CXLII.—To Oswald Myconius.

Geneva,15th August 1545.

The bearer of this letter to you is Bernardino de Sienne,[514]a man not long since of high repute in Italy, and deserving of high esteem everywhere. Though I did not doubt that straightway, upon hearing his name, you would, in your kindness, receive him as his singular piety and erudition deserve, yet I was unwilling to let the opportunity pass of adding my own recommendation also; nor would I view it in the light of his need of it only, but also of my duty. Give him, therefore, to understand, as I know you will do of your own accord, that he is beloved by all the servants of Christ. Yet this, too, will be agreeable to me, if you should shew him that my recommendation weighs somewhat with you. Farewell, most reverend father in God. The Lord be ever with you and your colleagues, to whom, and to your wife likewise, convey my salutations.

John Calvin.

[Lat. orig. autogr.—Archives of Zurich.Gest. vi. 111, p. 1423.]

Geneva,15th August 1545.

Madame,—It is reasonable, that after having received four letters from you, I should send at least one in return. But I beseech you to treat me leniently on this occasion, as the letter carrier, who promised to give me notice two days before his departure, has been more hurried than he anticipated, and I have had, consequently, less time than I expected. But I shall refrain from further apologies, knowing that, to a person of your good sense, a word will suffice.

Your letters have been a source of double gratification to me, which, indeed, I need scarcely tell you, since you will believe it without a word from me to that effect. It is, because it has pleased our gracious God to restore Monsieur to good health after so troublesome an illness, and because he is now more robust than he was previously to this attack. From this we should learn not to consider it wonderful that God should bring spiritual good out of bodily affliction, since, even for the body itself, a disease has become a cure. We must now pray, that as He has commenced to restore him to health, he may be pleased fully to confirm it, and give him a body so vigorous that he may feel disposed to take recreation, and make up for the weary imprisonment of the last three months.

I send you herewith the letters which the sister of Monsieur David had written to him, not because they can afford you any consolation, but because I thought it improper to suppress them. I expect, please God, that we shall have more certain information, through the servant of Monsieur Bernardin, of your own health and that of Monsieur, as well as of your affairs, that we may know when to make provision of wood: as to the new wine, we are attending to it. It is true, that if you are very much afraid of the epidemic, that might be some reason for delay; and yet I assure you, that you ought not to be influencedby mere rumour, which gives a very exaggerated account of the reality.

And now humbly commending myself to your good favour and that of Monsieur, I will supplicate our heavenly Father to keep you both in all prosperity, filling you with joy through his grace, and giving you an equanimity of soul which will raise you above all earthly troubles, making you worthy to be the means of glorifying his name more and more.—Amen.

Ever your servant and humble brother,

John Calvin.

[Fr. orig. autogr.—Library of Geneva.Vol. 194.]

STEREOTYPED BYJESPER HARDING & SON,INQUIRER BUILDING, SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA.

[1]"Migraturus ad Deum Johannes Calvinus, quum de commodis Ecclesiæ ne tunc quidem cogitare desincret, sua mihi κειμήλια, id est Schedarum ingentem acervum commendavit ut si quid in iis invenissem quo juvari possent Ecclesiæ, id quoque in lucem ederetur."—Th. de Bèze to the Elector Palatine, 1st February 1575. This letter is printed as a Preface to Calvin's Latin Correspondence.

[2]"Multa quippe familiaritor inter amicos dici scribique consueverunt, præsertim ab ingenui spiritus hominibus, qualis fuit Calvinus si quisquam nostris temporibus alius, quæ minime expediat emanare. Et habenda quoque nobis fuit non modo personarum, verum etiam temporum et locorum ratio."—Letter already cited.

[3]"Ad eam rem unius præcipue Caroli Jonvillæi istarum rerum custodis fidem, diligentiam, operam denique nobis appositissimam fuisse profitemur."—Advertisement of Bèze to the reader.

[4]It is the collection intitled:—Calvini Epistolæ et Responsa quibus interjectæ sunt insignium in Ecclesia Dei virorun aliquot etiam Epistolæ, first published at Geneva, in 1575, reprinted in the following year at Lausanne, and inserted with some additions in the collection of Calvin's Works,Calvini Opera, tom. ix., edit. d'Amsterdam, 1671. This latter edition, one of the sources of the work which we now present to the public, comprises about 420 letters or memoirs, of which 284 are letters of the Reformer.

