Chapter 20

[365]The Seigneury of Berne, jealous of the authority which they claimed the right to exercise in ecclesiastical as well as in civil affairs, and looking on every attempt of the ministers to maintain the dignity of their office as a direct infringement on their power, began to introduce the system of despotism in Church matters, which had met at first but slight resistance in the Pays de Vaud, recently brought under government, but which was destined gradually to excite there an energetic opposition, and to occasion the voluntary retirement of the most distinguished ministers.—Ruchat,Hist. de la Réf.tom. vi. p. 256,et seq.

[366]The minister Beat Gerung or Gering, a declared partisan of the Lutheran dogma of the Supper, and one of the most servile of the Bernese clergy.

[367]Another minister of Zurich.

[368]At the request of the Protestants of Metz, Farel had left Neuchatel to go to preach the Reformed doctrine in that town. He received Calvin's letter at Strasbourg, where the Reformer joined him the year following.—SeeHist. des Martyrs, liv. iii. p. 153; Bèze,Hist. Eccl.tom. iii. p. 432.

[369]This letter throws light on the first disagreements or differences between Calvin and Sebastian Castalio, or Castellio, occupied on the translation into French of the sacred Scriptures. Castalio evinced very little anxiety about elegance and purity of language in the work on which he was engaged. Thus he could not fail to encounter the severe criticism of the Reformer, who doubtless was charged in the name of the Seigneury with the revisal of the translation of the New Testament, and refused to give his approbation. It was not until some years afterwards, at Basle, that Sebastian Castalio published his work, under this title,—"The Bible, with Annotations on the Difficult Passages. 2 vols. in folio, Basle, 1555." This work has become so rare, that it is at present impossible to procure it, and to ascertain the justice of the criticism which it has occasioned. The celebrated Henry Etienne accused the author of speaking the language of the Gueux. Bayle has been less severe.—SeeDict. Hist., Art. Castalion; and MM. Haag,La France Protestante, 6me part, p. 365.

[370]Printer of Geneva.

[371]This word is taken in a bad sense: tohauntthe wine-cellars and thecabaret, or beer-shop.—See theDictionnaire de l'Académie.

[372]See note 2, p. 292. Dismissed by the Seigneury of Berne from the Church of Orbe, Zebedee was on the point to become pastor of the Church of Nyon.

[373]Celio Secondo-Curione, among the most illustrious of the preachers of the Reformation in Italy. Born at Turin in 1503, he devoted himself successfully to the teaching of Luther's doctrine, and preached the Gospel in Piedmont, at Ferrara, and at Lucca, stole away by flight from the pursuit of the Inquisition, and took refuge in Switzerland with his celebrated countrymen, Ochino and Peter Martyr. The same year he was appointed Director of the College of Lausanne.—See M'Crie'sHistory of the Reformation in Italy; and Jules Bonnet,Vie d'Olympia Morata, third edition Paris, 1856.

[374]Concerning ecclesiastical affairs. See pp. 345-347.

[375]The Seigneury of Berne put to sale this year the property of the churches, of the priories, and of the cloisters, and drew from them considerable sums, of which a portion ought to have been applied to the foundation of new cures, and in augmentation of the ministers' stipends.—See Ruchat,Hist. de la Réf. en Suisse, tom. v. pp. 201-203.

[376]The year 1542 was signalized by the establishment of the Inquisition in Italy, and by the dispersion of the Reformed communities established at Naples, at Lucca, and at Venice.—See M'Crie,Hist. of the Ref. in Italy, c. v. pp. 212-231.

[377]Bernardino Ochino of Sienna, [ancien supérieur-général,] of the order of the Capuchins. Renowned for his eloquence throughout all Italy, he preached the Reformation successfully at Naples and at Venice, was cited before the tribunal of the Inquisition, and escaped by a voluntary exile the condemnation which threatened him. In the month of September, 1542, he arrived at Geneva, and was the first pastor of the Italian Church founded in that town.—See M'Crie,History, andCouncil's Registers, 1542,passim.

