters, first series, toms. i. and ii.[304]John Laski, (Joannes a Lasco,) a Polish nobleman devoted to the cause of the Reformation, who had preached successively in Poland, in Germany, and in England. In the reign of Edward VI. he rose to great favour in the latter country, and was appointed superintendent of the congregation of foreign Protestants in London.—Zurich Letters, first series, tom. i. p. 187.[305]"I am glad your Commentary on Isaiah, and also the Canonical Epistles, are designed for our king; and I do not doubt but that, even from your letter to him, very considerable benefit will accrue to the English king."—Utenhoven to Calvin. Paris MSS.Recueil Historique de France, tom. xix.[306]See Calvin's letter to the King of England, of January 1551.[307]Louis de Budé, Sieur de la Motte, brother of John de Budé, was particularly versed in Oriental languages, of which he was made professor at Geneva, a short time after his arrival in that town. He died in 1552. We have of his aPsautier traduit de l'Hebreu en Français. 8vo. Geneva, 1550.[308]The celebrated printer Robert Etienne, (Stephens,) a man of the purest reputation, who lived in an age which failed to recognize his genius, and which rewarded his labours with ingratitude. Having become odious to the clergy by his beautiful editions of the Bible, and by his desire for reform, and but ill protected by the King of France against the vexations of the Sorbonne, he resolved to quit his country and remove his presses to Geneva, whither the printer Crespin had already preceded him. He arrived there towards the end of the year 1550, with his son Henry, who afterwards shed a new lustre on the name of Stephens. He publicly embraced the cause of the Reformation, together with the members of his family, and honoured his adopted country by the publication of various works of antiquity, both sacred and profane. Made a burgess of Geneva in 1556, he lived in constant intimacy with Calvin and Beza, until his death in 1559.—Senebier,Hist. Litt., pp. 355, 356; Haag.France Protestante, Art. Estienne.[309]In allusion to a tolerably numerous party in France, who, on receiving the Gospel, believed they might remain united in external communion with the Romish Church, and escape persecution by an apparent adhesion to its dogmas.[310]After leaving Bâle, and his establishment at Geneva, (July 1548). This seigneur lived in the village of Veigy, situated several leagues from the city, between Hermance and Les Voirons.[311]In allusion to the misconduct of a servant of Monsieur de Falais.[312]We read in the MS. Chronicle of Michael Roset, lib. v. chap. 27, "By advice of the ministers, April 3, 1550, it was enacted, that an annual visitation be maintained from house to house, for the examination of men and women as to their faith, in order to discern between the ignorant, and hardened sinners, and true Christians, which in time has wrought great benefit."[313]See the notice, p. 249.In a reaction, perhaps exaggerated, against the practices of the Romish Church, the magistrates of Geneva were led to adopt a measure which made a great noise among the Swiss Protestants. While Berne and Zurich celebrated the four great feasts of the year, according to the ancient Catholic custom, the Genevese abolished the weekday feasts, and kept nothing but the Sabbath. This measure, in which Calvin had no hand whatever, and of which he, in some degree, even disapproved, was made nevertheless the subject of very violent personal declamations against him. Some even accused him of wishing to abolish the Sabbath. In letters to his friends, Haller, Bullinger, and some others, he thought it his duty to represent the true character of the reform effected at Geneva, and his real relation to it. He had little difficulty in obtaining the approbation of Bullinger, who replied to him in these words: "You have just given the answer which I expected, my dear brother. For I know that in matters of that sort, where duty is but little heeded, and much ill-will is engendered, you have never been morose. I am anxious, indeed, in such matters, to see that liberty preserved, which I perceive to have flourished in the churches from the very days of the apostles." ...—CalviniOpera, tom. ix. p. 63.[314]The plague, which had cut off Hedio, the pious minister at Strasbourg, made great ravages at Berne during the same year. It entered the houses of Wolfgang Musculus, and of John Haller, although they escaped themselves. A great number of the ministers of the Church of Berne sunk under the attacks of this awful scourge.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 470. TheChroniqueof Haller, cited by Hottinger.[315]Ruchat, who reproduces this letter, (tom. v. p. 441,) considers that the name here suppressed is that of Pierre Kontzen, a minister of Berne, who presided, in 1538, at the Synod of Lausanne.[316]Always attentive to regulate by ordinances the different points of religious and ecclesiastical life, the Seigneurs of Berne had just published (Dec. 1550) new edicts more rigorous than those which had preceded them. These edicts were especially directed against the gross notions and certain customs of the Papists, which Berne punished by fine. Indulgent to the taking of oaths, of which the custom was generally disseminated among the Catholic population subject to their dominion, the Seigneurie seemed to reserve all their severity for the offence of not observing the feasts abolished at Geneva.[317]This abolition, which was at a later period to provoke such warm debates between Berne and Geneva, had been pronounced the 16th Nov. 1550.[318]Richard Le Fèvre, a native of Rouen, one of the martyrs of the Reformed Church of Lyons. Seized in that town in 1551, and condemned to death, he appealed thence to the Parliament of Paris, and was deliveredin transituby some unknown friends. Surprised, two years afterwards, at Grenoble, he was brought back to the dungeons of Lyons, saw his first sentence confirmed by the Parliament of Paris, and went cheerfully to the stake the 7th July 1551. He wrote on the 3d of May to Calvin,—"The present is to let you know, that I hope to go to keep Whitsuntide in the kingdom of heaven, and to be present at the marriage of the Son of God, ... if I am not sooner called away by this good Lord and Master, whose voice i am ready to obey, when he shall say, Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you before the foundation of the world."—(The original autograph letter,Library of Geneva, Vol. 109.) During his first captivity at Lyons, Richard Le Fèvre had consulted Calvin on some points of doctrine, and had received pious exhortations from him regarding them.[319]In an assembly which met at Neuchatel on the 14th of March 1551, the number of individuals who should compose the Consistory was fixed, and a collection of regulations regarding marriage was drawn out.[320]The translation of the Psalms begun by Clement Marot, was continued by Theodore Boza, who obtained, during this same year, the authority of the Council of Geneva for the publication of a part of his work.[321]Edward VI., son of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, King of England, born in 1537, died, in his sixteenth year, the 8th of July 1553. Gifted with a precocious strength of reason, and a lively sensibility, instructed in the ancient languages and foreign literature, this young prince did not live long enough to realize the hopes to which his accession to the throne had given birth. "His virtues," says the historian Hume, "had made him an object of tender affection to the public. He possessed mildness of disposition, application to study and business, a capacity to learn and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice." Devotional reading had a particular attraction for this prince, who was heartily devoted to the cause of the Reformation. Calvin dedicated two of his commentaries to him: "Joannis Calvini Commentarii in Iesaiam Prophetam, Eduardo VI., Angliæ Regi, 8 Cal. Januarii 1551." "Joannis Calvini Commentarii in Epistolas Canonicas." The dedication of the first of these commentaries (25th December 1550) furnishes us the date of the letter of Calvin, written in the month of January 1551, and brought to the King by the minister, Nicolas des Gallars.