[5]Das Leben Calvins, 3 vols. in 8vo. Hambourg, 1835-1842.

[6]Johannis Calvini, Bezæ, aliorumque litteræ quædam nondum editæ, 1 vol. in 8vo. Leipsic, 1835. Published on the occasion of the Reformation Jubilee at Geneva.

[7]Histoire de la Réformation en Suisse, 7 vols. in 8vo. Lausanne, 1838.

[8]Petite Chronique Protestante de France, XVIeSiècle; 1 vol. in 8vo. Paris, 1846.

[9]We give here entire the striking passage, of which a fac-simile will be found at the commencement of this volume.—"Or au pseaulme présent il est parlé de la noblesse et dignité de l'Eglise, laquelle doit tellement ravir à soy et grans et petits que tous les biens et honueurs de la terre ne les retiennent, ny empeschent qu'ils ne prétendent à ce but d'estre enrolléz au peuple de Dieu. C'est grand chose d'estre Roy, mesme d'un tel païs; toutefois je ne doubte pas que vous n'estimiez sans comparaison mieux d'estre Chrestien. C'est doncq un privilège inestimable que Dieu vous a faict, Sire, que vous soiez Roy Chréstien, voire que vous luy serviez de lieutenant pour ordonner et maintenir le Royaulme de Jésus Christ en Angleterre."

[10]It is only necessary to quote the names of the two illustrious French historians, M. Guizot and M. Miguet, who in their writings have rendered a respectful homage to the religious and moral influence of the Reformation. A distinguished writer, M. Charles de Rémusat, has lately published, under the title of "De la Réforme et du Protestantisme," an eloquent paper, which might well inaugurate a new era of justice and impartiality in historical writing.

[11]We need only name "L'Histoire de Calvin," by M. Audin, in itself entirely devoid of truthfulness, and the fruitful source of calumnious and lying pamphlets against the memory of the Reformer.

[12]Mr. Constable translated only the first two volumes, which were published in Edinburgh.—Editor of the Board.

[13]This letter is the earliest in the series of Calvin's correspondence. Born at Noyon the 10th of July 1509, educated in thebelles lettresat Paris,—in 1527 he went to study law at the University of Orleans, which he left soon afterwards, in order to avail himself of the lectures of the celebrated Alciat at Bourges. In the first mentioned of these towns, he had for fellow-students and friends, several young men who were distinguished not less by their piety than by information and accomplishment. Nicolas Duchemin was of this number, to whom, at a later period, (1536,) he dedicated a letter, entitled "De fugiendis impiorum illicitis sacris et puritate Christianæ Religionis." That letter was translated into English, (London, 1548, in 8vo.) The original is inserted in the Latin Edition of Calvin's Works, (Amsterdam, 1671,) in the eighth volume. Also in the "Recueil des Opuscules," Edition of 1566.

[14]Gerard Chauvin, or Cauvin, father of the Reformer, a man of strict morals, of good understanding and judgment, which we have on the testimony of Théod. de Bèze,Calvini Vita. Originally of Pont l'Evêque, he had been promoted, by his ability, to the office of notary apostolic, secretary to the bishopric, andpromoteurof the Chapter at Noyon. Le Vasseur, "Annales de l' Eglise Cathédrale de Noyon," chap. x. p. 1151.

[15]It seems uncertain whether Gerard Chauvin died this year. The letters of Calvin, so far as yet appears, contain no other allusion to that event, which must have exercised a desirable influence on his life, in drawing him away from the study of law to that of theology, in which direction all his own tendencies drew him. See Théod. de Bèze,Vita Calvini.

[16]Philippe Laurent, librarian of the library at Orleans.

[17]Francis Daniel, advocate of Orleans, the fellow-student and friend of Calvin at the university of that town. ("Quant à Orléans, dit Th. de Bèze, il y avoit bien desjà quelques personnages, aians connoissance de la vérité, comme entr' autres François Daniel, advocat, et Nicolas Duchemin, tenant escholiers en pension."—Hist. Eccl. i. 9.) From several letters of the Reformer it appears, (1559-1560,) that while fully acknowledging the necessity of a reformation of the Church, Francis Daniel remained inwardly attached to Rome. His two sons, Francis and Peter Daniel, distinguished themselves in the study of law and literature.

[18]Nicolas Cop, the physician, professor in the College of Sainte Barbe, and friend of Calvin. In 1533 he became rector of the University of Paris.