[378]See Note 1, p. 352.

[379]See Note 2, p. 228. Notwithstanding multiplied conferences, and the conciliatory efforts of the arbiters of Basle, the disputes between Berne and Geneva had not yet been settled. The two republics were brought to agreement only in the month of January 1544.

[380]He was then devoted to the Reformation and to Calvin, of whom he soon became the most determined adversary.

[381]"The plague having made its appearance in several houses of the town, the Plague Hospital was supplied with officers."—Registers of Council, 25th September 1542.

[382]"Peter Blanchet, minister, having offered to attend and offer consolation to the poor affected with the plague, who are at present in the Plague Hospital, his offer is accepted."—Ibid., 23d October 1542.

[383]According to the testimony of Michael Roset and of Savion, contemporaries of Calvin, the Reformer offered himself at the same time with Blanchet to visit the sick. But the Seigneury of Geneva refused his offer, "on account of the great need which the Church had of his services."—Registers of Council, 1st June 1545.Chroniquede Roset, iv. fol., and Savion, 60.

[384]The plague prevailed equally at Lausanne.

[385]Ochino.—See Note 2, p. 355.

[386]"Bernardin de Sesnaz, of Sienna, an Italian minister, having asked permission to preach in that language, resolved to grant it to him, and that he shall preach in the chapel of Cardinal d'Ostie."—Registers of Council, 29th October 1542.

[387]Julio Camillo, better known under the name of Renato, which he had adopted on embracing Protestantism. Originally from Sicily, he left his native country in early youth, for Paris, where he was long devoted to the study of the Cabala. Having left Paris for Geneva, he preached the Reformation in the Valteline, and joined the sect of the Anti-trinitarians.—Bock,Hist. Anti-trinit., tom. ii. p. 482. His solemn and taciturn manner appeared to conceal heterodox opinions; Calvin's clear sight did not deceive him.

[388]The Seigneury of Geneva shewed their sense of the zeal and indefatigable activity exercised in their behalf by the Reformer. "Ordered, to make present to Calvin of a tun of old wine ofl'Hôpital, for the pains which he takes on account of the town."—Extracts,Registers of Council, 17th Nov. 1542.

[389]Leo Juda, one of the pastors of the Church of Zurich, translator of the Old Testament into Latin. He died of the plague the 19th June 1542, in the sixtieth year of his age. "Our Church," wrote Bullinger, "has lost in that man an inestimable treasure. As regards myself, I have lost a good part of my life by the death of that much-loved brother; and if I did not find consolation by the hope of a better life in that which is to come, and of the resurrection of the dead, I must have given way under my sorrow."—Letter, cited by Ruchat,Hist. de la Réf.tom. v. p. 188.

[390]Michael Varod wasprocureurof the hospital at Geneva in 1542.

[391]On the back: "Answer to a certainCuré, which he had written while the plague was at Geneva, wherein there are several remarkable instructions—without date."—From the Council Registers we see that the plague made its appearance at Geneva in 1542, and that during several years it made great ravages in the town and throughout the whole territory of Savoy. The number of sick was immense. It was almost certain death to visit them. Three ministers offered spontaneously to discharge that duty: Calvin, Sebastian Castalio, and Blanchet. Castalio, who was the first person designated by lot, appears to have declined that perilous honour. Blanchet generously made the sacrifice of his life; and the urgent solicitations of the Seigneury of Geneva, who were afraid to expose the valuable life of the Reformer, could alone determine Calvin to desist from undertaking the charge which he had himself solicited. See Roset,Chronique, iv. 60, and Savion, 60.

[392]This letter is doubtless one of the first addressed by Calvin to Melanchthon. United, since the Conferences of Ratisbon, to the German Reformer by the bonds of affection and friendship, he thenceforth lavished upon him the testimonies of his esteem and respect, and kept up relations with him which were never interrupted, notwithstanding the difference of their doctrine and genius. Calvin dedicated, in 1543, to Melanchthon, the publication which he set forth against Doctor Albert Pighius, the opponent of the doctrine of grace, and he edited, some years afterwards, theLoci Communesof Melanchthon, translated into French; thus presenting a remarkable example of the spirit of union and concord which he applied in its development to the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, according to that beautiful passage of one of his Letters: "Would that the union between all Christ's Churches upon earth were such, that the angels in heaven might join their song of praise!"