[322]The privilege granted by King Edward VI. to the Church of the foreign Protestants instituted at London 1550. The royal patent was thus expressed:—"Considering that it is the duty of a Christian prince well to administer the affairs of his kingdom, to provide for religion, and for the unhappy exiles, afflicted and banished by reason thereof, we would have you to know, that having compassion of the condition of those who have for some considerable time past been domiciled in our kingdom, and come there daily, of our special grace ... will and ordain that henceforward they may have in our city of London a church, to be called the Church of the Lord Jesus, where the assembly of the Germans and other strangers can meet and worship, for the purpose of having the Gospel purely interpreted by the ministers of their church, and the Sacraments administered according to the word of God and the apostolic ordinance."[323]The agreement concluded two years before, between the Churches of Geneva and of Zurich, on the question of the Sacraments, had been a source of joy to all the sober-minded in Switzerland and in Germany, who had deplored the excesses of the sacramental quarrel. But it displeased the intemperate Lutheran party, who accused Calvin of fickleness, and went so far as to charge him with having changed his opinions, and with squaring his doctrine to that of Zuingle, since the defeat of the Protestant party in Germany. This was nothing but a calumny, which is removed by a comparison of the previous writings of Calvin upon the Supper, with the formula drawn up under his care and which he was desirous should be published at Zurich.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 379.[324]Some have erroneously fixed on 1549 as the date of this publication. Delayed by the theologians of Zurich it was only finished in 1551, under the title—Consensio mutua in re Sacramentaria ministrorum Tigurinæ Ecclesiæ et D. Joannis Calvini Ministri Genevensis Ecclesiæ. Zurich, 8vo. Caused by Calvin to be translated into French the following year, this important document figures in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 1137, with a preface by Calvin to the Ministers and Doctors of the Church of Zurich.[325]Under this title, Bullinger had commenced publishing a series of discourses concerning the principal points of the Christian religion.[326]See the letter to the king, p. 299.[327]Having returned to England the previous year, and having been appointed Bishop of Gloucester through the patronage of Cranmer, Hooper was imprisoned and suffered a few days of captivity for having refused to wear, at the time of his consecration, the sacerdotal dress then in use in the English Church. See his correspondence with Bullinger,Zurich Letters, 1537-1558, tom. i. p. 9; Burnet, vol. i.[328]After having proscribed the Reformed worship in the town of Augsburg, the Emperor took up his quarters at Inspruck, among the valleys of the Tyrol, from which he could keep an eye at once upon the Council of Trent, Germany, and Italy.—Robertson, book x.[329]Bullinger had presented the King of England with his third and fourthDecade, (see note 1, p. 306,) with a long letter, in which he reminds the young king of the duties which he had to fulfil towards his subjects. "This epistle and book were presented to the King by the hands of Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, personally acquainted with Bullinger, to whom the King declared his good acceptance thereof, and the respect and esteem he had for the reverend author."—Strype,Memoir, vol. ii. pp. 390, 394.[330]The letter here referred to has escaped all our investigations, and appears to be entirely lost.[331]One of the first acts of the new Pope, Julius III, was to decree the re-assembly of the Council of Trent, on the 1st of May 1551. This session, termed the eleventh—eight having been held at Trent and two at Bologna—was without result. The fathers resolved upon fixing that there should not be another assembly until the 1st of September.—Fra Paolo,Hist. du Concile de Trente, lib. iv. sect. i.[332]An invitation to the Council was, in point of fact, addressed by the Pope to the Cantons, with all sorts of flattering words, to induce them to comply. The theologians of Zurich, appointed to draw up a reply, had little difficulty in showing that the Council was not for the advantage of the Swiss, or for the good of religion, and the Reformed Cantons adopted unanimously the conclusions of the theologians, and refused to send deputies to the Council.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 426.[333]The year 1551 was marked by two grievous losses to the Reformed churches of Europe. Bucer, overcome by the sorrows of exile, died in England on the 28th of February, and the decease of Joachim Vadian, one of the most brilliant minds of that age, occurred at Saint Gall during the same year. The earliest notice of Bucer's death is to be found in the Journal of King Edward VI. of England:—"February 28th.—The learned man Bucerus died at Cambridge, who was two days after buried in St. Mary's Church, all the whole University, with the whole town, bringing him to the grave, to the number of three thousand persons. Also there was an oration of Mr. Haddon made very elegantly at his death...." &c.—Zurich Letters, first series, tom. ii. p. 492. Vadian, cut off in the prime of life, breathed his last in the arms of his friend Kessler, the poet, leaving behind him a name held in deep veneration by his friends and countrymen. Above two thousand of the present inhabitants of Saint Gall claim the honour of being descended from the burgomaster Vadian. See the notice of him given in the present collection, vol. i. p. 475.[334]Nicolas des Gallars.[335]In a letter to Calvin of the 25th May preceding, Farel gave eloquent expression to his sorrow at the death of Bucer:—"I have at length received the last letter of the pious Bucer. What a spirit! How calmly he sunk down! We must mingle joy with our sorrow, inasmuch as our friend has gone up to God."—Library of Paris.Recueil Historique de France, tom. xix.[336]A man of distinguished learning, an accomplished statesman, and an able negotiator, as well as a theologian, and an admirable poet, Joachim Vadian left as wide a blank in the political councils, as he did in the churches of his country. He had been elected eleven times to the office of Burgomaster of Saint Gall.—See Melchior Adam,Vitæ Medicorum Germanorum; and theTheatrumof Pauli Freheri, tom. ii. pp. 1231, 1232.[337]An allusion to a recent work of Osiander'sOn Justification, which gave rise to keen controversy in Germany.—See the Correspondence of Calvin with Melanchthon in 1552.[338]By all appearance Amy Perrin.[339]The number of refugees daily increasing at Geneva, permission was grantod them to assemble together for public worship in their own languages. English was preached at the Auditoire, Italian at the College, Spanish at Saint Gervais, and Flemish in Saint Germain. The unity of the Spirit shone through the diversity of languages.—Spon and Picot,Histoire de Genève.[340]The Pope and the King of France were at that time engaged in a struggle about the town of Parma, which the former wished to plunder, and the latter to defend in behalf of Ottavio Farneso. Tho Emperor was not slow in joining the cause of the Pope, and peace was not concluded till the following year.[341]This letter without an address, was written to a friend, perhaps to one of the members of the family of Beza in France, during an illness which endangered his life, in 1551, and which called forth from the Reformer the most touching testimonies of his affection.