[19]Pseudonyme, adopted by some unknown friend of Calvin.

[20]P. Danesius. P. Danès, the scholar of Lascaris and of Budé, the learned Professor of Greek at the University of Paris.

[21]Melchior Wolmar, who was Calvin's master at the University of Bourges, and the preceptor of Theodore Beza; called by the Duke of Wurtemberg to the Professorship of Law in the University of Tübingen; he died in retirement at Eisenach in 1561. Calvin dedicated to him, August 1, 1546, his Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

[22]That is to say, Paris.

[23]In the Latin, Petrus ad Vincula.

[24]This is the book entitled, L. Annæi Senecæ Libri ii., de Clementia, ad Neronem Cæsarem, Commentariis Illustrati. Paris, 1532, in 4to. Calvin had dedicated this work to his old fellow-student, Claude de Hangest, of the illustrious family of Mommor, now become Abbot of St. Eloy at Noyon. The Epistle Dedicatory is dated from Paris the 4th April 1532.

[25]This letter is addressed to Dr. Bucer, Bishop of Strasbourg. Martin Bucer, a very distinguished minister and theologian, was born at Schelestadt in 1491, and was initiated by Luther himself in the doctrines of the Reformed, which he introduced at Strasbourg, in concert with Mathias Zell and Hedion. Of a moderate and conciliating turn, he interposed continually between the Reformers of Germany and of Switzerland, and made sundry efforts to induce them to adopt a common symbol. "His learned writings and commentaries, his disputations and conferences on unforeseen occasions, his goings out and comings in for the sake of the Church's peace, will always make known his remarkable erudition, great piety and zeal, joined to an excellent disposition."—Th. Bezæ Icones, Genève, 1580. Compelled with several friends to leave Strasbourg in 1549, on the advance of the imperial army, he sought an asylum in England, and obtained a chair in the University of Cambridge. He died there in 1551, and was interred with extraordinary pomp. His body was disinterred under the reign of Mary, and publicly burnt at the stake. In the reign of Elizabeth his memory was honourably restored.

[26]Addressed—To Monsieur my brother and good friend, Monsieur Daniel, Advocate at Orleans.

[27]Letter without date of the month. Written, doubtless, inOctober1533. On the testimony of Th. Beza, we know that Calvin dwelt at this period in the College of Forteret at Paris.Histoire Ecclésiastique, edit. de 1580, tom. i. p. 14; the same author, inVita Calvini. Already he preached the Reformed doctrine with much skill and success. Implicated in the month of November following, along with his friend Nicolas Cop, the Rector of the University of Paris, he had to leave the capital in order to escape the pursuit of which he was the object, and secretly repaired to Angoulême.

[28]Margaret of Valois, sister of Francis I., Queen of Navarre, one of the most distinguished women of her age, both by the generosity of her character and the graces of her understanding. Inclined by the bent of her mind towards reform, by the devout breathings of her soul, of which we find the expression in her poetry and in her letters, she made use of her influence with her brother, the French monarch, to abate the persecution directed against the disciples of the Evangel, and her generous conduct more than once aroused the fury of the Sorbonne against her. Calvin, exiled from France, had recourse on more than one occasion to the influence of this Princess, and addressed very free exhortations to her. See, in this collection, the letter of Calvin to the Queen of Navarre, of the 28th April, 1545.

[29]Megæra. This Megère was an allusion to Gerard Roussel, preacher to the Queen of Navarre, one of the most zealous missionaries of the Reformation at Paris. (Megæra—Mag. Gerardus.) This information we have from the celebrated John Sturm, in a letter to Bucer, which shews that the introduction of Megæra was a play upon the name: "Nuper in Gymnasio Navarrico novus quidam ... ποιήτης Reginam introduxit, quæ se in disciplinam diaboli traderet, una cum sacrifico quem Megeram appellant, alludens ad nomen Magistri Gerardi."—Letter of Nov. 1533, printed in Strobel,Histoire du Gymnase de Strasbourg, p. 109.

[30]This Lauret is designated, in the letter of Sturm above cited, as a man of great erudition and of much influence, "homo potens et rex sapientum."

[31]The Mirror of a Sinful Soul: a mystical poem, wherein the Queen of Navarre acknowledges no other Mediator than Jesus Christ, and no other righteousness than his expiatory death. This book, which first appeared in print at Alençon in 1531, reprinted in 1533 at Paris, forms part of the poetical collection published under the title, "Marguerites de la Marguerite des Princesses, très illustre Reyne de Navarre." Lyon. 1547. 2 vols. in 8vo.