[393]This treatise, first of all written in Latin, and afterwards translated into French, is inserted in theRecueil des Opuscules, p. 257, under this title,Réponse aux Calomnies d'Albert Pighius, Contenant la Défense de la Saincte Doctrine contre le Franc Arbitre, with a Preface to Melanchthon, of February 1543.

[394]In his answer, dated the 4th of May following, Melanchthon thanks Calvin for the Dedication of his book, mingling the expression of his acknowledgments with high praise of the author. "I am much affected by your kindness, and I thank you that you have been pleased to give evidence of your love for me to all the world, by placing my name at the beginning of your remarkable book, where all the world will see it."—Calvini Opera, tom. ix. p. 175.

[395]Faithful to the engagements which he had contracted with the King of France, Soliman in fact invaded Hungary with a numerous army, and took possession of almost the whole country, while the crescent of Mahomet and the Lilies united, to the great scandal of Christendom, before the walls of Nice, then besieged by the combined fleets of France and Turkey.—Robertson,Hist. of Charles V., c. vii.

[396]The Archbishop, Elector of Cologne, had requested the advice of Bucer and of Melanchthon in endeavouring to reform the churches within his diocese. See Melch. Adam,Vita Melanchthonis, p. 34.

[397]The Council of Trent, so often announced and as often adjourned, only commenced on the 13th December 1545.

[398]See the next letter.

[399]See note 1, p. 316. The ecclesiastical ordonnances had separated distinctly the domain of religious authority from that of the civil jurisdiction. To the Consistory belonged the right of private remonstrance, of public censure, and of excommunication. When the delict was punishable by corporal chastisement or by fine, the Consistory then referred the matter to the Council, who pronounced sentence, and enforced the penalty.

[400]Conrad Pellican, a pious and learned professor of the Academy of Zurich. Born in 1479, he evinced from his infancy an extraordinary taste for the study of the Hebrew language, in which he made rapid progress, and which, at a later period, he taught at Basle and at Zurich. Called to that latter town in 1526, he acquired the friendship both of Zuingli and of Bullinger, was a correspondent of Calvin, and died in 1556. The celebrated Peter Martyr succeeded him.—Melch. Adam,Vitæ Theologorum Germanorum, p. 162.et seq.

[401]Farel was then at Metz. See the Letter XCIII.

[402]The life of Farel was threatened more than once, by the Roman Catholics of Metz, as it had been formerly, when he was preaching the gospel in the valleys of the Jura and the Alps; but, like the Apostle Paul, nothing could quench his zeal for the promulgation of the truth.—Hist. des Martyrs, lib. iii.

[403]Ochino allowed himself to be entangled at a later period in those opinions which at this time he repudiated. He afterwards became one of the principal chiefs of the sect of the Anti-trinitarians.

[404]This letter, written from Strasbourg, has reference, as well as the following, to the journey which Calvin undertook, in 1543, for the evangelization of Metz.A town of the Empire, and the seat of one of the three bishoprics which the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis incorporated with France, Metz received betimes the seed of the Reformation. The first missionaries were John Leclerc and John Chatelain, who suffered martyrdom, (1523-1524.) The Church, which they had helped to found by their testimony, enlarged under the cross of persecution. She demanded, in 1544, the free exercise of religion at the Diet of Ratisbon, but without obtaining it. The year following, she called Farel. The intrepid missionary answered the perilous appeal. Driven from the town by a sedition, he retired to the village of Montigny, where the Protestants flocked together to wait upon his preachings. The gates of the town were shut upon them by order of the Roman Catholic magistrates, and thus they perceived they were driven from their country. Received with kindness by the magistrates of Strasbourg, they had recourse to the intervention of the Protestant princes of Germany to obtain free access to their houses and property, as well as the free exercise of their worship. It was during these negotiations that Calvin left Geneva, and rejoined Farel at Strasbourg.—Bèze,Hist. Eccl.tom. iii. p. 431, and following.