[263]"To John Haller, Pastor of the Bernese Church."

John Haller, of the illustrious family of that name, which reflected so much honour on Switzerland, was born at Zurich in 1523, and became a minister at the age of nineteen, as he informs us himself in hisChronicle. He became the colleague of Musculus, at Augsburg, in 1545, was recalled to Zurich three years afterwards, and, yielding to the pressing solicitations of the Seigneury of Berne, undertook the duties of a minister of that church in 1548. His zeal and talents, together with his prudence, which was remarkable in one so very young, raised him to the highest offices; and before he was quite twenty-nine, he was chosen president of the clergy of Berne, an office which he filled for a long period amidst very trying circumstances.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 329,et suiv.

[264]See note 2, p. 224.

[265]The ministers of the Pays de Vaud were accustomed to meet weekly to consult about religious matters, and for mutual exhortation. This custom displeased the Seigneurs of Berne, who abolished it by an edict dated 2d September 1549, under pretext that those assemblies, instead of producing edification, engendered disputes, divisions, and disorders. The College of Lausanne protested in vain, through Viret, against this measure, which obtained the approbation of the leading ministers of Berne, notwithstanding the strong representations addressed by Calvin to Haller and Musculus.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 382,et suiv.

[266]Deposed from the ministry, and appointed Principal of the College of Lausanne, Zebedee ranked among the most violent adversaries of Viret and of Calvin. Numerous testimonies to his animosity against the Reformation will be found in the sequel.

[267]Pope Paul III. died on the 20th November 1549, of grief and rage, on hearing of the treachery of his grandson Octave Farnese, who, to obtain the restitution of Parma, joined the cause of the Emperor against his grandfather.—De Thou, b. vi.; Robertson, b. x.

[268]The title:—To the father of Mademoiselle de Saint-Lorrans.Sansdate (1549?) This gentleman retired in the following year to Geneva.

[269]On the back, in the hand writing of Calvin: "To Monsieur the Protector of England.—Sent."This letter was addressed to the Earl of Somerset after his first disgrace.—(See the letter of the 22d October 1548, and the Note p. 275.) Set at liberty, the 6th February 1550, by the favour of the king his nephew, he resumed his place in the Privy Council, but losing the title and dignity of Protector. The letter of Calvin is without any doubt of February or March 1550.

[269]On the back, in the hand writing of Calvin: "To Monsieur the Protector of England.—Sent."

This letter was addressed to the Earl of Somerset after his first disgrace.—(See the letter of the 22d October 1548, and the Note p. 275.) Set at liberty, the 6th February 1550, by the favour of the king his nephew, he resumed his place in the Privy Council, but losing the title and dignity of Protector. The letter of Calvin is without any doubt of February or March 1550.

[270]During his disgrace, which was regarded as a public calamity by the friends of the Reformation in England and throughout Europe, the Duke of Somerset had sought consolation in reading and in pious meditations. He translated into English a work on Patience, to which he added a preface containing the expression of the most elevated sentiments. He received also exhortations from Peter Martyr, and shewed himself no less constant in his attachment to the Gospel, than resigned to the loss of fortune and credit.—See Burnet,History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 184; vol. iii. p. 209, fol. London.