[32]Louise of Savoy, regent of France during the captivity of Francis I. at Madrid. She died in 1531. After having favoured for a time the doctrines of the Reformers, this cunning and cruel princess gave the signal for the most ruthless persecution of the preachers of the Gospel.

[33]William Parvi, Bishop of Senlis and confessor of the king. He had translated into French theLivre d' Heuresof Margaret of Valois, suppressing at the same time from the book a great number of pieces addressed to the Virgin and to the saints.

[34]Without date. After an attentive examination of this letter we believe it to refer to the first months of the year 1534, while Calvin resided with his friend Louis du Tillet at Angoulême. It is known that the young Reformer, while he was obliged to retire from Paris, after the discourse of his friend Nicolas Cop, (November 1533,) found an asylum in the house of Du Tillet, and spent several months at Angoulême in solitude and retirement. It is from that town, designated under the Greek name ofDoxopolis, that he wrote to his friend Francis Daniel, in praise of the kindness of his host (Louis du Tillet) and of the peaceful retreat which Providence had prepared for him.

[35]Christopher Libertet or Fabri, of Vienne in Dauphiny, a worthy minister of the Church of Neuchatel. At an early period he entered into friendly relations with Calvin, was in 1536 pastor of the congregation at Thonon, took part the same year in the disputation at Lausanne, and was recalled in 1546 by the Church of Neuchatel, which he served until the time of his death, in 1563, with equal wisdom and faithfulness.

[36]Without year. This letter, written before the publication of the Bible of Robert Olivetan, refers evidently to the year 1534. Under the necessity of leaving France in order to escape persecution, Calvin had retired to Basle, where, in the year following, he composed his book, "De l'Institution Chrétienne."

[37]Peter Robert Olivetan, related to Calvin, and translator of the Bible into the French language. Banished from Geneva in 1533, he had retired to Neuchatel, where he published successively (1534-1535) his translation of the New and of the Old Testament. This work, undertaken at the request of the Vaudois of Piedmont, had been revised by Calvin.

[38]This is the treatise which is entitled, "Psychopannychia, qua refellitur eorum error qui animas post mortem usque ad ultimum judicium dormire putant."—Paris, 1534, 8vo. This treatise, translated into French by Calvin himself, has been inserted, with a preface of the author, "à un sien amy," in the "Recueil des Opuscules," p. 1.

[39]A pseudonyme which Calvin sometimes made use of in his Latin correspondence.

[40]This is the first letter of the Reformer after his settlement at Geneva. Having left his retreat of Basle in the end of the year 1535, he had made a rapid tour in the north of Italy, and revisited France, which he had left in the month of July on his return to Switzerland. Not being able, without danger, to traverse Champagne and Lorraine, he went back to Basle by the way of Geneva, (August 1536,) when he was detained in that town by the entreaties of Farel. Afterwards he accepted the office of Professor of Theology, and attended the disputation of Lausanne on the 1st of October, which was followed by the establishment of the Reformation in the Pays de Vaud, conquered by the Seigneury of Berne from the Duke of Savoy.

[41]Calvin had left Noyon accompanied by his brother Antony and his sister Mary, who went to settle at Basle. Bèze,Calvini Vita.

[42]The book here referred to is no other than theInstitution Chrétienne, first published in Latin, (Basle, 1536, in 8vo.) Calvin thought of giving a translation of that work. The first known edition of theInstitution Chrétiennein French bears date 1540.

[43]The disputation of Lausanne, in which Farel, Viret, and Calvin took part began the 2d October, and lasted seven days. The narrative of what took place may be found in Ruchat,Histoire de la Réformation en Suisse, edit. 1836, vol. iv. pp. 161-163.

[44]Edict of July 16, 1536. Ruchat,Histoire de la Réformation, vol. iv.; Pièces Justificatives, No. II.

[45]Gaspar Grossmann, (Megander,) from Zurich, minister of the Church of Berne. In 1537 he presided in the Synod of Lausanne, where the errors of Caroli were condemned, and in the following year became pastor of the Church at Zurich.

[46]Letter without date, written evidently a little before the meeting of the Synod of Lausanne, which took place about the middle of the month of May 1537.—Ruchat,Histoire de la Réformation en Suisse, tom. v. p. 24-40.