[404]This letter, written from Strasbourg, has reference, as well as the following, to the journey which Calvin undertook, in 1543, for the evangelization of Metz.

A town of the Empire, and the seat of one of the three bishoprics which the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis incorporated with France, Metz received betimes the seed of the Reformation. The first missionaries were John Leclerc and John Chatelain, who suffered martyrdom, (1523-1524.) The Church, which they had helped to found by their testimony, enlarged under the cross of persecution. She demanded, in 1544, the free exercise of religion at the Diet of Ratisbon, but without obtaining it. The year following, she called Farel. The intrepid missionary answered the perilous appeal. Driven from the town by a sedition, he retired to the village of Montigny, where the Protestants flocked together to wait upon his preachings. The gates of the town were shut upon them by order of the Roman Catholic magistrates, and thus they perceived they were driven from their country. Received with kindness by the magistrates of Strasbourg, they had recourse to the intervention of the Protestant princes of Germany to obtain free access to their houses and property, as well as the free exercise of their worship. It was during these negotiations that Calvin left Geneva, and rejoined Farel at Strasbourg.—Bèze,Hist. Eccl.tom. iii. p. 431, and following.

[405]Charles presided in the following year at the Diet of Spires with extraordinary éclat, but strove in vain to bring the two parties to agreement. All that he obtained from the majority of that assembly was a declaration by which the points in dispute were to be submitted to a Council.

[406]The Duke of Cleves, the ally of France, was threatened at the time by the whole force of Charles V.

[407]To the godly and faithful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, the pastors of the Church of Geneva, my very dear brethren.

[408]The apostate Peter Caroli. Reconciled with the Sorbonne, he went to Metz to give proof of his zeal to support the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, and had boasted publicly to confound Farel and Calvin by a public discussion, at which he dared not even appear.—Bèze, Hist. Eccl., tom. iii. p. 431,et seq.

[409]It is probable that Farel is here indicated, in allusion to the impetuosity of his disposition.

[410]Gaspar de Heu, Seigneur de Buy. It was under the administration of this magistrate, favourable to the Reformation, that Farel had been called to Metz.

[411]See note 2, p. 320. This prelate, remarkable for his zeal and for his piety, had boldly introduced the Reformed doctrines into his states, without allowing himself to be intimidated by the opposition of his clergy, or the menaces of the Pope. He protested, however, against the title ofLutheran, declaring, that he wished to order his diocese in manner conformable to the apostolic doctrine. In 1546 he was excommunicated by Pope Paul III., and deposed after the battle of Mühlberg.

[412]That war, which was the last act of the struggle between Charles the Fifth and Francis I., was fought simultaneously in the Netherlands, in France, and in Italy. The Emperor was in alliance with the King of England, Henry VIII.; Francis I. with the Duke of Cleves and the Sultan Soliman. Peace was re-established by the treaty of Carpy, (18th September 1544.)

[413]Ill supported by the King of France, the Duke of Cleves was overborne by the Emperor, reduced to implore pardon on his knees, and dispossessed of a part of his states.

[414]To the ambassadors of Geneva at Berne.

[415]See the preceding Letter, p. 390.

[416]The negotiations pending between the Protestant Princes and the Magistrates of Metz were prolonged to a wearisome length. Tired of a proceeding that seemed to be endless, baulked in his expectation of seeing a free access open to the preaching of the Reformed doctrine in that town, Calvin sought permission to depart, from the Magistrates of Strasbourg, and prepared to return to Geneva. The refugees of Metz obtained leave that same year to return to their country, with the promise of a Church, and a precarious toleration of their worship, which, with much ado, scarcely lasted a few months.

