Letters of John Calvin, Volume II

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.

198

Jodocus, minister of the Church of Berne.

199

See the letters, pp. 143, 160. In a new message to Bullinger, Calvin strove to dissipate the still lingering prejudices entertained by the Zurich theologians against those of Geneva and of Strasbourg, regarding the Sacraments; and he proposed the basis of that union, long-desired, which was consummated the following year between Zurich and Geneva. The Church of Berne, now deeply imbued with Lutheran views, refused its adhesion.

200

Ministers of the Church of Berne.

201

M. de Falais was on the point of leaving Bâle to settle at Geneva. He arrived, doubtless, in that town the end of July 1548. We read, in a letter of Calvin to Viret of the 20th August 1548: "Dominus Falesius uxor et soror vos salutant; – the wife and sister of M. de Falais salute you." – Vol. 106 of the Library of Geneva. The correspondence of Calvin with this Seigneur, thenceforward interrupted, was only resumed occasionally, and in 1552, ceased entirely.

202

The contract of marriage of Mademoiselle Wilergy.

203

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

204

Messengers of the Emperor were then scouring the Cantons with a view to detach them from the French alliance, which was nevertheless renewed, 9th June 1549.

205

The minister Toussain, pastor of the church of Montbeliard, at that time dispersed by the imperial army.

206

See the letter to M. de Falais of 17th July 1548, and the relative note.

207

We have reproduced (Vol. i. p. 449,) a letter of Calvin to Viret, containing a severe judgment of the Reformer upon the magistrates of Geneva. Stolen from Viret by a faithless servant, and given to the Seigneury by Trolliet, this letter excited real commotions, the traces of which are to be found in the Registers of Council.

208

Perhaps to Charles de Jonvillers, who became some years afterwards the secretary and friend of the Reformer. It was in fact in 1549, and in consequence of the advice of Calvin, that this Seigneur left Chartres, his country, to go to Geneva, which received him as inhabitant in 1550, and as burgess in 1556.

209

Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, Duke of Somerset, Regent of England, under the minority of Edward VI. It was under his administration that the Reformation was victoriously established in England. Supported by Parliament, he suppressed the troubles which arose in some parts of the kingdom after the death of Henry VIII., confirmed the king's supremacy, abolished the worship of images, private masses, and restored the communion in both kinds. He held a correspondence with Calvin, who dedicated to him, June 24, 1548, his Commentary on the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy; and by advice of the Reformer, he offered an asylum to the exiles, Bucer, Fagi, Ochino, and Peter Martyr, – banished for the sake of their religion from the Continent. Beloved by the people, hated by the nobles, he made himself unpopular by his want of success in the war which he kept up against the Scots and in France; was overthrown by a conspiracy of the nobility, imprisoned in the Tower of London, (October 1549,) and only recovered his liberty the year following, to perish in 1552 on the scaffold, victim of the ambition of Warwick, Earl of Northumberland, his relative.

210

Deprived, the preceding year, of his office of councillor and captain-general, Amy Perrin had contrived, by the force of intrigue, to recover his former dignities.

211

The city of Bourdeaux having risen in revolt against the authority of the king on the ground of fresh taxation, the Constable Montmorency, being commissioned to suppress the disturbances, acted with relentless severity, and signalized his entry into the capital of Guienne by frightful executions. – De Thou, Lib. v.

212

Bucer wrote to Calvin: – "Earnestly entreat the Lord for this republic that it may learn to put away its own will and obey him." – Calv. Opera, Lib. ix. p. 46. But the magistrates had already resolved to make their submission, which involved the suppression of the Gospel in that unhappy city.

213

Is the reference to the partisans of the Imperial Alliance?

214

Without date. This letter appears to have been written at the moment when Strasbourg, menaced by the victorious army of Charles V., was disposed, in spite of the counsel of Bucer, to accept the Interim, and avoid by a voluntary submission the punishment inflicted on the leagued cities of Germany. – (December 1548.)

215

Conclusion wanting in the original manuscript.

216

Peronne de Pisseleu, wife of Michel de Barbançon, Seigneur de Cany, one of the personages of most importance in Picardy. This lady, instructed in the Reformed faith by Laurent de Normandie, lieutenant of the king at Noyon, and the friend of Calvin, had for a long time to endure the severity of her husband, who afterwards came at a later period to be a partaker of like faith. – Bèze, Hist. Eccl., tom. ii. p. 244.; De Thou, lib. xxv. Madame de Cany, sister of the Duchess d'Etampes, favourite of the late king, had possessed an unbounded influence at court, which she always used for generous purposes. Her ordinary residence was the Château de Varanues, situated on the Oise, near to Noyon.

217

The donations which a pious liberality daily multiplied at Geneva, gave rise to the foundations known by the name of French, German, and Italian Bourses. The names of Margaret de Valois, and the Duchess of Ferrara, shine in the first rank upon the list of foreign contributors. – Bolsec, Life of Calvin, c. xi.

218

To the Faithful Servants of Christ, the Ministers of the Church of Montbeliard, dearest Brethren and Fellow-Ministers.

