Chapter 20

[342]See the letter to the King of the month of January, p. 299. The ministor, Nicolas des Gallars, charged to present to the King the letter and the Commentaries of Calvin, had met with the most flattering reception at Court.**See Calvin's letter to Farel, p. 311, ante.[343]Calvin published his treatise,De Æterna Dei Praedestinatione, during the following year, in reply to certain attacks directed against this doctrine by an Italian Doctor named George of Sicily, and the German theologian, Albert Pighius, whom he had already assailed in 1543.—(See vol. i. p. 371 of the present Collection.) Little is known regarding George of Sicily. Suspected by the Catholics on account of his professing certain of the Reformed doctrines, and by the Protestants from his holding certain heterodox opinions, he was disclaimed alike by both of those Churches, and ultimately fell a victim to the Inquisition, at Ferrara.—MSS. of the Library of Ferrara.[344]Notwithstanding the interested advances made by the King of France to the Swiss Cantons, and despite his alliance with the Protestants of Germany, the persecutions did not terminate in France. A minister of the district of Neuchatel, originally from the neighbourhood of Mans, named Hugues Gravier, having undertaken a journey to his native country, was arrested at the bridge of Maçon, and, after a long imprisonment, condemned to the flames, notwithstanding the intervention of the Seigneurs of Berne in his behalf. He submitted to this cruel torture at Bourg-en-Bresse, with wonderful firmness; and his death, says the historian of theMartyrs, was the means of forming a nursery of the faithful throughout the entire neighbourhood.—Hist. des Martyrs, p. 234, anno 1552.Hist. Eccl., p. 86.[345]The new opinions made every day fresh progress in France, in spite of the rigour of the edicts, and the severity of the judges. Inspired by the evil spirit of Cardinals Tournon and Lorraine, the King resorted to measures of great cruelty.The Edict of Chateaubriand, issued on the 27th of June 1551, declared Protestants amenable at once to ecclesiastical and civil tribunals, so that if absolved by the jurisdiction of the one, they were liable to condemnation by that of the other! This was a violation of the laws of the most ordinary justice; but at a time when the Emperor, aided by the heretic Maurice of Saxony, was attacking the Pope, the King of France could not give too strong a pledge of his orthodoxy. The blood of the disciples of the Gospel flowed like water, to expiate the alliance of this persecuting monarch with the Lutherans of Germany.—Haag,France Protestante, Introduction, p. x.[346]There were at that time proposals of marriage between the young King Edward, and Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henry II., but the negotiations relative to that match wore without result.—Burnet,History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 282, (Nares' Edition.)[347]Calvin, referring to the same circumstance in a letter to Viret, (Aug. 1551,) expressed himself thus:—"An ignorant monk, from an obscure village, disparaged me. A ridiculous affair. He was a demagogue, who from the front of the platform, bawled out that we were worse than the Papists, and brought forward a paper before the Consistory, written by himself, in which he accused me, by name, of teaching what was false and contrary to the word of God; called me an impostor; babbled out that those who agreed with me held impious opinions," &c.—(Calv. Opera, vol. ix. p. 61.) From these last traits, we recognize the same obscure individual, who made bold to bring forward such accusations against Calvin, and whose disputes with the Reformer were soon to acquire a sad notoriety over all Switzerland. This man was Jerome Bolsec!—See the following letter.[348]At a general meeting, held October 16, 1551, the minister of Jussy, Jean de Saint André, in preaching from the words of St. John, (viii. 47,) "He that is of God heareth God's words ...," took occasion to develope the doctrine of eternal election, declaring that "those who are not regenerated by the Spirit of God, continue in a state of rebellion even to the end, because obedience is a gift accorded only to the elect." He had scarcely finished speaking when one of the hearers rose up, and pronounced this doctrine false and impious, accompanying his discourse with coarse abuse of those who make God theauthor of sin, and exhorted the people to guard against this new doctrine as a detestable piece of folly. This man was the old Carmelite monk, Jerome Bolsec, a physician, preacher, and poet, who, wandering by turns in France and Italy, had retired to Geneva some months previously, where he had already frequently attacked the doctrines of Calvin. Unnoticed in the crowd, the Reformer, whom Bolsec had thought absent, immediately rose up, and by a succession of testimonies borrowed from the writings of Augustine, eloquently refuted his adversary. Arrested on account of the temerity of his language, and interrogated by the magistrate, Jerome refused to retract, and was thrown into prison. The case was brought before the Council, where he boldly maintained his opinion, adding, besides, that many of the Swiss ministers shared in his sentiments. Before pronouncing a judgment, which the ministers of Geneva earnestly desired, the magistrates wrote concerning the subject to three Reformed towns, namely, Zurich, Berne, and Bâle, furnishing them with a list of the errors of Bolsec, and asking their advice as to how they should treat him. See theRegisters of the Council, Oct. 1551; Gautier,Manuscript History of Geneva, and Ruehat, tom. v. p. 456.[349]This is Calvin's last letter to Myconius. Struck by apoplexy while in the pulpit of the Cathedral of Bâle, a few days before the Easter festivals of 1551, Myconius never rallied, till he was carried off by the plague in October 1552, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. His bereaved widow survived him only a few days. Simon Sulzer succeeded him in the office ofAntisteswhich he had filled during more than ten years with moderation and wisdom.—See Melch. Adam,Vitæ Theol. Germ., p. 224; Ruchat, tom. v. p. 468.[350]Alluding to the reply expected from the ministers of Bâle, concerning the case of Bolsec. See the preceding letter.[351]See letter, p. 319.[352]"To Mons. Christopher Fabri, minister of the Word of God in the Church of Neufchatel."The theologians of Bâle were the first to communicate their sentiments regarding the case of Bolsec. In a letter dated 28th November, they openly acknowledged the doctrine which was the occasion of the dispute. They regarded election as "the effect of a secret cause, known to God alone, and which man should not attempt to fathom." So far as Bolsec himself was concerned, they were inclined to treat him with indulgence, deceiving thereby the hopes of the Reformer, who desired a triumphant condemnation of his adversary.[353]In the theological disputes between Calvin and Bolsec, M. de Falais declared himself in favour of the latter, from whom he received medical advice. He had even written a letter to Bâle in his behalf.[354]See the preceding letter, p. 327.[355]The theologians of Zurich, like those of Bâle, did not hesitate to profess adherence to the doctrine attacked by Bolsec. "Jerome," said they, "deceives himself and wrongs Zuingle, if he believes that the latter taught that God himself was the cause of man's sinning; for if he appeared to teach something similar to that in his book onThe Providence of God, we must, at the same time, consult his other writings, where he has plainly established that sin comes by no means from God, but from human corruption and voluntary wickedness." Addressed to the Councils of Geneva by an oversight which the ministers of that church seemed keenly to feel, the answer from Zurich did not appear to Calvin to be a sufficiently explicit condemnation of his adversary. See the letter to Bullinger of January 1552.[356]Lelio Socin, founder of the celebrated sect which bears his name, was born at Sienna of a distinguished family: his father, Mariano Socin, a professor in the University of Bologna, was one of the most learned jurisconsults of his age. Of a bold and active mind, which found pleasure in the most subtle speculations, and which would not stop short of the interpretation of mysteries, Lelio left his native country in 1548, and joined the Reformers of Switzerland and Germany, whose friendship he won by the politeness of his manners, the purity of his life, and his zeal for learning. He resided by turns at Zurich and Wittemberg, and was not slow, by correspondence or conversation, to express his doubts on the common doctrines, which he skilfully advanced rather in the form of questions than as opinions which he was prepared to maintain and to teach. He was beloved by Bullinger, who did not suspect the heterodoxy of his beliefs, and who wrote to Calvin regarding him, "I restrain as far as I can this man's curiosity;" and Calvin himself, after having repeatedly broken off correspondence with Socin, could not forbear renewing it, and giving a friendly reply to the doubts which he had expressed on the resurrection, baptism, the trinity, &c. (Calv.Opera, tom. ix. pp. 51, 57, 197.) The letter, which is published here for the first time, throws valuable light on the relation of the Reformer to the founder of a sect to which even Socin himself was yet a stranger, and whose doubts were afterwards to be set up as dogmas by his disciples. Lelio Socin died in 1562, before he had completed his thirty-seventh year.—M'Crie,Hist. of Ref. in Italy,passim.[357]This letter, without a date, appears to us to belong to the last months of the year 1551. Lelio Socin was living at that time at Wittemberg.—M'Crie,Hist. of the Ref. in Italy, p. 430.[358]The magistrates of Geneva, after having received the advice of the leading Swiss Churches,—which were unanimous alike in their recognition of the doctrine of election, and in soliciting indulgence for Bolsec,—proceeded with the trial of the prisoner, who, having refused to retract his opinions, was solemnly banished on the 23d December 1551, for having persisted in an obstinate despisal of the judgment of the Churches to which he had promised submission.—(Registers of the Council, Dec. 1551. Spon and Picot,Histoire de Genève.) Calvin did not wish the sentence to be more severe, although he counted on the Swiss Churches taking a more energetic course, and in the ardour of his zeal for what he regarded as sound doctrine, looked upon all hesitation and all weakness as a cowardly abandonment of the truth.[359]In their reply to the ministers of Geneva concerning Bolsec, the ministers of Berne freely pleaded the cause of toleration:—"We do not believe," said they, "that it is necessary to treat those who err with too much severity, lest while wishing to defend, with too great zeal, the purity of dogmas, we swerve from the law of Jesus Christ, that is, from charity.... Jesus Christ loved the truth, but he loved souls also; not only those who advanced without declension, but also those who went astray. And it is the latter of which the Good Shepherd, in the Gospel parable, takes the greatest care."... More explicit than the theologians of Zurich and of Bâle on the doctrine which formed the ground of the debate, the ministers of Berne gave a deliverance against the doctrine of predestination:—"To come," said they, "to the subject of dispute with Bolsec, you are not ignorant how much vexation it has caused very many good men, of whom we cannot have a bad opinion, who reading in the Scriptures those passages which exalt the grace of God to all men, have not sufficient discernment rightly to understand the true mysteries of Divine election, attach themselves to the proclamation of grace and of universal benevolence, and think that we cannot make God condemn, harden, and blind any man, without being guilty of the insupportable blasphemy of making God himself the author both of man's blindness and of his perdition, and by consequence of all sin."