[417]On the back:"To my good lord and friend Sire Jacques Le Franc."—James de Bourgogne, Seigneur de Falais and of Breda in Brabant, great-grandson natural of Philip le Bel, Duke of Burgundy. Brought up at the Court of Charles the Fifth, this seigneur adopted, in his youth, the Reformed faith, and under the Spanish rule not being able to avow his profession, by the advice of Calvin he quitted his country, abandoning the whole of his property, which was confiscated by a decree of the Court of Malines. Thenceforth devoted to perpetual exile, he dwelt successively at Cologne, Strasbourg, Basle, Geneva, and maintained an active correspondence with the Reformer, who heaped upon him the tokens of his friendship, and dedicated to him in 1546 his Commentary on the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. These kind relations were unfortunately disturbed at a later period on account of the trial of Jerome Bolsec, in which M. de Falais openly took part against Calvin. The latter keenly resented that act of hostility on the part of a friend, which broke up the friendship, without any after healing, in 1552. The letters of Calvin to M. de Falais have been published in the last century at Amsterdam from the originals long preserved in that town.—Lettres de Calvin à Jacques de Bourgogne, Seigneur de Falais, 1 vol. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1744. We republish them here in more chronological order, revised and corrected from the originals now deposited in the library of Geneva, with some other pieces appended which have not hitherto appeared in print.

[418]David de Busanton, Seigneur du Hainaut, in retirement at Geneva.

[419]On the back: "To my lady and good sister Madame Katerine Le Franc."Iolande de Brederode, of the ancient and illustrious house of the Counts of Holland, aunt of Henri de Brederode, who, in 1566, presented the request of the four hundred Reformed nobles of the Netherlands to Margaret of Austria, and thus laid the foundation of the liberty of the United Provinces. Of a stoical and generous spirit, Madame de Falais partook the sentiments of her husband, and she shared the noble fellowship of the sacrifices which he made for the sake of liberty of conscience.

[419]On the back: "To my lady and good sister Madame Katerine Le Franc."

Iolande de Brederode, of the ancient and illustrious house of the Counts of Holland, aunt of Henri de Brederode, who, in 1566, presented the request of the four hundred Reformed nobles of the Netherlands to Margaret of Austria, and thus laid the foundation of the liberty of the United Provinces. Of a stoical and generous spirit, Madame de Falais partook the sentiments of her husband, and she shared the noble fellowship of the sacrifices which he made for the sake of liberty of conscience.

[420]This letter is without date; but Calvin might have written it shortly after the two which precede it, in order to overcome the last scruples of M. de Falais, then on the point of abandoning his fortune and his country.

[421]Regent in the College of Geneva, Sebastian Castalio sought also to have the title of minister, as we see from the Council Register, January 1544, "Sebastian Chatillon, regent. Calvin represents to the Council, that it is very right to employ the Regent, but not in that office of the ministry,on account of certain peculiar opinions which he entertains." These opinions which were called in question, were his doubts on the doctrine of election, on the descent of Jesus Christ to hell, and on the authenticity of the Song of Solomon. Offended at not being able to obtain the office and functions of a minister, Castalio denuded himself of those of regent, and prepared to leave Geneva, provided with the most honourable attestations of the pastors of that town.

[422]Francis de Bonnivard, prior of St. Victor, celebrated for his wise and prudent spirit, his talents, and above all, by his long captivity in the Castle of Chillon. Restored to liberty on the conquest of the Pays de Vaud by the Bernese, he returned to his own country, and was charged with the editing of the Chronicles of Geneva. Having been married previously to Catherine Baumgartner of Berne, he married, in 1544, Jeanne d'Armeis, herself at that time widow of two husbands, and mother of the Syndic Amblard Corne. This marriage was not a happy one, and the quarrels of the two spouses drew upon them more than once the censures of the Consistory. SeeNotice of Francis Bonnivard, Prieur of St. Victor, by Doctor Chaponnière. Genève, 1546.

