Letters of John Calvin, Volume II
The minister, Abel Poupin, exerted his interest with the actors to appease the tumult excited by his colleague.
70
It is seen by this instance, that Calvin was not so stern as to proscribe public games and amusements that harmonized with decency. "He himself made no scruple in engaging in play with the seigneurs of Geneva; but that was the innocent game of the key, which consists in being able to push the keys the nearest possible to the edge of a table." – Morus, quoted Hist. de la Suisse, vol. xi. p. 356.
71
Allusion to a sister of M. de Falais.
72
The project of marriage, developed in the two preceding letters, not having been realized, Viret turned his attention in another direction; and a passage in his will, preserved in the Archives of Geneva, informs us that he espoused, in his second marriage, Elizabeth Laharpe, daughter of a French refugee of Lausanne. This marriage was celebrated in October or November 1546, and the nuptial benediction was pronounced by Calvin himself, who, in a subsequent letter, (of the 3d December,) makes allusion to the journey which he had accomplished, in order to be present at the nuptials of his friend.
73
At the request of Calvin, Farel had written a letter to Amy Perrin, in order to calm his resentment, and lead him back to the good path. The message of Farel, like that of Calvin himself, was without effect, and the quarrel between the Reformer and his old friend, now his adversary, became daily more confirmed and violent.
74
A term frequently employed by Calvin to designate Perrin, with the adjunct of a derisive epithet, – Cæsar our comedian.
75
See note 1, vol. i. p. 343. It appears, from this passage, that Froment was not at that time settled in Geneva. He was called thither a short time afterwards to assist Francis Bonivard in digesting the Chronicles of the city.
76
The Commentaries on the four Epistles of St. Paul to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians, were not published until 1548, by the bookseller Girard, of Geneva. Is there a previous edition of the Commentary on the Galatians? We are not aware of any.
77
This, one of the most remarkable of the works of Calvin, appeared only in 1550.
78
This apparent reconciliation was without satisfactory result. Perrin could not tolerate, nor Calvin sacrifice, the right of censure vested in the Consistory, and which the excesses of the Libertins daily rendered more necessary. "Complaints to the Council by M. Calvin regarding the dissoluteness of the youth, there being nothing more common in the city than acts of debauchery and licentiousness." – Registers of Council, 11th October 1546.
79
M. de Falais had sent Calvin a theological work by a certain Denis de la Roche, requesting his opinion of it.
80
Allusion to the death of one of the sisters of M. de Falais, which they had not ventured to communicate to him.
81
The Commentary on the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, dedicated to M. de Falais.
82
The confiscation of the property of M. de Falais had been pronounced by the Court of Malines. That decree had been submitted to the confirmation of the Emperor.
83
The sentence which put the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse to the ban of the Empire, 20th July 1546, was the signal for war in Germany. The Imperial army, and that of the Protestant Princes, observed one another for several months, on the banks of the Danube, without the one being able to obtain any decisive advantage over the other. But the troops of Charles the Fifth were decimated by want and sickness while there was an overabundance in the camp of the confederates.
84
Maximilian d'Egmont, Count de Buren, a valiant and adventurous captain. He brought a powerful reinforcement to Charles the Fifth from the Netherlands, and he executed that difficult operation with the most happy success.
85
For Peter Viret. See preceding letters to M. de Falais, pp. 63 and 74.
86
Calvin lost his wife, Idelette de Bure, in the beginning of April 1549, and never married again. His Latin correspondence contains two beautiful and touching letters to Viret and to Farel (7th and 11th April) on that sad event. They will be found reprinted in this collection.
87
Valeran Poulain, of Lille, who was at a later period minister of the French Church at Frankfort.
88
The Emperor Charles V. See note 2, p. 78.
89
Maurice of Saxony, cousin of the Elector John Frederic, and son-in-law of the Landgrave of Hesse, unworthily betraying the cause of the Confederates, concluded a secret treaty with the emperor, to whom he took the oath of fidelity, and who guarantied to him in return the spoils of his father-in-law.
90
Nicolas des Gallars, of Paris, (M. de Saules,) the friend and secretary of Calvin, and one of the most distinguished ministers of Geneva. He was sent as pastor to the Church at Paris in 1557, reappointed in 1560 to the French Church of London, assisted the following year at the conference at Poissy, was named minister of the Church of Orleans, and became, in 1571, preacher to the Queen of Navarre. We have several of his works mentioned by Senebier, Hist. Litt., tom. i. p. 341.
91
Helène de Falais. She had married Adrien de L'Isle, Seigneur de Trénoy.
92
This diversion, dictated to the King of France by sound politics, was not effected, and Francis I. remained a peaceable spectator of events, whose necessary tendency was to secure, by the defeat of the Protestant party in Germany, the ascendency of Charles V. in Europe.
