Letters of John Calvin, Volume II

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

113

Sebastian Castellio, who had then retired to Bâle.

114

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

115

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

116

Enclosed in a letter to M. de Falais, with the words, – Copy of a letter written to Valeran.

117

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

118

"Arrival at Geneva of the minister Viret, a very excellent man." – Registers, April 1547.

119

Doubtless Michel Morel.

120

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

121

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

122

Named pastor of the Italian church at Augsbourg in October 1545, Ochino fled from that city on the approach of the imperial army, in the early part of the year 1547. – Schelhorn Ergoetzlichkeiten, vol. iii. pp. 1141, 1142.

123

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

124

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

125

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

126

Valeran Poulain. See pp. 104, 110.

127

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

128

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

129

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

130

A pretender to the hand of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.

131

Valeran Poulain. See note 1, p. 113.

132

Nicolas Zerkinden, senator of Berne, prefect of the town of Nyon.

133

The establishment of discipline in the churches of the Pays de Vaud.

134

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

135

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

136

Amy Perrin.

137

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

138

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

139

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

140

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

141

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

142

Doctor Chelius, in the handwriting of Calvin.

143

Henry of Brunswick.

144

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

145

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

146

The minister Francis Perucel, called La Rivière.

147

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

148

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

149

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

150

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

151

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

152

Ils font des mauvais chevaulx à mordre et à regimber.

153

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

154

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

155

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

156

Jacques Gruet. See p. 128.

157

Amy Perrin.

158

Isaiah lix. 15.

159

Of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.

160

The conclusion of the letter is in the handwriting of Francis Baudouin.

161

The signature of the letter is autograph.

162

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

163

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

164

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

165

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

166

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

167

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

168

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

169

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

170

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

171

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

172

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

173

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

174

M. de Montmor. See note, p. 141.

175

For The Apology of M. de Falais.

176

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

177

The scene of tumult and sedition described in this letter left so lively an impression on the mind of Calvin, that he recalled it seventeen years afterwards, on his deathbed, in his farewell to the ministers of Geneva, subjoining these memorable words: – "Although I am nothing, yet I know that I prevented three thousand disturbances from taking place in Geneva; but take courage, you will become strong, for God will make use of that city, and will maintain it; and I assure you he will keep it." – Collection de M. Tronchin, à Genève. Adieux de Calvin, recueillis par Pinaut.

178

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

179

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

180

See Letter, p. 148.

181

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

182

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

183

Dated, on the back of the letter, in a foreign hand.

184

Doubtless these were John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace, and Louis, Sieur de la Motte, his brother.

185

He refers to the promise of a visit to M. de Falais. Calvin went in fact to Bâle the 2d of February following. We read under that date, in the Council Registers of the state of Geneva: – "Calvin went to Bâle. The Council offers him things requisite for the voyage. 26th February, – Calvin on his return from Bâle."

186

The Apology of M. de Falais.

187

Renée of France, Duchess of Ferrara. See, in this collection, the letters of Calvin to that princess.

188

In the journey which he had recently made to Bâle, Calvin had decided M. de Falais to come and fix himself definitively at Geneva.

189

Veigy, near Geneva. M. de Falais made there the purchase of a domain which he occupied during several years.

190

See letter to Bullinger of 19th September 1547, p. 143. The observations of Calvin on the treatise on the Sacraments being badly received, as it appears, by the minister of the Church of Zurich, had led, on the part of the latter, to a temporary coldness, of which Calvin complained in a letter, characterized alike by the noblest independence and the most Christian affection.

191

On the back, in the handwriting of M. de Falais: – Received the 12th April 1548.

192

M. de Falais could not establish himself at Geneva, without losing the right of a burgess, which he had acquired at Bâle.

193

The Emperor, and the new king of France, Henry II. Faithful to the policy of Francis I., a persecutor of the Reformation in his own States, the latter was about to conclude a secret treaty with the Protestant princes of Germany.

194

While persecution decimated the Reformed Churches of France, and the proclamation of the Interim dispersed those of Germany, the Swiss Churches were a prey to the most grievous dissensions, and appeared further removed than ever from that era of unity and peace which Calvin never ceased to invoke for them.

195

"Calvin informs the Council of certain disputes between the Seigneury and the ministers of Berne, which have gone so far that three of the ministers of said city have been deposed, besides Peter Viret of Lausanne; requests that leave may be given him to go to Berne to defend Viret, which was granted him; the Seigneury, besides, undertaking to defray the expenses of the journey." – Registers of Council, May 7, 1548.

196

By his second wife, Sebastienne de la Harpe, Viret had three daughters, designated in his will as Marie, Marthe, and Jeanne. – (MS. of the Arch. of Geneva.)

197

See letter of 9th May preceding. The relations between the Vaudois ministers and the Seigneury of Berne, became daily more complicated. A Synod assembled at Lausanne, having ventured formally to propound ten propositions contrary to the celebrated disputation of Berne, and to manifest an inclination in favour of ecclesiastical discipline, with the concurrence of two Bernese ministers, Beat Gerung and Simon Sulcer, – these two clergymen were arbitrarily deposed by the Seigneury, under the pretext of "the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the Church." – Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 357, 358.