[423]After five years of embroilments and continued struggles between Berne and Geneva on account of the disputed territories then in litigation, peace was at length re-established between the two towns by the definitive sentence of the deputies of Basle, chosen as arbiters, (January 1544.) This decision, accepted equally by both parties, divided between them the jurisdiction of the lands belonging to Saint Victor, and the Charter granted to the Genevese fourteen cures or benefices out of the dependencies of the ancient bishopric, with power to place ministers; discharged the Bernese from the oath which those of Geneva pretended to be due to them on account of the occupation of the bailliages of Gex and of Ternier; and last of all stipulated for the free return of the banished exiles of Geneva, after the troubles of 1540.—See theChroniquede Roset, l. iv. c. 65; and Ruchat,Hist. de la Réf.tom. v. pp. 240, 241.

[424]See the preceding Letter.

[425]One of the Genevese refugees at Berne, belonging to one of the most distinguished families of the republic.

[426]In the original: ἀμνήστιας. During the period of Calvin's banishment to Strasbourg, several parties had arisen at Geneva. The most important was that of theArticulans, or of theArtichaud, whose chiefs, after having possessed supreme power for some time, were either put to death or banished, in consequence of a popular reaction. Several of the exiles retired to Berne, whence, after matters in dispute had been arranged between the two cities, they were permitted to return to Geneva—Spon,Hist. de Genève, tom. i. pp. 281, 282, Note O.

[427]Without doubt the Dialogues of Viret,Dialogi de Confusione Mundi, published in Latin and French. Geneva, 1545.

[428]"It was," says Th. de Bèze, "in this year (1543) that those of Sorbonne, with the connivance of the bishops, usurped the authority of making articles of faith on the controverted questions of our time in the matter of religion."—Hist. Eccl.tom. i. p. 33. It was not Viret who replied to that strange pretension of the Sorbonne, but Calvin. The answer of the Reformer, a model of pith and irony, appeared in 1544, under the title,Les Articles de la Sacrée Faculté de Théologie de Paris, avec le Remède contre le Poison.—Recueil des Opuscules, p. 71.

[429]Brieve Instruction pour armer tout bon Fidèle contre les Erreurs de la Secte Commune des Anobaptistes: Geneva, 1544. Inserted in the Recueil des Opuscules, with a preface by Calvin to the Ministers of the Churches of the county of Neuchatel, 1st June 1544.

[430]Sebastian Castalio.

[431]The Doctor John Chaponneau,aneien moineof the Abbaye of Saint Amboise, at Bourges, become minister of the Church of Neuchatel, had attacked in some points the doctrine of the book of the "Institution Chrétienne." Calvin answered his observations in a few words. Chaponneau did not feel satisfied, and repeated his attacks with extreme violence. The subject of debate was the Divinity of Christ, seriously altered by the rash interpretations of Chaponneau. The reply of the Reformer, written at the request of Farel, was addressed to the pastors of the Church of Neuchatel.

[432]Son-in-law of the minister Chaponneau, whose opinions he no doubt shared.

[433]The celebrated jurisconsult, Andrew Alciat, from Milan, whose instruction Calvin had received at the University of Bourges. He lectured upon Law alternately in the schools of France and Italy, and died in 1546, leaving numerous disciples in the various countries of Europe.

[434]The Church of Geneva, set up as a butt for the attacks and blackening defamation of her maligners who were unwilling to submit to the authority of her discipline, had also to lament thescandalesoccasioned by the conduct of many of her pastors. Two of Calvin's colleagues, Henry de la Mare and Champereau, were not ashamed to frequent the taverns andcabarets, and so to expose the office of the ministry to the mockeries of insolent raillery, and those who took a pleasure in repeating that the ministers wished to make Canons of them.—Chroniquede Roset, lib. v. c. 2 et 3.—Grieved on account of these scandals, but without the power of repressing them, Calvin found vent to his sorrow in the intimacy of his correspondence with Farel and Viret.

[435]The Minister Louis de Geniston.

[436]Marcourt, senior minister of the Church of Geneva.

[437]This was the Reply to the Sorbonne Articles. See the note, p. 408.

[438]Calvin had already lost a son in the month of August 1542. See note 3, p. 344. He had afterwards another child by Idelette de Bure, which does not appear to have long survived.