—See this letter, and those of the Churches of Zurich and Bâle, in the Collection of Professor Alph. Turretin, entitled,Nubes Testium, and in Ruchat, tom. v. p. 461,et seq.[360]This minister was banished shortly after beyond the territory of the Seigneurs of Berne on account of this expression.[361]Farel was a genuine orator. All his contemporaries speak with admiration of his eloquent discourses, of his beautiful exhortations, and of his prayers, so fervent, that no one could hear them without being charmed. But it appears that his discourses were all extempore; none of them have been preserved, but they had a few of the defects of improvisation. Their fault was prolixity. Calvin, in his preface to the Psalms, paid, among other things, a brilliant tribute to the eloquence of his friend, and to those thunders of the word (tonitrua) by which he had been enchained at Geneva.[362]In Calvin's own hand.[363]Without date. The end is wanting. We believe that this letter refers to the first month of the year 1552.[364]Who is the personage to whom these words refer, stamped at once by the inflexible spirit of the time and the stern rigour of the Reformer? The historian can only offer conjectures: can it be Jerome Bolsec? But a regular sentence had banished him from Geneva, and Calvin himself does not appear to have called for a more severe judgment against this innovator whom resentment had transformed into a vile pamphleteer. "That fellow, Jerome, is driven out into perpetual exile by a public sentence.Certain revilers have spread abroad the falsehood, that we earnestly desired a much severer punishment, and foolishly, it is believed."—(Calvin to Bullinger, in the month of January 1552.) In that age of inexorable severity against unsound doctrine, Servetus only appeared at Geneva to expire at the stake, and Gentili only escaped the scaffold for a time, by the voluntary retraction of his opinions. To name Gentili, Servetus, Bolsec, is to recall the principal victims of Calvinistic intolerance in the sixteenth century, but not to solve the mystery which attaches to the personage designated in the letter of Calvin to Madame de Cany.[365]Theodore Beza, then professor of Greek literature in the Academy of Lausanne. Born the 24th June 1519, at Véselay in Burgundy, he had left Paris after a brilliant and dissipated youth, and retired to Geneva the 24th October 1548, giving up the possession of the rich benefices which he held of his uncle, the Abbé of Froidmont. Of this number was the priory of Londjumeau, which became the matter of a tedious lawsuit between Beza and the new titular, M. de Sunistan, the protégé of the Duchesse d'Etampes.[366]Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d'Etampes. She was a sister of Madame de Cany.[367]Laurent de Normandie. See note 1, p. 311.This passage seems to refer to an edition of the Psalms translated into French verse by Theodore Beza, earlier than that which is mentioned by Senebier.—(Histoire Littéraire de Genève, tom. i. p. 289.—Septante-Neuf Pseaulmes mis en Rithme Française, Quarante-Neuf par Clement Marot, avec le Cantique de Siméon et les Dix Commandements, in 24. Genève, chez Simon de Bosc, 1556.) M. Picot,Hist. de Genève, tom. ii. p. 7, mentions an edition of the Psalms, published in 1551. We know that the first complete edition, for the use of the Reformed Churches, appeared at Lyons in 1562, with the "Privilège du Roi."[368]Despite Calvin's disagreements with the magistrates of Berne and the Helvetic Churches, he did not hesitate to undertake a journey to them in the month of March 1552, which the seriousness of the circumstances demanded, in order to plead the cause, among the Cantons, of the French Protestants, who were then in a most deplorable condition. "This year," says Ruchat, "the King of France carried his persecution of the Reformers, even to the death, so to speak: and those faithful subjects, who wished only to be allowed to serve God in liberty of conscience, were subjected to the violence of his officers, who acted like so many unchained furies. The flames were kindled, the wheel and the gallows were erected at all the tribunals. The Protestant States of the empire, and the four Reformed Cantons, wore active in their intercessions with the King, by means of special ambassadors, in behalf of these poor persecuted ones; but all their prayers were useless." (Hist. de la Réf., tom. v. p. 479.) The King, on advising the Cantons to abstain from any further approaches to him, declared that he wished to be allowed to remain his own master, and to act as he pleased, and for them to refrain in future, lest those cities continued this business at their own peril; ... that they were at liberty to govern their own cities as they thought proper; that, for his own part, he wished, without let or hindrance, to do the same in his own kingdom, because he intended by all means to purge it of thoseseditiousmen.—(Bullinger to Calvin, tom. ix. p. 68.) This last epithet was acalumny. Yet he continued, nevertheless, to persecute the faithful of France as seditious and as rebels, because they desired to serve and to worship God according to his word.[369]See note 1, Vol. i. p. 439."This good bishop," says Beza, "agreeing to persecute those whom he formerly defended as far as he could, was made Bishop of Orleans, whither God attended him on his journey. For on the eve of hisentrée, he went, as the custom was, to the Monastery called Saint Iverte, and entered a pulpit to preach; there was a very great number of people present, and whilst uttering harsh threats against those termed heretics, he was seized with a colic so sudden and severe, that being carried away he died a miserable death on the following night, and made hisentréeelsewhere than at Orleans."—Hist. Eccl., tom. i. p. 81.[370]Doubtless the writing published by Calvin and his colleagues, entitled, "Congrégation faite en l'Eglise de Genève sur la Matière de l'élection éternelle." Geneva, 1552, 8vo.[371]The Marquis de Vico, a Neapolitan nobleman, retired to Geneva. He was admitted an inhabitant of the city, "after having promised to submit to the laws of the magistrates, and to live in the profession of the Reformed religion."—Registers of Council, 15th June 1551.[372]Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England, took an important part in the Reformation of his country during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. He laboured assiduously with the Reformers of the Continent, who esteemed his learning and honoured his character, to establish a bond of union between the foreign churches and his own; and if he did not live to see his efforts crowned with success, he at least left behind him an example worthy of imitation. What is most notable in these endeavours is to be found in Cranmer's Letters to the leading theologians of Switzerland and Germany, reproduced in the Collections of his Works published by theParker Society. They are likewise to be found in the Collection ofZurich Letters, 1st series, vol. i. p. 21-26, from which we borrow the following letter to Calvin, which furnishes us with the date of the Reformer's reply to the Prelate:—"As nothing tends more injuriously to the separation of the Churches than heresies and disputes respecting the doctrines of religion, so nothing tends more effectually to unite the Churches of God, and more powerfully to defend the fold of Christ, than the pure teaching of the Gospel and harmony of doctrine. Wherefore I have often wished, and still continue to do so, that learned and godly men, who are eminent for erudition and judgment, might meet together, and, comparing their respective opinions, might handle all the heads of ecclesiastical doctrine, and hand down to posterity, under the weight of their authority some work not only upon the subjects themselves, but upon the forms of expressing them. Our adversaries are now holding their councils at Trent, for the establishment of their errors; and shall we neglect to call together a godly synod, for the refutation of error, and for restoring and propagating the truth? They are, as I am informed, making decrees respecting the worship of the host; wherefore we ought to leave no stone unturned, not only that we may guard others against this idolatry, but also that we may ourselves come to an agreement upon the doctrine of this sacrament. It cannot escape your prudence how exceedingly the Church of God has been injured by dissensions and varieties of opinion respecting the sacrament of unity; and though they are now in some measure removed, yet I could wish for an agreement in this doctrine, not only as regards the subject itself, but also with respect to the words and forms of expression. You have now my wish, about which I have also written to Masters Philip [Melanchthon] and Bullinger; and I pray you to deliberate among yourselves as to the means by which this synod can be assembled with the greatest convenience. Farewell.—Your very dear brother in Christ,"Thomas Cantuar."Lambeth,20th March 1552."Calvin could only subscribe to the wishes so nobly expressed by Cranmer, and which harmonized so well with the most elevated sentiments of the Reformer of Geneva.[373]Alluding to the unfortunate controversies raised by Osiander in Germany on the doctrine of Justification.[374]See the eloquent appeal addressed to Bullinger,ante, pp. 329, 341. The latter had written to Calvin, giving him an account of the fruitless efforts of the Cantons with Henry II., and of the haughty response of that monarch: "He lives who delivered his people from Egypt; he lives who brought back the captivity from Babylon; he lives who defended his Church against Cæsars, kings, and profligate princes. Verily we must needs pass through many afflictions into the kingdom of God. But woe to those who touch the apple of God's eye."—Calv. Opera, tom. ix. p. 68.[375]See the following Letter.[376]In the month of April 1552, five young Frenchmen, instructed at the school of theology of Lausanne, and devoted to the functions of the ministry, made arrangements for returning to their own country. These were Martial Alba of Montauban, Peter Ecrivain of Gascony, Charles Favre of Blanzac in Angoumois, Peter Navihères of Limousin, and Bernard Seguin of La Reole. After having spent some days at Geneva, they set out for Lyons, and met on the way at the Bourg de Colognes, nigh to L'Ecluse, a stranger, who offered himself as their fellow-traveller. They consented without harbouring any suspicion. Arrived at Lyons, they parted with their travelling companion, who pressed them to visit him at his dwelling of Ainay. They went thither without any distrust, were arrested and led away to the prisons of that jurisdiction. Such was the origin of a long and doleful process, which held the Churches of France and Switzerland for a long time in suspense, and during which, the blood-thirsty cruelty of the judges was only equalled by the constancy of the victims. On the first rumour of the arrest of the five students, the Church of Geneva took the matter up, and lavished upon the captives, by the voice of Calvin, the most lively testimonies of their sympathy.[377]Calvin wrote this letter to King Edward VI., when dedicating to him the following little work: Four Sermons of Master John Calvin, treating of matters very profitable for our time, with a Brief Exposition of Psalm lxxxvii. Geneva, 1552, in 8vo, inserted in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 824. These four sermons have been translated at different times into English. In the first, Calvin exhorts the faithful to flee from idolatry; in the second, he encourages them to suffer everything for Jesus Christ; in the third, he shews how highly believers ought to prize the privilege of being in the Church of God, where they are at liberty to worship him purely; in the last, he shews that this liberty cannot be purchased at too high a price.