[271]The young King Edward VI. Instructed by the most able masters, this prince gave early proof of a strong mind and of a lively piety. When scarcely fourteen years of age, he set forth in a discourse, of which a fragment has been preserved, the plan of the Reformation in England. He drew up with much care a journal of events which happened during his reign. He composed, besides, a collection of passages of the Old Testament condemning idolatry and image-worship. This collection, written in French, was dedicated by the young King to the Duke of Somerset, his uncle.—Burnet,History of the Reformation, vol. ii. pp. 224, 225.

[272]The letter to the Protector, of January 1550.

[273]See Note 3, pp. 240-1.

[274]The Reformer having attacked theInterimin one of his writings, was accused of Pelagianism by a German theologian, perhaps Flacius Illyricus. He replied to this accusation in a publication entitled,Appendix Libelli de vera Ecclesiæ reformandæ ratione, in qua refutat Censuram quamdam typographi ignoti de parvalorum Sanctificatione et muliebri Baptismo. Geneva, 1550.

[275]The pontifical chair, rendered vacant in the month of November 1549, by the death of Paul III., was occupied in the month of February of the following year by the Cardinal del Monte, who took the name of Julius III. The irregularities of his past life, and the disgraceful accusations which rested on his character, rendered him very unfit to be a reformer of the Church.

[276]On the back: "To the very Illustrious M. Francis Dryander, a Spaniard, at Baslo, with M. Myconius."Dryander left Strasbourg (for England) in 1548. Melanchthon gave him letters of introduction to King Edward and to Cranmer, by whose patronage he obtained a Chair in the University of Cambridge.—(Zurich Letters, first series, tom. i. p. 349.) At the end of the following year (December 1549) we find Dryander in Strasbourg again. What were his motives for returning to the Continent cannot now be ascertained. See the notice of Dryander, p. 111.

[276]On the back: "To the very Illustrious M. Francis Dryander, a Spaniard, at Baslo, with M. Myconius."

Dryander left Strasbourg (for England) in 1548. Melanchthon gave him letters of introduction to King Edward and to Cranmer, by whose patronage he obtained a Chair in the University of Cambridge.—(Zurich Letters, first series, tom. i. p. 349.) At the end of the following year (December 1549) we find Dryander in Strasbourg again. What were his motives for returning to the Continent cannot now be ascertained. See the notice of Dryander, p. 111.

[277]"To Nicolas Colladon, a man distinguished for piety and learning."Among the numerous French refugees whom persecution led yearly to Geneva, there were none more distinguished than the members of the Colladon family, originally from Berry, where they occupied an eminent position, and are reckoned, even in our own day, among the number of the Genevese aristocracy. Nicolas Colladon, to whom the letter of the Reformer is addressed, was the son of Leon Colladon, the celebrated parliamentary advocate of Bourges, who, with his brother Germain, retired to Geneva in the early part of the year 1551. Long initiated in evangelical doctrine, Nicolas Colladon continued to exercise those pastoral functions in his adopted country, which he had previously performed in Berry. In 1564 he was made Principal of the College of Geneva, and in 1566 succeeded Calvin himself in the chair of theology, without ceasing to discharge his pastoral duties with a zeal which, during the plague of 1570, found a perilous opportunity of signalizing itself. He spent the last years of his life in the Canton de Vaud. The precise date of his death is not known.—Senebier,Hist. Litt., tom. i. p. 398. Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques, tom. ii. p. 566; and Haag,France Protestante, Art Colladon.

[277]"To Nicolas Colladon, a man distinguished for piety and learning."

Among the numerous French refugees whom persecution led yearly to Geneva, there were none more distinguished than the members of the Colladon family, originally from Berry, where they occupied an eminent position, and are reckoned, even in our own day, among the number of the Genevese aristocracy. Nicolas Colladon, to whom the letter of the Reformer is addressed, was the son of Leon Colladon, the celebrated parliamentary advocate of Bourges, who, with his brother Germain, retired to Geneva in the early part of the year 1551. Long initiated in evangelical doctrine, Nicolas Colladon continued to exercise those pastoral functions in his adopted country, which he had previously performed in Berry. In 1564 he was made Principal of the College of Geneva, and in 1566 succeeded Calvin himself in the chair of theology, without ceasing to discharge his pastoral duties with a zeal which, during the plague of 1570, found a perilous opportunity of signalizing itself. He spent the last years of his life in the Canton de Vaud. The precise date of his death is not known.—Senebier,Hist. Litt., tom. i. p. 398. Galiffe,Notices Généalogiques, tom. ii. p. 566; and Haag,France Protestante, Art Colladon.

[278]In allusion to the various members of the Colladon family, who were contemplating a removal to Geneva.

[279]Anne Colladon, the sister of Nicolas, was on the point of being married to Laurent de Normandie. See Note 1, p. 217.

[280]Three years after the death of Gruet, beheaded for the crime of rebellion and of blasphemy, (see the note p. 226,) there was discovered in a garret of his house a writing in his own hand, of twenty-six pages, which was brought to the magistrates of Geneva. These latter submitted the document to Calvin, who drew up his opinion in the Memorial which we here reproduce, as an undeniable evidence of the religious doctrines and the morals professed by some of the chiefs of the Libertin party.The writing in question was condemned, the 23d May 1550, as being full of the most detestable blasphemies, and was burnt by the hand of the hangman in front of the house of Gruet.

The writing in question was condemned, the 23d May 1550, as being full of the most detestable blasphemies, and was burnt by the hand of the hangman in front of the house of Gruet.