[439]The imperial assembly of Spire dissolved in the month of May 1544. Charles the Fifth had then obtained considerable subsidies from the Protestant princes in return for the important concessions which he had made to them in the great concern of religion.—Hist. Charles V., lib. vii.

[440]The French had gained a brilliant victory at Cérisoles, 14th April 1544, over the Marquis of Guasta, the Imperial General.

[441]Gifted with a remarkable genius for politics, which had been formed in the school of Zuingle, and called more than once, on this account, to enlighten by his experience the councils of the republic of Basle, Oswald Myconius maintained a correspondence with Calvin, which had not merely the interests of the Church in view, but those of the whole of Europe, kept at that time in suspense by the last act of the struggle between Francis I. and Charles V.

[442]The Protestant princes of Germany, the steady allies of France against the House of Austria, abandoned their usual policy on this occasion, and joined the Emperor against Francis I. They alleged as their motive for this change, the impious alliance of that monarch with the Turks, whose arms threatened equally France and Italy, and they wrote to the Protestant Cantons of Switzerland, inviting them to follow their example, by refusing their assistance to Francis I.—See Sleidan, lib. xv. pp. 441-446.

[443]M. de Falais afterwards left Brabant and went to Cologne with his family, as we see by his request addressed to Charles the Fifth: "I went indeed first of all to reside in your city of Cologne, where I abode so inoffensively and beyond the reach of blame from any one, that no person could justly complain of me."... Immediately on his arrival at Cologne, he had requested Calvin to send him a minister. The war which then wasted the Netherlands, and rendered communication difficult, had not allowed the Reformer at once to meet his wishes.

[444]Bucer had gone to the Diet which was held in that town in 1544. The Emperor, pressed by two enemies at the same time, Soliman and Francis I., made important concessions on that occasion to the Protestant side.

[445]M. de Falais had intended at first to retire to Geneva. He had afterwards decided to fix his residence at Strasbourg, where he indeed established himself the following year.

[446]The sacramentary truce which was brought about in 1538, with so much labour, between Lutheranism and the Reformed, was afterwards broken, notwithstanding the efforts of Bucer, of Melanchthon, and Calvin. Full of ill-humour against the memory of Zuingli, Luther allowed no opportunity of invective to pass, in his writings, against the doctrines of the Swiss Reformer and the Church of Zurich, which he likened to theheresies of Munzer and the Anabaptists. Desirous of maintaining peace among the Churches, the ministers of Zurich at first abstained from all reply, in the hope of soothing him by their silence, and avoiding direct collision with the vehement spirit of Luther. But Luther having on many occasions renewed his attacks, they considered it their duty to answer him in an indirect way by publishing the works of Zuingli, with an apology for his doctrine prefixed.—SeeHospinian, Historiæ Sacramentariæ, Genève, 1681, tom. ii. pp. 318, 322. Ann. 1544.

[447]See pp. 187, 228, 270, 273, 283, 308. Suspended by Letters-patent of the King, and by the humanity of the President Chassanée, the execution of the sentence of the Parliament of Aix was furiously demanded by the new President of that Court, Jean Menier, Baron d'Oppède, supported at Court by the Cardinal de Tournon.

[448]William du Bellay, in his quality of lieutenant of the King at Turin, charged with the duty of making a report to Francis I., renders a very striking homage to the piety and purity of the Vaudois.—De Thou,Hist., lib. vi. They obtained the same testimony from the pious Bishop Sadolet, who took them under his protection, and pleaded in vain their cause at the Court of Rome.—De Thou,ibidem.—Hist. des Martyrs, lib. iii. p. 140. A doctor of the Sorbonne, having put some questions to some of the children in one of their villages, upon the Catechisin, was so struck by their answers, that he acknowledged, says Beza, "never to have derived so much benefit in all the disputations he had been engaged in, as he had learned from these little children."—Hist. Eccl., tom. i. p. 42.

[449]Cabrières, Merindol, et Lourmarin, in the present Department of Vaucluse.

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