[378]An error in the original; we must read 87th.[379]For a facsimile of the original of this passage, see Vol. I.[380]This letter bears no date, but it refers to the subject set forth in a preceding letter of Calvin's to Cranmer, p. 345, and we have no hesitation in assigning it a place in the course of the same year,—perhaps inJuly 1552.[381]A letter without address, but evidently, as the date and the contents prove, relating to the trial of the five students of Lausanne.—(See the letter of the 10th of June, and the note at p. 355.) The personage to whom Calvin writes, is doubtless John Liner, a rich merchant of Saint Gall, settled at Lyons, who often visited the scholars in their dungeon, undertook several journeys on their behalf, and was unsparing, during the whole course of the suit, in tokens of most lively affection.—(Histoire des Martyrs, liv. iv. pp. 230, 231.) John Liner afterwards retired to his own country, where he lived to a very advanced age, and corresponded with Charles de Jonvillers, the secretary of Calvin, a correspondence which has been preserved to our days in the library of Saint Gall. Note, p. 363.[382]To the brethren of ..., without any further indication. The name of the Polish nobleman, John A Lasco, moderator of the Congregation of Foreign Protestants at London, informs us to what Church this letter was addressed.The Reformed Church of London, next to that of Strasbourg the oldest of the refugee churches, was formed during the first years of the reign of Edward VI., obtained a legal recognition in 1550, had for ministers Francis Péruçel, called La Rivière, and Richard Vanville, and as moderator an illustrious foreign nobleman, devoted to the cause of religious reform, John A Lasco or Laski. Dispersed in 1553, under the intolerant reign of Mary, it reconstituted itself under the reparative reign of Elizabeth, and reckoned in the list of its pastors one of the most distinguished ministers of Geneva, Nicolas des Gallars. In its early commencement, that Church, which has been perpetuated to our own day, and to which the greater part of the French Churches of England, of Scotland, and even of America, owe their origin and their organization, was troubled by theological disputes, which made the intervention of Calvin needful.[383]A Lasco had composed a work entitled,The whole Form and Manner of the Ecclesiastical Ministry in the Church of the Strangers, set up at London by the very faithful Prince, Edward VI.[384]On the back, in the handwriting of Calvin: "The case against Trolliet."Trolliet, of Geneva, a discontented and unsettled spirit, became, first of all, a hermit in Burgundy, and lived in affectation of sanctity. Soon tired, however, of playing this part, he re-appeared at Geneva, and solicited the functions of the ministry, from which he was warned off by the influence of Calvin, against whom he vowed an irreconcilable hatred. Thenceforward, he made himself remarkable in the ranks of the libertine party, by the violence of his attacks against the Reformer. He arraigned his writings, and offered to prove, that in the book ofThe Christian Institution, Calvin had made Godthe author of sin. These accusations, emulously repeated by the adversaries of the Reformer, and speciously tricked up with the authority of Melanchthon, provoked sharp discussions, which were only half appeased by the sentence of the Seigneurs of Geneva, who approved theChristian Institution, while at the same time declaring Trolliet, "homme de bien," out of consideration for the party to which he belonged. The whole of the papers relating to the controversy of Calvin with Trolliet, are to be found collected in Vol. 145 of theMSS. of the Library of Geneva.[385]"Since we are all corrupt and contaminate by vice, it cannot be but God must hate us, and that not with tyrannical cruelty, but with reasonable equity.... That all the children of Adam come forward to contend and dispute against their Creator, because by his eternal Providence, they were devoted, before they were born, to perpetual calamity. When, on the contrary, God brings them to know themselves, how can they murmur at that? If they have all been taken out of a corrupt mass, it is no way marvellous that they are liable to condemnation. Let them not therefore accuse God of iniquity, because by his eternal decree they are ordained to condemnation, to which their very nature makes them amenable."—Institution of the Christian Religion, edit, of 1554, p. 461.[386]"The first man fell, because God thought it fit. Now, as to why he thought it fit, we know nothing. Yet it is certain, that he has not thus decided, unless because he saw that it would advance the glory of his name.... Man then falls, according as it has been ordained of God, but he falls by his own vice."—Ibid.edit, of 1551, p. 463."Although that by the eternal Providence of God man has been created for that state of misery in which he is, yet notwithstanding he has derived the cause of that misery from himself, and not from God. For he perishes only because of his having, through perversity, degenerated from the pure nature which God had given him."—Ibid., p. 464.[387]This is the book:De Æterna Dei Prædestinatione et Providentia.Genève, 1550, in 8vo; translated into French the same year.[388]This is the famous book of theCommon Places(Loci Theologici), translated into French under the care of Calvin:The Summe of Theology, or Common Places of Melanchthon, translated from the Latin, by John Calvin. With a Preface. 1546, in 8vo.[389]It is not uninteresting to compare this estimate formed by Calvin of Melanchthon, with the remarkable one contained in the preface to theCommon Places:—"I perceive that the author, being a person of profound knowledge, has not chosen to enter into subtile disputations, nor to treat these matters with that high degree of skill which it would have been so easy for him to employ. But he has brought himself down as much as he could, having only regard to edification. It is, certes, the style and fashion which we should observe, did not our adversaries constrain us by their cavils to turn aside from this course.... The same about predestination, because he sees now-a-days so many flighty spirits who are but too much given to curiosity, and who go beyond bounds in this matter. Wishing to provide against this danger, he has proposed to touch only on what was needful to be known, leaving all else buried out of sight, rather than by disclosing all he could, to give the reins to much perplexing and confused disputation, from whence arises no good fruit.I confess that the whole of what God has been pleased to reveal to us in Scripture ought not to be suppressed, whatsoever happens; but he who seeks to give profitable instruction to his readers, may very well be excused for dwelling upon what he knows to be most essential, passing lightly over or leaving out of sight that which he does not expect to be equally profitable."[390]Here is the sentence pronounced on this occasion by the Seigneurs of Geneva:—"Wednesday, 9th November 1552.—Having heard in council the worshipful and learned ministers of the word of God, Master William Farel, and Master Peter Viret, and after them worshipful Monsieur John Calvin, minister of this city of Geneva, and noble John Trolliet, also of Geneva, in their depositions and replies, now often repeated, touching theChristian Institutionof the said Monsieur Calvin, and having well considered the whole, the council has determined and concluded, that all things well heard and understood, it has pronounced and declared, and pronounces and declares the said book of theInstitutionof the said Calvin, to be well and holily done, and his holy doctrine to be God's doctrine, and that he be held as good and true minister of this city, and that henceforward no person dare to speak against the said book, nor the said doctrine. We command both parties, and all concerned, to observe this."My said Lords Syndics and Council,"Roset."[391]While Calvin was eloquently pleading among others the cause of the persecuted faithful of France, he was struggling with an ever-increasing energy for the suppression of scandals, and the formation of a new people at Geneva. His efforts, however, seemed powerless before the enormity of the evil, and the furious resistance of that party, which history has justly branded with the name of Libertine. The cabal of the factious gathered strength from day to day, and disorders were committed with impunity. The task of reforming the public morals, courageously undertaken by the ministers, was almost absolutely fruitless. Ashamed of such excesses, but incapable of suppressing them, the Great Council increased the severity of its edicts, but had not the power to impose them upon the multitude who were banded together against theforeigners. The French were a particular object of fury to the factions. They beat them in the streets, and subjected them to all sorts of outrages. Most absurd accusations were circulated against them, and were believed by the multitude. The presence of Farel and Viret in Geneva could not quiet these troubles; and it was in vain that these courageous ministers presented themselves before the councils, "to commend to them the care of religion and morals."—Chroniqueof Roset, c. v. pp. 42, 44; Ruchat, c. v. pp. 489, 490.[392]Probably Amy Perrin.[393]Placed by his character and talents at the head of the Vaudois clergy, Viret had to maintain a ceaseless struggle against the encroachments and ecclesiastical tyranny of the Seigneurs of Berne.—See Ruchat, c. v. p. 488.[394]Minister of the French Church of Strasbourg.[395]Quatre Sermons traictans des matières fort utiles pour nostre temps.1552, 8vo.Opuscules, p. 824.[396]Beza published this year a new edition of his Tragedy of Abraham under the following title:—Le Sacrifice d'Abraham, Tragédie Française, séparée en trois Pauses à la façon des Actes de Comédies, avec des Chœurs, un Prologue et un Epilogue. 1552, 8vo.[397]Ambroise Blaurer, of a noble family of Constance, entered in early youth a convent, which he soon left to become a preacher of reform, for which he had contracted a taste from reading the writings of Luther. Present at the Controversy of Berne with Zwingle, Œeolampadius, Bucer, and Capito, he beheld his preaching attended with the most gratifying success, and saw the Gospel victoriously established in his native town, where he exercised his valuable ministry until the war of Smalkald. Having at that time refused submission to theInterim, he left Constance, and retired first to Winterthur, near Zurich, and afterwards to Bienne, whilst his unfortunate city, fallen into the hands of the Imperialists, saw itself deprived at once of the Gospel and of liberty. Esteemed by Calvin, Blaurer witnessed his influence at Zurich and at Berne solicited more than once by the Reformer of Geneva. He died in 1567.—See Beza,Icones, and Melch. Adam,Theolog. Germ., p. 413.[398]In a letter to an unknown personage, (Opera, tom. ix. p. 238,) Calvin mentions this same event, adding to it a curious detail taken from the letter of an eye-witness: "Among other things, he informed me of a circumstance which I am unwilling to withhold from you—that a striking spectacle presented itself to him in the destruction of our city, viz., that my father's house stood entire after all the others had been reduced to ashes." Farther on he adds,—"I have no doubt but that God wishes to make this a testimony against all those of our city who, eight or ten days before, had burnt in effigy Monsieur de Normandie."[399]Commentarius in Evangelium Johannis.Geneva, 1553. Fol. Robert Estienne.