[281]The proclamation of theInterimplunged Germany into a state of extraordinary confusion. Some towns were so bold as to present remonstrances to the Emperor, and protested against an arbitrary edict, which reprobated alike the partisans of the ancient worship and those of the new. But their voice was not heard, and the greater number of the towns submitted. There were even theologians compliant enough to legitimize this submission. Of this number was Melanchthon, who, by his virtues and his knowledge, deserved the first rank among the Reformed doctors, but who, deprived now of the manly exhortations of Luther, and led away by an excessive love of peace, and by the natural weakness of his character, was making concessions which cannot be justified. Led by his example, and seduced by the artifices of the Elector Maurice, the Assembly of Leipsic declared that in matters purelyindifferentwe ought to obey the orders of our lawful superiors,—a dangerous principle, which applied to ceremonies, and led to the revival of the grossest and most pernicious errors of the Romish Church. Melanchthon himself wrote a great number of the letters of [Greek: Adiáphoros]Αδιάφορος [indifferent], in support of this doctrine, and his weakness drew down upon him the most violent reproaches from the zealous Lutherans, who accused him of being an accomplice of the enemies of the Gospel.—Sleidan, book xxii.; Robertson, book x. Moved by this sad news, Calvin did not hesitate to blame Melanchthon in a letter addressed to him, in which respect and affection are joined to a just severity.

[282]The town of Magdeburg, then besieged by the army of the Elector Maurice, persisted in rejecting theInterim, and the theologians of that Church flooded Germany with pamphlets, in which Melanchthon was not spared. The Burghers of Magdeburg, put under the ban of the empire, sustained a long siege, and did not submit till the following year.—Sleidan, book xxii.

[283]In a reply to Flacius Illyricus, who maintained that, rather than tolerate the restoration of the Popish ceremonies, he would plunder and destroy the Churches and stir up the people,—"vastitatem faciendam in templis, et metu seditionum terrendos principes." Melanchthon advocatedimmovable steadfastness in doctrine, submission in everything else.—"In ceremoniis tolerandam aliquam servitutem, quæ tamen sit sine impietate."—Melch. Adam.Vita Melanchthonis, p. 344. But was it possible to submit to the Church of Rome without deserting sound doctrine?

[284]This letter is without date. We discover the date, however, in a letter of Calvin's to Valentin Pacaeus, a doctor of Leipsic, of 18th June 1550, where we meet with these words:—"I make no mention of M. Philip, as I am writing specially to himself."—Calv.Opera, tom. ix. p. 54.

[285]See note 2, p. 175. M. de Falais lived during the summer in a country-seat, situated at Veigy, a small village of Savoy, a few leagues from Geneva.

[286]On the opposite bank of the lake, where rises the delightful eminence of Chambesy, crowned at the present day with beautiful villas.

[287]Paolo Vergerio, one of the missionaries of Reform in Swiss Italy. Born of an illustrious family of Istria, he had successively studied law and oratory, was made Bishop of Istria, and discharged the duties of Pope's legate in Germany. He became a convert to the Gospel through conversations with Melanchthon, abandoned his diocese, and retired among the Grisons. He died in 1565.

[288]There is a beautiful letter from Bucer to Calvin, [CalviniOpera, tom. ix. p. 58,] dated from Cambridge, and containing curious details regarding the religious state of England. We find this passage in it relative to the young King Edward VI.,—"Increase in prayer in behalf of the most serene King, who is making quite wonderful progress in pious and literary studies."

[289]See the preceding letter.

[290]We find no allusion to this fact in the Registers of the Council of that year. But Ruchat mentions, after Roset, the arrest of one Jean Baptiste Didaco, Receiver-General of Finance at Rouen, who, having been imprisoned at Geneva at the impeachment of one of his domestics, was released at the request of the King of France, and of the Bernese, after three months' imprisonment.—Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 311, 313.

[291]The nature of this tax is not known; it was set on foot in the localities belonging to the ancient territory of the Chapter of Saint Victor, and shared between the jurisdiction of the two republics.

[292]Commentarii in Iesaiam Prophetam.In fol. Geneva, 1550. A work dedicated to the King of England.

[293]In omnes Pauli Epistolas atque etiam in Epistolam ad Hebraeos Commentarii.In fol. Geneva, 1550. With a preface by Theodore Beza.

[294]The title:—To William Rabot, "Dictus a Salena" of Avignon.It appears from a letter of Rabot's to Calvin, preserved in the Library of Gotha, that, exiled from his native country from conscientious motives, this young man was then engaged in the study of law at the University of Padua, in company with a number of gentlemen, among others Charles de Jonvillers, Francis and Louis de Budé, &c. Their studies were intermingled with religious discourses, which contributed to the spread of the Gospel in certain distinguished families, among which we remark that of Contarini, originally of Padua. The increasing rigours of persecution soon scattered this focus of Evangelism, and led some of those youthful missionaries to Geneva, where Charles de Jonvillers, one of their number, gained the friendship of Calvin, and became his secretary.—Divers MSS. of Gotha and of Geneva.

[294]The title:—To William Rabot, "Dictus a Salena" of Avignon.

It appears from a letter of Rabot's to Calvin, preserved in the Library of Gotha, that, exiled from his native country from conscientious motives, this young man was then engaged in the study of law at the University of Padua, in company with a number of gentlemen, among others Charles de Jonvillers, Francis and Louis de Budé, &c. Their studies were intermingled with religious discourses, which contributed to the spread of the Gospel in certain distinguished families, among which we remark that of Contarini, originally of Padua. The increasing rigours of persecution soon scattered this focus of Evangelism, and led some of those youthful missionaries to Geneva, where Charles de Jonvillers, one of their number, gained the friendship of Calvin, and became his secretary.—Divers MSS. of Gotha and of Geneva.