[47]Peter Caroli, of Rosay in Brie, doctor of the Sorbonne, known by his disputes with Farel and with Calvin. His unsettled disposition, as well as interested motives, led him towards the work of the Reformers; he sought the friendship of Le Fevre of Etaples, at Paris, and in 1534, went to Geneva, where the license of his manners drew upon him the censures of Farel and also of Viret, against both of whom he vowed thenceforward an irreconcilable hatred. Called afterwards as minister to Neuchatel and to Lausanne, he attacked the doctrines of the Reformers, maintained the necessity of prayers for the dead, and saw his doctrine condemned in the Synod of Lausanne. (May 1537.) Banished by the Senate of Berne, he retired to France, went back to the Church of Rome, and died miserably in that city, after an agitated and wandering career.

[48]Is this Maurus Musæus, a French gentleman, who was converted to the Gospel, the friend of Bucer and of Œcolampadius? We are here left to loose conjecture in the absence of positive testimony.

[49]Such is the address: To my very dear brother, Viret, Minister of the Church of Lausanne.—The minister, Peter Viret, one of the three great Reformers of French Switzerland. Born at Orbe in 1511, he completed his education at the University of Paris, and from the time of his return to his own country, devoted himself to the preaching of the reformed doctrine, which he spread at Orbe, at Payerne, and at Granson. Gifted naturally with persuasive genius and eloquence, he was sent by Farel to Geneva in 1534, and there held a public disputation against the Dominican Furbiti. He contributed powerfully to the establishment of the Reformation in that city. Named two years after (1537) Pastor of the Church of Lausanne, he served that charge until 1538, the period of his destitution by the Senate of Berne, and of his retirement to Geneva with the more illustrious members of the Vaudois clergy. Compelled by his weak state of health to leave Switzerland, he removed in 1561 to the South of France, wrought in the work of the ministry in the churches of Nîmes, of Lyons, of Orange, and died in 1571, either at Orthes or Pau. The numerous writings of Viret mentioned by Senebier,Hist. Litt. de Genève, tom. i. pp. 156-159, prove him to have been an original writer, though rather diffuse, and ingenious and eloquent as a moralist.

[50]Antony Froment, originally from Dauphiny, one of the earlier missionaries of the Reformation at Geneva. He was nominated pastor of the Parish of Saint Gervais in 1537; at a later period he resigned the ministry, was attached as secretary to Bonnivard in the work of drawing up the Chronicles of that town and city, and died, leaving behind some curious memoirs on the history of the religious revolution of which he had been one of the instruments at Geneva. Senebier,Hist. Litt. de Genève, tom. i. pp. 93 and 150. These memoirs were published in 1855 at Geneva. 1 vol. 4to., by M. Gustave Revilliod.

[51]Louis du Tillet, senior curate of Claix in Poitou, and fellow-student of Calvin, then in retirement at Geneva, under the name of Mr. de Hautmont. In the year following he returned to France. See, in this Collection, three Letters of Calvin to Louis du Tillet, (1538.)

[52]Antoine Saunier, regent of the College of Geneva.

[53]Simon Grynée, a learned theologian and professor of thebelles lettres, the friend of Erasmus and of Melanchthon, rector of the Academy of Basle. His intercourse with Calvin dates from the epoch of the first visit of the Reformer to that town, (1535, 1536.) They became more intimate when Calvin, banished from Geneva, returned anew to seek an asylum at Basle, and was hospitably entertained in the house of Grynée, to whom he dedicated, in testimony of his remembrance, his Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, (18th October 1539.) Two years afterwards, Simon Grynée died of the plague. His nephew, James Grynée, discharged the office of Dean of the Church of Basle, and was the correspondent and friend of Théodor de Bèze.The calumnious accusations directed by Caroli against the doctrine of Farel and of Calvin having spread at Basle, the latter considered it his duty, in a letter to Grynée, to expose the whole history of the controversy with Caroli, in order to oppose the entire calumny. See the two letters of Grynée to Calvin.—Simonis Grynæi Epistolæ.Edit. de Streuber. Basle, 1847, pp. 50-53.

The calumnious accusations directed by Caroli against the doctrine of Farel and of Calvin having spread at Basle, the latter considered it his duty, in a letter to Grynée, to expose the whole history of the controversy with Caroli, in order to oppose the entire calumny. See the two letters of Grynée to Calvin.—Simonis Grynæi Epistolæ.Edit. de Streuber. Basle, 1847, pp. 50-53.