*See Calvin's letter to Farel, p. 311, ante.

[343]Calvin published his treatise,De Æterna Dei Praedestinatione, during the following year, in reply to certain attacks directed against this doctrine by an Italian Doctor named George of Sicily, and the German theologian, Albert Pighius, whom he had already assailed in 1543.—(See vol. i. p. 371 of the present Collection.) Little is known regarding George of Sicily. Suspected by the Catholics on account of his professing certain of the Reformed doctrines, and by the Protestants from his holding certain heterodox opinions, he was disclaimed alike by both of those Churches, and ultimately fell a victim to the Inquisition, at Ferrara.—MSS. of the Library of Ferrara.

[344]Notwithstanding the interested advances made by the King of France to the Swiss Cantons, and despite his alliance with the Protestants of Germany, the persecutions did not terminate in France. A minister of the district of Neuchatel, originally from the neighbourhood of Mans, named Hugues Gravier, having undertaken a journey to his native country, was arrested at the bridge of Maçon, and, after a long imprisonment, condemned to the flames, notwithstanding the intervention of the Seigneurs of Berne in his behalf. He submitted to this cruel torture at Bourg-en-Bresse, with wonderful firmness; and his death, says the historian of theMartyrs, was the means of forming a nursery of the faithful throughout the entire neighbourhood.—Hist. des Martyrs, p. 234, anno 1552.Hist. Eccl., p. 86.

[345]The new opinions made every day fresh progress in France, in spite of the rigour of the edicts, and the severity of the judges. Inspired by the evil spirit of Cardinals Tournon and Lorraine, the King resorted to measures of great cruelty.The Edict of Chateaubriand, issued on the 27th of June 1551, declared Protestants amenable at once to ecclesiastical and civil tribunals, so that if absolved by the jurisdiction of the one, they were liable to condemnation by that of the other! This was a violation of the laws of the most ordinary justice; but at a time when the Emperor, aided by the heretic Maurice of Saxony, was attacking the Pope, the King of France could not give too strong a pledge of his orthodoxy. The blood of the disciples of the Gospel flowed like water, to expiate the alliance of this persecuting monarch with the Lutherans of Germany.—Haag,France Protestante, Introduction, p. x.

[346]There were at that time proposals of marriage between the young King Edward, and Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henry II., but the negotiations relative to that match wore without result.—Burnet,History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 282, (Nares' Edition.)