219

The year 1549 is remarkable for the tendencies to union manifested by many of the Swiss Churches, and for their happy issue! Several persons, says Ruchat, zealous for religion, imagined that the clergy of Zurich and Geneva did not hold the same doctrine on the Supper, on the ground of some slight difference in the expressions they made use of; and this divergence caused them pain. Accordingly, as they held Bullinger and Calvin in great esteem, and desired to be able to profit equally by writings published by theologians of both churches, they deemed it necessary to institute conferences with a view to union; and Calvin, ever full of zeal for the interests of the Church, did not hesitate to subscribe to this petition. – Hospinien, tom. ii. p. 367; Ruchat, tom. v. p. 369.

220

Valeran Poulain, brother-in-law of Hooper, whose sister he espoused at Zurich. He became this same year minister of the congregation cf Foreign Protestants at Glastonbury, near London. We shall find him afterwards minister of the Church of Frankfort.

221

John Hooper, formerly chaplain to the Duke of Somerset, withdrew to Zurich during the latter years of the reign of Henry VIII. He was at this time disposed to return to England.

222

Ambroise Blaurer, formerly minister of the Reformed Church of Constance, at this time minister of the Church of Bienne.

223

This undated fragment should, we think, be referred to the month of February 1549; that is, to the period at which Bucer, compelled to leave Strasbourg, by the establishment of the Interim in that town, was making preparations for his departure for England. In one of his letters to Calvin we discover the following passage: – "We are only hindered by the tears and sighs of the pious – of whom there are still a great many here – from leaving this place before we get orders. For, if the Lord will, we wish rather to seal than to break up our ministry. You see how our affairs stand, and how much we need the assistance of your prayers, both in our own behalf and on that of this very unfortunate Church." – Calv. Opera, b. ix. p. 233.

224

While Calvin was engaged in active negotiations with the ministers of Zurich for the adoption of a common formula regarding the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, he addressed to the ministers of the Church of Berne a statement of what the Church of Geneva held on that important question, in the hope of leading that Church into the proposed union. But the Bernese clergy, placed in a position of absolute dependence on the seigneury, could not adopt any formula without its authority; and the seigneurs, jealous of their influence, regarded with a distrustful eye any communication with the ministers of Geneva. The approaches of Calvin, also, were not well received, and the noble desire of the Reformer for the union of the Helvetian churches, realized at a later period by Bullinger, met with no response. – Ruchat, tom. v. pp. 578, 579.

225

A peculiar interest attaches to this and the following letter, written under a load of great domestic affliction. Early in April 1549, Calvin lost the worthy partner of his life, Idelette de Bure, whose frail and delicate health gave way under the pressure of a protracted illness, and whose last hours are known to us by the touching picture given of them by the Reformer. The consolations of friendship, and the consideration of the important duties he had to discharge, supported Calvin in this affliction, and the self-control which he manifested during the first days of his bereavement, excited the admiration of his friends. Viret wrote him on this occasion as follows: "Wonderfully and incredibly have I been refreshed, not by empty rumours alone, but especially by numerous messengers who have informed me how you, with a heart so broken and lacerated, have attended to all your duties even better than hitherto … and that, above all, at a time when grief so fresh, and on that account all the more severe, might have prostrated your mind. Go on then as you have begun … and I pray God most earnestly that you may be enabled to do so, and that you may receive daily greater comfort and be strengthened more and more." – Letter of 10th April 1549. Calv. Opera, tom. ix. p. 53

226

Idelette de Bure had, by her first marriage with Jean Storder, several children known to us only by the pious solicitude of their mother on her deathbed.

227

We read in Viret's letter to Calvin already referred to, – "My wife salutes you most courteously; she has been grieved in no ordinary way by the death of her very dear sister, and she and I feel it to be a loss to us all." Idelette de Bure kept up with Viret's wife a pious epistolary correspondence, which has unfortunately not been preserved.

228

The minister Francis Bourgouin.

229

See the letter and the note at p. 201.

230

Laurent de Normandie, sprung from a noble family of Picardy, fellow-countryman and friend of Calvin, discharged the functions of master of requests and of lieutenant of the King at Noyon, before retiring to Geneva. Received inhabitant of the town, the 2d May 1547, burgess, the 25th April 1555, he lived there in intimacy with Calvin, who dedicated to him in 1550 his Traité des Scandales. He had married for his first wife Anne de la Vacquerie, of a noble family, which has merged in that of the Dukes of Saint Simon, and illustrious under the reign of Louis XI., by the first president Jacques de la Vacquerie. A short time after his arrival at Geneva he lost his wife, whose edifying death is the subject of Calvin's letter to Madame de Cany, and he married a second time (14th September 1550) Anne Colladon. – Galiffe, Notices Généalogiques sur les Familles de Genève, tom. ii. p. 527.

231

Eloi de la Vacquerie.

232

Accused of having wished to seduce a servant, Ferron was deposed from the ministry on the 5th September 1548. – Registers of the Council.

233

In a letter from Calvin to Farel, written on the same day as that to Viret, we meet with a passage regarding Amy Perrin: – "Cæsar, our comedian, in his last mission, exasperated them [the Bernese] exceedingly, and I fear he has commenced a serious tragedy among us." – MSS. of Geneva, vol. 106. Charged with a mission to Berne, he had returned to Geneva more insolent and more intractable than ever.

234

The learned lawyer, Francis Hotman, recently engaged in the evangelical cause, had quitted France, his native country, at the advice of Calvin, to retire to Geneva. He became, during the same year, Professor of Law at the Academy of Lausanne. – See La France Protestante, Art. Hotman.