[54]See Note 3, p. 47.

[55]In 1536. No copy of this first edition of the Catechism of Calvin is known, nor of the second, which was published two years later at Basle, (1538.) The earliest known edition is that of (1541) at Strasbourg.

[56]That meeting had ended on the 13th May.—See Ruchat,Hist. de la Réf., tom. v. p. 24.

[57]These two deputies were Rudolph de Graffenried, Banderet, and Nicolas Zerkinden, Secretary of State.

[58]One of these ministers was Gaspar Grossmann, (Megander.) See Letter XIII. p. 47. He had been charged by the seigneury of Berne to draw up the oath which was to be taken by the ministers, and the order of procedure to be followed in the Synod.

[59]On the authority of Ruchat, it appears that Caroli did not wait for the decision of the Lords of Berne, and that he withdrew himself into voluntary exile from the condemnation with which he was threatened. The act of his desertion was given to Farel and to Calvin, the 29th of June 1537. (MSS. de Grossmann. Archives de Berne.) We shall meet him again in the following letters of the Reformer.

[60]See that Confession, (Calv. Epist. et Responsa,) p. 227.

[61]William du Bellay, Seigneur of Langey, one of the cleverest diplomatists under the reign of Francis the First. Born in 1491, he died the 9th January 1543. William du Bellay and his brother John, the Bishop of Paris, had shown themselves favourable to the first ideas of Reformation, and had consulted with the King for the purpose of calling Melanchthon into France, there to put in train the work of religious pacification.—Bèze,Hist. Eccl.tom. i. p. 10; Florimond de Remond,Histoire de la Naissance et du Progrès de l' Hérésie, liv. vii. p. 817. The last mentioned author has given the letters which passed on this occasion between Melanchthon and Francis I. The French Protestants formed great expectations from Du Bellay. In these terms Bucer wrote to the physician Ulrich Chelius, 17th Aug. 1534: "Dominus excitet multos isti heroi similes, et spes erit forte ut emergat aliquando regnum Christi."—Sturm, on his part, wrote to Bucer, 17th Nov. 1535; "Si Langæus isthuc veniat, obsecro, habe eum in numero eorum qui quidvis pati volunt pro Christo."—MSS. de Strasbourg.

[62]Louis du Tillet, curé of Claix in Poitou, canon and archdeacon of Angoulême. He was the brother of John du Tillet, the celebrated registrar of the Parliament of Paris, and of that other Du Tillet who became Bishop of Sainte-Brieuc and of Meaux. Having devoted himself to an ecclesiastical career, his first leanings inclined him towards the Reformed. With Calvin he became acquainted at the University of Paris, formed a friendship with him, shared his perils, and received him in 1534 at Angoulême in his own house. United thenceforth to the young Reformer by a like faith, he resigned his curacy of Claix to follow him, under the name of Hautmont, to Strasbourg, to Basle, and into Italy. In August 1536 he was at Geneva, when Calvin was there retained by the earnest entreaties of Farel. But the struggles to which the Reformer was thenceforward condemned, were little suited to the mild and contemplative disposition of Louis du Tillet. A prey to indecision, he secretly left Geneva and went to Strasbourg, where his anxieties were only put an end to by his return to the Roman Catholic faith. He wrote to Calvin to inform him of this change, and to submit to him his scruples regarding the lawfulness of the ministry in the Reformed Churches. Calvin replied; and that controversy, free, sincere, but tempered by respect, marked the later relations between these two men, at first united and too soon separated by the religious revolution of the sixteenth century.

[63]Ville Affranchie (Genève.)

[64]John du Tillet, brother of Louis, raised at a later period to the honours of the Episcopate. Accomplished in the knowledge of the ancient languages and in sacred archæology, he was charged with various scientific missions by Francis I., and in the course of his travels had visited Geneva.

[65]Bucer and Capito, the Reformers of Strasbourg.

[66]In the French original:Les sacs mouillésdont nous avons coutume de nous couvrir devant les hommes.

[67]The opposition which the establishment of the ecclesiastical discipline drawn up by Farel and Calvin met with at Geneva, became every day more intense and lively. The newly-elected Syndics made common cause with the malcontents, and already gave signs of the forthcoming crisis which was to lead the way to the triumph of the party of the Libertins and the banishment of the Ministers.—Spon,Histoire de Genève, edit. 1730, tom. i. p. 276.