[347]Calvin, referring to the same circumstance in a letter to Viret, (Aug. 1551,) expressed himself thus:—"An ignorant monk, from an obscure village, disparaged me. A ridiculous affair. He was a demagogue, who from the front of the platform, bawled out that we were worse than the Papists, and brought forward a paper before the Consistory, written by himself, in which he accused me, by name, of teaching what was false and contrary to the word of God; called me an impostor; babbled out that those who agreed with me held impious opinions," &c.—(Calv. Opera, vol. ix. p. 61.) From these last traits, we recognize the same obscure individual, who made bold to bring forward such accusations against Calvin, and whose disputes with the Reformer were soon to acquire a sad notoriety over all Switzerland. This man was Jerome Bolsec!—See the following letter.

[348]At a general meeting, held October 16, 1551, the minister of Jussy, Jean de Saint André, in preaching from the words of St. John, (viii. 47,) "He that is of God heareth God's words ...," took occasion to develope the doctrine of eternal election, declaring that "those who are not regenerated by the Spirit of God, continue in a state of rebellion even to the end, because obedience is a gift accorded only to the elect." He had scarcely finished speaking when one of the hearers rose up, and pronounced this doctrine false and impious, accompanying his discourse with coarse abuse of those who make God theauthor of sin, and exhorted the people to guard against this new doctrine as a detestable piece of folly. This man was the old Carmelite monk, Jerome Bolsec, a physician, preacher, and poet, who, wandering by turns in France and Italy, had retired to Geneva some months previously, where he had already frequently attacked the doctrines of Calvin. Unnoticed in the crowd, the Reformer, whom Bolsec had thought absent, immediately rose up, and by a succession of testimonies borrowed from the writings of Augustine, eloquently refuted his adversary. Arrested on account of the temerity of his language, and interrogated by the magistrate, Jerome refused to retract, and was thrown into prison. The case was brought before the Council, where he boldly maintained his opinion, adding, besides, that many of the Swiss ministers shared in his sentiments. Before pronouncing a judgment, which the ministers of Geneva earnestly desired, the magistrates wrote concerning the subject to three Reformed towns, namely, Zurich, Berne, and Bâle, furnishing them with a list of the errors of Bolsec, and asking their advice as to how they should treat him. See theRegisters of the Council, Oct. 1551; Gautier,Manuscript History of Geneva, and Ruehat, tom. v. p. 456.

[349]This is Calvin's last letter to Myconius. Struck by apoplexy while in the pulpit of the Cathedral of Bâle, a few days before the Easter festivals of 1551, Myconius never rallied, till he was carried off by the plague in October 1552, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. His bereaved widow survived him only a few days. Simon Sulzer succeeded him in the office ofAntisteswhich he had filled during more than ten years with moderation and wisdom.—See Melch. Adam,Vitæ Theol. Germ., p. 224; Ruchat, tom. v. p. 468.

[350]Alluding to the reply expected from the ministers of Bâle, concerning the case of Bolsec. See the preceding letter.

[351]See letter, p. 319.

[352]"To Mons. Christopher Fabri, minister of the Word of God in the Church of Neufchatel."The theologians of Bâle were the first to communicate their sentiments regarding the case of Bolsec. In a letter dated 28th November, they openly acknowledged the doctrine which was the occasion of the dispute. They regarded election as "the effect of a secret cause, known to God alone, and which man should not attempt to fathom." So far as Bolsec himself was concerned, they were inclined to treat him with indulgence, deceiving thereby the hopes of the Reformer, who desired a triumphant condemnation of his adversary.

[352]"To Mons. Christopher Fabri, minister of the Word of God in the Church of Neufchatel."

The theologians of Bâle were the first to communicate their sentiments regarding the case of Bolsec. In a letter dated 28th November, they openly acknowledged the doctrine which was the occasion of the dispute. They regarded election as "the effect of a secret cause, known to God alone, and which man should not attempt to fathom." So far as Bolsec himself was concerned, they were inclined to treat him with indulgence, deceiving thereby the hopes of the Reformer, who desired a triumphant condemnation of his adversary.

[353]In the theological disputes between Calvin and Bolsec, M. de Falais declared himself in favour of the latter, from whom he received medical advice. He had even written a letter to Bâle in his behalf.

[354]See the preceding letter, p. 327.

[355]The theologians of Zurich, like those of Bâle, did not hesitate to profess adherence to the doctrine attacked by Bolsec. "Jerome," said they, "deceives himself and wrongs Zuingle, if he believes that the latter taught that God himself was the cause of man's sinning; for if he appeared to teach something similar to that in his book onThe Providence of God, we must, at the same time, consult his other writings, where he has plainly established that sin comes by no means from God, but from human corruption and voluntary wickedness." Addressed to the Councils of Geneva by an oversight which the ministers of that church seemed keenly to feel, the answer from Zurich did not appear to Calvin to be a sufficiently explicit condemnation of his adversary. See the letter to Bullinger of January 1552.

[356]Lelio Socin, founder of the celebrated sect which bears his name, was born at Sienna of a distinguished family: his father, Mariano Socin, a professor in the University of Bologna, was one of the most learned jurisconsults of his age. Of a bold and active mind, which found pleasure in the most subtle speculations, and which would not stop short of the interpretation of mysteries, Lelio left his native country in 1548, and joined the Reformers of Switzerland and Germany, whose friendship he won by the politeness of his manners, the purity of his life, and his zeal for learning. He resided by turns at Zurich and Wittemberg, and was not slow, by correspondence or conversation, to express his doubts on the common doctrines, which he skilfully advanced rather in the form of questions than as opinions which he was prepared to maintain and to teach. He was beloved by Bullinger, who did not suspect the heterodoxy of his beliefs, and who wrote to Calvin regarding him, "I restrain as far as I can this man's curiosity;" and Calvin himself, after having repeatedly broken off correspondence with Socin, could not forbear renewing it, and giving a friendly reply to the doubts which he had expressed on the resurrection, baptism, the trinity, &c. (Calv.Opera, tom. ix. pp. 51, 57, 197.) The letter, which is published here for the first time, throws valuable light on the relation of the Reformer to the founder of a sect to which even Socin himself was yet a stranger, and whose doubts were afterwards to be set up as dogmas by his disciples. Lelio Socin died in 1562, before he had completed his thirty-seventh year.—M'Crie,Hist. of Ref. in Italy,passim.

[357]This letter, without a date, appears to us to belong to the last months of the year 1551. Lelio Socin was living at that time at Wittemberg.—M'Crie,Hist. of the Ref. in Italy, p. 430.

[358]The magistrates of Geneva, after having received the advice of the leading Swiss Churches,—which were unanimous alike in their recognition of the doctrine of election, and in soliciting indulgence for Bolsec,—proceeded with the trial of the prisoner, who, having refused to retract his opinions, was solemnly banished on the 23d December 1551, for having persisted in an obstinate despisal of the judgment of the Churches to which he had promised submission.—(Registers of the Council, Dec. 1551. Spon and Picot,Histoire de Genève.) Calvin did not wish the sentence to be more severe, although he counted on the Swiss Churches taking a more energetic course, and in the ardour of his zeal for what he regarded as sound doctrine, looked upon all hesitation and all weakness as a cowardly abandonment of the truth.

[359]In their reply to the ministers of Geneva concerning Bolsec, the ministers of Berne freely pleaded the cause of toleration:—"We do not believe," said they, "that it is necessary to treat those who err with too much severity, lest while wishing to defend, with too great zeal, the purity of dogmas, we swerve from the law of Jesus Christ, that is, from charity.... Jesus Christ loved the truth, but he loved souls also; not only those who advanced without declension, but also those who went astray. And it is the latter of which the Good Shepherd, in the Gospel parable, takes the greatest care."... More explicit than the theologians of Zurich and of Bâle on the doctrine which formed the ground of the debate, the ministers of Berne gave a deliverance against the doctrine of predestination:—"To come," said they, "to the subject of dispute with Bolsec, you are not ignorant how much vexation it has caused very many good men, of whom we cannot have a bad opinion, who reading in the Scriptures those passages which exalt the grace of God to all men, have not sufficient discernment rightly to understand the true mysteries of Divine election, attach themselves to the proclamation of grace and of universal benevolence, and think that we cannot make God condemn, harden, and blind any man, without being guilty of the insupportable blasphemy of making God himself the author both of man's blindness and of his perdition, and by consequence of all sin."—See this letter, and those of the Churches of Zurich and Bâle, in the Collection of Professor Alph. Turretin, entitled,Nubes Testium, and in Ruchat, tom. v. p. 461,et seq.