[295]The Treatise on Scandals, one of the most remarkable of Calvin's writings appeared this same year, with a beautiful dedication addressed by Calvin to Laurent de Normandie,his old and constant friend. It was published at first in Latin, under the following title:—De Scandalis quibus hodie plerique absterrentur, nonnulli etiam alienantur a pura Evangelii Doctrina. Geneva, 1550. This work was translated into French by Latern during the following year. It is to be found in tom. viii. of hisOpera, and in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 1145.

[296]Henry II. of France, to gain the good-will of the cantons, pretended at that time to take a lively interest in the protection of Geneva, menaced by the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor of Germany. He even informed the magistrates of the republic regarding certain plots, real or imaginary, laid for its destruction.—Registers of the Council, 1549, 1550,passim.

[297]The Emperor Charles V. published, at that time, his bloody edict against the Protestants, Lutherans, Zuinglians, and others, and seemed to be preparing himself for a general crusade against the Reformed Churches.—Sleidan, book xxii.

[298]See note 3, p. 277.

[299]This passage in the letter is addressed to Christopher Fabri, or Libertet, a colleague of Farel's at Neuchatel.

[300]Calvin had stood godfather to one of the daughters of Libertet, whose wife he habitually called by the familiar name ofmy godmother.

[301]Saddened by his exile, and tormented by a malady under which he sunk the year following, Bucer complained bitterly of being continually the object of an unjust suspicion to the theologians of Zurich, and of being neglected by his friends in Switzerland.

[302]Two of the keenest adversaries of the Reformation in France.

[303]See note 2, p. 283. Having left Strasbourg at the same time as Bucer and Fagius, John Utenhoven went to London, where he resided for many years before going to exercise the ministry in Poland. See his correspondence with Bullinger, (1549-1554,)Zurich Letters, first series, toms. i. and ii.

[304]John Laski, (Joannes a Lasco,) a Polish nobleman devoted to the cause of the Reformation, who had preached successively in Poland, in Germany, and in England. In the reign of Edward VI. he rose to great favour in the latter country, and was appointed superintendent of the congregation of foreign Protestants in London.—Zurich Letters, first series, tom. i. p. 187.

[305]"I am glad your Commentary on Isaiah, and also the Canonical Epistles, are designed for our king; and I do not doubt but that, even from your letter to him, very considerable benefit will accrue to the English king."—Utenhoven to Calvin. Paris MSS.Recueil Historique de France, tom. xix.

[306]See Calvin's letter to the King of England, of January 1551.

[307]Louis de Budé, Sieur de la Motte, brother of John de Budé, was particularly versed in Oriental languages, of which he was made professor at Geneva, a short time after his arrival in that town. He died in 1552. We have of his aPsautier traduit de l'Hebreu en Français. 8vo. Geneva, 1550.

[308]The celebrated printer Robert Etienne, (Stephens,) a man of the purest reputation, who lived in an age which failed to recognize his genius, and which rewarded his labours with ingratitude. Having become odious to the clergy by his beautiful editions of the Bible, and by his desire for reform, and but ill protected by the King of France against the vexations of the Sorbonne, he resolved to quit his country and remove his presses to Geneva, whither the printer Crespin had already preceded him. He arrived there towards the end of the year 1550, with his son Henry, who afterwards shed a new lustre on the name of Stephens. He publicly embraced the cause of the Reformation, together with the members of his family, and honoured his adopted country by the publication of various works of antiquity, both sacred and profane. Made a burgess of Geneva in 1556, he lived in constant intimacy with Calvin and Beza, until his death in 1559.—Senebier,Hist. Litt., pp. 355, 356; Haag.France Protestante, Art. Estienne.

[309]In allusion to a tolerably numerous party in France, who, on receiving the Gospel, believed they might remain united in external communion with the Romish Church, and escape persecution by an apparent adhesion to its dogmas.

[310]After leaving Bâle, and his establishment at Geneva, (July 1548). This seigneur lived in the village of Veigy, situated several leagues from the city, between Hermance and Les Voirons.

[311]In allusion to the misconduct of a servant of Monsieur de Falais.

[312]We read in the MS. Chronicle of Michael Roset, lib. v. chap. 27, "By advice of the ministers, April 3, 1550, it was enacted, that an annual visitation be maintained from house to house, for the examination of men and women as to their faith, in order to discern between the ignorant, and hardened sinners, and true Christians, which in time has wrought great benefit."

[313]See the notice, p. 249.In a reaction, perhaps exaggerated, against the practices of the Romish Church, the magistrates of Geneva were led to adopt a measure which made a great noise among the Swiss Protestants. While Berne and Zurich celebrated the four great feasts of the year, according to the ancient Catholic custom, the Genevese abolished the weekday feasts, and kept nothing but the Sabbath. This measure, in which Calvin had no hand whatever, and of which he, in some degree, even disapproved, was made nevertheless the subject of very violent personal declamations against him. Some even accused him of wishing to abolish the Sabbath. In letters to his friends, Haller, Bullinger, and some others, he thought it his duty to represent the true character of the reform effected at Geneva, and his real relation to it. He had little difficulty in obtaining the approbation of Bullinger, who replied to him in these words: "You have just given the answer which I expected, my dear brother. For I know that in matters of that sort, where duty is but little heeded, and much ill-will is engendered, you have never been morose. I am anxious, indeed, in such matters, to see that liberty preserved, which I perceive to have flourished in the churches from the very days of the apostles." ...—CalviniOpera, tom. ix. p. 63.