[68]Charles d'Espeville. Pseudonyme adopted by Calvin during his residence at Angoulême, and his journey in Italy, (1534-1536.)

[69]Henry Bullinger, born July 18, 1504, at Bremgarten, minister of that parish in 1529, was a friend of the Reformer Zuingli and his successor at Zurich, after the fatal battle of Cappel, 1531. He discharged the ministry of that church with wisdom and prudence for more than forty years, kept up a regular correspondence with the Reformers abroad, was on friendly terms with Melanchthon, Cranmer, Calvin, Théodor de Bèze. In 1566 he drew up the Swiss Confession of Faith, and in the way of advice, exercised a decisive influence over the progress of the Reformation in the different countries of Europe. He died at Zurich, September 17, 1575. His decease was deplored by the churches of Switzerland as that of a father, and Théodor de Bèze consecrated some verses to his memory."Doctrina si interire, si pietas mori,Occidere si candor potest;Doctrina, pietas, candor, hoc tumulo jacent,Ilenrice, tecum condita."....(Icones Virorum Illustrium.)Bullinger left some precious works; among others a Chronicle which he wrote in German, Commentaries and Theological Treatises, some of them on important and remarkable questions, and a vast Correspondence, preserved more especially at Zurich and at Geneva.

"Doctrina si interire, si pietas mori,Occidere si candor potest;Doctrina, pietas, candor, hoc tumulo jacent,Ilenrice, tecum condita."....(Icones Virorum Illustrium.)

Bullinger left some precious works; among others a Chronicle which he wrote in German, Commentaries and Theological Treatises, some of them on important and remarkable questions, and a vast Correspondence, preserved more especially at Zurich and at Geneva.

[70]Bucer and Capito were at this time engaged in very active negotiations to bring about a union between the Reformed Churches of Switzerland and those of Germany. Luther did not oppose himself to this accommodation, and had written, Dec. 1, 1537, to the Reformed districts of Switzerland, a letter full of the spirit of tolerance and conciliation, in which we remark the following passage:—"They can easily advise with Bucer also and Capito on all these matters, provided we can lay aside all that is offensive, and in like-minded agreement give room for the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we may go forward in pious and brotherly concord. Assuredly, in so far as we are concerned, and especially as regards myself, casting aside whatever may be occasion of offence, I shall embrace you in faith, good will, and with love."—Hospinian Historia Saeramentaria, tom. ii. p. 276. In another letter to Capito of the same year, 6th Dec. 1537, he thus expresses himself:—"I write these things that you may know that our heart is upright and sincere in the hope of agreement; may the Lord himself complete the work. Amen."—D. M. Luther'sBriefe, edit. De Wette, tom. v. p. 70.In a letter to Bullinger, written 4th March 1538, at length he renders an evidently deep-felt homage to the memory of Zuingli and Œcolampadius. "I can freely declare that, after having seen and heard Zuingli at Marbourg, I have considered and esteemed him as a most excellent man, as also Œcolampadius; so that their calamity has well-nigh disheartened me," &c. These sentiments of true generosity seemed almost to open up an era of reconciliation and of peace between the Churches.

In a letter to Bullinger, written 4th March 1538, at length he renders an evidently deep-felt homage to the memory of Zuingli and Œcolampadius. "I can freely declare that, after having seen and heard Zuingli at Marbourg, I have considered and esteemed him as a most excellent man, as also Œcolampadius; so that their calamity has well-nigh disheartened me," &c. These sentiments of true generosity seemed almost to open up an era of reconciliation and of peace between the Churches.

[71]Important events had fallen out at Geneva. Expelled from that town (23d April 1538) for having refused to administer the communion on Easter day, Calvin and Farel had gone to Berne.—(Spon,Hist. de Genève, tom. i. p. 276.) The deputies of the Reformed Swiss cantons were met at Zurich to treat about the union with the Lutheran Church. The two ministers appeared before that assembly and gave account of their conduct at Geneva. Without intimating any opinion on the matter at issue, "The Lords deputies resolved to write in friendly terms to the Genevese, to induce them to support their pastors in the work of re-establishing and putting their churches on a better footing. They also charged the Bernese to support that letter by a deputation."—(Ruchat,Histoire de la Réformation en Suisse, tom. v. p. 84.) But this double intervention proved ineffectual. The banishment of the ministers was confirmed, May 26th, by the assembly.

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