[360]This minister was banished shortly after beyond the territory of the Seigneurs of Berne on account of this expression.

[361]Farel was a genuine orator. All his contemporaries speak with admiration of his eloquent discourses, of his beautiful exhortations, and of his prayers, so fervent, that no one could hear them without being charmed. But it appears that his discourses were all extempore; none of them have been preserved, but they had a few of the defects of improvisation. Their fault was prolixity. Calvin, in his preface to the Psalms, paid, among other things, a brilliant tribute to the eloquence of his friend, and to those thunders of the word (tonitrua) by which he had been enchained at Geneva.

[362]In Calvin's own hand.

[363]Without date. The end is wanting. We believe that this letter refers to the first month of the year 1552.

[364]Who is the personage to whom these words refer, stamped at once by the inflexible spirit of the time and the stern rigour of the Reformer? The historian can only offer conjectures: can it be Jerome Bolsec? But a regular sentence had banished him from Geneva, and Calvin himself does not appear to have called for a more severe judgment against this innovator whom resentment had transformed into a vile pamphleteer. "That fellow, Jerome, is driven out into perpetual exile by a public sentence.Certain revilers have spread abroad the falsehood, that we earnestly desired a much severer punishment, and foolishly, it is believed."—(Calvin to Bullinger, in the month of January 1552.) In that age of inexorable severity against unsound doctrine, Servetus only appeared at Geneva to expire at the stake, and Gentili only escaped the scaffold for a time, by the voluntary retraction of his opinions. To name Gentili, Servetus, Bolsec, is to recall the principal victims of Calvinistic intolerance in the sixteenth century, but not to solve the mystery which attaches to the personage designated in the letter of Calvin to Madame de Cany.

[365]Theodore Beza, then professor of Greek literature in the Academy of Lausanne. Born the 24th June 1519, at Véselay in Burgundy, he had left Paris after a brilliant and dissipated youth, and retired to Geneva the 24th October 1548, giving up the possession of the rich benefices which he held of his uncle, the Abbé of Froidmont. Of this number was the priory of Londjumeau, which became the matter of a tedious lawsuit between Beza and the new titular, M. de Sunistan, the protégé of the Duchesse d'Etampes.

[366]Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d'Etampes. She was a sister of Madame de Cany.

[367]Laurent de Normandie. See note 1, p. 311.This passage seems to refer to an edition of the Psalms translated into French verse by Theodore Beza, earlier than that which is mentioned by Senebier.—(Histoire Littéraire de Genève, tom. i. p. 289.—Septante-Neuf Pseaulmes mis en Rithme Française, Quarante-Neuf par Clement Marot, avec le Cantique de Siméon et les Dix Commandements, in 24. Genève, chez Simon de Bosc, 1556.) M. Picot,Hist. de Genève, tom. ii. p. 7, mentions an edition of the Psalms, published in 1551. We know that the first complete edition, for the use of the Reformed Churches, appeared at Lyons in 1562, with the "Privilège du Roi."

[367]Laurent de Normandie. See note 1, p. 311.

This passage seems to refer to an edition of the Psalms translated into French verse by Theodore Beza, earlier than that which is mentioned by Senebier.—(Histoire Littéraire de Genève, tom. i. p. 289.—Septante-Neuf Pseaulmes mis en Rithme Française, Quarante-Neuf par Clement Marot, avec le Cantique de Siméon et les Dix Commandements, in 24. Genève, chez Simon de Bosc, 1556.) M. Picot,Hist. de Genève, tom. ii. p. 7, mentions an edition of the Psalms, published in 1551. We know that the first complete edition, for the use of the Reformed Churches, appeared at Lyons in 1562, with the "Privilège du Roi."

[368]Despite Calvin's disagreements with the magistrates of Berne and the Helvetic Churches, he did not hesitate to undertake a journey to them in the month of March 1552, which the seriousness of the circumstances demanded, in order to plead the cause, among the Cantons, of the French Protestants, who were then in a most deplorable condition. "This year," says Ruchat, "the King of France carried his persecution of the Reformers, even to the death, so to speak: and those faithful subjects, who wished only to be allowed to serve God in liberty of conscience, were subjected to the violence of his officers, who acted like so many unchained furies. The flames were kindled, the wheel and the gallows were erected at all the tribunals. The Protestant States of the empire, and the four Reformed Cantons, wore active in their intercessions with the King, by means of special ambassadors, in behalf of these poor persecuted ones; but all their prayers were useless." (Hist. de la Réf., tom. v. p. 479.) The King, on advising the Cantons to abstain from any further approaches to him, declared that he wished to be allowed to remain his own master, and to act as he pleased, and for them to refrain in future, lest those cities continued this business at their own peril; ... that they were at liberty to govern their own cities as they thought proper; that, for his own part, he wished, without let or hindrance, to do the same in his own kingdom, because he intended by all means to purge it of thoseseditiousmen.—(Bullinger to Calvin, tom. ix. p. 68.) This last epithet was acalumny. Yet he continued, nevertheless, to persecute the faithful of France as seditious and as rebels, because they desired to serve and to worship God according to his word.

[369]See note 1, Vol. i. p. 439."This good bishop," says Beza, "agreeing to persecute those whom he formerly defended as far as he could, was made Bishop of Orleans, whither God attended him on his journey. For on the eve of hisentrée, he went, as the custom was, to the Monastery called Saint Iverte, and entered a pulpit to preach; there was a very great number of people present, and whilst uttering harsh threats against those termed heretics, he was seized with a colic so sudden and severe, that being carried away he died a miserable death on the following night, and made hisentréeelsewhere than at Orleans."—Hist. Eccl., tom. i. p. 81.

[369]See note 1, Vol. i. p. 439.

"This good bishop," says Beza, "agreeing to persecute those whom he formerly defended as far as he could, was made Bishop of Orleans, whither God attended him on his journey. For on the eve of hisentrée, he went, as the custom was, to the Monastery called Saint Iverte, and entered a pulpit to preach; there was a very great number of people present, and whilst uttering harsh threats against those termed heretics, he was seized with a colic so sudden and severe, that being carried away he died a miserable death on the following night, and made hisentréeelsewhere than at Orleans."—Hist. Eccl., tom. i. p. 81.

[370]Doubtless the writing published by Calvin and his colleagues, entitled, "Congrégation faite en l'Eglise de Genève sur la Matière de l'élection éternelle." Geneva, 1552, 8vo.

[371]The Marquis de Vico, a Neapolitan nobleman, retired to Geneva. He was admitted an inhabitant of the city, "after having promised to submit to the laws of the magistrates, and to live in the profession of the Reformed religion."—Registers of Council, 15th June 1551.

[372]Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England, took an important part in the Reformation of his country during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. He laboured assiduously with the Reformers of the Continent, who esteemed his learning and honoured his character, to establish a bond of union between the foreign churches and his own; and if he did not live to see his efforts crowned with success, he at least left behind him an example worthy of imitation. What is most notable in these endeavours is to be found in Cranmer's Letters to the leading theologians of Switzerland and Germany, reproduced in the Collections of his Works published by theParker Society. They are likewise to be found in the Collection ofZurich Letters, 1st series, vol. i. p. 21-26, from which we borrow the following letter to Calvin, which furnishes us with the date of the Reformer's reply to the Prelate:—"As nothing tends more injuriously to the separation of the Churches than heresies and disputes respecting the doctrines of religion, so nothing tends more effectually to unite the Churches of God, and more powerfully to defend the fold of Christ, than the pure teaching of the Gospel and harmony of doctrine. Wherefore I have often wished, and still continue to do so, that learned and godly men, who are eminent for erudition and judgment, might meet together, and, comparing their respective opinions, might handle all the heads of ecclesiastical doctrine, and hand down to posterity, under the weight of their authority some work not only upon the subjects themselves, but upon the forms of expressing them. Our adversaries are now holding their councils at Trent, for the establishment of their errors; and shall we neglect to call together a godly synod, for the refutation of error, and for restoring and propagating the truth? They are, as I am informed, making decrees respecting the worship of the host; wherefore we ought to leave no stone unturned, not only that we may guard others against this idolatry, but also that we may ourselves come to an agreement upon the doctrine of this sacrament. It cannot escape your prudence how exceedingly the Church of God has been injured by dissensions and varieties of opinion respecting the sacrament of unity; and though they are now in some measure removed, yet I could wish for an agreement in this doctrine, not only as regards the subject itself, but also with respect to the words and forms of expression. You have now my wish, about which I have also written to Masters Philip [Melanchthon] and Bullinger; and I pray you to deliberate among yourselves as to the means by which this synod can be assembled with the greatest convenience. Farewell.—Your very dear brother in Christ,"Thomas Cantuar."Lambeth,20th March 1552."Calvin could only subscribe to the wishes so nobly expressed by Cranmer, and which harmonized so well with the most elevated sentiments of the Reformer of Geneva.