[313]See the notice, p. 249.

In a reaction, perhaps exaggerated, against the practices of the Romish Church, the magistrates of Geneva were led to adopt a measure which made a great noise among the Swiss Protestants. While Berne and Zurich celebrated the four great feasts of the year, according to the ancient Catholic custom, the Genevese abolished the weekday feasts, and kept nothing but the Sabbath. This measure, in which Calvin had no hand whatever, and of which he, in some degree, even disapproved, was made nevertheless the subject of very violent personal declamations against him. Some even accused him of wishing to abolish the Sabbath. In letters to his friends, Haller, Bullinger, and some others, he thought it his duty to represent the true character of the reform effected at Geneva, and his real relation to it. He had little difficulty in obtaining the approbation of Bullinger, who replied to him in these words: "You have just given the answer which I expected, my dear brother. For I know that in matters of that sort, where duty is but little heeded, and much ill-will is engendered, you have never been morose. I am anxious, indeed, in such matters, to see that liberty preserved, which I perceive to have flourished in the churches from the very days of the apostles." ...—CalviniOpera, tom. ix. p. 63.

[314]The plague, which had cut off Hedio, the pious minister at Strasbourg, made great ravages at Berne during the same year. It entered the houses of Wolfgang Musculus, and of John Haller, although they escaped themselves. A great number of the ministers of the Church of Berne sunk under the attacks of this awful scourge.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 470. TheChroniqueof Haller, cited by Hottinger.

[315]Ruchat, who reproduces this letter, (tom. v. p. 441,) considers that the name here suppressed is that of Pierre Kontzen, a minister of Berne, who presided, in 1538, at the Synod of Lausanne.

[316]Always attentive to regulate by ordinances the different points of religious and ecclesiastical life, the Seigneurs of Berne had just published (Dec. 1550) new edicts more rigorous than those which had preceded them. These edicts were especially directed against the gross notions and certain customs of the Papists, which Berne punished by fine. Indulgent to the taking of oaths, of which the custom was generally disseminated among the Catholic population subject to their dominion, the Seigneurie seemed to reserve all their severity for the offence of not observing the feasts abolished at Geneva.

[317]This abolition, which was at a later period to provoke such warm debates between Berne and Geneva, had been pronounced the 16th Nov. 1550.

[318]Richard Le Fèvre, a native of Rouen, one of the martyrs of the Reformed Church of Lyons. Seized in that town in 1551, and condemned to death, he appealed thence to the Parliament of Paris, and was deliveredin transituby some unknown friends. Surprised, two years afterwards, at Grenoble, he was brought back to the dungeons of Lyons, saw his first sentence confirmed by the Parliament of Paris, and went cheerfully to the stake the 7th July 1551. He wrote on the 3d of May to Calvin,—"The present is to let you know, that I hope to go to keep Whitsuntide in the kingdom of heaven, and to be present at the marriage of the Son of God, ... if I am not sooner called away by this good Lord and Master, whose voice i am ready to obey, when he shall say, Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you before the foundation of the world."—(The original autograph letter,Library of Geneva, Vol. 109.) During his first captivity at Lyons, Richard Le Fèvre had consulted Calvin on some points of doctrine, and had received pious exhortations from him regarding them.

[319]In an assembly which met at Neuchatel on the 14th of March 1551, the number of individuals who should compose the Consistory was fixed, and a collection of regulations regarding marriage was drawn out.

[320]The translation of the Psalms begun by Clement Marot, was continued by Theodore Boza, who obtained, during this same year, the authority of the Council of Geneva for the publication of a part of his work.

[321]Edward VI., son of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, King of England, born in 1537, died, in his sixteenth year, the 8th of July 1553. Gifted with a precocious strength of reason, and a lively sensibility, instructed in the ancient languages and foreign literature, this young prince did not live long enough to realize the hopes to which his accession to the throne had given birth. "His virtues," says the historian Hume, "had made him an object of tender affection to the public. He possessed mildness of disposition, application to study and business, a capacity to learn and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice." Devotional reading had a particular attraction for this prince, who was heartily devoted to the cause of the Reformation. Calvin dedicated two of his commentaries to him: "Joannis Calvini Commentarii in Iesaiam Prophetam, Eduardo VI., Angliæ Regi, 8 Cal. Januarii 1551." "Joannis Calvini Commentarii in Epistolas Canonicas." The dedication of the first of these commentaries (25th December 1550) furnishes us the date of the letter of Calvin, written in the month of January 1551, and brought to the King by the minister, Nicolas des Gallars.

[322]The privilege granted by King Edward VI. to the Church of the foreign Protestants instituted at London 1550. The royal patent was thus expressed:—"Considering that it is the duty of a Christian prince well to administer the affairs of his kingdom, to provide for religion, and for the unhappy exiles, afflicted and banished by reason thereof, we would have you to know, that having compassion of the condition of those who have for some considerable time past been domiciled in our kingdom, and come there daily, of our special grace ... will and ordain that henceforward they may have in our city of London a church, to be called the Church of the Lord Jesus, where the assembly of the Germans and other strangers can meet and worship, for the purpose of having the Gospel purely interpreted by the ministers of their church, and the Sacraments administered according to the word of God and the apostolic ordinance."