93
The ministers of Berne were divided by incessant disputes on the subject of the Supper. Sulzer and certain of his colleagues inclined to the Lutheran view, which Erasme Ritter combated; and by an abuse of power, that was not uncommon at that period, the Seigneury of Berne claimed to determine by itself the sense of the controverted dogma, the settlement of which ought to have been remitted to a Synod. – Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 225, 226.
94
The senator, Nicolas de Zerkinden, friend of Calvin and prefect of Nyon.
95
The Roman Catholic and Reformed Cantons, solicited, the former by the emperor, the latter by the Protestant princes, to take part in the struggles of which Germany was the theatre, had both observed a strict neutrality. But the Seigneury of Berne having received information that military movements were taking place in Franche-Comté, then under the rule of the Spaniards, summoned ten thousand men to arms, and occupied the passes of the Jura. That measure, which arose out of the pressure of circumstances, would perhaps have brought about a division among the confederates, and serious complications from without, if the treachery of the Elector Maurice had not hastened on the course of events in Germany. – John de Müller, Hist. de la Confédération Suisse, continuation of M. Vulliemin, tom. xi. p. 292.
96
A word effaced in the original.
97
The original letter is without address. But it is generally believed that it was addressed by Calvin to the widow of the celebrated William Budé, great-grandson of the secretary to King Charles V., and one of the most learned personages of the period of the revival of letters. William Budé having declared in his will that he wished to be buried without ceremony, this circumstance led to the supposition that he had died in the faith of the Reformed. His widow not being able to make free profession of her faith at Paris, was about to settle at Geneva, on the solicitation of Calvin, (June 1549.) She was accompanied by her daughter and three of her sons, Louis, Francis, and John de Budé, who held a distinguished rank in the republic. The best known of the three brothers is John de Budé, Sieur de Vérace, the particular friend of Calvin and of Théodore de Bèze. He was received an inhabitant of Geneva the 27th June 1549, burgess the 2d May 1555, member of both Councils in 1559, fulfilled several important missions to the Protestant princes of Germany, and died in 1589, after having rendered distinguished services to his new country, and thereby added fresh lustre to his family, whose descendants still live at Geneva. – Galiffe, Notices Généalogiques des Familles Genèvoises, tom. iii. p. 83, et seq.
98
On the back, in another handwriting, – "Of 46. I think that this letter must be to Madame Budé."
99
Catharine de Budé married, in 1550, William de Trie, Seigneur de Varennes, a gentleman of the Lyonnais, a refugee at Geneva on account of religion.
100
John Francis Nœguely, one of the most illustrious magistrates, and one of the most able captains of the republic of Berne, in the sixteenth century. In 1536 he commanded the Bernese army, which conquered the Pays de Vaud from the Duke of Savoy; discharged the functions of Avoyer from 1540 to 1568, and died at a very advanced age.
101
In a note, by an unknown hand, "Philippe Buissonnier de Bresse."
102
Several ministers of the Pays de Vaud, and particularly Zebedee, later pastor of Nyon, Lange, pastor of Bursins, delivered from the pulpit the most virulent declamations against the doctrines of the Reformer.
103
On the news of the dangers that menaced the churches of Germany, an important mission had been confided to the Reformer. "Calvin is despatched by the Seigneury to Zurich, to obtain certain information of the condition of the war between the Emperor and the Protestant princes." – Registers of Council, 23d January 1547. "Calvin having returned, reports that the war between the Emperor and the Protestants is more enkindled than ever, and that the Swiss, apprehensive of that prince turning his arms against them, are putting themselves in a state of defence." – Ibid., 23d January 1547.
104
Situated at the extremity of the Confederation, without forming part of it, and sharing the faith of the Reformed Cantons, Constance, the first city open to the attacks of the Emperor upon the banks of the Rhine, invoked the aid of the Cantons, whose rigorous neutrality left it exposed without defence to its adversaries. – Histoire de la Confédération Suisse, tom. xi. p. 296.
105
Ulrich, Duke of Wurtemberg, although among the first to submit to the Emperor, was compelled to sue for pardon on his knees, and to pay a ransom of 300,000 crowns. – Robertson, Hist. of Charles V., book viii.
106
The present Quai des Bergues.
107
Calvin at that time inhabited the house of the Sieur de Fréneville, situated in the Rue des Chanoines, near St. Peter's Church, and corresponding to the house in the same street which is now No. 122. – See the Mémoires de la Société d'Histoire de Genève, vol. ix. p. 391.
108
He sought in marriage a relation of M. de Falais.
109
The Emperor Charles the Fifth, – conqueror, without a combat, of the army of the confederate princes: thanks to the treason of Maurice of Saxony, this prince, although suffering severely from the gout, was at this very time receiving the submission of the confederate towns of Suabia and of the Palatinate, from which he exacted enormous penalties.
110
The King, Francis I. He died the following month, the 31st March 1547.
111
On the back – To Monseigneur, Monsieur de Fallez, at Basle, near to the Cauf-Hauss. – M. de Falais was in fact about to quit Strasbourg, then threatened by the imperial army, to fix his residence in Switzerland.
112
"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.