"Thomas Cantuar.

"Lambeth,20th March 1552."

Calvin could only subscribe to the wishes so nobly expressed by Cranmer, and which harmonized so well with the most elevated sentiments of the Reformer of Geneva.

[373]Alluding to the unfortunate controversies raised by Osiander in Germany on the doctrine of Justification.

[374]See the eloquent appeal addressed to Bullinger,ante, pp. 329, 341. The latter had written to Calvin, giving him an account of the fruitless efforts of the Cantons with Henry II., and of the haughty response of that monarch: "He lives who delivered his people from Egypt; he lives who brought back the captivity from Babylon; he lives who defended his Church against Cæsars, kings, and profligate princes. Verily we must needs pass through many afflictions into the kingdom of God. But woe to those who touch the apple of God's eye."—Calv. Opera, tom. ix. p. 68.

[375]See the following Letter.

[376]In the month of April 1552, five young Frenchmen, instructed at the school of theology of Lausanne, and devoted to the functions of the ministry, made arrangements for returning to their own country. These were Martial Alba of Montauban, Peter Ecrivain of Gascony, Charles Favre of Blanzac in Angoumois, Peter Navihères of Limousin, and Bernard Seguin of La Reole. After having spent some days at Geneva, they set out for Lyons, and met on the way at the Bourg de Colognes, nigh to L'Ecluse, a stranger, who offered himself as their fellow-traveller. They consented without harbouring any suspicion. Arrived at Lyons, they parted with their travelling companion, who pressed them to visit him at his dwelling of Ainay. They went thither without any distrust, were arrested and led away to the prisons of that jurisdiction. Such was the origin of a long and doleful process, which held the Churches of France and Switzerland for a long time in suspense, and during which, the blood-thirsty cruelty of the judges was only equalled by the constancy of the victims. On the first rumour of the arrest of the five students, the Church of Geneva took the matter up, and lavished upon the captives, by the voice of Calvin, the most lively testimonies of their sympathy.

[377]Calvin wrote this letter to King Edward VI., when dedicating to him the following little work: Four Sermons of Master John Calvin, treating of matters very profitable for our time, with a Brief Exposition of Psalm lxxxvii. Geneva, 1552, in 8vo, inserted in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 824. These four sermons have been translated at different times into English. In the first, Calvin exhorts the faithful to flee from idolatry; in the second, he encourages them to suffer everything for Jesus Christ; in the third, he shews how highly believers ought to prize the privilege of being in the Church of God, where they are at liberty to worship him purely; in the last, he shews that this liberty cannot be purchased at too high a price.

[378]An error in the original; we must read 87th.

[379]For a facsimile of the original of this passage, see Vol. I.

[380]This letter bears no date, but it refers to the subject set forth in a preceding letter of Calvin's to Cranmer, p. 345, and we have no hesitation in assigning it a place in the course of the same year,—perhaps inJuly 1552.

[381]A letter without address, but evidently, as the date and the contents prove, relating to the trial of the five students of Lausanne.—(See the letter of the 10th of June, and the note at p. 355.) The personage to whom Calvin writes, is doubtless John Liner, a rich merchant of Saint Gall, settled at Lyons, who often visited the scholars in their dungeon, undertook several journeys on their behalf, and was unsparing, during the whole course of the suit, in tokens of most lively affection.—(Histoire des Martyrs, liv. iv. pp. 230, 231.) John Liner afterwards retired to his own country, where he lived to a very advanced age, and corresponded with Charles de Jonvillers, the secretary of Calvin, a correspondence which has been preserved to our days in the library of Saint Gall. Note, p. 363.

[382]To the brethren of ..., without any further indication. The name of the Polish nobleman, John A Lasco, moderator of the Congregation of Foreign Protestants at London, informs us to what Church this letter was addressed.The Reformed Church of London, next to that of Strasbourg the oldest of the refugee churches, was formed during the first years of the reign of Edward VI., obtained a legal recognition in 1550, had for ministers Francis Péruçel, called La Rivière, and Richard Vanville, and as moderator an illustrious foreign nobleman, devoted to the cause of religious reform, John A Lasco or Laski. Dispersed in 1553, under the intolerant reign of Mary, it reconstituted itself under the reparative reign of Elizabeth, and reckoned in the list of its pastors one of the most distinguished ministers of Geneva, Nicolas des Gallars. In its early commencement, that Church, which has been perpetuated to our own day, and to which the greater part of the French Churches of England, of Scotland, and even of America, owe their origin and their organization, was troubled by theological disputes, which made the intervention of Calvin needful.

The Reformed Church of London, next to that of Strasbourg the oldest of the refugee churches, was formed during the first years of the reign of Edward VI., obtained a legal recognition in 1550, had for ministers Francis Péruçel, called La Rivière, and Richard Vanville, and as moderator an illustrious foreign nobleman, devoted to the cause of religious reform, John A Lasco or Laski. Dispersed in 1553, under the intolerant reign of Mary, it reconstituted itself under the reparative reign of Elizabeth, and reckoned in the list of its pastors one of the most distinguished ministers of Geneva, Nicolas des Gallars. In its early commencement, that Church, which has been perpetuated to our own day, and to which the greater part of the French Churches of England, of Scotland, and even of America, owe their origin and their organization, was troubled by theological disputes, which made the intervention of Calvin needful.

[383]A Lasco had composed a work entitled,The whole Form and Manner of the Ecclesiastical Ministry in the Church of the Strangers, set up at London by the very faithful Prince, Edward VI.

[384]On the back, in the handwriting of Calvin: "The case against Trolliet."Trolliet, of Geneva, a discontented and unsettled spirit, became, first of all, a hermit in Burgundy, and lived in affectation of sanctity. Soon tired, however, of playing this part, he re-appeared at Geneva, and solicited the functions of the ministry, from which he was warned off by the influence of Calvin, against whom he vowed an irreconcilable hatred. Thenceforward, he made himself remarkable in the ranks of the libertine party, by the violence of his attacks against the Reformer. He arraigned his writings, and offered to prove, that in the book ofThe Christian Institution, Calvin had made Godthe author of sin. These accusations, emulously repeated by the adversaries of the Reformer, and speciously tricked up with the authority of Melanchthon, provoked sharp discussions, which were only half appeased by the sentence of the Seigneurs of Geneva, who approved theChristian Institution, while at the same time declaring Trolliet, "homme de bien," out of consideration for the party to which he belonged. The whole of the papers relating to the controversy of Calvin with Trolliet, are to be found collected in Vol. 145 of theMSS. of the Library of Geneva.

[384]On the back, in the handwriting of Calvin: "The case against Trolliet."

Trolliet, of Geneva, a discontented and unsettled spirit, became, first of all, a hermit in Burgundy, and lived in affectation of sanctity. Soon tired, however, of playing this part, he re-appeared at Geneva, and solicited the functions of the ministry, from which he was warned off by the influence of Calvin, against whom he vowed an irreconcilable hatred. Thenceforward, he made himself remarkable in the ranks of the libertine party, by the violence of his attacks against the Reformer. He arraigned his writings, and offered to prove, that in the book ofThe Christian Institution, Calvin had made Godthe author of sin. These accusations, emulously repeated by the adversaries of the Reformer, and speciously tricked up with the authority of Melanchthon, provoked sharp discussions, which were only half appeased by the sentence of the Seigneurs of Geneva, who approved theChristian Institution, while at the same time declaring Trolliet, "homme de bien," out of consideration for the party to which he belonged. The whole of the papers relating to the controversy of Calvin with Trolliet, are to be found collected in Vol. 145 of theMSS. of the Library of Geneva.