[323]The agreement concluded two years before, between the Churches of Geneva and of Zurich, on the question of the Sacraments, had been a source of joy to all the sober-minded in Switzerland and in Germany, who had deplored the excesses of the sacramental quarrel. But it displeased the intemperate Lutheran party, who accused Calvin of fickleness, and went so far as to charge him with having changed his opinions, and with squaring his doctrine to that of Zuingle, since the defeat of the Protestant party in Germany. This was nothing but a calumny, which is removed by a comparison of the previous writings of Calvin upon the Supper, with the formula drawn up under his care and which he was desirous should be published at Zurich.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 379.

[324]Some have erroneously fixed on 1549 as the date of this publication. Delayed by the theologians of Zurich it was only finished in 1551, under the title—Consensio mutua in re Sacramentaria ministrorum Tigurinæ Ecclesiæ et D. Joannis Calvini Ministri Genevensis Ecclesiæ. Zurich, 8vo. Caused by Calvin to be translated into French the following year, this important document figures in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 1137, with a preface by Calvin to the Ministers and Doctors of the Church of Zurich.

[325]Under this title, Bullinger had commenced publishing a series of discourses concerning the principal points of the Christian religion.

[326]See the letter to the king, p. 299.

[327]Having returned to England the previous year, and having been appointed Bishop of Gloucester through the patronage of Cranmer, Hooper was imprisoned and suffered a few days of captivity for having refused to wear, at the time of his consecration, the sacerdotal dress then in use in the English Church. See his correspondence with Bullinger,Zurich Letters, 1537-1558, tom. i. p. 9; Burnet, vol. i.

[328]After having proscribed the Reformed worship in the town of Augsburg, the Emperor took up his quarters at Inspruck, among the valleys of the Tyrol, from which he could keep an eye at once upon the Council of Trent, Germany, and Italy.—Robertson, book x.

[329]Bullinger had presented the King of England with his third and fourthDecade, (see note 1, p. 306,) with a long letter, in which he reminds the young king of the duties which he had to fulfil towards his subjects. "This epistle and book were presented to the King by the hands of Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, personally acquainted with Bullinger, to whom the King declared his good acceptance thereof, and the respect and esteem he had for the reverend author."—Strype,Memoir, vol. ii. pp. 390, 394.

[330]The letter here referred to has escaped all our investigations, and appears to be entirely lost.

[331]One of the first acts of the new Pope, Julius III, was to decree the re-assembly of the Council of Trent, on the 1st of May 1551. This session, termed the eleventh—eight having been held at Trent and two at Bologna—was without result. The fathers resolved upon fixing that there should not be another assembly until the 1st of September.—Fra Paolo,Hist. du Concile de Trente, lib. iv. sect. i.

[332]An invitation to the Council was, in point of fact, addressed by the Pope to the Cantons, with all sorts of flattering words, to induce them to comply. The theologians of Zurich, appointed to draw up a reply, had little difficulty in showing that the Council was not for the advantage of the Swiss, or for the good of religion, and the Reformed Cantons adopted unanimously the conclusions of the theologians, and refused to send deputies to the Council.—Ruchat, tom. v. p. 426.

[333]The year 1551 was marked by two grievous losses to the Reformed churches of Europe. Bucer, overcome by the sorrows of exile, died in England on the 28th of February, and the decease of Joachim Vadian, one of the most brilliant minds of that age, occurred at Saint Gall during the same year. The earliest notice of Bucer's death is to be found in the Journal of King Edward VI. of England:—"February 28th.—The learned man Bucerus died at Cambridge, who was two days after buried in St. Mary's Church, all the whole University, with the whole town, bringing him to the grave, to the number of three thousand persons. Also there was an oration of Mr. Haddon made very elegantly at his death...." &c.—Zurich Letters, first series, tom. ii. p. 492. Vadian, cut off in the prime of life, breathed his last in the arms of his friend Kessler, the poet, leaving behind him a name held in deep veneration by his friends and countrymen. Above two thousand of the present inhabitants of Saint Gall claim the honour of being descended from the burgomaster Vadian. See the notice of him given in the present collection, vol. i. p. 475.

[334]Nicolas des Gallars.

[335]In a letter to Calvin of the 25th May preceding, Farel gave eloquent expression to his sorrow at the death of Bucer:—"I have at length received the last letter of the pious Bucer. What a spirit! How calmly he sunk down! We must mingle joy with our sorrow, inasmuch as our friend has gone up to God."—Library of Paris.Recueil Historique de France, tom. xix.

[336]A man of distinguished learning, an accomplished statesman, and an able negotiator, as well as a theologian, and an admirable poet, Joachim Vadian left as wide a blank in the political councils, as he did in the churches of his country. He had been elected eleven times to the office of Burgomaster of Saint Gall.—See Melchior Adam,Vitæ Medicorum Germanorum; and theTheatrumof Pauli Freheri, tom. ii. pp. 1231, 1232.

[337]An allusion to a recent work of Osiander'sOn Justification, which gave rise to keen controversy in Germany.—See the Correspondence of Calvin with Melanchthon in 1552.

[338]By all appearance Amy Perrin.

[339]The number of refugees daily increasing at Geneva, permission was grantod them to assemble together for public worship in their own languages. English was preached at the Auditoire, Italian at the College, Spanish at Saint Gervais, and Flemish in Saint Germain. The unity of the Spirit shone through the diversity of languages.—Spon and Picot,Histoire de Genève.

[340]The Pope and the King of France were at that time engaged in a struggle about the town of Parma, which the former wished to plunder, and the latter to defend in behalf of Ottavio Farneso. Tho Emperor was not slow in joining the cause of the Pope, and peace was not concluded till the following year.

[341]This letter without an address, was written to a friend, perhaps to one of the members of the family of Beza in France, during an illness which endangered his life, in 1551, and which called forth from the Reformer the most touching testimonies of his affection.

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