[385]"Since we are all corrupt and contaminate by vice, it cannot be but God must hate us, and that not with tyrannical cruelty, but with reasonable equity.... That all the children of Adam come forward to contend and dispute against their Creator, because by his eternal Providence, they were devoted, before they were born, to perpetual calamity. When, on the contrary, God brings them to know themselves, how can they murmur at that? If they have all been taken out of a corrupt mass, it is no way marvellous that they are liable to condemnation. Let them not therefore accuse God of iniquity, because by his eternal decree they are ordained to condemnation, to which their very nature makes them amenable."—Institution of the Christian Religion, edit, of 1554, p. 461.

[386]"The first man fell, because God thought it fit. Now, as to why he thought it fit, we know nothing. Yet it is certain, that he has not thus decided, unless because he saw that it would advance the glory of his name.... Man then falls, according as it has been ordained of God, but he falls by his own vice."—Ibid.edit, of 1551, p. 463."Although that by the eternal Providence of God man has been created for that state of misery in which he is, yet notwithstanding he has derived the cause of that misery from himself, and not from God. For he perishes only because of his having, through perversity, degenerated from the pure nature which God had given him."—Ibid., p. 464.

"Although that by the eternal Providence of God man has been created for that state of misery in which he is, yet notwithstanding he has derived the cause of that misery from himself, and not from God. For he perishes only because of his having, through perversity, degenerated from the pure nature which God had given him."—Ibid., p. 464.

[387]This is the book:De Æterna Dei Prædestinatione et Providentia.Genève, 1550, in 8vo; translated into French the same year.

[388]This is the famous book of theCommon Places(Loci Theologici), translated into French under the care of Calvin:The Summe of Theology, or Common Places of Melanchthon, translated from the Latin, by John Calvin. With a Preface. 1546, in 8vo.

[389]It is not uninteresting to compare this estimate formed by Calvin of Melanchthon, with the remarkable one contained in the preface to theCommon Places:—"I perceive that the author, being a person of profound knowledge, has not chosen to enter into subtile disputations, nor to treat these matters with that high degree of skill which it would have been so easy for him to employ. But he has brought himself down as much as he could, having only regard to edification. It is, certes, the style and fashion which we should observe, did not our adversaries constrain us by their cavils to turn aside from this course.... The same about predestination, because he sees now-a-days so many flighty spirits who are but too much given to curiosity, and who go beyond bounds in this matter. Wishing to provide against this danger, he has proposed to touch only on what was needful to be known, leaving all else buried out of sight, rather than by disclosing all he could, to give the reins to much perplexing and confused disputation, from whence arises no good fruit.I confess that the whole of what God has been pleased to reveal to us in Scripture ought not to be suppressed, whatsoever happens; but he who seeks to give profitable instruction to his readers, may very well be excused for dwelling upon what he knows to be most essential, passing lightly over or leaving out of sight that which he does not expect to be equally profitable."

[390]Here is the sentence pronounced on this occasion by the Seigneurs of Geneva:—"Wednesday, 9th November 1552.—Having heard in council the worshipful and learned ministers of the word of God, Master William Farel, and Master Peter Viret, and after them worshipful Monsieur John Calvin, minister of this city of Geneva, and noble John Trolliet, also of Geneva, in their depositions and replies, now often repeated, touching theChristian Institutionof the said Monsieur Calvin, and having well considered the whole, the council has determined and concluded, that all things well heard and understood, it has pronounced and declared, and pronounces and declares the said book of theInstitutionof the said Calvin, to be well and holily done, and his holy doctrine to be God's doctrine, and that he be held as good and true minister of this city, and that henceforward no person dare to speak against the said book, nor the said doctrine. We command both parties, and all concerned, to observe this."My said Lords Syndics and Council,"Roset."

[390]Here is the sentence pronounced on this occasion by the Seigneurs of Geneva:—

"Wednesday, 9th November 1552.—Having heard in council the worshipful and learned ministers of the word of God, Master William Farel, and Master Peter Viret, and after them worshipful Monsieur John Calvin, minister of this city of Geneva, and noble John Trolliet, also of Geneva, in their depositions and replies, now often repeated, touching theChristian Institutionof the said Monsieur Calvin, and having well considered the whole, the council has determined and concluded, that all things well heard and understood, it has pronounced and declared, and pronounces and declares the said book of theInstitutionof the said Calvin, to be well and holily done, and his holy doctrine to be God's doctrine, and that he be held as good and true minister of this city, and that henceforward no person dare to speak against the said book, nor the said doctrine. We command both parties, and all concerned, to observe this.

"My said Lords Syndics and Council,

"Roset."

[391]While Calvin was eloquently pleading among others the cause of the persecuted faithful of France, he was struggling with an ever-increasing energy for the suppression of scandals, and the formation of a new people at Geneva. His efforts, however, seemed powerless before the enormity of the evil, and the furious resistance of that party, which history has justly branded with the name of Libertine. The cabal of the factious gathered strength from day to day, and disorders were committed with impunity. The task of reforming the public morals, courageously undertaken by the ministers, was almost absolutely fruitless. Ashamed of such excesses, but incapable of suppressing them, the Great Council increased the severity of its edicts, but had not the power to impose them upon the multitude who were banded together against theforeigners. The French were a particular object of fury to the factions. They beat them in the streets, and subjected them to all sorts of outrages. Most absurd accusations were circulated against them, and were believed by the multitude. The presence of Farel and Viret in Geneva could not quiet these troubles; and it was in vain that these courageous ministers presented themselves before the councils, "to commend to them the care of religion and morals."—Chroniqueof Roset, c. v. pp. 42, 44; Ruchat, c. v. pp. 489, 490.

[392]Probably Amy Perrin.

[393]Placed by his character and talents at the head of the Vaudois clergy, Viret had to maintain a ceaseless struggle against the encroachments and ecclesiastical tyranny of the Seigneurs of Berne.—See Ruchat, c. v. p. 488.

[394]Minister of the French Church of Strasbourg.

[395]Quatre Sermons traictans des matières fort utiles pour nostre temps.1552, 8vo.Opuscules, p. 824.

[396]Beza published this year a new edition of his Tragedy of Abraham under the following title:—Le Sacrifice d'Abraham, Tragédie Française, séparée en trois Pauses à la façon des Actes de Comédies, avec des Chœurs, un Prologue et un Epilogue. 1552, 8vo.

[397]Ambroise Blaurer, of a noble family of Constance, entered in early youth a convent, which he soon left to become a preacher of reform, for which he had contracted a taste from reading the writings of Luther. Present at the Controversy of Berne with Zwingle, Œeolampadius, Bucer, and Capito, he beheld his preaching attended with the most gratifying success, and saw the Gospel victoriously established in his native town, where he exercised his valuable ministry until the war of Smalkald. Having at that time refused submission to theInterim, he left Constance, and retired first to Winterthur, near Zurich, and afterwards to Bienne, whilst his unfortunate city, fallen into the hands of the Imperialists, saw itself deprived at once of the Gospel and of liberty. Esteemed by Calvin, Blaurer witnessed his influence at Zurich and at Berne solicited more than once by the Reformer of Geneva. He died in 1567.—See Beza,Icones, and Melch. Adam,Theolog. Germ., p. 413.

[398]In a letter to an unknown personage, (Opera, tom. ix. p. 238,) Calvin mentions this same event, adding to it a curious detail taken from the letter of an eye-witness: "Among other things, he informed me of a circumstance which I am unwilling to withhold from you—that a striking spectacle presented itself to him in the destruction of our city, viz., that my father's house stood entire after all the others had been reduced to ashes." Farther on he adds,—"I have no doubt but that God wishes to make this a testimony against all those of our city who, eight or ten days before, had burnt in effigy Monsieur de Normandie."

[399]Commentarius in Evangelium Johannis.Geneva, 1553. Fol. Robert Estienne.

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